Video Games

Wow. Well, its been a long time since I've written in this blog. Sorry about that. I really don't have a good excuse for not writing this since I haven't been busy. I guess you could say I just haven't been inspired to write in this blog until now. The year is almost over and now I write in the blog. Hmm.

Anyway, I wanted to write a blog entry tonight to say that I'm going to refocus this blog on video games. I will probably retitle the blog too. I may turn my Ign blog into the multi-purpose blog. We'll see.

I'm a huge video game fan, especially of Nintendo (3DS, Wii) and Sony (PS3). I will be writing about those systems, plus the 360, Wii U, and Vita.

I'll post reviews of games I've played, news I've heard, my thoughts on upcoming games, etc.

I will most likely start with my thougths on Animal Crossing 3DS. Its out in Japan and I've seen a lot of footage. What are my thoughts on the game? You'll find out soon! :)

Till then, thank you for reading this & any thoughts on video game topics I should cover in the blog would be great. Take care.

Heroes of Ruin Impressions

SquareEnix is on a roll with the 3DS. If you like rhythm based games and Final Fantasy, check out Theatrhythm Final Fantasy. If you love Kingdom Hearts, check out Kingdom Hearts Dream Drop Distance. And if you love Dungeon crawling action rpgs with local & online support...

You should without a doubt check out Heroes of Ruin!

Heroes of Ruin is a really good action rpg. Why? Well, lets start with the basics. The combat is pretty basic, but very addictive. You go into dungeons, beat up enemies, level up, gain more skills, grab lots of loot, finish quests and then go off and do all that again. Its a lot better than it sounds here and its especially good if you have friends to play with either locally or online. Single player wise, the game can get a little boring. But with a team mate or two or three or four, its a blast. Finding secret areas, new weapons, armor, etc and just beating up the enemies with your friends is all really fun.

The games graphics are not the best on the 3DS, but they are really good and get better as you go (the Frost Reaches is my favorite so far).

The 3D during gameplay is not a must, its just OK there, but during the artwork cutscenes, the 3D is a MUST because these cutscenes are multi-layered (depth 3D) and look awesome.

The game also has voice-acting during cutscense (the artwork ones and the non-artworks ones) and its good voice work.

There is only one thing I wish was different about the game: the load times. Heroes of Ruin has some really LONG load times for a cart game. Loading into a new area takes more time than it should. Thankfully there isn't any load times once you're into the area, but really there shouldn't be that much load time in the game anyway. This is a cart game, not a disc based game. That said, the game is well worth the time you wait to get into it. Just wish the developer had taken a bit more time to make the load times shorter.

Overall, Heroes of Ruin is a really fun game. Its also the best online experiance you can get on the 3DS so far and imo, the local multiplayer is even better. Its a must buy if you love dungeon crawling action rpgs!

Kingdom Hearts 3D Dream Drop Distance Impressions

I remember when Kingdom Hearts 1 came out on the PS2, I loved it. Then I played Kingdom Hearts 2 and loved that even more. SquareEnix and Disney got together and created two really great games. The combination of Disney & Square characters just worked!

After that, I didn't get to play the Kingdom Hearts on the Gameboy Advance, but I did play Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days and thought it was just OK. The gameplay was good, but the worlds were all the same worlds from Kingdom Hearts 1. The game ended up being very stale.

I missed out on Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep because I did not have a PSP when it came out. I remember hearing good things about it though.

Enter the newest Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance for the 3DS.

While the basic gameplay is similar to Kingdom Hearts 1 & 2, new additions like reality shift & flowmotion really add to the experiance and make it seem fresh again.

Thankfully, though, new gameplay additions isn't the only thing new to KH3D. This time around, there are NEW worlds and a couple of returning worlds that are pretty different.

The story in KH3D is also very interesting. Plus you don't just control one character in this game, you control two characters, Sora and Riku. You switch between them by "dropping". Basically one character falls asleep and then you take control of the other character. There is a drop meter, so if you're not careful, time will run out and you'll be "dropped" into the other character. I've heard this can be annoying, but I've been careful and make good use of the 'Drop-Me-Not' items (items that add more time to your drop meter) when I'm getting close to dropping into another character and wanting to stay in the world I'm in.

I actually like the Drop feature quiete a bit. I also like sending one character into one world and another character into another. It adds quiete a bit of variety to the gameplay and story.

Oh and there are two other things I'd like to talk about: graphics and music.

Kingdom Hearts 3D has some of the best, if not the best, graphics on the 3DS. It looks amazing. And the 3D is fantastic. I hardly ever turn the 3D off. It just looks so good.

As for music, the game has a bunch of great tunes, some familar and some not. The Fantasia world, of course, has the best music of the entire game. Wow.

Overall, if you're a fan of the series, I think you'll love this game. If you've never played any of the games before & you're a Disney fan, I think you'll love it too. Kingdom Hearts 3D is a great game for the 3DS. Its my favorite game right now too.

The Dark Knight Rises---Spoiler Free Review

      There isn't a lot I can say about The Dark Knight Rises without giving something away, so I'll keep this short.

Everyone is this movie is brillant, but Anne Hathaway and Joseph Gordon-Levitt's characters are the best. Those two actors/characters pretty much steal the movie. That said, Gary Oldman & Micheal Caine were so brillant in this movie and the other two movies. And Bale. HE is Bruce Wayne/Batman. I'm not sure how anyone else is going to do any better than his Bruce Wayne/Batman.

  The story is also excellent. Dare I say it, but its the best Batman story of all three. Tom Hardy's villian is nowhere as great as Ledger's Joker, but the story here is better in my opinon. That is saying a lot too since the Dark Knight had a great story!

Overall, the Dark Knight Rises is the perfect ending to a great Batman trilogy. 

Wish I could say more, but I don't want to ruin this movie for anyone who hasn't seen it yet! Its a MUST see.

Grade: A++

Rainbow Moon First Impressions

I wanted to write something long and detailed as my first impressions for Rainbow Moon, but to be honest, thats better left to a review (I'll try to have a review after I've beaten the story at least).

For now, I just want to say: If you love turn-based rpgs and/or turn-based strategy rpgs and have a Playstation 3, you MUST buy this game. GO GET IT NOW. Why are you still reading this? GO!

If thats not a good enough first impression, let me add these thoughts:

-The graphics are old school (think Final Fantasy Tactics or Vandel Hearts), but old school meets HD. You'll get a classic looking rpg experiance but with much more detail and just overall a great looking game.

-The battle system is like FF Tactics or Diseaga. You can only have three party members in battle though.

-While this is a strategy rpg, you don't just go from points on the map like FF Tactics. Instead, like a regular rpg, your character wanders around from towns to dungeons and there are some enemies shown, but there are also optional random battles. Yes, you heard me right. You can skip random battles if you want. That said...

-Even on Normal, the game can be challenging. You're going to have to level up. I hear you'll have to do even more leveling up on HARD mode though.

-Story? Don't worry about a story! The fun in Rainbow Moon is the battles and exploring the different areas you go to. Don't worry though, the game does point you in the direction of the next "plot point", so you won't be lost. But you can still do some looking around in the different areas. Believe me, you won't get bored. There are so many quests to take on, so many items to find, new enemies to fight, basically just suprises around every corner.

-This game is addictive! You'll have a hard time putting it down.

Rainbow Moon is a fantastic game. I really love it. I recommend it to all turn-based rpg/strategy fans. You'll have a blast!

Kingdom Hearts 3DS Demo Impressions

On the 3DS, publishers give the players a certain number of tries before they can't play a demo anymore. The Kingdom Hearts demo has 30 tries (which is what most of the demos have). I currently only have 21 tries left. This is the least tries I have left of any demo so far.

Why do I keep replaying the Kingdom Hearts Dream Drop Distance demo?

First off, I have to admit that I'm a huge Kingdom Hearts fan. I loved the first two games a lot. Sure, the DS Kingdom Hearts game wasn't so great (it just repeated levels from the first game), but I still love the franchise. So I went into KHDDD hoping I'd love it.

And I did love it.

The graphics in the demo are stunning, especially with the 3D on. The 3D gives the game a lot of depth (only pop out I saw was in the Transverse Town logo) and it just looks amazing.

The gameplay is a lot of fun. Its similar to the other Kingdom Hearts games, in that there is a menu always there to select powers/items, but you move around in battles freely. New to the gameplay is something called Flowmotion. Basically, if you're character jumps onto a banner he'll slide across it quickly (almost like he's flying). Ditto down rails and if you grab light poles, you can fly at bad guys and attack them. Flowmotion is a really great new addition. It makes the gameplay feel very quick and fun. Also new is Reality Shift. In the full game there will be different ways to use reality shift depending on the world you're in. For the demo, when you reality shift, the gameplay goes to the bottom screen. You have hold of an object and can slingshot it far away. Very cool effect.

Demo disappointments:

The demo only lets you play in a section of Transverse Town, a non-Disney world. So there are no Disney characters in the demo (well there is a short tutorial with the villian from Little Mermaid, but thats it).

You only play as Sora in the demo, whereas in the full game, you play as Riku too. Its too bad we couldn't have seen what his gameplay was like.

The demo does not feature Drop mode. I have to admit I'm very nervous about drop mode. I hear when you're playing the actual Kingdom Hearts DDD game, there is a meter that goes down as you play. Once its out, you switch (drop) to the other games character (Riku or Sora). I wonder how this will effect gameplay. Does the meter go too fast? Will exploration of levels have to be really fast? I wish the demo had featured this so we would have a good idea.

In any case, I know the demo can't give away everything. I just wish the demo was a little bit longer and had included a couple more features at least.

I am looking forward to the full game a lot. This demo will have to keep me happy till then!

Amazing Spider-man Spoiler Free Review

I'm a huge Spider-man fan. Spidey is my favorite superhero and I still have a lot of his comics. That said, when I first heard about this movie I wasn't sure about it. A complete new cast and the origin retold again? And it hasn't really been that long since Toby Maguire's Spider-man movies too...

Then, I started to see previews for the movie. The more I saw of it, the more excited I started to get. It just looked like a really good movie. I admit, at first, I still wasn't planning to see it. Finally, I couldn't resist it though. It was a new Spider-man movie and it looked awesome.

So, I saw the movie on Thursday. I was prepared to like it, but I didn't think I'd like it more than the first two Maguire movies. That just seemed impossible.

Well, I was wrong. The new Spider-man movie is the best Spider-man movie yet. Andrew Garfield, who plays Peter Parker/Spider-man, blows Maguire's Peter/Spidey away. Garfield IS Peter Parker. He just lives in that role. And Spider-man? Wow! Finally a wisecracking Spider-man! Maguire's Spider-man wisecracked once in the first movie and that was pretty much it. His Spidey just didn't talk too much. Garfield's Spidey has a problem shutting up! Not saying he's never quiet, but if you compare him to Tobey's Spidey, he's a complete jabberbox. Garfield's Spidey is, without a doubt, the Spider-man from the comics.

As far as the rest of the cast: I'm not really a Gwen fan in the comics (I like MJ), but Emma Stone IS Gwen Stacy. She lives in the role too and does a great job of it. In fact, I like her better than MJ in the Tobey movies! Doctor Curt Connors is perfect too; so is Gwen's dad.

And Uncle Ben! Oh man. Martain Sheen IS Uncle Ben. He had something really great lines and just does a better job than Cliff Robertson did. Sally Field is good as Aunt May too! She and Sheen are very believable and great in their parts.

You might also be wondering about the story. I won't tell you what happens in it, but I will tell you that its a much darker story than the other Spidey movies. And yet, there's more humor than the other movies too. For Spider-man fan reference, the story is very much in the vain of a J.M. DeMatties Spidey story, but staring the Lee/Ditko Peter/Spider-man with the Romita Gwen. For the non-comic book fan reference, Garfield's Spider-man is different from the Maguire movies, but its full of more heart than those movies. Its much more focused on Peter Parker. Not to say there isn't any Spidey action, cause there is, but its without a doubt Peter's story.

Overall, its an AMAZING movie. I loved it.

Grade: A+

Heroes of Ruin (3DS) Demo First Impressions

Today, I got to play the Heroes of Ruin (3DS) demo for the first time. My dad and I have been waiting awhile to play this game. We were really disappointed when the full game got pushed back to July 17th in the U.S. So how is the demo? Is the full game still worth buying?
Let me back up a bit, for those who don't know what Heroes of Ruin is. Heroes of Ruin is a game developed by a company called Nspace & published by SquareEnix. The game is an action rpg or to be more specific, a dungeon crawler. You start out by choosing one of four types of people to play as (only two available in the demo), customize them a bit, and then are thrown into the world of Veil. In this world, you go on quests, fight bad guys, collect loot, and have a great time. What makes Heroes of Ruin especially fun is that you can team-up locally, with a friend or parent (my dad & I will be teaming up) or online with friends or strangers.

In the demo, you can play locally with someone nearby or online with strangers (I suppose you could play with someone you know...but...well I'll get to that...).

The local multiplayer works great. The load times connecting locally are not too long and there were no errors at all while playing.

The online works...well...not so great so far. I did connect a couple of times with strangers, but other times I tried to connet & had an error. One time an error caused my system to reboot...

Also, finding a person you know online with Heroes of Ruin? It seems impossible. I started a game online and my dad could not find me when looking through the online player list. The same thing happened when my dad started a game. I could not find him at all. Worse: the demo does not support the 3DS's Join Friend friend list feature. :(

I'm hoping that in the actual game you'll be able to join your friend online right from the friend list. If not, well, I hope there is a better way to find your friends online in the actual game...

In any case, the online is the only real problem I have with the demo. The gameplay is fun, there's lots of loot to collect, bad guys to fight, the local multiplayer works great, and the graphics are nice.

Overall, its a really good demo and I can't wait to have the full game! July 17th is going to take forever. Well, at least I'll be able to play the demo while I'm waiting. :)

It's July! FINALLY!

Whew. Its finally July. June just seemed to be going on and on and on and on...lol.

I'm so happy its finally July. There are just so many great things coming out this month...like...

-Heroes of Ruin: This Thursday, there will be a demo for Heroes of Ruin for the 3DS. Can't wait to play the game for the first time. Very excited about it. The actual game comes out July 17th! I'll try to have impressions of the demo up sometime this week. And a review of the actual game soon too.

-Amazing Spider-man (movie): Wow. I am very, very, very, very excited for this movie! I'm a huge Spider-man fan and the more I see of this movie, the more I want to see it. I'm, maybe, more excited for this than I was for Avengers. And thats saying a lot! Can't wait. We are seeing it this Thursday! I'll try to have a non-spoiler review of it up on Thursday or Friday.

-Rainbow Moon: For the PS3. Its a downloadable stradegy rpg. I'm very excited for this game. It looks great. It has exploration like a regular rpg and lots of other cool stuff. I will try to have a review up about it sometime this month. Maybe. Its a 40 hour game (with extras taking over 100 hours). So it might be next month or...later. :)

-The Dark Knight Rises (movie): The third & final movie in the Nolan Batman trilogy. Oh man. This is going to be epic! Looking forward to it a lot. I'll try have a non-spoiler review of it up after I see it.

-Kingdom Hearts Dream Drop Distance: For the 3DS. I'm getting this too. Loved the demo (hey, I really should try to get impressions of the demo up soon). Can't wait to play the actual game! I'll try to have a review of it up in August.

So yes, I am planning to write more on this blog. Well, unless I'm too busy playing all the games that come out this month. lol. :)

3DS Games I Can't Wait To See

I spend a lot of time talking about Animal Crossing 3DS, so much so that people might get the idea that its the only game I'm looking forward to on the 3DS. Thats just not true. Sure its the MAIN game I'm looking forward to, but its not the only one. Here are the other games I'm looking forward to:

Heroes of Ruin, coming out on July 17th in the U.S., is a dungeon crawler action rpg. If it was only a single player game, I'm not sure I'd buy it. Thankfully Heroes of Ruin has 4-player off-line and on-line co-op. You can join people online or offline to fight monsters and hunt for loot. The game even has voice chat online! It'll have Daily/weekly challenges for people to complete too. I think this game is going to be one of the best games for the 3DS when it comes out. Can't wait!

Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance is an action rpg from Disney/SquareEnix. If you're a Disney fan and you've never played a Kingdom Hearts game....GO! Stop reading this. Just go get Kingdom Hearts 2 for the PS2 if you can. Its a fantastic title. It has lots of Disney characters and worlds, along with some SquareEnix characters too. The Kingdom Hearts series does have a very complicated story (does it ever!), but its so much fun to go to the different worlds and meet the Disney characters. Previously the handheld Kingdom Hearts games haven't been great, but DDD will change that. The game has all-new Disney worlds to explore, some new gameplay tricks up its sleeve, and it looks great on the 3DS. I don't think I'll be buying this one right when it comes out, but I will get it as soon as I can!

Epic Mickey: Power of Illusion is a spinoff of the Epic Mickey series of games (the first one was Wii only, the second one is multiplatform). Its a platformer, think Mario, but with lots of Disney characters & a cool paint/thinner concept. I think its going to be a really fun game. Possibly a must buy too. I'm hoping that a demo will appear on the 3DS before it comes out!

And those are the three other games that I'm really looking forward to. Though, I'm sure there will be many more games added to this list as the year goes on! Can't wait to see what appears on the 3DS next.

Thank You Mr. Bradbury

Ray Bradbury, writer of so many wonderful stories, died last week.

It came as a shock to me. I knew he was older now, but yet, he was still writing books. You still heard about him online too. I guess apart of me expected we'd have him around for years to come...

And now he's gone.

I didn't know Bradbury the person, but I loved the Martian Chronicles and loved the short stories of his I've read.

Most of all, he's had a major effect on my writing. I love how he thought of summer, childhood, and October, one of my favorite months (because of Halloween). I love the sense of wonder and excitement he brought to his stories. Nobody writes like Bradbury. His stories are descriptive, full of imagination and times long past.

I can see Ray Bradbury in some of the stories I've written so far too. In one recent story I wrote, there was a scene set in a park that when I went back to read I thought "Thats definitly influenced by Ray Bradbury." I owe him so much. For the wonderful stories I've read and will read of his. And for the sense of wonder and excitement I hope to put into my own stories.

Bradbury the person may be gone, but his books are still out there. If you've never read a Ray Bradbury story, please go out and read his books now. At least the Martian Chronicles or one of his brillant short stories. Everyone should experiance a Ray Bradbury story.

The world needs more wonder...

E3 Message Board Post!

I mentioned in my last post that I would be posting an E3 2012 thread at Spicy Cake. I decided to post it today because I've been hearing some cool news & rumors this week already. (nothing about Animal Crossing 3DS though. would love hear something early about that).

Here's the thread: http://www.spicycake.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=videogames&action=display&thread=118

Man, wish this week was over already! Can't wait to see what E3 has in store for us! :)

E3 NEXT WEEK!!



THE OFFICIAL E3 LOGO

On Monday, June 4, E3 starts! Well the E3 press conferences anyway.

Microsoft, Sony, EA, and Ubisoft all have conferences on Monday.

Nintendo has their conference on Tuesday. They also have a 'Software Showcase' on Wednesday!

I will be creating an E3 2012 message board post at my favorite message board, Spicy Cake, ON FRIDAY (I'll post a link to that post on here & on twitter then).

I'll post my comments about E3: Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft, plus some pre-E3 links there.

I will try to write some longer comments on Nintendo here during E3 week. Maybe Sony too.

Not sure yet if I'll watch the Micrsoft conference. I might. We'll see.

Anyway, I'll leave with two pieces of cool pre-E3 news:

There will be a new Harvest Moon coming for the 3DS. Its called Harvest Moon: A New Beginning and it'll be shown at E3.

There will be a Castlevania for the 3DS. Konami, the developers of the game, will have a pre-E3 event on Thursday, so they'll probably show the game then!

I'll try to post more cool news here or even more likely at Spicy Cake soon! :)

Animal Crossing 3DS: What I Want To See

Animal Crossing 3DS!

From the moment I heard there would be an Animal Crossing for the 3DS, I decided I had to own a 3DS. I wrote about my love for Crossing in another entry, so I won't bore you with that. Instead, I want to tell you what I hope to see in AC3DS


1. Better Online

Hey! I'm trying to fish here! Stop swimming!

In Animal Crossing City Folk (Let's Go to The City for my UK friends), the online was forever giving us trouble. And its NOT my internet connection. I have upgraded to the best internet I can get around here and Crossing's online still lags with a lot of company. Plus there's the terrible 'blue screan of death' as I call it. Basically, when you lose connection with your friends, the screen goes blue and shows Resetti saying he's sorry... 

For Crossing 3DS, I'm hoping that the online gameplay won't be laggy and that we won't see the 'blue screen' at all. I'm really hoping that Nintendo brings their A game to Crossing's online.

It would also be cool to be able to do more while your friends are over. Donate fossils, paintings, go to the city with your friends, maybe catch the scorpion with them and shot down the UFO? I could be dreaming, but it would be nice to have more to do with friends.

Swimming, as shown above, is an awesome first step to that.

2. Better Communication

Can you hear me now?

Please no more Wii Speak! Its awful. A headset would be nice. There HAS to be voice chat in the new Crossing. We can't go back to texting only like Wild World. So a Headset would be perfect. I suppose they could have the system mic available for people who don't want the headset. Though, I imagine that would have the same problems the Wii Speak has...

3.  Smarter Animals!

I wonder if that duck is going to the well

In Animal Crossing Wild World (and in the first game), the animals were a lot smarter. They didn't repeat phrases as much and they seemed more aware of their surroundings. In one video that I saw of Animal Crossing 3DS, there were two animals visiting and just hanging out in an animals house. I want to see a lot of that! I also hope animal pictures from Wild World return (in WW, if an animal liked you a lot they'd give you their picture).  Oh and maybe the Animals could have hobbies like in the first game. I just hope the animals have more to say (and do) than they do in City Folk.


4. No Grass Problem

Not my town. Found this picture online.

The above is an example of the horrible grass problem that plagues City Folk. Its not the worse example. I wish I had a picture to show you of my first City Folk town. Oh man. In any case, I hope 'animal tracks' as Nintendo calls it, does NOT return. Seriously. I want to be able to RUN again in my town. And not have to worry about putting walkway patterns everywhere.

5. Free and Paid DLC

The new furniture store?

City Folk has new free downloadable content that Nintendo sends to us by in-game mail. I want to see that return, but I also want to see content that we can buy with REAL money. Now, I'm NOT talking about new furniture (or new clothes). I hope the new furniture (and clothes) is free like it is in City Folk. The paid content I want is:

-new areas to explore. A jungle, a forest, a cave, etc. It would be cool to download a new area that we can visit and explore. Maybe hop on the train to go there? Each new area could have animals you've never run into and maybe some special fish, bugs, and items that you can only get from that area. Some areas could be big and others could be small.

-new animals. Wouldn't it be cool if Nintendo released new types of animal every once and awhile? Say they introduce turtles to the game. You pay for the turtles, download them to your system and the next time you have an open spot, you'll get one of the new turtles. I'm not saying Nintendo should leave out animals so that they can make them dlc. I'm talking about additional animals that Nintendo could make & add to the game over the course of the game's lifetime.

Thats the type of PAID dlc I want to see. Will Nintendo do any of this? I don't know. Maybe they'll leave this for the Wii U Crossing...

6. Lots of Stuff For the Mayor to Do

I am now MAD with power! wahawaha!

In the new Animal Crossing for 3DS, you are the MAYOR. You get your own office and you can place street lamps and other items in the town. Thats all we know about the mayor job so far. I'm hoping that as mayor you can decide what animals stay in your town and who leaves. I also hope you'll get PAID in bells for being mayor. Maybe they'll be a ton of different items, more than we've seen, that you can put in the town too. I want the Mayor job to be a great new major addition to the game (more complex than the City in City Folk please).

Oh and don't worry: Nintendo has already said you can put as much effort into being mayor as you want. So if you don't really want to be the mayor, you can just go off and fish. :)

Personally, I can't wait to be the mayor in my town!

7. Your AC3DS Town Could Look Like This

Love this map!

The above is Concept Art for the new Animal Crossing game. It came from a roundtable video that the developers of the game had. I hope this is what your town could really look like! I know all the towns will look different, like they always do, but I'm hoping that just like the picture shows you can have two islands (one big, one small), a campfire on the beach, a small hut in the middle of the ocean, and of course the train running through town. Oh and I love that the city is so close to your town! I'm hoping that they follow this concept art. I can't wait to see what the new towns look like!

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And thats what I want to see in AC3DS. If just some of these features are in the game, I'll be happy. If all of it is in the game, wow! Wouldn't that be great?

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Notes:

Thanks to freebuddy321 (Animal Crossing 3DS) on twitter for the idea for this blog entry.

All pictures here are copyright and trademarked by Nintendo.

My Fall TV Schedule

As anybody who reads this blog knows (and people who follow me on twitter---@df2506 or facebook), I'm a huge TV bug. I watch a TON of stuff on TV. And this Fall, wow. There is some really interesting stuff. Here's what I'll be watching.

MONDAY

9PM---HAWAII FIVE-0: Going into its 3rd season in the Fall. This show is a lot better than you'd thin it would be. What really makes it is the friendship between the two main guys: McGarrett and Dan-o. The show is good well written popcorn fun.

Also on at 9, most likely I'll watch it ON DEMAND (but maybe live...)

REVOLUTION: A brand new show for NBC. In Revolution all the power goes out (in America at least). That means no working cars, no electricity, nothing! 15 years later, people are just trying to survive and all of the old buildings and cars and stuff are completly covered in plants. The show looks like an epic 'Walking Dead' type deal (no zombies though). It looks tthe best out of all the new shows imo.

TUESDAY

9PM---VEGAS: A new show for CBS. Vegas is set in the 1960s  and follows a sheriff (played by Dennis Quaid) trying to keep the peace in Vegas while also having to deal with mobsters trying to take over the place. It looks really good and has some really good actors in it. I'm hoping its a fun show.

WEDNESDAY      

7PM---ARROW: A new show for CW. Arrow is about Green Arrow, aka Oliver Queen, as he fights crime with his trusty bow & arrow (he is a DC COMICS character). I saw a preview of this yesterday and it looks good. I hope it is!

8PM---SUPERNATURAL: Returning for its 8th season of CW. Supernatural is a show about two brothers who hunt monsters (vampires, werewolves, etc). Its a really good show and I'm glad its coming back next season! I'm also glad that it has a new timeslot on Wednesdays!

9PM---CSI: Returning for its 100th season....not! But its gotta be its 11 or 12. Maybe more? I've lost count. The orignal CSI is still the best though. It now stars Ted Danson, who does a really good job on the show. Glad its coming back.

THURSDAY

7PM---LAST RESORT: A new show for ABC. In Last Resort, an American Naval Sub is given the order to nuke a country. They refuse the order, go rogue, and end up taking over an island! The concept is unique for ABC and the show looks intersting. Hope its good!

8PM---PERSON OF INTEREST: Returning for its second season! Person of Interest is about two guys, Reese and Finch, who help people who need help with the aid of a machine that sees everything and can predict when someone is in trouble. This is a really well written, well acted show, with lots of action and drama. I'm VERY glad its coming back.

9PM--ELEMENTARY: A new show for CBS. Elementary transports Sherlock Holmes to modern day...and New York. Holmes is still British (thank goodness). The show also features an American female Watson. Saw a trailer for this and it looked better than I thought it would. It didn't look anywhere as good as Sherlock (from the BBC), but it looked interesting. Not sold on the female Watson character, especially because she is played by an actress I'm not a fan of. We'll see how that works out...

FRIDAY

7PM---TOUCH: Returning for its second season! Touch is about a boy who can find the threads linking people together and, through his dad, he can help people connect with each other and make good things happen. Its a bit hard to explain. lol. But its a very good show and I'm glad its coming back.

8PM---FRINGE: Coming back for its fifth and FINAL season. Fringe will get 13 episodes and will finish out its storyline. The show is, basically, about three people who investigate strange events that nobody explain. Its a really cool show! I'm going to miss it when it ends.

9PM---BLUE BLOODS: Returning for its third season! Blue Bloods stars Tom Selleck. Its a cop show that centers around a family with two cops, one former cop, and a lawyer. Its a really good show.

SATURDAY

GRIMM: This is actually on Fridays, but we can't see it till Saturday for awhile. After Fringe ends, we'll be able to watch it on Fridays. Grimm is about a cop who also happens to come from a long line of monster hunters. The cops best friend is a "monster" named Monore. Sort of a 'big bad wolf'. The shows stories are inspired by Grimm Fairy Tales and other dark fairy tales too. Its a good show and I'm glad its coming back.

8PM---DR. WHO: Coming back in August! Can't wait. Dr. Who is a fantastic series. So well written, well acted, and lots of fun. I love it.

SUNDAY

7PM---ONCE UPON A TIME: One of the best new shows this season! It had an amazing season finale. I can't wait to see what they do next season! Once Upon A Time is fairy tale characters who are cursed to live in the normal world by the evil queen from Snow White. The show also shows flashbacks to the world that the fairy tale characters came from. The best way I can find to describe it short hand: think Lost meets Disney characters. This show is a blast! And its good one for the whole family.

8PM---WALKING DEAD: Going on its Third season in October. Oh man, this show is one of the best, if not THE best, shows on TV right now. The writing on this show is so great and the acting is too. Not recommended for the weak of stomach though. There are a lot of gross stuff in this show. But if you can get past the grossness, you'll find complex characters and really good storyline. I highly recommend this one to older viewers.

And thats it! Thats, mostly, what I'll be watching in the Fall. There are probably one or two or three shows that I left out because I either forgot about them or they don't come back till later. I'll update this list if I can think of any of them. lol.

The Blog Will Return Soooon!

Yep, I'm keeping up with this blog REAL well....*sigh*

Sorry folks. I have no good excuse at all. Its not like I'm working or something...

I am, however, writing short stories. So I am still writing every night...just not this blog!

I will write a blog entry soon with my Fall TV viewing schedule as soon as the networks announce all their schedules (still CBS & CW to go).

In the meantime, I just want to say: SHERLOCK on Sunday was BRILLANT. Wow. And Once Upon A Time was EXCELLENT. Great stuff. And yesterday Hawaii Five 0 was fun, House was depressing (I hope it has a great finale...), and Eureka was hilarous.

And now, nothing to watch on TV until Thursday. *sigh*

Anyway...I'll write here again soon!

Sherlock-A Scandal in Belgravia

A short review about tonight's Sherlock episode....
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Are you watching Steven Moffat's brillant BBC show Sherlock? If not, go see it! Go now! Don't even bother reading this! Just go watch it! Seriously.

Now, you've seen it? Good. I'll still try not to give too much away if you decided not to watch it (for some crazy reason. its a can't-miss-show).

The first three episodes of Sherlock series 1 were really good. Benedict Cumberbatch may just be the best Sherlock Holmes ever. And Martin Freeman is really good as Watson.

Now the first episode of Series 2 is just...wow. Fantastic. This one introduces the Woman. Holmes fans will know who that is. I won't tell you how she's introduced, but she really makes an impression. The actress who brings her to life, Lara Pulver, is brillant. She does a great job and has a really complex character. Everyone else is wonderful in this too, but its really Benedict Cumberbatch and Lara Pulver's show. Both of them are fantastic, the story is well written (by Steven Moffat), and its just a great reimagining of the orignal story.

Next week will be the Hound of the Baskervilles and after that The Reichenbach Falls. Can't wait! Its going to be excellent.

The Avengers Review (No spoilers!)

WOW!

If you liked the other Marvel movies, you'll love this movie!

If you've never seen the other Marvel movies, why not?!

But you should be fine going to see this movie without seeing the others. I think.

In any case, go see this movie! Its awesome!

If I told you anything more, you'd kill me. Its the best superhero fick EVER! Well worth seeing at the big screen. Twice or more in fact (I would so go see it again if I had the money). Loved it. Can't wait till its out on dvd!

Wow, sorry about that...

I haven't been keeping up with this blog lately. I'm not sure if anyone reads this anyway, but if someone has been, sorry! I have no good excuse for not keeping up with this! Its not like I'm actually doing something these days...lol.

With May coming up, though, I will try to write more in this. There are some really exciting (well to me) things happening in May.

First up, I'm going to see the Avengers movie this week! I'll try to have a non-spoiler review of it late Friday or on Saturday! Can't wait to see it.

Also in May, the television networks tell us what shows are coming back and what new shows they are getting. As soon as I hear what's what, I'll make sure to post my fall tv schedule here!
And even more stuff in May: May 6 Sherlock returns to PBS. Sherlock is a series about Sherlock Holmes and its set in the Present. Its a UK production and a really good series! Wish there was more than three episodes every season though...

Oh and Jessie Stone, the character created by Robert B. Parker (of Spenser fame) returns in TV movie in May too. Tom Selleck returns as the small town sheriff, Jessie, who solves mysteries and battles his own demons. Very cool series of movies.

That all said, JUNE really is going to the best month. I'm looking forward to E3 week (June 4-7) a lot. And I promise that week I'll be writing a lot on this blog! :)

So that wraps up the apology and I'll try to write again this week. At the very least, I'll have a new blog entry up this weekend in which I review the Avengers!

Introduction to E3

If your a video game fan, especially a Sony or Nintendo or Microsoft (or all three) fan, then you should be excited about E3.

E3 is the Electronic Entertainment Expo. Its held once a year in Los Angeles. This year is being held JUNE 4-7. The event is Press and Game Developers/Publishers ONLY (though I do think some rich and/or famous people get to attend too). Its NOT open to the general public (folks like us).

The event starts with Press Conferences from the major publishers: Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony. They each announce all their upcoming games for this year (and beyond!). Microsoft usually goes on Monday and Nintendo & Sony one Tuesday. (I'll update with the full schedule when I have it).

There's also press conferences from Game Developers like EA (Electronic Arts), Ubisoft, Capcom, etc.

E3 also has a convention floor where all the games (and new systems sometimes) are shown off to the Press.

In America, the Press Conferences are shown on a TV network called G4. Its a Video game network (although, lately, it shows more than just video games. *sigh* ). They air the conferences and then show some footage from the convention floor too.

But the Conferences can be found Online also!

I'll try to post some links to them when I find them (closer to E3).

Anyway, if your a video game fan, get excited! Some cool stuff is always announced at these events.

What I'm hoping for: Animal Crossing 3DS footage!!! (hoping the game itself is shown again before E3 and a release date is announced...but who knows...sigh...).

Remember, E3 is JUNE 4-7! :)

Netflix Saves the Day!

Sometimes, there's just nothing on TV at all. Either because of reruns or because its just a bad night for TV, like a Saturday. When that happens, I'm VERY thankful that we have Netflix Streaming.

When Netflix raised the pricing on both streaming and dvds awhile back, we knew we would have to drop one of them. And we knew it would be DVDS. We were watching a lot of Netflix Streaming back then and we still do. The dvds once or twice a week were nice to get in the mail, but Streaming tv shows and movies onto our Wii and/or PS3 was just GREAT. Some nights, there's just a bunch of bad stuff on tv. Its nice to be able to watch an old favorite TV show or a cool movie I've seen before (or once and awhile, a movie or tv show I've never seen).

Take tonight for instance. We didn't have much to do so we watched a bunch of Lost season 2 episodes! It was great to see those again and it really helped us get through the night. Tuesday can be awful sometimes (especially when Unforgettable is a rerun!).

Netflix is a great service. I'm glad we have it!

If You Liked...#2

If you liked...the X-Files...than you may like Fringe!

Now on its fourth season, Fringe is a really awesome show. Unlike X-Files, it has three main characters: Oliva, Peter, and Walter. These three (one FBI agent, two "normal" scientists) investigate, along with a few other people along the way, strange events in Fringe science (science not accepted by normal scientists).

There are no aliens in this show, but there have been monsters and some other really strange stuff (like another reality...well thats later on...).

If you liked X-Files, I highly recommend Fringe. I think you'll like it. Its best to start at Season 1 though, because just like X-Files, you'll be lost if you start watching the show in the middle.

Right now, Fringe viewers are crossing their fingers for a Season 5. I hope it gets it! Its just one of the best shows on TV.

I'm reading #3

I keep going back to reading Stephen King's writing book On Writing. This is the third time I've read the book. I'm a big fan of King's novels, especially his non-horror stuff like the Dark Tower, The Green Mile, etc. Though sometimes one of his horror books is good too!

I'm also reading a book by Andy Rooney, who was a news reporter and on 60 Mintues for a very long time. His book, Word by Word, is basically a collection of essays, Rooney talking about stuff that bugs him (like he did on 60 Mintues). Its good so far.

Oh and I had the library order me a book called Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter by a writer I just heard of named Tom Franklin. It sounds like a mystery.

The library is supposed to order Stephen King's new book, Wind in the Keyhold (another Dark Tower book) and they are going to put my name on the list for it. Hopefully I'll be high up on the list and get to read it soonish.

Its a great time to be a reader. :)

One of my favorite Authors

Neil Gaiman is a really great writer. I love his two short story books, Fragile Things and Smoke & Mirrors and his novel American Gods. I also really like his comic Sandman, although I haven't read all of that yet.

And just yesterday I read a short story by him called The Truth is A Cave in the Black Mountains. You can read it here if you want:  http://www.fiftytwostories.com/?p=1338

Its a really fantastic story. Enjoyed it a lot.

Its orginally from a short story collection that Gaiman edited called STORIES. I haven't read this collection yet, but I really want to. Its got a lot of really interesting stories in it from some good writers like Joe Hill (who wrote an awesome, creepy book called The Heart-Shaped Box)

I recommend Gaiman to adults who like supernatural and fantasy stories. Although, Gaiman has written some interesting books for kids too, Caroline and The Graveyard Book. I have not read them, but I hear they are both good (especially Graveyard Book).

I wish I was as great a writer as Neil Gaiman.

Xenoblade: First Impressions

Today I went to Gamestop and picked up my copy of Xenoblade. So far, I have seven hours on the game. Here are my thoughts about Xenoblade so far:
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On the Playstation 2, fans of Japanese role playing games had a lot to be happy about. There were great games like Final Fantasy 10, Dark Cloud 1 & 2, Wild Arms 3, and many other cool rpgs. Just like the PS1, the PS2 was a great home for RPGS. Enter the PS3. It has some really great rpgs, but most of them are NOT from Japan.

What does any of this have to do with Xenoblade, a Wii rpg title?

Basically Xenoblade is a lot like a Playstation 2 Japanese role playing game in some ways. And that is a VERY good thing. Graphics-wise, the game is on the level of one of the PS2 greats like FF10 or Wild Arms 3. Its not a next gen looking rpg, but I have to say: SO WHAT. Seriously, the graphics may not be next gen, but its PS2 era and the level of design & detail on the game may even surpass some PS2 games. The areas you can explore are amazingly HUGE (think more like a PS1 rpg huge or maybe more so). I'm so very impressed by that. I'd say this game has even more exploration than a game like White Knight Chronicles (which had some really huge areas to explore). It just so very impressive and its not something you'd expect to see on a Wii game.

Oh and I haven't even mentioned the battle system yet. I have to admit at first I wasn't sure about the battle system, but now I'm really growing to love it. Its part real-time, part menu based. Think FF12 or White Knight Chronicles (but imo, better than both). You only control one character in Xenoblade during battle and all of your characters auto-attack, but you have special powers that you have to time just right to get the bad guys. The menu buttons are there all the time and they are big and you get a description of what each power does. Its a cool battle system.

There are a ton of other great things in the game like buying new weapons, armor, etc (and equiping them and seeing your character actually look different with them on), making gems and adding them to the weapons, armor, etc, going on sidequests, getting to know your team mates and even people in the towns, and more.  Also: NO RANDOM BATTLES!! You see the enemy at all times and can, mostly, avoid them if you want (expect for story battles of course).
As for the controls, I'm playing the game with the Wii remote and nunchuck. It plays really good with that, expect the camera can be a bit tricky to use sometimes. But I'm even getting use to that. Though, I hear the Classic Controller is the best way to play the game, so you may want to use that when playing this game. I may want to get one of these days, but for now I'm more than ok using the regular Wii controls.

In summary: Xenoblade is a wonderful game. Its one of the few great rpgs of, not just the Wii, but of any system out right now.

IF YOU'RE A RPG FAN, GET THIS GAME. Show Nintendo you want more games like this. PLEASE.

An epic Wii RPG?!

This Friday, a very strange thing is happening: a Role playing game is coming out for the Wii. Yes, the Wii. Can you believe it?!

The rpg in question is called Xenoblade Chronicles. Its been out since late last year in the U.K. and even longer that in Japan. For a long while, Nintendo didn't want to bring it over here for some reason. I'm not sure why. Maybe they thought there wasn't an audience for it here? I'm not sure.

Finally though Nintendo is bringing Xenoblade to America on Friday. Its one of the few rpgs to EVER be released on the Wii. While the DS was a great home for rpgs, the Wii barely has any. So its really amazing to see an rpg coming for the Wii.

Not only that but all the reviews I've seen for Xenoblade have been great. The game sounds great too.

Yes, I have pre-ordered. Just preordered the game today in fact! I wasn't sure if I wanted it or not (you believe that?! rpg nut that I am...), but after seeing some great reviews and reading about it a lot on the official webpage, well, I couldn't resist.

I will do a first impressions post of it on Friday or Saturday. Can't wait to see it! :)

Upcoming Shows I Can't Wait To See

Next month a couple of cool shows return, they are:

The Killing: A mystery series about the murder of a teenage girl and how it affects the cops trying to solve her murder, the girl's family, and a politican who may or may not have killed the girl. So many twists to this show. Just rewatched it on Netflix recently and it plays even better without commericals.

Eureka: I covered what this show was about in another blog entry. I just have to say again how much I'm looking forward to this show. Wish it wasn't the final season!

Then in May, one show returns and a new movie in a series of movies airs:

Sherlock: The U.K. has already seen the second series of this brillant show, but America is finally getting it in May. Can't wait. The first season was wonderful. A cool update bringing Sherlock and Watson into a modern day setting. And its works. Well written, well acted. Really good show.

Jesse Stone: Not a regular series, but there have been several movies staring this character. Jesse Stone is played by Tom Selleck (Magnum, Blue Bloods) and is about a small town sheriff solving different cases. Very good movies. Looking forward to the new one!

In June, one of the coolest shows from last year returns:

Falling Skies: If you've seen Walking Dead then think about that show, expect for the zombies. Replace them with Aliens. Falling Skies is a show, much like Walking Dead, thats much more about the characters and them surviving than the overall 'How did this happen?' type of thing. Its a really cool show and I'm glad its coming back for a second season.

July sees the return of another favorite for a final season:

The Closer: This is a really good police drama and has a great cast, especially Kyra Sedgwick who plays Deputy Chief Brenda Johnson. Sad to see this one go. I'm not sure if the spinoff, Major Crimes, will be as good without Sedgwick, but you never know.

There may be other good shows coming soon, but those are the main ones I'm looking forward to.

Why I love Animal Crossing

I will never stop playing Animal Crossing. NEVER. Why? Because I love the game. I've been playing the game since the FIRST Animal Crossing on the Gamecube. Loved it then, love it now. Is it perfect? No. Does it get boring sometimes? Sure. But I keep playing the game because there's always suprises; there's always fun.

There's a new animal I've never seen in the city, I found an item I've never seen before, I meet a new player, or one of my friends I haven't seen in ages suddenly plays again. And the friends I have now! Oh man, they are great. Its always wonderful to talk to them, see how their day has been going, kid around with them, etc. Its a nice break from the real world.

Animal Crossing is a game about a human moving to a town full of animals. The animals are not always smart, but they are often funny. And there's so much to do in the game. You can fish, bug hunt, collect furniture, go visit your friends online, go to the City, plant pitfalls so that the animals you don't like fall into them, and more. The game is part game and part imagination.

You HAVE to build the game yourself. Cause the game has no ending. It just goes on forever. I suppose thats why some people get tired of it after awhile. There's no end in sight. Its just the same old same old to them.

But it doesn't have to be that way. Dad and I keep our town interesting because we let animals go, Dad will change the flowers, the path, the trees. We visit with our friends, we meet new friends, and we don't play the game all day and night like we did in the beginning. You have to find yourself some great friends to meet every day and set up a time to meet them. But you must also be open to playing other times when other friends want to play.

Animal Crossing is a SIM game. Its not for everyone. Its not for VERY young kids, cause they won't know how to play the game. And its NOT for people that need ACTION, ACTION, ACTION or STORY, STORY, STORY. The action is what you make it in Animal Crossing. The story is what you make it.

Take my town with my dad for instance (please. lol), we named it Asgard and named our characters Thor, Loki, Odin, and Beowulf. So we have the whole Norse town theme going on.

Another friend has all these animals with red eyes and she's having them say BLOOD!, so her town is Vampire themed.

Another friend has a town called DISNEY. And has Winnie the Pooh on the ground and she is wonderful at making Disney patterns like the Incredibles.

You don't have to have a theme to your town, but it helps.

I just love this game. I know some people get tired of it. I know they do.

My family never will though. We have too much time invested in the game. Dad and I have been with the game since the start, mom has been with it since Wild World. We are addicted. Its just impossible to stop.

Not saying that when the new game for 3DS comes out that we will still play City Folk a lot. We may play it a little and eventually not at all, but we WILL still be playing an Animal Crossing (3DS).

So if your a friend of ours thats stopped playing, we'd love to see you again. We're still playing. We'll still be playing as long as they make the games.

I can't think of any other game series I love more.

The Kid (Icarus) is back!

Back in the NES days, Nintendo made a game called Kid Icarus. They did a sequel to it on the Gameboy. Then, there was nothing. Unlike Mario, Zelda, Animal Crossing, etc, Kid Icarus has had only two games...well...that is...until NOW.

Kid Icarus: Uprising for the 3DS came out on Friday. I did not plan to buy the game orignally. I wasn't a fan of the first game. Sure it was neat, but it was WAY too hard for my tastes. Never did play the second game for the Gameboy. And the new one looked great, but I wasn't sure if it was for me.

This week, though, I had been reading a lot of reviews of the game, plus seeing more videos of it. I thought it looked great: gameplay and graphics. Also, I admit, I've been really bored with my other 3DS games lately. I needed a NEW game.

So I gave in and bought Kid Icarus: Uprising.

And its a GREAT game. The graphics are amazing, the gameplay is fun (and as challenging as you want it to be), the item collection is addictive, the online multiplayer is cool fast-paced action fun, the 3D is the best the 3DS has to offer (so far), and the story is nice. I like the voice acting too. It can be a bit corny, but its also a bit funny.

Kid Icarus is a the best 3DS game out now. If you like action games, you should get this one. Its a blast.

We All Have Dreams

When I was seven years old, I decided that I wanted to be a writer. I loved reading (still do) and I had a very active imagination (still do). I was always making up stories with my friends and acting them out. I wasn't a very good writer then, because I really didn't know anything about writing stories down. I had no sense, back then, what it really takes to BE a writer.

Now, many many years later, I know how hard it is to break in. I've submitted serveal short stories over the years and not a one has been published. I haven't written a novel yet (working on one now). As someone who has written a lot of short stories, I can tell you that its really HARD to get enough material to make a book. Am I whining? Ok, maybe a little. Writing is not as easy I thought it was when I was kid.

Am I going to give up? NEVER. I can never give up, because this is my DREAM. Its always been my dream. I've always wanted to be a writer and I can't help that. I love stories and I love creating them. I wish I was better at it. I'm always reading books about writing, following writers on twitter, and reading websites from writers too. I'll do that even after I finally get something published (you can always learn more). I really do believe I will get published. Not sure when, but it'll happen.

I hope to make a career out of it too; that'll be hard. Do I think I'll ever be Stephen King? Doubt that. But wouldn't that be GREAT?

I have to keep learning the craft and I need to focus more on my writing. I'm not great at setting a schedule for myself, but I'm getting better at it. Every night now, while I'm up late searching the internet, I'll write some too. Of course, one of these days I'll get myself to stop looking around online while I write. I'll have to work on that next!

Anyway, enough about me. If you have a dream, whatever it is, don't give up on it. We All Have Dreams and we all NEED dreams. And some of us really need to start making those dreams come true. Come on Dan, get back to writing!

I'm Reading #2

Still reading A Princess of Mars, but also reading another book too. Just got the book! Its called Which Lie Did I Tell?: More Adventures in the Screen Trade and its by William Goldman.

Goldman is a screenwriter who's written classic movies like Misery, the Princess Bride, Marathon Man, Butch Cassiday and the Sundance Kid, and many more. In Which Like Did I Tell, he tells stories from his time in hollywood.

My favorite, so far, is the Princess Bride chapter. If you haven't seen Princess Bride, you should. Especially if you fantasy movies. Bride is so well put together. Its a good family movie too. It starts with a Grandfather telling his sick grandson a story and shows you the story & goes back to the grandfather & grandson sometimes. The movie has romance, fantasy, action, adventure, and funny moments too. Its a movie some guys might think they'd not like just cause of the title. I say to them and to anybody else who might think " I don't know. Princess Bride? Not sure. ": get past it. Especially, like I said, if you like fanasy and action, and adventure and don't mind romance (or movies that don't take themselves too seriously).

Princess Bride is an older movie now. I think it come out in the 80s. Goldman talks a little bit about the creation of the book (which he wrote for his kids) and the movie. Its very interesting.

The next chapter is about the movie Misery (based on the Stephen King novel). Very good movie (good book too). Can't wait to read that chapter!

I love books like this. Of course, I wanna be a working writer, so I always love reading books about other writers and their experiances (and hopefully tips too). Goldman's book is well written and very interesting so far.

I'll continue to read A Princess of Mars too, but I wouldn't doubt that I'll be spending more time with Which Lie Did I Tell? than in the world of John Carter for awhile.

EUREKA! Its coming back!

Today I found out that one of my favorite shows is coming back soon (April 16!). The show is called Eureka and its going on its FINAL season. I wish that wasn't so. Let me explain a bit about the show (in case you haven't seen it).

Eureka centers around a small town run by the goverment. The town is mostly full of really smart people, most of whom work at a place Global Dynamics. The shows main character is Sheriff Jack Carter. Jack is the sheriff of the town, but also handles problems that come up with GD too. Jack isn't as smart as the other people in town, though he's nowhere as dumb as he might look or even act sometimes. Jack has come up with brillant solutions at unexpected times. Out of all the characters in the show, Jack really hasn't changed that much. He's still a fun character though.

As for the feel of the show, its a sci-fi/fantasy show with a mix of comedy & some drama. It tends toward the funny side mostly, but it has had some good dramatic moments here and there. The show has good effects, but the show cares more about its characters and storylines than delivering out of this world effects (so don't expect Battlestar Galactica like effects. Maybe a bit closer to Dr. Who's effects).

I'm trying to not say too much about the other characters, because I don't want to give too many plot twists away for people who have not seen the show.

One other character I would like to mention, though, is Jack Carter's house. Yes, his house is a character too. In fact, his house TALKS. It doesn't have a mouth or anything crazy like that. The voice is a computer voice that comes from some unseen speakers in the house. The house's name is SARAH. She's just a voice, but Eureka has really made her into a fun, sometimes funny character who seems just as real as any of the other characters.

Eureka is a FUN show. Its unlike anything else on TV. Also the previous season the writers really stepped up the writing and took some BIG chances and made some BIG changes. I hear this final season is supposed to be exciting too.

I wish it wasn't ending. I think they could do so much more with it. I'm not really sure why the network is canceling it. :(

If you've never seen Eureka, I recommend it. Its a really good show.

The Truth About Gamestop...

Just a Disclaimer: I'm not going to say whether I think Gamestop sucks or not in this. This is not a piece about whether its the best place to buy your games are not. I'm writing this to, TRY to clear up an issue thats been appearing with many of my online friends & people I don't know too. So, just wanted to make it clear: I'm not coming out against Gamestop (or for them even).

I'm just trying to tell you something thats TRUE here.

Warning: its kinda long. Just trying to cover everything. If you have any questions, please ask via twitter (random person question) or facebook (friends).

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The Truth About Gamestop's "release dates" for some Nintendo games is the whole title to this blog entry. Thought that was a bit too long, so I just decided to call this The Truth About Gamestop.

Now every so often some friends (via Facebook) & random people on the internet (via twitter) tell me that they have heard a RELEASE DATE for Animal Crossing 3DS. And I have to tell them, every time, that its NOT a real date. I have no fun in delivering that news. Believe me, I want a release date! I want the game NOW in fact!

But the truth is...Nintendo has NOT revealed a date for Animal Crossing 3DS yet. Nor have they revealed a date for Paper Mario, Luigi's Manison, or Fire Emblem.

The release dates that Gamestop (and probably other places too) lists for the above games are MADE UP.

Gamestop makes up dates for some games so that people can pre-order (pay ahead of time) games that don't have an official release date. I'm sure they don't just do this only for Nintendo games. They probably do that for other systems too. I can't speak to that though. I only know about Nintendo games.

These dates that Gamestop makes up are called PLACEHOLDER DATES.

They change these dates every soon often, usually when the date they had before has already passed, but sometimes if it doesn't look like the game is coming anytime soon, they'll pick a random later date (like August 2nd or something).

A good sign, in the U.S, that the date Gamestop is showing is NOT real is this: In the U.S. Nintendo only releases games on Friday or Sunday. Nintendo does not release games on Tuesday or Wednesday like other systems/developers. Most of the time its Sunday that their big games come out, but lately they've been releasing some on Fridays too.

So if you see a date from Gamestop and you look into August and see that its not a Friday or Sunday, then its definitly NOT the real date.

That said, even if it is a Sunday or Friday, you still might not be able to believe Gamestop.

The rule all Nintendo fans (especially Crossing fans---who are REALLY REALLY REALLY tired of waiting for this game) should live by, imo:

DON'T BELIEVE A RELEASE DATE UNTIL YOU SEE IT FROM NINTENDO.

If Nintendo hasn't announced a date, then its not true. Its either a rumor or a placeholder date.

Nintendo reveals release dates through press releases and sometimes through Nintendo Direct. Usually they do NOT reveal release dates durning their E3 presentation.

Crossing might (aka BETTER) be shown as a game coming this year, but they won't be like "Here's the release date". Ditto for any other games they show at E3. (and ya, probably no Wii U release date at E3, though I suppose you never know...)

Now, they may reveal the date online via press release during E3...BUT if they wait that long to reveal a date, then its likely Crossing won't be out till later this year...

So let's just HOPE we see a date BEFORE E3 IN JUNE.

Anyway, I hope this clears things up.

Just please keep your eyes open for a press release or Nintendo Direct (or both) from Nintendo. It could come at any time. Nintendo likes to SUPRISE people with dates for games (not just Crossing---they do it with ALL their games. Its so annoying). Ugh.

Also, a good source for release dates for games, is Nintendo Life. They are always reporting on things as soon as Nintendo announces it.

Oh and I'll be blabbing the date all over facebook & twitter too when its revealed. So don't worry. If you don't feel like looking for that press release/Nintendo Direct, then just stay tuned to me on twitter (@df2506) or facebook (if your a friend).

In the meantime, please don't believe Gamestop.

Music to My Ears

We all have different definations of what music is. Not everyone has the same taste in music and some of us can't stand certain types of music. Hey, I even hear there's people who don't like music at all. Is that true? I don't know. Never met a person that didn't like some kind of music. I suppose its possible though.

Instead of going on and on about the type of music I don't like, though, I'm going to go on and on about the type of music I LOVE.

At a young age, I was introduced to the Beatles by my father and they became my favorite band too. I also was introduced to tons of other 60s, 70s, and some 80s rock'n'roll too. Over the years, I've met other bands and songwriters from those times that have become big favorites: like Paul Simon, Bruce Springsteen, the Who, the Eagles, and many others.

I would say its the song writers that actually write their own stuff, like the Beatles, Paul Simon, Bruce Springsteen, the Eagles, etc that I love the most. There's something absolutely magical and wonderful about the songs that were created in those times. I'm not sure I can fully explain what it is that makes me love the music so much.

I was born in a different time, the 80s, so rock'n'roll was still around then but it was slowly fading away. Sure there are great singers like Paul Simon, Paul McCartney, Bruce Springteen, the Rolling Stones, that are still out there playing and making new music, but their not what's "popular" anymore. I don't care.

Rock'n'roll lives on and its amazing how just when you think maybe its gone for good, some new song appears from an old artist or a new one, and brings it back into the spotlight. Good music never fades away. As long as we hold onto what we love, it'll always be there. Turn up the sound, sing along, forget your troubles. Music to my Ears.

Movies I Can't Wait to See This Year

Its amazing to think that the year has only just started and already there's been one really fantastic action-packed, adventure filled movie (John Carter). I wonder if any of the other movies will top it. Then I start to think of the other movies coming and I realize that probably one of them will.

In May, the second blockbuster of the year arrives. The Avengers is a movie that I thought would never get made. The Hulk, Captain America, Iron Man, and Thor all in the same movie?! Years and years ago that would have just been a comic book fan's geeky dream movie. Now Joss Whedon, creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, has made the Avengers movie a reality! A ton of the best Marvel heroes in one movie going against the evil Loki (half-brother of Thor). Its going to be a really EPIC movie. I'm sure Whedon will do it justice. Can't wait.

In June, Disney Pixar is bringing out a brand new film called Brave. I don't know much about it other than its about a Scottish princess. It looks quiete good though and knowing Pixar it'll be a MUST see.

Then in July, two big superhero movies arrive. The one I'm looking forward to the most is The Dark Knight Rises. This is the final movie in the Chris Nolan Batman trilogy. Christan Bale returns as Batman and all the other key players: Gary Oldman as Gordon and Micheal Caine as Alfred return. Plus villians Bane & Catwoman make their first appearance. I'm not a huge Bane fan, but I have faith in Nolan. I think he'll make him a cool villian. I also think Catwoman will be the best Catwoman ever seen on screen. It'll be an awesome movie for sure.

The other July movie is The Amazing Spider-man. I had my doubts about this one at first. They were going to redo Spider-man again?! And the new look, at first, looked a bit Twilight-like. Now that I've seen more trailers the movie looks VERY cool. I like that Peter's parents are being used in this one, plus the Lizard is a villian that never showed up in the other movies. I think this is going to be a good movie and hopefully I'll get to see it at the thearter.

There are other movies coming out this year too, like the new James Bond movie, but the movie that I'm the MOST excited about is coming at the end of the year.

That movie, of course, is The Hobbit! I love the Lord of the Rings and a trip back to that world is going to be amazing. Its great that Peter Jackson is directing it again and I'm glad a lot of the key people from LOTR are coming back. If any movie this year is, without a doubt, going to beat John Carter its THIS movie. The Hobbit is going to be wonderful; there is no doubt in my mind about that. Just wish we didn't have to wait till the end of the year to see it! *sigh*

So those are the key movies I'm looking forward to this year. I think all of them will be a lot of fun.

Still, I can't wait to get John Carter on Blu-ray. :)

I'm Reading #1

Currently I'm reading A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs! I decided to start reading it after I saw the movie.

I have the story in a sci-fi short story collection I own. A Princess of Mars really isn't a short story though. Its more like a shorter book. Its said to be science fiction, but I don't really see it as that.

Princess is actually more of a fantasy than sci-fi. I guess when it was written it was sci-fi, but now that we know more about Mars, this would fit more under fantasy. Still, its a really fun story, though totally different from what I'm use to reading..

So far, there is no dialogue in the story (this may change). The story is told via first person narration. Its a very descriptive first person narration too. At first, when John Carter was on Earth, I wasn't sure if I liked the story, but once he got on Mars I really started getting into the story.

I can't wait to read more of it! I'll let you all know if I read more of the John Carter books. I hope so. It seems like a fun series of books. Also, I'm unsure if there will be a sequel to the movie. I really hope there is! If you haven't seen the movie yet, please go see it. Its awesome!

Once Upon A Time...there was a TV show...

I like Classic Disney. When I say Classic Disney, I mean everything from Snow White to the toons they did in the 90s (like the Lion King). There's something, well, magical about Classic Disney cartoons. I think the only toons that come close are the Pixar movies, but even those are very different from what Classic Disney was doing.

So is Once Upon A Time, the new TV Show on ABC.

Its not quiete classic Disney, but it has some of the magical feel of the older cartoons. You can tell, without a doubt, this show was made by Disney. Its a show that pays tribute to all the wonderful fairy tales that Disney did, plus some they didn't do, and adds some interesting new twists to the fairy tales. Some of characters in the show are really close to their Disney couterparts (Belle, Snow White) and some are not (Grumpy in Once is so much cooler than Grumpy from the old cartoon).

Once Upon A Time is a fantastic tv show that is telling two stories really. One story is about a town full of fairy tale characters in the real world who can not remember who they are. The other story is flashbacks that show us the fairy tale world. Each episode focuses on a different character for the flashback and usually the real world couterpart gets something more to do in the town too. The fairy tale part of the show is a fantasy and much more interesting than the real world. The real world stories are more dramatic (with some soap in it) and only have a bit of fantasy to them. That said, both parts of the show are interesting and the show has a good balance of real world & fantasy.

If you love classic Disney like I do, I think you'll love Once Upon A Time. Its a really good show.

I highly recommend it. Its just a lot of fun.

John Carter (of Mars) is Awesome!

Yesterday, I saw John Carter at the thearter!

It was GREAT.

The movie had plenty of action, adventure, fantasy, and some humor. John Carter is the type of movie thats just plain FUN. If your looking for a movie with deep meaning and subtext, look elsewhere. John Carter is a movie to be ENJOYED, just like Avatar, the Star Wars movies, Lord of the Rings, etc. In my opinion, its just great to go to a movie and be completly sucked into an amazing made-up world. Thats the experiance you can expect with John Carter. Go see it and be prepared to be transported into the world of Barzoom!

Btw, I have the very first John Carter story, A Princess of Mars, and I've never read it. NOW I plan to go read it. In fact, I'll start reading it tonight! Can't wait. I'll do a blog entry sometime about the story vs. the movie. Till then, please go see this movie at the thearter! Its excellent & I really want to see a sequel!

Where Is Animal Crossing 3DS?

My family is addicted to Animal Crossing. We play AC on the Wii every day at 2pm with or without our online friends. We do miss a day once and awhile but for the most part, we play the game every day like clockwork.

Sometimes we even play it more than once a day or a friend will ask us to play at night. We really love the game and any chance to play more is fine by us!

That said, lately we've just been buying time with the Wii game. Don't get me wrong: we really love meeting up with our online friends but...we just really, really, really, REALLY wish that Animal Crossing for the 3DS was out!

For 2 (almost 3) years now, we've known about Crossing for the 3DS. Back when we each bought our 3DS, we bought it because of this one game. We knew we'd have to have Animal Crossing 3DS.

We thought it would be out a lot sooner though.

It seems like Nintendo is taking forever to release this game. They have teased it at two E3 events now and various other events too. STILL no release date. We know some things about the game, but not, I suspect, everything. The worst is that release date though. We know its coming in 2012, yes, but thats ALL we know. Nintendo won't give us a date.

Meanwhile, like I said in another entry, they keep releasing Mario games. Super Mario 3D Land & Mario Kart 7 came out last year and Mario Tennis, just announced early this year, is coming out in May. BEFORE Crossing. Nintendo is finally getting Kid Icarus out though (one of the few non-Mario games from them). Why can't they get Animal Crossing out too?

I don't understand why Nintendo is taking so long with this game. Do they think Nintendo fans only like Mario games? Is Crossing not important to them? Or do they just like seeing Animal Crossing fans unhappy? Maybe its all three. I don't know....

I do wish Nintendo would tell us a season or a month or something. I'm hoping that it'll be Summer when it comes out. I really hope they don't make us wait longer than that. Waiting all year for Crossing? That would be horrible.

Animal Crossing for the Wii is great, but its time for that new Animal Crossing to come out!

Wow! Have you seen this?

Just awhile ago, I saw something really cool over at the Playstation Blog.

The makers of Heavy Rain have made a TECH DEMO called Kara. This is NOT an upcoming game from them. Instead, its a short "movie" showing off their new motion capture technology. And wow. It looks amazing. Kara's face looks so real.

Here, check it out: http://blog.us.playstation.com/2012/03/07/kara-is-not-quantic-dreams-next-game-but-you-may-wish-it-was/

I'm stunned by this. I really hope they actually DO make this into a game!

Alas Terra Nova...

And another TV Show bites the dust.

This time Terra Nova from FOX Network here in the U.S was canceled.

Terra Nova was a show about people from the future going to the past, the time of the dinosaurs, to start over because the future is so messed up.

The show was a bit of family drama, along with a bit of sci-fi & fantasy too. It started off interesting, got a bit slow during the middle and ended with a really awesome finale. It wasn't a great series, but it was a good one.

It also did good in the ratings. So its cancelation is a bit of mystery. Well, until you realize that the show was expensive to make. The cancelation of the show was mostly because of money, but I think also it wasn't a favorite show at FOX either.

The network has now canceled TWO Monday night shows: House & Terra Nova. I'm expecting them to cancel Alcatraz (a really good show) because its doing poor in the ratings. Another Monday show. And Fringe, a Friday night show, seems doomed too. I think I said it in another blog entry, but if they keep this up there really won't be any reason for me to keep watching FOX next season. It looks like every show I care about on the network right now is likely to be canceled.

I guess time will tell...

It Came From Outer Space!

Today on Twitter, I won a copy of a PS3 downloadable game from IGN. The game is called Tales From Outer Space: About A Blob. Here are my impressions of the game so far:

About A Blob is a 2D platformer/puzzle game where you control a blob who is trying to survive in a world that does not like him one bit. In order to survive, the blob absorbs items around the stages into itself in order to grow bigger. Each stage you go through has one or two size limits for the blob. You have to get the blob a certain size in order for it to continue on its journey. Each stage the blob's size is reset and he has to grow again. Along the way, he must also jump over obstacles, figure out puzzles, and shoot things that want to harm him with objects he spits out. About A Blob is a really fun game.

The game's graphics are cartoony and nice. The gameplay is well done and each stage offers new & interesting challenges. The game has a wacky sense of humor too. Some of the stuff the blob can absorb is rather bizarre. I have not beat the game yet. I'm trying to take it slow. So I haven't seen all the stages yet, but I like the stages I've seen. Oh and the game has an off-line two-player mode too if you want to play it with somebody. I have no tried the multiplayer, but I'm sure its neat. I'm really glad I won this game!

So would I have paid for this game? I had tried the demo for this game before, but it hadn't been on my buy radar. That was a mistake because this is a really cool game and I was missing out on something here. If you like platformers/puzzle games & have a PS3, I recommend downloading the demo to see if its to your taste.

I'm glad I got it. This was a really unexpected win. I'm very happy with it and can't wait to play more of it!

Vita Again

I went to Walmart today and had the chance to check out the Vita again. So here are some more impressions:

This time I checked out something called Welcome Park on Vita. I suppose its a program that welcomes you to the Vita. Not sure. Pretty vague intro to it. I checked out one portion of it, a little "game" where you have to touch all of the numbers in order: 1, 2, 3, 4 and they are all over the screen. I guess its trying to get you use to using the Touch Screen.

Speaking of the Touch Screen, I think that the Vita uses the touch screen WAY too much. On the 3DS/DS, there are/were some touch screen controls but most games let you use buttons instead of the touch screen if you wanted to. There is no option for this on most Vita games. On the Vita games that use the touch screen for menus or interacting with objects, etc, you HAVE to use the touch screen. The only time I say another option was on Uncharted where you could push a button to grab some rails too. Otherwise, most Vita games seem to be forcing the Touch Screen on you. And to me, Touch screen controls are like Motion Controls. Gimmicky for the most part & a hassle. Give me buttons any day (one expection to this rule is Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword. I loved the Motion Controls in that game).

Anyway, after trying out Welcome Park, I decided to try some other demos that I didn't play the first time.

A game called Little Deviants was the first one I tried. This game was a collection of mini-games. I tried three of the mini-games out of the ones offered (I think there was four or five). The mini-game called Botz Invasion felt like Face Raiders from the 3DS. Basically, it was an AR game where you look around your enviorment & shoot at the Deviants. The second mini-game was a game where you used the back touch screen to push some Deviants out of houses. The last one was a skydiving game where you moved the Vita around & tried to hit rings as you fell. Overall, NOT an impressive game. Too gimmicky, graphics were ok, and just not enough value in it. I recommend not buying this one if you plan to get a Vita.

Next I tried another demo called Escape Plan. The demo used the touch screen completly. The graphics were black & white and kind of neat. The gameplay wasn't that impressive though. You had to swipe in front of the character to move him forward & stop him before he killed himself by stumbling into different obstacles. A rather ho hum game. Not recommended.

Wipeout, a futurisic racing game, was the next demo I tried. The game had a bit of a load time. It felt like I was downloading a small piece of dlc on the PS3. Kind of fast, kind of not. After it loaded, I have to say I was impressed by the graphics. Very nice. The racing was good too. I wasn't great at it, but I liked it. I'm sure this would be a good game for racing fans, especially if it has multiplayer.

The last demo I checked out was a game I had briefly checked out last time. It was Gravity Rush. I was VERY impressed by the graphics the first time I played this game, but I had no idea what the game was. This time I got to find out! In turns out Gravity Rush is a platformer/action game. In it, you can push a button (the R button I think) and your character goes floating into the air. Aim her with the control stick and push her toward a building. She will stand on the building and run up it. I also took her to some floating object in the sky and she ran sideways that. You push the L button to return the character to normal gravity. The game also has combat. The character can kick enimies and if you push the R button, she can float up and kick enimies in the sky. VERY COOL.

The game also has Comic Book style cutscenes. The touch screen is put to good use here by having you swipe toward the next panel to see it. Neat.

Overall, Gravity Rush was the most impressive demo I saw on the Vita (both times). Yes, more impressive than Uncharted. It has great graphics & fun gameplay. If I had a Vita, this would be a game I'd want.

So that was my second play time with the Vita. The first time really wowed me. The second time I played some demos that I thought were so-so and one that I thought was ultra cool. The system is neat, but not what I'm looking for. I think it focuses WAY too much on Touch Screen controls and it doesn't seem to have too many games I want. Plus, man, that demo Vita screen was DIRTY. Does this system have a Stylus? I think the screen would get way too dirty too fast if it doesn't.

Still, if I get a chance to play more Gravity Rush at the demo Vita, that would be nice.