Monthly Archives: December 2014

Otaku, Pop Culture

My Crunchyroll Is No Longer Crunchy?!

Why am I desperately slapping away at my keyboard for this one? Because it effects me and my viewing of great shows such as Fruit of Grisaia and Another—I like really twisted anime.

Similar to what present hackers left for many gamers this year, anime-centric service Crunchyroll is currently down due to a DDoS attack. If you don’t know what that is, it’s this terrible thing that makes online services unusable for an unknown length of time.

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Digital Attack Map explains this annoying  phenomenon.

What’s to learn of all these attacks on some of geekdom’s greatest entities?

There’s nothing we can do about it. I would recommend changing a password or two, but other than that there’s nothing to do. However, I wish these people would just leave things alone. Us geeks love anime and gaming. It’s what lets us escape from our crummy jobs and often dull lives for a bit. When our extracurricular activities don’t work, it causes a lot of stress and anger, which is often misplaced on the services we love so much.

Instead of sending a message of how you just can’t live without Destiny or how you must know what will happen to poor Naruto, think about the people behind those services.

Until Crunchyroll returns, I’ll be playing some single player games. Stay cool.

 

Action, Game File, Games and Software, Indie Pennant, Industry Now, Multiplayer, Shooting

Dear Digital Extremes, Thank You

There are a lot of things people gripe about in gaming: day-one DLC, micro-transactions, digital verifications, etc. It is always easier to find someone shouting from the mountaintop about everything that’s wrong as opposed to anything that’s right. Well, after a long and arduous climb, I kindly asked that guy to sit down for a bit and let me shout a little positivity from his precious mountaintop.

Digital Extremes, the company that brought us Warframe, has and continues to provide the console world with a perfect example of how well free-to-play gaming can work. Though, many complain about “free-to-play” and “pay-to-win” games, Warframe finds the perfect balance. Any warframe, weapon, sentinel or kubrow can be assembled, found or purchased all in game. There is a fair amount of grinding required for particular items, but if you really want it, you’ll never have to worry about seeing another player with an amazing weapon that you don’t have access to. In a stroke of genius, the only things you actually HAVE to pay for are cosmetic. Purchasing new paint colors, ceremonial armor, weapon patterns and the like, which have nothing to do with battle capabilities, require players to purchase platinum with actual money. You would be surprised how difficult it can be to resist the urge to pimp your ninja. I’ve spent well over $100 over time and I’m probably in the low end of purchasing.

As far as DLC goes, everything is free. Well, i suppose to be more accurate, the updates are all free.  It is to be noted that these updates are always game changing. With no cost, Digital Extremes has added new warframes, new weapons, new mission types, updated maps, new events and a slew of visual and audio upgrades. Other free-to-play titles such as DC Universe Online and Blacklight Retribution can and do nickel and dime you for all their additional content. Warframe is up to version 15.5 (PS4 and Xbox One) and 15.8.1 (PC) and they’re consistently giving their community reason after reason to never put the controller down.

One of these products is diva herbal deeprootsmag.org levitra prices. Same interferon have been shown to be effective for that particular activity, but they are not a levitra online australia http://deeprootsmag.org/2013/05/24/cristina-braga-samba-jazz-love/the-one-who-sings-sends-his-sorrows-away-2/ permanent solution. Some males do not show interest for levitra on line sale lovemaking after hectic day schedule. After talking with your partner you should consult a doctor for starting an appropriate treatment. cialis generic pharmacy Finally, the work that Digital Extremes puts into working with their community is beyond impressive. Its DevStream gives gamers a chance to see the inner workings of their favorite title, new insights into how to use available weapons and warframes and show glimpses into the future of the franchise. The website also has tools for fans to create channels and fansites. It’s even possible to be featured on the site to generate more traffic.

I stand and salute Digital Extremes for its work with a free title. It has managed to build a game that expands from PC to the console world and stands as a prime example of how free-to-play can not only work, but can flourish. Thank you Digital Extremes. May you inspire others to not drop the ball in the future.

PS: Have you guys see the Archwing missions they added!?! Someone get these guys a license to make Gundam Wing games. Can’t you just see the same gameplay working for the Wing Zero!?!? OK, I’m done now. Enjoy your day.

Comics 101

Waris: The Poison Ivy Story Fan Fiction

Fan fiction is great for many reasons. It can give any writer a preexisting world in which to tell stories. Or it can allow a story to exist for that random character, whom you see pass by on screen for eight seconds in a film. Here we have a writer telling a story about Poison Ivy, a top villain in DC Comics and more specifically, Batman comics. The title is Waris: The Poison Ivy Story written by Maude Delice.

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The story is kind of all over the place, but in the defense of the writer, it isn’t finished yet. This tale is definitely one told in the same vein as a Tarantino film. This is not a bad thing by any means, and is actually kind of smart. When you are teased with seeing only parts of a story instead of the whole, you’re going to keep reading. It’s the same thing comics do all the time, and since this is based on a comic character, I have no beef with it. I do have beef with the inconsistent writing style. In the same chapter the story can go from detailed dialogue, to a generic scene description, and then end with a paragraph from a novel.

There is definitely a lot of aspects of this story that let you know right away this is from the mind of a fan. A naked woman laid across a bed smoking weed is the first thing that happens in chapter one, and it immediately sets the tone for the rest of the story. Everything, in all of the chapters, is very sexualized: a different Poison Ivy than we’re used to seeing. So far, the story is far beyond (BEYOND!) just the origin story I went in expecting. It’s more of a new take on the life of Ivy.
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While there isn’t much of it here, the art is, a thing. I don’t care for it and in my opinion it doesn’t really capture who Poison Ivy is. I’m sure many out there will love the abstract style that is used, but it just isn’t for me. Whenever pictures do show up they just distract me and take away from the story rather than help.

The best (and most appealing) thing about fan fiction is that the fans are in control of the story. Although it’s generally not for me, I think fan fiction has it’s place and it’s definitely not going anywhere. I’m always up for reading a good story, regardless of who wrote it. This story, however, is not quite there. It doesn’t appear to be close to the end so it could easily pick up. I’ll keep a look out for more of it. If you are interested in checking it out for yourself then you can head over to theivyleaguegrad.tumblr.com and read the first four chapters.

Cinema Sit-Down, Movies/TV, Pop Culture

The Interview or: How Hollywood Learned to Start Worrying and Fear the Bomb

Don’t mess with North Korea. That appears to be the sentiment the country wants you to believe. If you mess with the North Korean bull, you’re going to get the North Korean horns—or at least the “threat” of those horns. Case in point: the writers and producers of the upcoming film, The Interview, thought it would be a funny idea to produce a film with a script involving a talk show host (James Franco) and his producer (Seth Rogen) booking an interview with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and getting entangled with the CIA in a plot to assassinate him. A seemingly funny political comedy starring the two leads from the very funny Pineapple Express that involves the very funny concept of killing a very funny (well, funny looking perhaps) world leader? What could POSSIBLY be wrong with that?! Well, apparently a lot.interview2

Since day one of the film’s announcement, The Interview has—so to speak—been in the hot seat. Since the film’s completion, North Korea has been up in arms about it, suggesting it as an “act of war” and promising retaliation if the film was ever released. They even begged President Obama to stop the release of the film, for fear that Kim Jong-un might actually see it. So when that wasn’t enough, their next step? Malware, of course. Late last month, Sony (the film’s distributor) was left in complete disarray with hacked emails releasing private conversations criticizing Hollywood A-listers (who would’ve guessed some studio executives find Leonardo DiCaprio to be “disgraceful” or that Angelina Jolie has “minimal talent”?) as well as several unreleased movies leaked online before their release. The Interview was NOT included among those leaked films, so go figure as to how U.S. Intelligence linked the North Korean government to the hacking.

Yet even after the Malware shitstorm, the worst was yet to follow. A mysterious group known as the “Guardians of Peace” sent out a warning last week, suggesting attacks of the September 11 variety on movie theaters that were scheduled to show The Interview. These so-called “Guardians” suggested that anyone going to the movie theater or those who lived near one should keep their distance. Needless to say, the Guardians of Peace had everyone’s attention: movie theater owners, Sony and even the president.interview3

The movie industry is a complicated machine. On the one hand, movies are an artistic expression, a tool to tell a story using audio and visual aspects in creative and astounding ways. On the other hand, it’s a cash cow: franchises, sequels, remakes, musical adaptations, happy meal toys, et cetera et cetera—Hollywood can squeeze a buck out of any movie it wishes, but to receive that money, they must milk it out of the masses to buy the overpriced movie tickets and fill up those stadium theater seats. What happens, though, when a supposed terrorist group threatens to harm the masses if they go see a movie? Well, the movie—in this case The Interview—gets scrapped. Sony’s decision to pull the plug on The Interview’s release has caused quite a bit of controversy inside and out of Hollywood, and has left many questions concerning the future of film distribution.

Here’s the thing: Hollywood has been bullied before. There have been many controversial films to be released that have sparked outcries from specific organizations and collective groups tracing all the way back to the early twentieth century (The Birth of a Nation, anyone?). And did Hollywood let up? No. The Interview isn’t the first film to lampoon a public figure. There have been a lot of references to Charlie Chaplin’s The Great Dictator, a film that parodied Adolf Hitler—ADOLF FREAKIN’ HITLER!—as he was beginning to take power as dictator of Nazi Germany. And what became of that film? It has its own Criterion Collection release! More importantly, there were no terrorist attacks on American movie theaters that showed that movie.

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And I think that is where the controversy stings the most. Where will the lines be drawn? If this film isn’t allowed to be seen in theaters, what about future films? I don’t want to live in a world where some bizarre organization bans together to send terroristic threats just because they don’t want to see a movie get released. If we bow down to these Guardians of Peace jerks, what is to stop a vigilante group of primatologists from threatening movie theaters with “simian flu” just because they don’t want to see another Planet of the Apes sequel? Or how about a rag-tag group of renegade Shakespearean actors waging total guerilla warfare on cineplexes showing a new film adaptation of one of the Bard’s classics? Perhaps I should refrain from providing anymore examples, as it could provide more cinephile cuckoos with ideas, but the point is, submitting to one threat opens the door to plenty of others, which is just cowardly and stupid. But there’s got to be something else to this decision…

I found out a little tidbit about The Interview’s budget: it cost over $40 million to make. Hmm, very interesting. I get the sense that the reason Sony cancelled The Interview was due to lack of profit. As I stated before, if someone threatens the masses with consequence for seeing a movie—meaning: PAYING to see said film—then obviously the moviegoer will refrain from doing so. As will the theater owners. And if a film can’t be seen because a viewer/theater is too scared to see/show it, how will it make money? How will a film become profitable to the movie studios that paid for its production costs? It won’t. It can’t. So it gets pulled…for now.

Let’s be clear, The Interview WILL be seen (in some shape or form). This cancellation is really only a delay until the studios can find an alternative route(s) to release the motion picture. $40 million ain’t pocket change, ya know? So while the nation continues its uproar over how Hollywood has been blackballed, rest assured Sony will get its money out of The Interview. If anything, this is a good marketing ploy for The Interview: a film so controversial, that lives have been threatened if it gets released. Well then—GOTTA SEE IT! And don’t worry, you will. Sony will make sure of that…

 

Movies/TV, Pop Culture

Gore Vidal: The United States of Amnesia Review

I have this idea that if I read/listen to intellectual people speaking on behalf of, well, anything, then I myself will become an intelligent person as well. In theory, this is a good thing to believe. In reality, it’s not always the case. Still, I have my intellectual heroes, who I strive to become in some way or another, be it in how I dress or what opinions I have about things. One of those intellectuals is Gore Vidal.vidal2

I was first introduced to Vidal when reading his highly acclaimed novel The City and the Pillar, a bestseller that was the first of its kind to discuss homosexuality in fairly explicit detail (this was 1948, after all). I was completely mesmerized by every stitch of its existence: the characters, the denouement, the pacing and how it dealt with such themes that were quite taboo (again: the 1940s, WAY before Ellen and Will & Grace could even bring such topics to light). I was so impressed with Vidal’s work that I completely avoided all of his other stellar works, because I was afraid I might compare everything else to The City and the Pillar and be completely disappointed. However, just because I haven’t read any other works by Gore Vidal, doesn’t mean I haven’t read about Gore Vidal.

And what a life he led! Vidal was indeed an intellectual man: sharp, quick-witted and—above all else— egotistical. He was born into political privilege and rubbed elbows with the social elite. He was known for his harsh criticisms over just about everything, specifically American government. He was a gay pioneer (yet never fully acknowledged it), a brilliant essayist, and he relished any opportunity to speak his mind on camera. A grandiose figure in American culture, I hold on to his every word and firmly believe I become smarter because of it. Now, you can too.vidal3

The United States of Amnesia, the 2013 documentary chronicling Vidal’s career as an outspoken writer, is currently streaming on Netflix and is a must-watch simply for the film’s central subject. This documentary works because it allows Vidal to be the star. You get to hear his view of his life over what everyone else—biographers, family, close friends, etc—says on his behalf. The film weaves together archived interviews with newer segments of him recalling major moments of his career. Some of the more interesting tidbits featured include his on-air confrontations with such notorious commentators as William F. Buckley and Norman Mailer. Naturally, each confrontation seems instigated and won by Vidal. The sight of such stoic, respected writers coming close to blows that would equal any best-of montage from Jerry Springer is truly the highest low-brow form of entertainment.

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While Amnesia includes other commentators—Nina Straight, Vidal’s sister; actors Tim Robbins and Joanne Woodward, Vidal’s biographers—none of them hold a candle to Vidal himself. He once remarked that one should never miss the chance to have sex or be on television, and with the vast amount of stock footage of interviews Vidal has given, he makes each frame worth it. There’s a scene towards the end of the film with Vidal watching Barack Obama’s victory speech during the 2008 presidential election. For such a historic moment, the camera catches Vidal rolling his eyes at Obama’s inspirational speech. “I would like to think of him as completely virtuous—I suspect he’s not. Why do I suspect this? Because I know how politics works.” Always the wise braggart, his comments prove slightly prophetic six years later.vidal4

Like most documentaries, sometimes the more intriguing parts are the moments that unfold while the camera is still rolling. As the interviews with Vidal progress, his health appears to be failing. There are moments when Vidal appears clean-cut and full of vigor, and then moments where he appears frail and disheveled. Such health concerns are captured on film as Vidal must leave his Italian villa for the more accessible Los Angeles. These are the quieter moments of the documentary, when Vidal shuts up long enough for the camera to capture him alone, revealing how isolated and restrictive his old age has progressively closed in on him. Needless to say, one can only guess how the film will end.

Overall, The United States of Amnesia is an entertaining and informative documentary detailing the storied career of one of America’s most treasured intellects. While the factual tidbits of Vidal’s life are noteworthy, it is his own remarks that remain most quotable. The documentary in fact gets its title straight from Vidal’s mouth regarding the history of America: “It is the United States of Amnesia: We miraculously forget everything, so the lessons we should be learning we have forgotten in no time at all.” As I said prior to this review, I feel smarter after reading or listening to Gore Vidal, and if there is anything you take away from The United States of Amnesia, it should be the philosophy according to Vidal. Vidal wouldn’t have it any other way.