Posted on by Alexander Case

The “Video” in Video Games Journalism

As you probably already figured out from my last blog post, I’ve been thinking about the end of 1up and EGM as we know it. With most of the GameVideos staff getting the chop, I’ve started to think about the role of video in Video Games Journalism and how to handle it.

Video Games are a visual medium. Duh.  Consequently, when you’re talking about video games, it really helps to see the game. Before high-speed Internet, the standard way of going about this was through putting screen shots on your web pages, or in the magazine articles about the game. Later, as Video Games became moderately mainstream, and we got Video Game related TV shows, like Gamespot TV (later Extended Play) and Electric Playground, we finally got to see the video games in motion before we bought them – and consequently we could get a good look at how good or bad the graphics were, and how good or bad the controls were. As an example, from seeing gameplay footage of Enter The Matrix on Extended Play before the game was released, I was somewhat able to tell, in advance, that the graphics weren’t very good, and that the control wasn’t very good. Surprise, surprise, when the reviews came out, the game was panned for, among other things, poor graphics and poor controls.

As broadband proliferated, using video to talk about games became more feasible, and higher quality video files became more feasible as well. This lead to the Video Review, where the reviewer got to stand in front of a camera, with footage of the game edited into the review (and possibly also playing behind him) and talk about the game. This turned game reviewers into recognizable personalities, the same way that television made Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert recognizable to people outside of Chicago.

Once you’ve got personalities, you’ve now got a way to support a TV show, first with just streaming programming on the web pages for sites like Gamespot.com, and later to (once Podcasts started catching on) video podcasts, from On The Spot on Gamespot.com, to the 1Up Show on 1up.com.

This brings us to now. Gamespot has On The Spot. They still have video reviews, but their reviewers don’t appear in the actual reviews (possibly as a way to, well, make it easier to get rid of reviewers if they need to – or if publishers want them too). GameTrailers makes it’s living out of video, but with the exception of Geoff Keigley (sp), Amanda McKay, and David Kayser, they don’t have any first party personalities. There are 3rd party personalities, like those through ScrewAttack (Stuttering Craig and the Angry Video Game Nerd), but that’s about it. The fate of video on the 1up network is in doubt. Giant Bomb is, really, the last bastion of the classic Gamespot video review, with the reviewer on camera.

So, what I want to know is this – how is the video in video games journalism going to pan out in the future. Will video reviews go through a voice-over person or through similar steps to make the people reviewing the games more faceless, or will the concept of the visible video game journalist move to smaller sites, as major sites like 1up and Gamespot.com become homes for the faceless, voiceless, disposable reviewer?

I’m putting an open call for comment by people in the games press, particularly those who used to work for 1up.com. Am I going in the right direction? Am I totally off base? Or is it a mixture of both?

Posted on by Alexander Case

ATTN – Steam: My Game Isn’t Working

I got the Quake Pack from Steam a while ago, and finally gotten around to playing Quake III arena, except I can’t play it. When I try to join a server I keep getting prompted for a product key, and in Quake III Team Arena, the last portion of the product key is blank.

Now, I have contacted Steam for support, but I haven’t gotten a response yet.

So, Steam, are you going to get this fixed, or not?

Posted on by Alexander Case

Why Media Providers Don’t Understand Game Reviewers

For those of you who don’t read Kotaku, here’s the link to the article. In short, Hearst Publications Group, which owns UGO, has bought the 1up Network from Ziff Davis. They then canceled EGM (Electronic Gaming Monthly, their only and flagship gaming magazine) canceled just about all of their podcasts, and then fired most of the staff, including James Mielke (I can’t believe I spelled that right), Shane Bettenhausen, Skip Pfister, Ryan O’Donnell, among 30 other staffers and the GameVideos team, in a purge that I might call, and will call, Stalin-esque.

Aside from the tragedy of Vampire William Randolph Hearst draining the life blood out of the 1up network, leaving only a lifeless husk, hopefully there will be a lesson to be learned from this, but a costly one. You see, people in the business of reviewing film and reviewing video games like to talk about how different reviewing games and reviewing movies are, but they actually have a great deal in common, in certain respects.

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Posted on by Alexander Case

Adaptations I’d like to see made.

My last couple articles, on the opera Doctor Atomic, and on Wired’s recent article about Max Butler’s hacking scheme got me thinking about adaptations, and stories that I’d like to see adapted from fiction or non-fiction to another medium, be it film, television, or even the stage. This is a topic I’ve thought about in the past on other forums, from “Movie’s you’d most like to see re-made” threads to “Novels you’d most like to see turned into movies” to “Anime adaptations you’d most like to see.” However, with all of these threads, they’ve been generally been tied to some sort of video media – anime, film, TV series. I’m expanding this list to address materials that aren’t video – the stage. My list of projects is below the cut.

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Posted on by Alexander Case

Wired story about Carder plays like crime drama

One of my favorite kind of books to read are on the history of computing (and science in general), in particular ones which tell the story about not only the technology that’s developed, but the people who developed it, and how their personalities interacted. That’s why while the PBS documentaries  “The Machine That Changed The World” and “The Shape of the World” are interesting, I like “Connections”, “Revolution OS”, and “Triumph of the Nerds” more, because in addition to playing off the technological aspects, the personal aspects come up as well, how personalities interact, how they play off each other, and how the meeting of two people can have as much impact on the invention of a piece of technology as a the invention of a previous piece of technology was.

I mention all that because I got tipped off to this article at Wired Magazine. Basically, it’s almost the cybercrime equivalent of GoodFellas. The difference being, Henry Hill realized that being the mob was more hazardous than it’s worth, particularly since there were no possiblities for advancement for him – being Irish on his dad’s side instead of Italian – so he told the law what he knew. On the other hand, this story is, a bit, the polar opposite – the guy the story’s about, Max Butler, basically becomes the man you have to go through (through his site) in order to buy-and-sell stolen card numbers, as well as the equipment needed to take advantage of those numbers – which I’d certainly count as advancement. Not to mention, unlike Hill, Butler didn’t talk to the Feds, tell them everything they needed to know and go in the Witness Protection Program – he was caught and sent to prison for life – the first Cracker (I’m not going to use the word Hacker for a crook like thim) to get that punishment.

Okay, yeah, so he can get 30 years instead of life if he takes a plea bargain, but anyway, the story is fantastic. It plays out like a crime novel (in this case a true crime novel). I doubt it would work for a movie, maybe a documentary – it would be extremely difficult to dramatize the hacking process – and a lot of the interactions here are between people who have never met each other face to face, only online. Still, it’s an amazing read.

Posted on by Alexander Case

Doctor Atomic – Not Quite A Review

I managed to catch Doctor Atomic on Great Performances today. I didn’t see the whole thing (I had to leave partway through the performance, but I made it back in time for the conclusion), so I can’t do a proper review, but I am going to give my thoughts on what I saw, making it close to a review.

I missed, frankly, much of the first and second act. I missed the majority of the portions with Oppenheimer’s wife, the other scientists, everything up to the final test. I did catch that bit.

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Posted on by Alexander Case

Thoughts on Justice League: New Frontier

This isn’t going to be my standard review, in part because I’m planning on re-thinking how I do movie reviews on the site. This, instead is going to be my general overall review of the film. I’ll be working off the Blu-Ray version of the movie here for all of my criticisms, and there may be spoilers here, so be warned.

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Posted on by Alexander Case

Movie Review – Bram Stoker’s Dracula

Yeah, I did a Dracula review yesterday. However, I watched that movie about a week ago and I was late writing the review – plus I watched another Dracula movie today, so I’m reviewing that one today. Think of it, sort of, as a compare and contrast.

This time, I’m reviewing Francis Ford Coppela’s take on the story, “Bram Stoker’s Dracula.” The author’s name is included in the title for, in part, rights reasons. However, the inclusion is significent in that this really is Bram Stoker’s story. There are some changes to the story, but with one exception they expand upon material that was covered in Stoker’s original book, rather then excising material from the story, as with most of the prior film versions (notably Universal’s version with Bela Legosi, and Hammer’s version which I reviewed in my last update).

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Posted on by Alexander Case

Movie Review – Horror of Dracula

Well, we’re getting to October, and Halloween, so, it’s time to watch some horror movies, and of course, to review them. So, we might as well semi-start things with the classic Hammer Horror film “Horror of Dracula” starring Christopher Lee as the titular vampire and Peter Cushing as Abraham Van Helsing.

The film starts in the right place, with Johnathan Harker on the way to the castle of the mysterious Count Dracula – only it changes things up quickly by having Harker being there fully aware of the Count’s nature, and actually being an assassin there to kill him. This, and all of Harker’s scenes in the castle really summarize the movie in a nutshell, in terms of it’s high points and low points.

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Posted on by Alexander Case

[Where I Watch] Burn Notice – Episode 1×02: Identity

The nice thing about being able to stream episodes from, say, Hulu (or NetFlix, if they’d ever get episodes up on there) is that I can just stream the episodes online rather then waiting for the next disk. It allows for me to get new posts up faster, all the better for you, and I don’t find myself jonesing for the next episode. At least, until I run out of episodes, but I’ve got another 10 to go yet before we hit the end of the season. So, shall we begin?

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Posted on by Alexander Case

[Where I Watch] Burn Notice – Episode 1×01: Pilot

Yeah. Remember where I said that I wouldn’t do a Where I Watch on here because I couldn’t get enough feedback to support it? Well, yeah, I kinda lied about that. Not really. I’m going to give this a try to see how it turns out. I’ll be starting with the first season of Burn Notice, so kindly provided by Hulu and streamed to my Playstation 3 by the PlayOn Media server software I’m trying out.

If you want to follow along, you can try Hulu as well, and Season 1 is on Netflix as well. We don’t have the complete season 2 on DVD yet, and Hulu’s only got episode 9 of season 2. Yeah, that makes no sense to me either – you’d think you’d have all of season 2 up to now, but I digress.

Before I get started, just to give you an idea on how I do these. I scribble down notes in a notebook (my journal actually – yes I journal, with a fountain pen) in a general stream of consciousness fashion, and then once I’ve finished with the episode or episodes (depending on the show) I attempt to edit those into something coherent (and occasionally succeed) and then post those in the relevant thread or, in this case, a blog post. I tend to do much more editing for reviews. So, on with the post. There are semi-spoilers here.

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Posted on by Alexander Case

Other things I’m watching

I just thought I’d give you an update on a few other things I’m working on. On RPG.net (where I post under the screen name of Count_Zero) I’ve been working on several Where I Watch threads for, in addition to various wrestling evens (which I’ve been mirroring here), several anime series. Currently, I’m working on Black Lagoon, which I’m posting on as soon as I get the DVDs from NetFlix, and I’ve just finished recapping Berserk. My next series I’ll be working on is the complete Mobile Police Patlabor (all 3 movies, both OVAs, and the TV series) which I hope to review for Bureau42.com), as well as Silent Mobius.

Once I get my next Where I Watch thread started, I’ll make sure to post here about it.

Now, you may ask, “Why don’t you post these threads here?” Well, I reply, you lot, don’t comment enough to support doing such threads here – though we do get traffic from my reviews and recaps. Still, for a Where I Watch, you really need some steady feedback.

Posted on by Alexander Case

Movie Review – Ghost in the Shell

 

Normally, when I write a review of a movie, I do it right after I actually watch the film. This allows me to strike while the proverbial iron is hot. Ghost in the Shell is different. Here, I really had to think about what I was going to say. I think about what I’m going to say anyway, but this is different, because Ghost in the Shell itself is different. To explain why, and to explain why I think the way I do about the film, I have to give some background, not necessarily about the film, but about me.

Ghost in the Shell is one of those anime films that everybody needs to see once. Every “anime fan” or “otaku” or “geek” or even “film buffs” in general. Everybody needs to see it at least once. If they don’t like it, they never have to watch it again, but they need that first time. This was my first time, sort of. I had seen bits and pieces before, back when I had satellite TV, and when we had Starz. I’d heard big things about the movie before, and the manga. However, I’d never seen or read either. What I saw of the anime intregued me, but because there was nudity and violence, and because I was just getting into High School, I couldn’t see a way to watch it without my parents knowing. So, I read the manga, written by Masamune Shirow instead. It intrigued me, having a mixture of humor, action, and sexy characters, with a deep story in both the political and philosophical arenas.

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Posted on by Alexander Case

Recap: ECW One Night Stand (2005)

 

ECW: One Night Stand

Where & When: The Hammerstein Ballroom – New York City, June 16th, 2005.

Commentary: Joey Styles & Mick Foley

We start the show off with the introductions of Mick & Joey. Joey in particular looks rather choked up on his way out to the ring, though he does the cocky-heel foot wipe and kick on his way in the ring – though I can imagine he’s really pumped up. Say, Faith No More Guy is there! Big Joey Chant and a pop for “Oh My God!” Foley comes out to his WWE Cactus Jack music. My god, Joey comes up to Mick’s shoulder. I never realized how tall Foley really is. Either that or Joey’s really short.

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Posted on by Alexander Case

News Analysis – Nielsen Media Research’s DMCA Request to Wikipedia

If you read Slashdot.org, you may have caught this news story. In short, Nielsen Media Research sent a DMCA takedown order to Wikipedia, asking them to takedown a series of catagory boxes and templates for organizing radio and TV stations by city, stating that it infringed on their copyright on the practice of organizing television and radio stations by market. Consequently, the Wikipedia foundation was forced to delete all the relevant templates, leaving the userbase scrambling to find a way to organize media articles without getting sued.

To be frank, the actions of Neilsen Media Research are a crock of bullshit. The copyright in question is no better, and in fact is almost worse then some of the bogus submarine patents that you read about weekly, and the copyright in question essentially gives the Nielsen essentially a monopoly on the classification and organization of broadcast stations by geography.

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Posted on by Alexander Case

Review on another site

Just doing a quick post to direct you all to a review I have up on Bureau42.com for Full Metal Panic. The review can be found here. I’m going to be having 2 more reviews going up for Full Metal Panic? Fumoffu, and Full Metal Panic: the Second Raid. Hopefully, I’ll be able to turn this into a steady gig for them.

What does this mean for the blog? Well, I fully intend to keep updating the blog – Bureau42 is dedicated to science fiction and fantasy material, which means that a lot of the material I’ve been putting up right now (like wrestling recaps) would not fit there. Likewise, if I review any material that they’ve already reviewed, I’ll post those reviews here instead.

That said, Bureau42.com is a good site, and definitely worth your following, and I look forward to seeing comments from you there as well.

Posted on by Alexander Case

Wrestling Recap: NJPW “G1 CLIMAX 2008 “HEROES OF SUPREMACY” – Day 3

My apologies for the delay between posts. My computer’s been down for a few weeks, but now it’s back up so now it’s time for a right proper recap, and I’ve got several events lined up – ya see, The G1 Climax tournament happened in NJPW earlier this month, and I’ve got a fair chunk of it (about 5 out of 7 days), so I’ll be recapping that, starting with Day 3, 8/13/2008 (I haven’t gotten all of Day 2, the 11th yet, and I’m missing Day 1, the 9th entirely).

Quick run-down: the G1 Climax is a round-robin tournament, divided into 2 blocks. The winner of each block faces the other in a 1-fall match. Whoever wins that match wins the tournament.
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Posted on by Alexander Case

Review – Conan (PS3)

“Hither came Conan the Cimmerian, black-haired, sullen-eyed, sword in hand, a thief, a reaver, a slayer, with gigantic melancholies and gigantic mirth, to tread the jeweled thrones of the Earth under his sandalled feet.” – From The Phoenix In The Sword

(For the purposes of this review, I played the PS3 version of the game)

Conan is the kind of game that wants to be a fair number of things, but doesn’t necessarily do very well at a lot of them. The game places you in the furry boots of the titular barbarian, and not the one of the films, but of the original novels. The story begins with Conan raiding some distant tomb seeking treasure, and ultimately releasing a great evil that steals his armor. Being as Conan is not one to shrink from perils that he thinks he can handle, goes forth to defeat this evil.

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Posted on by Alexander Case

Review/Recap – Rob Van Dam: One Of A Kind

Rob Van Dam: One Of A Kind

Host: Josh Matthews.

Disk 1

We get a brief recap of RVD’s run in WCW. He’d already been wrestling in Florida for a year as Rob Van Dam before WCW hired him. At the time Bill Watts was the head booker, and didn’t like the “Rob Van Dam” name and wanted to use something different. As RVD had already gotten some mention in the wrestling press (I’m presuming Wrestling Observer and in Dave Metzler’s magazine) under the Rob Van Dam name he wanted to use something similar ultimately settling on the name Robbie V. Rob was apparently undefeated and didn’t particularly have any programs with anybody.

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