The first releases for International Cassette Store Day have been announced and can be found at here.
So far, although no events have yet been canonised, the list of initial releases is already in double digits, with a lot of releases from a variety of labels – including Fiction, famously once home to The Cure in the ‘80s and now home to… ah… The Maccabees. But don’t let that put you off, because the real excitement here is that there are so many notable mix tapes being issued by real independent labels.
From newly minted labels such as All Will Be Well to cassette labels like ZyNg in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, Scotland’s Fuzzkill Records (with the awesomely named compilation Now 666 Vol. 2), as well as HoneyPeace and Blak Hand, the possibility for the casual listener’s exposure to new bands and new artists is looking great this year.
Yet by far the most exciting prospect for me personally is Alcopop!’s Secret Seventh compilation.
Reaching out to new bands for submissions, this tape could really be something special. And the good news? You can still be a part of it! If you’re in a band, if you’ve been recording songs in your bedroom or bathroom, then you need to be a part of this! Check out their submission page for more details and get submitting!
There is not enough time or enough space here to tell you how important it is that Dempagumi.inc performed live at Hyper Japan.
Founded in 2008, the group combine the popular concept of the ‘denpa song’ (off-key vocals and otaku themes), with elements of chiptune combined in a structure akin to Japan’s popular tradition of idol groups – a sort of transparently pre-manufactured riff on the boybands and girlbands that have risen to fame globally since music and mass-manufacture first got into bed together in the 1950s.
The idol industry in Japan is massive, with its largest proponents being the 140+ member group, AKB48.
Yet what Dempagumi.inc offer is a very different beast to the more traditional idol groups: comprised of six girls from different backgrounds in various fandoms, Denpagumi is a group that celebrates and draws attention to the fringe hobbies and traditions of Japan’s otaku culture, they are a voice unique to the 21st century, anthems fashioned for the socially awkward, for those who never let go of what others might deem as childish hobbies.
Dempagumi.inc make music for outsiders.
Standing near the front of the O2’s Building Six lower hall, the crowd around me is filled with kids in their early 20s and late teens dressed in cosplay and anime shirts, the stage is primed with sashimono akin to the banners samurai once wore into battle, and at the front, Dempagumi are dressed in stylised seifuku decorated with pen and ink caricatures of their own features.
As the music begins, there is a small group of fans at the front who begin their chant, hand over hand, clearing a space in the audience, before throwing themselves wildly in a chaotic whirl of movement that sends people bouncing off each other, and I can’t help but be reminded of the way in which hardcore gigs often descend into chaos.
Is too early to begin advocating the term otakucore, I wonder?
And yet there are also lessons learnt from Kathleen Hanna in the audience’s wild celebration of the music being played, intentional or not. At several times, I see the girl who plays Shizuku for popular maid café group, Maids of England standing hesitantly at the edges before being actively brought into the group by the chief instigators of the chaos and kept safe amidst the ferocity of the movement.
This is exactly how every gig should be.
On stage, though their set is not as long as it really should have been due to the structure of Hyper Japan’s time table, and there is no encore, Dempagumi are a frantic whirl of energy, all six girls flawless in both movement and performance, and I am constantly amazed by how much energy they manage to expend without tiring.
Again, though the set is short, there are a lot of significant songs played in the time afforded, not least of all, the group’s 2013 statement of intent, W.W.D. and popular single, Chururi Chururura. It comes as a slight disappointment that sequel song, W.W.D II is not played, nor is their cover of Sabotage by the Beastie Boys, but this is again an issue with the time frame, not the band themselves.
Of all the acts that fall under the broad J-Pop umbrella to play London, Dempagumi are certainly the one that needed to happen most – and also one of the best live.
This October sees the return of International Cassette Store Day in London and across the ocean in Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and the US.
Beginning life in 2013 as a loving homage to the noble cassette tape and the way in which Record Store Day helped boost a revival in record sales, and - along with the displacement of CDs by digital media - helped draw wider attention to the format, International Cassette Store Day is the brain child of London labels, Suplex, Kissability, and SEXBEAT, all of whom have been trading in tape releases for a good many years now.
Promising to be an even bigger event than the last few years, Cassette Store Day cultivators, Jen Long (Kissability), Steve Rose (SEXBEAT), and Matt Rose (Suplex) are currently compiling the final entries for shops/labels wishing to be involved in the event.
Often hailed as a cornerstone of punk rock's Do-It-Yourself culture, it's often difficult to talk about cassette tapes without getting a bit misty eyed and nostalgic. Often the less attractive option when it came to being let off the lead amidst the music isle in Woolworths or the local record shop, tapes were nonetheless important for being both cheap and portable - and if the album you brought ended up being crap you could always liberally apply sellotape over the tabs and record better songs over it.
Of course, if you're really into death metal, you might not have noticed that tapes died out as a format for a while there, in which case, you know, keep on trucking.
International Cassette Story Day is thing that happens this year on 17th October. You can find out more at cassettestoreday.com.
You may not know Mr. J. Cooper of Maidstone, Kent. To be fair, it’s probably safe to assume that many people outside of Maidstone, Kent do not know Mr. J. Cooper, however the reason you should now rectify this is that for the past few years, Mr. J. Cooper has, along with comments on other purchases, dedicated himself to leaving feedback on amazon for his son’s growing music collection and shifting taste in records.
Ladies and gentlemen, this is a thing of beauty, a curiously heartwarming affair.
The story begins in 2009 with the purchase of two albums by Fashion and Doll by Doll, in which we learn that Mr. Cooper’s son is disabled and that Mr. Cooper himself is happy with the postage rates of said albums.
Later in the year come albums by Imani Coppola - an album Mr. Cooper informs us that his son believes to be ‘the bee’s knees’ - and Ebony Bones, which Mr. Copper admits is not his kind of music.
As the years progress, we see the musical development of Mr. Cooper’s son, his dalliance with Roxy Music, his great love of ska, his fondness for PJ Harvey, and we also learn that Mr. Cooper’s wife is a Dusty Springfield fan who can be silenced by the quick purchase of an album by our beleaguered amazon reviewer.
We also learn that Mr. Cooper’s son may or may not have a crush on Rihanna, as over the years, several calendars turn up but no albums.
Can’t really fault the boy there.
Mr. Cooper often describes himself as “the go-between” or “the middleman” whilst reviewing purchases for his son, often citing the boy as being ‘over the moon’ or, in the case that the boy remains silent regarding a record, assuming that he must be happy.
We also learn the boy’s name, although it feels somewhat improper to reveal the details here - despite the fact that we’ve previously told you the general area in which Mr. Cooper lives (remember to be responsible on the internet, kids!).
As the years progress, so Mr. Cooper’s son’s music taste evolves, becoming a benchmark for some interesting choices and some pretty good indicators of the change in trends in the music industry since 2009.
Yet the most touching thing about Mr. Cooper’s dedication to chronicling his son’s musical purchases is how human it all is, how full of little details from a wider story we may never know.
This is a snapshot of family life in suburbia, a record of one boy’s love of music, and a father’s dedication to make sure that credit is given where credit is due - and, more than that, this is about a father doing something that may seem like a small gesture to you and me, the leaving of an amazon review, but that speaks volumes about his love for his son.
When everything is ash and dust at the end of the world, it won’t be the loss of great literature that future inheritors of our planet will mourn... it will be little things like this, testaments to who we were and how we loved.
You can follow Mr. Cooper’s son’s musical journey here.
Can DataColor’s Spyder 4PRO take the sting out of colour calibration, giving you both accurate colours and crucially, peace of mind? Let's take a look...
Colour calibration is more important than you'd first think. In the world of digital design, you can illustrate amazing images; but if the colours are off, what looks great on your screen could appear a garish mess of colour for everybody else. Or you could find that your subtle details all disappear into darkness on other peoples monitors, or worse still, on the printed page, where it can never be corrected.
While you can try to avoid these disasters by attempting to manually calibrate your colours, this process can be arduous, frustrating and most importantly, inaccurate. And lets face it, there are plenty of more fun ways to waste your time at a computer. It’s a much better idea to use a colour calibrator, like DataColor’s Spyder 4PRO.
Full Review after the jump...
The Product:
The Spyder 4PRO is a Colorimeter which you apply to your screen to let it take measurements of light from the room. Living up to it’s namesake, the Spyder literally hangs down your monitor via an adjustable, weighted USB cord to keep the Colorimeter in place like a spider dangling from a thread. DataColor have refined the Colorimeter devices in recent years; they are is much more compact than they used to be, easily fitting in your hand. The only gripe I have about the peripheral is the cord could do with being a bit longer to make life easier. You may have to move your computer and display closer together to get the cord to reach between them. It’s not a deal breaker, but could be an inconvenience depending on how your desk is set up.
The Spyder has a cradle to rest it in when you’ve made your calibration, that allows the light sensor to measure the ambient light of the room in order to make changes to your screen, reacting to real-time changes in the environment, so if the sun comes out the Spyder will compensate for the sudden added glare.
The Spyder 4PRO is compatible with LCD screens, laptops and even old CRT monitors (remember them?) and supports multiple monitor calibrations, making it far more valuable than its cheaper counterpart, the Spyder 4 Express, which only lets you calibrate a single display. The only thing the Spyder 4PRO doesn’t cover is projectors; for those you’ll need to purchase a Spyder4 Elite.
The colour calibration process:
Don't worry, I won't bore you with all of the dry details about choosing gamma settings,or which of four white points you can choose, as the calibration wizard makes it all perfectly clear. I'll just give you a brief overview of roughly what to expect when you use the Spyder 4PRO.
You begin, as with most peripherals by installing installed the drivers via a DVD which helpfully provides a link to the website with the latest drivers should you prefer to use those. It's always nice when a lot of the legwork is done for you.
After the drivers have been installed, you connect the ambient light monitor via USB and the Spyder will take light measurements of the room you're in. It's a really useful feature that ensures you get accurate colours no matter how the weather outside affects things. It's one of the advantages over manual colour calibration.
The program then starts up the calibration Wizard, which asks you various questions about the monitor you're calibrating. Fortunately the calibration wizard gives you the option to say "unknown" when identifying the various aspects and controls of your monitor which is really helpful; it's much better than either taking the time to search for an answer online, or incorrectly guessing what the native white point is. Nobody enjoys googling serial numbers to find out mundane technical specifications. At least, I hope they don't!
The "identify controls" section customises itself to whatever sort of monitor you are using; it will ask you different questions depending on which model you have selected. This is a very nice touch as it ensures you're not answering questions about controls and options that you don't have on your monitor which helps to avoid confusion and time wasting.
There is a small niggle here: you can't return to the identify controls stage; you have to close down the application and start it again.
The reason this is a nuisance links to the only real criticism that the Spyder 4PRO has: the more controls the Spyder knows you have, the larger the chance of an inaccurate calibration comes in.
It's a genuinely curious effect that has plagued previous iterations of the Spyder devices. When left to its own devices, the Spyder will knock the calibration out of the park, giving you amazing results first time. When it asks the user to get involved you're suddenly trying to correct gamma levels way beyond the limitations of your monitor. In one test on the Wacom Cintiq 21UX, I got to a stage where the Calibration Wizard instructed me to adjust the brightness until the image looked correct and I could only lower the image to what appeared to be the "nuclear blast at ground zero" setting. Our advice is to lie to the Spyder and deny having any controls on your monitor, sit back and let it work its magic.
When you let the Spyder do all of the heavy lifting, the results are genuinely phenomenal.
We tested the Spyder out on a dual monitored iMac 27" OSX version 10.8.5 (Mountain Lion) as well as OS X 10.10.3 (Yosemite) and an old model Cintiq 21UX as well as a dual screened Windows 8.1 PC with and the results were frankly brilliant. In the past, as an illustrator I've calibrated many monitors by eye; it's not a fun process and the results can be frustrating (I've struggled with calibrating iMac's by eye. for hours, and even then I was still unhappy with the final result. ) The Spyder 4PRO finishes its calibration in minutes.
When the calibration is finished after just a few minutes, (the waiting time for the auto calibration has been significantly trimmed from perevious models) you can view just how wrong things were with your original settings with the immensely satisfying "before and after" button that switches the newly fixed calibration with your original disappointing version. It's basically the Spyder 4PRO's way of showing off how clever it is, but you'll be impressed instead of irritated by it's smugness. You'll probably switch back and forth a few times in amazement. Go on, you know you want to.
You also have the option to leave the light monitor plugged into your monitor so that it can adapt your calibration on the fly should you want to.
Conclusion: Ignoring the minor frustration that you are encouraged to input as much detail as possible when the Spyder 4PRO will perform much better without your interaction (and that you need to close and re-open the app to get the Spyder to forget the settings you told it you could control manually so that it will do the job for you) the Spyder 4PRO is outstanding and is fully recommended for all designers, artists and pretty much anyone that uses a monitor!
Verdict: Highly Recommended!
You can read more about DataColor’s products here:
It’s both heartening and frustrating to note how much the YouTube idol scene has changed over the past year and a half. Heartening, in that there are still kids out there using the internet as a platform for pursuing a new kind of homebrew idol concept, and frustrating in that the trends of this movement are so very difficult to predict and the artists are often sadly not given their due by big name convention organisers.
Following YouTube’s big push over the recent years of vloggers such as Zoella and various computer game commentary channels, the scene should have been set for YouTube idols, post-Beckii Cruel, to begin to garner more attention.
Only it didn’t work out that way. Instead, lack of support from convention organisers and the demands of academic work seemed to result in a lot of the scene falling by the wayside.
Yet now that crowdfunding seems to have come of age – to the point where we’re even seeing Kickstarter campaigns for projects by big-name computer game developers such as Igarashi Koji of Castlevania fame and Suzuki Yu of SEGA’s famed former R&D team, AM2 – it seems only natural that YouTubers would begin to reach out to their audience in this way.
Both Kelsey Ellison and Abi Pop recently opened Patreon accounts to help finance their videos, a move that ensures financial aid for their activities but may also lead to fiercer competition in an already isolated scene. Whatever the broader outcome, it’s a brave move and one that will hopefully lead to more recognition for both girls.
You can support both Kelsey and Abi by following the links below:
Invisible ink is an outstanding book that tells you everything you need to know about storytelling. Invisible ink isn't just an invaluable tool for screenplays or scriptwriting; it's also useful for anyone interested in film, animation, illustration, character design and writing, as it covers the most important aspect of creating anything: telling the story.
Brian McDonald has a hugely engaging writing style; he delivers salient information in an entertaining manner, and without trying to sound either pretentious, or show off his extensive and impressive knowledge. Brian McDonald educates without being dry for tedious by telling you what you need to know and then moving on; making the book a joy to read, and you will probably devour its 153 pages of information very quickly. All the fat has been trimmed; there is no filler here.
Invisible ink uses real films to illustrate the points it needs to make in a very accessible and enthusiastic manner; you can feel McDonald's love for the films as he discusses them. It will enable you to analyse and understand theme, plot and characters. The book covers how to structure a story, theme beating logic, putting l your character through hell, ensuring truth in your story, making things sound natural, how to avoid common pitfalls in storytelling and a myriad of other subjects that are all integral to good storytelling.
To summarise, invisible ink is an essential guidebook that clearly and effortlessly teaches you how to tell stories in an entertaining manner, no matter what medium you're creating in. Thoroughly Recommended.
Guardians of the Soundtrack. An Awesome Mix Review
Guardians of the Galaxy soundtrack: The Awesome Mix Vol 1. Review.
Available as CD, Vinyl and digital download.
formats reviewed: CD and MP3
Hooga Chaka, Hooga Hooga, Hooga Chaka...
Star Lord's Awesome Mix is really important to the feel of Guardians Of The Galaxy and the songs add so much to so many scenes. But did you know you too can own The Awesome Mix vol 1? So how does the soundtrack CD measure up in real life? (because of how strongly tied into the movie the songs are, some minor spoilers are inevitable)
They remind you so strongly of the scenes that they are in, which goes to show how strongly they fit movie. A grown man shouldn't giggle to the lines "o-o-oh child, things are gonna get easier, o-o-oh child, things are gonna get brighter" but I sure did as it brought back such a vivid memory.
But having such a strong connection to the movie has its drawbacks too. You only hear small snippets of some songs in the movie, cherry picking the catchiest hooks for a scene. Subsequently, the whole song can over stay its welcome, it won't be long before you are reaching for that skip button on certain songs. (Unless the Piña Colada song really is your jam, of course...)
The CD booklet is rather a let down; only a track listing and two pieces of concept art (both of which are widely available online, so I included them in this review. You're welcome!). With the Awesome Mix being almost being a character in itself on the film, a note from the director James Gunn talking about its importance would have been welcome. Or a few notes about why certain songs were chosen for the scenes but there is nothing of the sort, hopefully something like that will appear on the DVD or Blu-ray on release. A real missed opportunity, leaving no reason to go with the CD version at all with the MP3 generally being more affordable.
If you love the movie its a pretty good mix that will keep the movie in your mind and fuel jokes and japes with your likeminded friends. If not, then its still got some great songs on it but they don't seem to connect with each other very well. Either way you'll find something to love and maybe it'll introduce you to a great new (old) band.
As the entire internet has heard, the new Star Wars film is shooting in Greenham Common, UK. Greenham Common is an ex military base on the outskirts of Newbury, which just so happens to be the town in which I work. (If you were wondering: I'm a bored office worker by day, mild mannered reporter by evening, handsome superhero later in the night)
So how could I be so close to a piece of history happening and not investigate? Well, I couldn't be! So naturally a friend and I went to see if we could see anything and what might be going on up there...
But I did get to talk to one of the worlds most facetious and sarcastic security guards ever (And I mean that in a good way). I won't say his name, I mean it, could affect his job, but I won't mostly just because I didn't bother to ask him.
Well the official story is that a "Site survey" is taking place on Greenham Common, he has taken great joy in telling people out for a walk that its going to be a camp for immigrants with a mosque being built 'just over there' and seeing if anyone believes him. After about 10 minutes of him keeping up the cover story he did admit that 'something' is going on at the site but wouldn't say the words "Star" or "Wars". He did have a couple of good stories; they had caught several people climbing a tree with a camera trying to get some pics recently, and he spotted some guy wandering around in a Storm Trooper uniform. He was happy to talk about other filming that has gone on at the site like Top Gear etc. Also there is a flight restriction in place over the area at the moment (you can see HERE- there is a square over an area covering Newbury, NB map constantly updating and changing) the oddest thing about this is, if you can read it right, it can tell you when they might be filming... like Friday the 26th for example.)
So, what can I tell you? Well, there are plenty of titbits of info and rumours from local people although most of them wouldn't know a YT-1300 Corellian freighter from their elbow so you have to take it all with a pinch of salt.
Speculation and Potential Spoilers ahead. Or possibly its all just nonsense.
Reports of bright lights at night and helicopters over head during late night/early morn. - This could point to night shoots and aerial shots, possibly establishing shots too. or its well lit up for construction in the night to avoid messing up the day shoots.
Reports of "Space ships" in the air, visible from the road during the day. - Not sure on this one, While I couldn't see any signs of cranes on site doesn't mean there aren't any. Possibly doing landing shots of ships, which shows the use of more practical effects. (Or they are just moving them around)
No Cast members are staying in the area and are using the Helicopter to get to Greenham. - Possible; whenever Downton Abby has shoots in the area they stay in a local hotel and it seems to have all the curtains twitching, but no one has heard of anyone staying nearby.
The no fly zones might show when they are filming, the recent one shows 10;00 am to 10:50 restriction - not a local rumour this one, its all me, they will more than likely have no fly zones in the day for shooting time and if they are indeed doing night shoots too then there could be more than just one scene taking place in this base.
So there you have it, all the local excitement of the Star Wars shoot; a closed off area and lots of rumours! If you live in the area there is no harm in going up there, annoy the security guards and who knows, you may get lucky and see something!
(this may just be the worlds worst "on location" report!)
In a Milky Way, far, far away from my grasp, is a review about a game....
SUPER TIME FORCE ULTRA
Links: Super Time Force Ultra steam page: http://store.steampowered.com/app/250700/
Super Time Force Ultra website: www.supertimeforce.com.
Shut the front door and grab some Jamaican Beef, then sit for a spell as I attempt to resound and delight. The combination of nostalgic digital pixels, blowing stuff up, mixed with the import of 3d shooter archetypes, including full fledged functioning cameos from popular Valve characters for the PC version, and you have Super Time Force...ULTRA. I'm surprised that Steve from Minecraft (he probably has an axe to pick about being retro first...or maybe not, he is extending an olive branch he just punched off a tree...) and no Garry's Mod guy (this is a constantly rotating death run where characters constantly respawn... COME ON MAN...).
The insanity of time travel used as a strategy and a macguffin to go to various thematic trope locales, including such nostalgia as the start 198x (if you didn't think that was a reference in itself, hand over your geek card now...or do a better search on wikis), a time that somehow all dinosaurs from completely contradictory random eras of time seem to exist...wait for it...at the same time (legendary tactic I know). However, Super Time Force Ultra seems to mix the insanity, with a delightful tongue squarely on the cheek. Yes, I said on. And, yes, one might be fully justified in the questioning of which said cheek due to the amount of insane pun references that speak nothing but humerus nostalgic love that sends chills to the bones and makes you want to see a neurotic doctor.
Anyways... At the start, you initially start out with three characters. Some of the biography is somewhat real (actually no...):
Jean Rambois
He features a scattergun. His power move is actually firing an insane blitzkrieg that takes his commando tactics to extreme hubris. His friend Bennet Bayanet didn't want to join in because he had to let off some steam from Jean being chosen to spill first blood. His favorite move: up, up, down, down left, right, left, right to get from point A to B and that's just the start.
Aimy McKillin.
Her favorite hobby is pool, as she loves to make bank shots (if you say, that's what she said, she'll put a new hole to shoot a number 8 ball). She makes a real killing by her charged up power of shooting through any material. She breaks female tropes by being fully clothed, all though I suppose one could argue about the metaphoric sexism of the female being the sniper (right now, someone is making a serious dissertation to go on a serious site about what I just said...they are going to kill it...and then scream bloody rage about how they just fell into to trap...just like E.T. when he fell down those holes Sam Witwicky dug....trust me.)
Shieldy Blockerson
He has some weird spacey Scottish guy that treks after him, as he always has his shield up. Coming down from his day job at the Tower of Defense and his night job at the Samurai Flamingo , he now protects and proudly serves this stalwart group of people. His power is super sonic power bubble created by the resounding clang of his shield. He got this idea after some ranting doctor threw an egg at him. (You really want the cat scratching on the chalkboard right now compared to the torture of this review.....don't you?).
You take these initial three troppy characters through a side scrolling 2-d shoot em up with hairy pitfalls and a nefarious fodder called Blounbots armed with guns, canons (you should be fully expecting this by now, pull back the tears...) and every troped up armament an evil machine should have.
If one manages to kill you (and they will in almost rage inducing fashion), then you finally get to the strategic part of the game, and it's intuitive mechanic. Time Travel is used to rewind back and you can even place a different character for better chances that you won't die, as it adds the strategic powers of the other character. You can even inherit the ghost of the past of all the dead characters if you rescue them before they "died" and they will possess you with their charged power-ups along with an extra "life" if you get shot.
There is a red rectangle of death to indicate a time stop (the game makers were probably kind enough not to make a circle for the X-Box players, otherwise nerves would be frayed as much as wires.
As earlier mentioned, you can choose different characters, and along the way rescue even more to add to your intial trinity.
One such fellow is Lou Don Jim, he likes to fight circles around the Blounbots when he doesn't have his day job of convention manager and often spends his nights watching old horror movies, and goes fishing exclusively with earthworms.
And another is Jef Leppard. His hobby is painting pin-ups on all his rockets, so he always pours his sugars on Blounbots. He has a penchant for not giving up his mullet, though subdued by his awesome headband, he always provides a willing back-up for the crew as he's always two steps behind.
This is but a mere smidgeon of the referencial insanity that makes Wiki editors bleed through their eyes (This review alone will probably cost a few pints...). Each rescued character also provides a different type of strategic shot and charge up power to add to the fold.
That being said, this is a great break from the typical graphically intensive games. It provides an insane amount of referencial material for those that were around when gaming started, and also provides some materials of modern gaming ported into it's being to aim at the some of the adolescent children of gamers who proudly blow stuff up and rage just like their parents....the feels...the feels
It's okay Repeatski. There is a time where a man doesn't need to hold back a tear (or two, or three, or just go ahead and imitate a waterfall...), and this is the time.
Perhaps the only downside to the game is the time mechanic itself. All though there are no lives to really lose, the amount of times you see that red skull will make you wish for Captain America to show up. Some who expect a pure shoot 'em up will probably find this very frustrating, but it's the games insane amount of easter eggs that can be literally hatched that doesn't make this a completely fowl macguffin (dear god, I can't stop myself...). Even if you do rage quit, you find yourself drawn back into the sport of blowing stuff up just to find more characters. Or just to blow stuff up in a cool retro game...
Also speaking of the retro-referencial tropes, some may be lost over peoples heads. Also though a simple search on websites may provide clues, it can sometimes be like someone is trying to read the #689 issue of Batman and there's a lot of footnotes calling back to issues #400 to #410.
People that play this game for the shooting probably won't gloss over too much details. For instance, Jef Leppard would probably only really call out to anyone that was born around the 80's or just really has a vast penchant for 80's stuff (because retro is always cool at some point).
In this reviewers eyes, the small negative aspects are easily overcome as most people with a good thinking brain will put the time macguffin to suit their purpose, and eventually the rage will somewhat subside.
The Drive By
The Good: The insane amount of pop culture references that one can find and unlock is the part of the game that will keep most coming back. Plus, blowing stuff up old school, even retroactively, is awesome. Even if the references fly over head, each character has their unique shooting style and charging power-up to add to the mix.
The Bad: The time rewind can be just as rage inducing as losing a life. Some people just prefer a straight forward 2d shooter that doesn't involve too much strategy other than button mashing and joystick maneuvering, this game won't suit their purposes. For those Star Wars Falcon children, or those that live in a cave and are not familiar with the constant bombardment of references, the quirky namesakes of characters may be lost. It's not a requirement to know the reference, but it certainly increases the charm of the game for those that do.
Score: This game gets a Four out of Five.
Links: Super Time Force Ultra steam page: http://store.steampowered.com/app/250700/
Super Time Force Ultra website: www.supertimeforce.com.
It's okay Repeatski. You can just let this one tear go this time.
His name is Repeatski....Get the game, play the game, and you'll soon find out why it's awesome to have a love hate relationship (at least with a game).
Let off some Steam on Bennet...Super Time Force Ultra! Buy Bye Now! You lived through this review...hug your loved ones.
The story isn't complicated which works well in this new, larger universe that they are building and the shear amount of new characters they are introducing. The action zips from planet to space station to [SPOILER], inside a large and cohesive universe driven by one of those pesky Infinity Stones, like the Teseract and the Aether from previous movies. But unlike some of the previous movies the stone isn't just a mysterious Macguffin, they finally get some back story and explanation. After Star-Lord picks up The Orb there are loads of people hot on his trail; Ronan, an psychopathic alien leader waging a holy war and his army and a group of thieves and bandits called The Ravagers, which Quill betrays by stealing the Orb first. While these powerful groups are vying for this cosmic trinket, our group of misfits are just trying to work together and not kill each other...
What really drives the movie is this large array of new and interesting characters.
Chris Pratt's Peter "Star-Lord" Quill is a space-faring scoundrel in the Mal Reynolds mold that is having far to much fun to be a hero. He isn't just hilarious but brings such heart to a character that never really grew up, still running from the death of his mother.He grounds the movie; this odd ball is both Marvels most out-there hero and most human character yet. Zoe Saldana as Gamora, the assassin daughter of Thanos, is like a glass dagger, a mixture of beautiful, lethal and yet has a certain fragility to her. Dave Bautista doesn't just bring his muscle to Drax but also a sincerity and soulfulness the character could easily have been missing. He also acts a great straight-man foil, his clunking literalness bumping up against the other characters, Quill in particular, brilliantly.
Rocket and Groot, who could have sunk the movie on their own, are an absolute triumph. Their actions and appearance, done brilliantly though CG, are an important part of their success but it’s the voice work that really brings them to life. Bradley Cooper voices rocket (although you wouldn't know it from hearing it) with sass, wit and a snarl. His superb voice work not only gives this trigger-happy raccoon a whole load of attitude and a great line in dry humour but also great character beats. While Groot is probably the most difficult Character to get right in the entire history of cinema: A walking tree whose vocabulary extends to "I am Groot" and we are supposed to identify with and cheer for him. Yet Vin Diesel does exceptionally well and with his delivery of this line. At different times he can raise a chuckle or add a caring tone to a scene. And there is one line that will definitely leave you with a tear in your eye.
Ronan, the main villain of the piece is probably the one duff note of this movie, its not down to poor acting from Lee Pace but more that he comes across as rather one dimensional, he is a bad guy that wants to destroy Xandar because, well, they have always fought. But if Ronan doesn't grab your attention then Karen Gillian's Nebula, assassin sister to Gamora, is a much more interesting antagonist which she plays with deadly fury and yet as a jealous, surly teenager when regarding Thanos or Gamora. And the leader of the Ravagers, Yondu (portrayed by Michael Rooker), is a great anti-hero that is thrown into the mix too. Glen Close, John C Reilly and Peter Serafinowicz also all deserve a mention for their work bringing Xandarians to life. (Did I mention how big this cast is?)
The Universe of this movie is vast and looks fantastic, from the sets, costumes to the special effects. The cast is just as huge and nearly all the actors work well and the characters come to life in this beautiful, vivid world created by Director James Gunn. This is exactly what we would want from a Summer Blockbuster like this; Great characters in fist fights, gun fights, sword fights, spaceship chases, starfigher dogfights, a prison break and more. The people behind the new Star Wars should sit up and take some notes before going back to work.
The Drive By:
There is no other way to put this: This move is Fun. With a capital 'F'. It’s a lot more comedic than the other movies in the MCU so far with great action, characters and superb pacing. After watching it you know, just as Chris Pratt knew as he danced into this movie, this was never a gamble, this might just be the one of the best movies of the MCU yet.
Hits:
An amazing space faring adventure in its own right but it also opens up a whole new side and new possibilities for the MCU.
Loads of new, fantastic characters that are brilliantly cast.
Rocket and Groot being brought to life so well. "I am Groot!"
Misses:
A passible villain seems like a missed opportunity.
You feel that some of the characters need more screen time like Glen Close, John C Reilly and others.
Waiting until next year for the next MCU movie and waiting until 2017 for the sequel. Its going to be a be long time coming...
The costume of the doctor has always been important (who made bow-ties cool? Can you see David Tennant without the coat?) and one of the first questions that came into my mind when the 12th Doctor was "What will he be wearing?)
Well, the wait is over, Peter Capaldi's 12th Doctor Costume has been unveiled by the BBC today!
The Costume is made up of a dark blue Crombie coat with a bright crimson lining over a white shirt, dark blue coloured trousers and black leather Doc Marten boots.
Peter Capaldi commented on the costume saying: “He's woven the future from the cloth of the past. Simple, stark, and back to basics. No frills, no scarf, no messing, just 100 per cent Rebel Time Lord.”
Cosplayers note: the coat appears to be Crombie's Navy Retro coat and as that retails at a smidgen under £800 I'd look somewhere else or at making your own.
Its been known since last year that Microsoft has been working on its competitor to Apple's Siri under the code name "Cortana".
This makes a lot of sense as it gives their UI a recognisable name when entering the fray against the world famous Siri and whatever service Google has (seriously, I have no idea... which kinda proves my point). It also helps gives it more of a full character straight away, I can tell you as a Halo fan I would much rather be talking to THE Cortana than boring old Siri. Of course having a naked blue lady as the interface may cause some issues with some people. But not me though.
Microsoft are looking at launching the service on Windows Phone in the US (in Beta, probably) in April with other English speaking countries getting it in 2015.
What helps separate Cortana from Siri and Google is that it won't be tied to smart phones as it will also be rolled out onto their Window 8 computers and Tablets and the Xbox One console in 2015.
While most of this needs to be taken with a pinch of salt as there has been no official word yet, But would help their first build UI help stand against the long serving Siri. I can tell you as a Halo Fan and Windows Phone user this would make my day! Now if only my phone could project a hologram from the screen I would be in Nerdvana.
Paul Rudd is Ant-Man! Michael Douglas is... also Ant-Man?
Last year, Paul Rudd was cast as Ant-Man, but the actual name of the part wasn't confirmed. But now Michael Douglas has been cast as Hank Pym, the original Ant-Man, confirming Paul Rudd as Scott Lang.
It looks like the plot of the movie could follow Marvel Premier issues 47/48 or the TV episode "To Steal An Ant-Man", which was teased as "Homework" on Edgar Wrights Blog. Where Scott Lang steals the Ant-Man tech and suit to save his daughters life.
As the first movie of Marvel's Phase 3, Ant-Man could be the next Big Thing! (See what I did there?)
The Guardians Of The Galaxy maybe shot and in post production yet, like most MCU films, its still shrouded in mystery. But a shot of the Five main characters has appeared online.
It looks like they are in some sort of police line up, which is possible as the plot follows Chris Platt as Peter Quill, (a human who left earth in the 80's) who steals an orb wanted by Ronan.
Its the first glimpse of what Rocket Raccoon will look like in the movie too, thankfully he looks as realistic as you could want a genetically engineered raccoon to look. Drax looks impressive too, although I think Groot will have to be seen in motion before you can truly see what a moving tree is like on film.
I think its also worth saying that Zoe Saldana looks better in green than she ever looked in blue...
Telltale Games announces Borderlands AND Game Of Thrones games!
As if announcing last week that the Walking Dead Season 2 is on its way in the very near future wasn't enough, Telltale Games have revealed at VGX they're working on two huge new properties, which those of you who read the headline will already know, are Borderlands and Game Of Thrones!
Here are the teaser trailers for both:
Tales from the Borderlands
Get More: Comedy Central
Telltale's Kevin Bruner at Spike VGX said"You get to shoot stuff, but in a different way; It's gonna play like a telltale game—you're going to be engaging characters and developing relationships, but it's very much in the borderlands world. It's this great hybrid of everything that's great about Borderlands and everything thats great about Telltale."
And here is the GOT teaser, which gives away a lot less:
You can see the rest of Spike VGX's world premiere announcements here.
