Across the Pond..

For those not in the know, I love my TV. Not the nonsense they have on most nights like Dancing with the Stars or Who is Smarter than a 5 year old but shows that show some creativity, some intelligence or you know, shows that blow shit up in really cool ways. In terms of network shows, the only two I really follow are Lost ‘cause well, time travelling islands with smoke monsters and hot chicks with freckles is right down my alley and American Idol ‘cause my wife wont give me the nookie otherwise. I swear that’s the only reason. Really. Anyways, lately, I've gotten the British bug and have started to watch more and more British produced shows because usually, they tend to be slightly more competent than the stuff we tend to produce and also because you get to watch shows that they'd never ever make here. Prime example is Top Gear. There are hundreds of Car shows on American TV but nothing quite like Top Gear. It’s a gross understatement to even call Top Gear a car show. It has a budget of a small summer blockbuster and the roads and countries they drive in are orgasms for the eyes. Most of you have probably heard of Top Gear and if you haven't, go to your local Torrent site and check it out. You won't be sorry. Today however, I want to mention 3 shows that get next to no pub on this side of the continent.

First one is Dead Set, easily the goriest thing I've ever seen on tv or any other medium for that matter. This show is not for the squeamish or the weak hearted because there will be a point in every episode where you go "I can't believe they are showing this on network tv." The basic premise is that there has been a Zombie breakout and the only survivors are trapped inside a Big Brother set. Sounds ludicrous but I swear, it's one of the top 5 shows that I've seen in the last few years. I wish they made a Zombie movie like this because it has everything you would want. A surreal amount of blood and gore, characters you are interested in, and camera work that makes you feel like you are right there. Again, probably not going to find it at your local blockbuster but if you are net savvy, there are enough torrent sites for you to find it on. There are only 5 episodes (again something I love about British shows) so there isn't a lot of waste produced. They get right into the story.

Second show is State of Play, a drama series which focuses on a scandal in the British parliament and 3 or 4 stories are cleverly interlinked together by some talented writers. Very different from Dead Set in the sense that this show is all about the acting and the dialogue, and less about what you actually see on the screen. It's a bit slow to start but has a whole slew of strong British actors and some meaty writing that keeps the audience hooked through the series. It has 2 seasons but download, er rent the first season to see if you like it. I've been able to get my wife hooked on this show and to me, that’s usually the barometer between a good show and a great show, American Idol being the exception of course

 

The third show is No Heroics, a half hour comedy about super heroes living in London and what they do in their day to day lives. If you download expecting it to be like Xmen, you'll be sorely disappointed. Imagine combining the bar atmosphere of Cheers with the raunchy, low brow humor of Benny Hills and you come close to what No Heroics is. There is a lot of adult sex humor, lots of nerd inside jokes for those that play video games, collect comics and satirical realization that being a super hero isn’t all that glamorous. If you are a fan of the Devils lettuce, this is a show to watch for you....after a toke or two.

Like I said, you won't have to look very hard to download these shows but I assure you, they are worth it.

Posted by th3midnighter @ 10:57 am EDT | Permalink | 5 Comments

Mythic Map Pack unlike any other

 

If you are like me and enjoy the competitive side of Halo, then the majority of Halo 3 maps released so far have left you somewhat disappointed.  It's not that the maps released aren’t good maps, they just aren’t very good competitive maps.  You  know, MLG friendly.  Most aren't very symmetrical, most are too big or too open, or most just don’t have the long shooting lanes, the choke points, the multiple entrances and exits we've come to know and love from MLG Halo MP maps.  In my opinion, it’s taken a little shine off what has arguably been the best supported Multiplayer game on any console to date.  Well, I'm here to say the Mythic Map Pack is going to bring that shine back on.  I was lucky enough to get the game a night early as were a couple of my local friends so I got home, helped with the kid and spent some time with the wifey, then got on around 9ish. 

I have to say, these new maps, (Orbital being the exception) are exactly what the Competitive community needed.  Assembly as has been written in numerous preview write ups is a great comp. map and has the visual stylings of Midship with the playability of a Sanctuary.  The angles, the shooting lanes, the jump-ups all provide multiple options if you are chasing someone or being chased for that matter.  I can easily see it being adopted into the MLG line of maps for games like TS, Ball and especially KOTH.  It's the first map since Pit where I can say, I wouldn’t change a thing about it.  It’s a Bungie created map with the competitive community in mind and that’s pretty evident when you play it.  The best part about Assembly?  Its not even the best map in the Mythic Map pack.

That title imo belongs to Sandbox.  Its hard to describe Sandbox since as most of you are aware, its 3 maps in 1.  There is the open level on the main floor simply called Sandbox which in itself is a great BR map.  Now it’s a little too open for MLG fans I'm sure but that can easily be fixed with some slight modifications and removal of the vehicles.  Last night, playing on the default Bungie Matchmaking setup, it was a blast to play....as long as you spawned with a BR or near a BR.  As is the case with most Bungie maps of the past for H3, if you didn’t have a BR, it was a little too open to control but with slight changes, its going to be another strong comp. map. 

Next, there is Skybox which is the map in the sky atop Sandbox and the thing you notice before anything else is how large it is.  It’s HUGE.  Not the map itself but the area you are given in the sky to create the map.  If you found a way around the spending limit (which I'm positive people will), you could create Blood Gultch if you wanted to.  Yeah, that’s how big it is.  This map is going to be the canvas in which we see some incredibly creative NEW maps.  I'm all for playing some old favorites like Lockout or Hang em High but just from the layout , the size and the options available, people are going to create some really amazing maps for competitive game play. 

Lastly, we come to the Crypt, the underground map in Sandbox which was created for GriftBall but really, its PERFECT for MLG.  Its larger than most people realize, easily as big as Midship if not bigger, and a perfect square without any dividers to throw a wrench into the customization.  I played some MM games on it and even the Bungie versions of the map are incredibly fun to play.  Tundra which is a Bungie created map in the Crypt is a great map and I could easily see it being a TS or KOTH map.  I downloaded a custom created version of Sanctuary on the Crypt and it played so damn well, I was gushing throughout the game.  More than any of the other maps, its this one, the Crypt that is going to give the MLG community so many options for arena style maps.  I played for almost 4 hours last night and went to bed almost 2 hours later than  I normally do and cant wait to stay up again tonight.  Bungie, thank you for finally giving the MLG community what we've wanted for quite some time.  Now get working on Halo 4.

P.S.  I wasn't sure whether paying $90 for Halo Wars just to get the maps a few weeks early was worth it.  I was never going to play Halo Wars and in fact was able to resell the game on the same day for $60 so it only cost me $30 but still, to buy a new game just to get 3 Halo maps that will eventually be released to the rest of the community soon enough seemed a little TOO hardcore.  That being said, I am so glad that I did because I haven't been this excited about Halo maps since I heard they were remaking Hang em High for Halo 2.  I'm not saying its worth the $90 for those out there thinking about it but I don't regret it for a second.

Posted by th3midnighter @ 10:59 am EDT | Permalink | 1 Comments

8 hours wasted on Street Fighter...again

Apparently not much has changed in 15 years. I was addicted to SF2 15 years ago. I’m addicted to SF4 now. I gamed with my friends till my parents called wondering if I was coming home that night. Now, my wife calls and wonders out loud when I’ll get my ass home. Probably like most on this site, my formative years in high school were spent doing anything and everything to impress the ladies, playing high school sports and oh yeah, playing Street Fighter until I hate blisters on my fingers the size of Chun Li’s ….well you know.

The reason for a trip down memory lane? One of my good friends got a copy of Street Fighter 4 for the PS3 and the reviews for the game have been outstanding so about 7 of us decided to meet up at his place with the 70” Samsung and the kick ass hookah for some HADUKEN fun. Now we all expected to play for a couple of hours, have a few tokes on the Hookah and eat some good fresh Sushi. I don’t think any of us had any idea how good this game is or more poignantly, how powerful nostalgia is. We ended up staying at his place for well over 8 hours playing SF4 till we unlocked most of the characters and beat the crap out of each other.

I think it’s pretty incredible that in the last 15 years, I’ve been able to get a University degree, get a pretty good job, find a woman that doesn’t think a man with Master Chief Boxers is a r-tard, have a kid and still be addicted to Ryu’s flaming uppercut. To keep a piece of your childhood is a special thing but to be able to relive it with your best friends is even better. I might not be able to tackle a outside center anymore like I used to in high school or pick up the ladies with my smooth lines but I can still master Guile’s Sonic booooooom.

P.S. I took some pics on my iphone but due to the shittyness that is the iphone camera, it didnt come out well at all. It looks more like Gollums cave what with the lack of flash. Apple, give me a working camera god damn it! Especially when I spend $399 on your phone.

Posted by th3midnighter @ 1:06 pm EDT | Permalink | 1 Comments

Oscars Suck Donkey Balls

The Academy has sucked balls for years but this year, this is especially true. I'm a pretty big movie fan and try to watch as many good flicks as I can and to see so many good movies get ignored this year while a snoozefest like Benjamin Button get 13 nods is just pathetic. I realize that the Oscars are just a political game and you have to play by "their" rules to win the big awards. How else can you explain that Martin Scorsese doesnt win an Oscar for Good Fellas or Casino but he wins one for The Departed, a good but not great film. This year we have some of the same old bullshit. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button which had some great aging special effects but a weak narrative with some terrible accents gets 13 nods, and an epic like Dark Knight which by the way grossed over 600 million gets shut out of all the major categories sans the Best Supporting Actor. I suspect Heath is a shoe in for that but outside of that cateogry, Chris Nolan gets shut out of Best Director, the movie gets shut out of Best Picture. Even Wall-E only got nominated in the Best Animated Picture category. These are the Top 7 movies I saw last year... I couldnt think of 10 really good movies.

1.) Dark Knight - Best Comic Book Movie....ever.

2.) Wall-E - Best Animated Movie from Pixar...thats saying alot.

3.) Slumdog Millionaire - Danny Boyle never dissapoints

4.) Frost/Nixon - I suspect Frank Langella will win Best Actor for his portrayal of Nixon.

5.) Defiance - Daniel Craig does brooding better than anyone on screen right now. Its an Ed Zwick flick so you know it'll be good.

6.) The Wrestler - Rourke was great as was Tomei's ass. If Langala doesnt win, then its Rourkes.

7.) Tropic Thunder - I'm so glad Robert Downey Jr. got nominated. He was spectacular in this movie.

Any on your list that I missed?

Posted by th3midnighter @ 11:51 am EDT | Permalink | 4 Comments

Accountability?? What's that?

 

www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28344965/

While I probably shouldn't be surprised that the Banks that received these massive bailout packages don't either know where that money went, or don't want to say, as a concerned citizen, a taxpayer, I am appalled that they are able to sweep the borrowed capital under the proverbial carpet and tell those interested to "Fuck Off".  Imagine if this Bailout had gone to everyday people rather than Corporations and we tried this tactic.  If we each got 20K and when tax season came, we simply didn’t report it and didn’t feel like telling the government exactly where that money went, can you imagine how quickly you'd be audited?  The upsetting thing about all this is that 10 years ago, Big Business and the Government at least pretended that they cared what the consumer, the taxpayer thought of them.  I mean, we all knew it was pretend and they were all out for profit but at least they acted like they were morally responsible and we were happy with the knowledge that they were at least willing to play pretend with us.  Now, they don't even bother trying to act like they owe us some sort of explanation.  I suppose it’s hard to blame them when the Government is willing to write a blank check but there has to be some CEO or Exec. out there that feels a little guilty about all this right?? 

www.metacritic.com/film/titles/corporation/

There is a documentary I watched a few years back called The Corporation that dealt with the creation of the Corporation and how with the help of a few shady/brilliant (fine line I know) lawyers, they were able to LEGALLY make the Corporation a real entity, thereby foregoing most the responsibility, accountability that the CEO, shareholders had for the behavior of said Company.  Instead of attacking the CEO's, VP's of companies like Wal-Mart or AGP for the direction of their companies whether it be the use child labor to maximize profits or approving ludicrous loans, its the Corporation, the company that gets the blame.  It’s a brilliant fool-proof system that allows for the malpractice.  If you were told you could practically do anything you wanted to sell a product, earn money any way you wanted and not be held responsible, why would you listen to your conscience? 

I think the Federal Government needs to play a much more central role in the behavior these mega-billion dollar companies but I'm sure there will be a lot of resistance to that.  I can understand why Big Business would protest that.  They've been able to behave without a leash for decades and don’t' want a thing to change.  It's the general publics’ protest that I find so intriguing.  You'll get thousands of people that protest Government control because they don't want to turn into a socialist state and yet its the general public that lose the most when these companies behave with total abandon.  When Wal-Mart decides to go to China to gets its toys for .02 cents to the dollar, it’s not Joe from Michigan that sees the 450% profit margin.  Yet, ask Joe if he wants the government to take more of an active role in how companies behave, act and the first thing he'll say is that it’s "Un-American".  Its strange to me that it’s almost always the poorest people, those that have very little that defend the core values of American society like Free-Enterprise when they are the ones getting the shaft from companies that use these ideals to maximize profits. 

Posted by th3midnighter @ 2:19 pm EDT | Permalink | 3 Comments