E3 Observations

Microsoft

So I stayed up past midnight, awaiting the live stream of the Microsoft conference, and boy did I regret it the next day when I had to front up to work dead tired. The MS conference was disappointing, and despite being a long time fan of both the original Xbox and Xbox 360, I have to say that the wheels have truly come off for Microsoft. Speaking from personal experience only, I've almost completely moved from 360 to the PS3. I don't like having to pay for Live, and regardless, my 360 is one of the old ones with no WI-FI. MS made a gamble to get the 360 out first but for the early adopters, would you rather buy another 360 to update it or just go for the PS3 with Blu-Ray, a larger HDD, built-in WI-FI and free online. Surely there's quite a few hard core gamers who went for the PS3 once it showed what it can do. So the message of this year's press conference was that all the 3rd party games will be on 360, there's a lot of media content on 360 and that Kinect exists. So like I said, my 360 doesn't have WI-FI so I'm not interested in the media, all those games will be on PS3 as well and the voice control in Mass Effect 3 doesn't interest me in the slightest. Gears of War 3 obviously looks great, and I know it will be as brilliant as both it's predecessors were, but the predictable Halo reveals, really didn't stir me up at all, and when you look at Sony's exclusives coming this year, and the massive Nintendo news, and it really looks like MS is running last in this race now, at least for me.

Sony

I'm loving my PS3 more every year and 2011 and early 2012 are shaping up as the best for the Sony system. Uncharted 3, probably the best series of this generation, as well as Resistance 3, Infamous 2, Twisted Metal and others just re-emphasized Sony's superiority over Microsoft in the software department. And the pricing of their new portable system the Vita would have made a lot of people happy. I love my PSP. I'll admit that the great games for it were few and far between but the good ones did deliver, and the multimedia capabilities are still far superior to most portable devices. Expandable storage and a brilliant and large screen means the PSP is a blessing for me on holiday. So they don't really need a ton of games coming out, just a few must haves like the Uncharted they've been showing off, and I'm pretty much sold. Now the fact it may also allow the PS3 to leverage the same capabilities as the new Wii U and you can see why Microsoft are up against it. 

Nintendo 

I've never been much of a Nintendo fan. I was a Sega kid all the way in the 8 and 16-bit wars and  then a Sony and Xbox fan. But the new Wii U has me super excited. Finally you can play all the big 3rd party games, in a unique way to boot as well as hopefully numerous exclusives. The big question is how long will Nintendo's power dominance last as MS and Sony prepare their next generation of machines. Nevertheless, Nintendo are counting on building a sizeable lead by then. If the price is reasonable and the launch titles strong, I will be itching to get it, and from a non-Nintendo fan I think that's a pretty strong backing. Nintendo's worry should be that the 3DS is waning with weak launch titles, little to discern itself from the everlasting DS/i/XL and little reason for many people to get it. Now that the Sony Vita has been announced at the same price as the 3DS I would say Nintendo should be feeling threatened for the first time in a long time in the handheld market. But the wow factor of the Wii U overshadowed this and gave gamers a lot to look forward to, as well as Microsoft and Sony. 

The Games - 

There were a lot of big titles shown at E3, including stage demos of Gears of War 3, Mass Effect 3, Modern Warfare 3(!) and a ton of others. But I was really impressed by Rage which seems like a blend of Bioshock and Borderlands, but with brilliant graphics, and seemingly a lot of variety and a ton of gameplay. 

Bioshock 3 also has me super excited. The first one was one of the greatest of this generation and this looks to be an awesome re-imagining of the Bioshock genre. The multiplayer FPS battle will be fascinating this time around as Battlefield 3 has been absolutely dazzling with what's been shown so far and with the MW3 team having a lot pressure on them Still, what was seen of MW3 also looked superb. I've always been a CoD fan but Black Ops was lackluster and I've been waiting for Battlefield to deliver for a long time. This might be their turn.

Bring on next years E3. 

Review - X-Men First Class

Is this the best X-Men movie? Well it certainly has a couple of things it does better than any of it's predecessors. The costumes are excellent. Spot on. An homage to retro but still looking sleek and stylish. And the story is strong too. It's an origin one of sorts, showing the creating of the personas of Magneto and Professor X and the formation of the X-Men. In fact, some of the strongest parts of the movie involved pre-Magneto Erik Lehnsherr as a child in Nazi concentration camps as he is tormented by a brilliant Kevin Bacon and then as an adult on his one man crusade against the Nazi who got away. Charles Xavier's story is a little less interesting but James McAvoy does a fine job as a young, brash and idealistic soon to be Professor X. However once the background is set the movie pushes full steam ahead into the conflict part of it's story, culminating in the inevitable epic battle. There is an interesting take on Xavier's paralysis here but it's also a let down in that drawing of the line between Magneto and Xavier is predictable and safe, laying down the groundwork for the next movie but not leaving anything interesting to ponder in the meantime. The other negative was the haphazard manner in which the team was assembled and the X-Men formed. There was no explanation or reasoning why these particular mutants were selected, and the code-name sequences were a little corny. Nevertheless, this is mostly nitpicking. The strong points are brilliant and these negatives are minor. As I mentioned, Kevin Bacon is awesome. If you don't consider him a bad-ass you will after First Class. The acting is very strong overall actually, Michael Fassbender particularly impressive, though I swear I said January Jones as Emma Frost was terrible before it became a Twitter storm. And Michael Ironsidemaking an appearance was good to see too. Did I mention the costumes? The whole look and feel of the movie, coupled with the strong acting, effects and story telling certainly put this high on the Marvel movie list, let alone the X-Men movie list and it bodes well for future of the series. Definitely a must see.

Review - Limitless

To me this seems much more like a Phillip K Dick story than The Adjustment Bureau. A down on his luck writer, played by Brad Cooper, is offered a wonder drug that changes the way he sees the world, and opens a new realm of possibilities for what he is capable of. We already knew Brad Cooper could do the job as a clean cut good looking over achiever, but here he gets the chance to show another side at the start of the movie as a hobo, down and out writer, and he does a great job. Perhaps it's that to me Brad Cooper still isn't too familiar but he really becomes the character in this one.

What I loved about this movie was the great sense of paranoia, fear, danger and confusion that this movie portrayed, all emotions associated with drug use and all quite real for our protagonist here. People are following him, he's having black outs, he's gonna run out of drugs, he owes money to a loan shark, the drug has made his life better but brought it's own set of problems.

I did enjoy the fact that the movie doesn't get preachy or carry some sort of anti-drug message, but at the same time it is also held back from greatness by the fact it doesn't really explore any of these issues such as is it right to take drugs to improve performance or open our minds, and it doesn't go into greater detail about how many people around the world are and have been using this drug, and how many world changing events have been shaped by this drug, since it becomes clear there are many people using it. In this sense they could have made it far more sci-fi and turned it into a bit of an epic. Instead this is purely a story about one man, and even then we don't really get to understand him all that much.

It's a well done movie, and a good story told well, but it's limited scope keeps it from greatness. Still, it's worth watching.

Review - The Mechanic

Rejoice! Jason Statham is back doing what he does best. Killing people, getting laid and being an all around bad ass. This isn't his finest hour, but the over the top violence almost makes up for it. Mechanic is a code word for hitman, and Statham is the best. Trouble is his next job is to kill him life long mentor, the wheelchair bound Donald Sutherland. The agency he works for has told him to do it, that Sutherland is a mole and must be killed. And the job is done. After this, Statham runs into his now dead mentor's grieving son, takes him under his wing, and teaches him the art of killing. From here on in Ben Foster pretty much takes over the lead role, and he does a really good job. He's a pretty damn good actor, and can do the bad ass role pretty well too. 

The story is pretty shallow, and light on twists and turns, but as I said earlier, the violence is used to cover this up. And it mostly works. This won't go down as a cult classic like Crank, but it's an easy way to spend 90mins, as long as you don't expect too much, and are a Statham fan. 

Soundwave Festival 2011 - Melbourne, Australia

This year I travelled to Melbourne for the 2011 Soundwave festival. There was such a great lineup this year, however the way they organised the timetable meant there were some tough decisions to be made on which band to see for many people. Me, I was there for Slayer and Iron Maiden, and anything else was a bonus.

It was a cold dark day in Melbourne, a stark difference to the searing hot temperatures we usually get in Perth for Soundwave. After finally getting in, getting drink vouchers, and smashing a few cans of Beam and Cola, I made my way down to see The Sword. I’m a big fan of their first album, not as much their later stuff, but they played a great set, including Winter’s Wolves so I was happy. Their sound wasn't as "doomy" as I hoped though.

After that it was a rush to the main stage for Monster Magnet. A band I’ve loved for a long time, I was extremely happy to see they were playing. They didn’t pull a huge crowd but they delivered a good set, all the classics, nice and crunchy guitar sound. The singer is looking a bit pudgy these days, but his voice is still great.

Then it was time for more drinks.  After that it was back to the metal stage for Dimmu Borgir. It started to rain and they were a good 30mins late to come out. When they did, they were excellent. They ripped through Mourning Palace at the end, but 3 or 4 songs was quite a disappointment. They did promise to return for a headlining tour, but not until next year. After them was High on Fire on the stage next door, another of my favourite bands. They were great. No frills, just loud and fast and Matt Pike's voice in great form. 

Back to the bar for more drinks and then getting ready for Slayer. 

I worked my way through the crowd toward the front in anticipation of Slayer, while Ill Nino played on the stage next door. A massive wall of Marshall amps is what awaited us on the empty stage. Ill Nino were going over their allotted time and the Slayer crowd was getting restless. They started booing Ill Nino, which pissed the singer off. He gave the Slayer crowd the middle finger and kept playing.

When they finally finished, and Slayer appeared on stage, there was a massive crush which shunted me right toward the front of the stage and a mad pit ensued. 5 minutes into War Ensemble and I had lost my shoe and saw it thrown on stage. Another 5 minutes and a crowd surfer kicked me in the head and I watched my sunglasses go flying too. This was a violent pit, I was loving it.

Slayer were awesome! Mandatory Suicide, Reign in Blood, Black Magic! And they finished with Angel of Death which was absolutely bonecrushing. I was bruised, battered, and walked away with a huge grin on my face!

And finally, it was time for the headliners, Iron Maiden. I love these guys. They're the nicest band you will ever see, and they always deliver and give their best for every show. They played a few new songs which I have to confess I wasn't familiar with, I've neglected their last couple of releases but the songs were instantly catchy and I'll be definitely checking out their new stuff very soon. As for the classics, every single one was perfect and a dream come true to see live. 2 Minutes to Midnight, The Evil That Men Do, Fear of the Dark, Number of the Beast, The Trooper, so so good. Of course with only a 2hr set they missed a few classics like Aces High but it was such an incredible show and what a way to end an awesome Soundwave. Can't wait for next year!