Water Blogged

Watchmen!

2009-03-12T22:21:00.003-04:00

You may have seen the pins, a classical yellow smiley with an arrow of blood in the top left corner, or heard the phrase, “Who Watches the Watchmen.” The pin and phrase, originating from the graphic novel, recently resurfaced as viral marketing for the blockbuster, Watchmen. Zack Synder, director of 300, brought the Watchmen graphic novel to the big screen. After about a 20 year struggle, Alan Moore and Dave Gibbon’s comic came to life.

The pin that many hold is prevalent in the story as soon as it starts. The time period is during the cold war, and with everyone’s heightened fear of nuclear annihilation, a group of vigilantes arise. There are six: Nite Owl II, Dr. Manhattan, Rorschach, Silk Spectre II, Ozymandias, The Comedian, and Dr. Manhattan, the only superhuman among the team. This team, Crimebusters of 1966, followed the original team, the Minutemen of 1939.

The events take place after the Keene Act of 1977, banning costumed heroes. Nite Owl II and The Comedian are retired, Dr. Manhattan and Silk Spectre II work for the government, Ozymandias, proclaimed world’s smartest man, enjoys life as a billionaire, and Rorshach continues his vigilante activities. The Comedian is murdered and as he lie dead, his famed pin lies next to him. Flashbacks, like in LOST, allow past events to be seen and give important back-story. The opening credits show alternate universe that of the Watchmen, where Americans easily win Vietnam War with the help of Dr. Manhattan, all overlaid with Bob Dylan’s 1964 The Times They Are a-Changin'.

It clocks in at a lengthy 162 minutes, and keeps one hooked throughout. One drag, although maybe intentional, is the music. In a flashback, Dr. Manhattan is seen annihilating Vietcong while with Ride of the Valkyries plays inappropriately. Watchmen is rated R.

Watered Special: Go Ninja Go Ninja Go

2008-11-24T21:08:00.005-05:00

Vanilla Ice, famous for his one-hit-wonder Ice Ice Baby
did other songs as well. The other notable song of Vanilla Ice, a quite humorous one, is the Ninja Rap. It is music video for the classic Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2 movie back in '91. Check it out.

AND, You have been the first to be Ninja ROLLED!!

I haven't disappeared...

2008-11-13T22:13:00.006-05:00

I know I have not posted anything in a week. But, I have a review of Fallout 3 on the way. Plus, analysis of all the major Holiday games. While you wait enjoy!

What if the Matrix ran on Windows?

Fable 2: A Bogey, Birdie, Or Somewhere in Between?

2008-10-26T20:40:00.008-04:00

Fable 2, brainchild of Peter Molyneux's Lionhead Studios, is the sequel to the action RPG (role playing game) exclusively for XBOX and later for Windows and Mac OS X.1 Fable 2 follows in the steps of the original but, larger. Fable 2 was released last Tuesday, October 21, 2008.
The character begins at a young age developing the story and takes place after the first Fable. As the character is released into the world the expansion grows beyond belief and as OXM says, "...those pesky fences that leashed you to a path in the first Fable? Now you can easily hop over them. 2" Opinion on the story is very wide. Some say the story is amazing while others call the story 'crap.' The fact is the story clocks short, and Gamespot calls "[the] story and characters lack[ing] depth.3" But, adding to the main story is side quests, 1UP says, "[there is] clear line between its primary quests and its side quests. 4"

An addition to the game is man's best friend. The dog follows your character around and, "...[a] furry metal detector, barking excitedly whenever he spots a treasure. His need to alert you of hidden goods before you have a chance to find them for yourself...3" But, as 'cute' as the dog is, he takes away the thrill of discovering. But, when he leaves to find an easier way you may feel anxious for his return.
Other interactions include people. Your character can interact without speaking using gestures and actions. You can trade with other interesting people. People's opinions change about you and you can marry other women in the game as well. But not all people are friends, some you must fight.
Don't bring a sword to a gun fight!
The combat system is an essential part of a RPG and is a strong point in Fable 2. In Fable 2, not only can your character wield a sword but also the character can use a gun.
Another key RPG element included, morality system, is a high point. Unlike the first Fable the character could be good or evil, which is very limited. Now, in Fable 2, the character can be good, evil, or somewhere in between.
Fable 2 adds a multi-player feature for both local and on-line possibility. The problem, the feature is not as great as hoped. Multi-player allows a friend to be the main character while the friend is the henchman, but the friend joined will not be able to transfer all of the weapons and the character from the other. The great point of on-line is when you play single player you can see your friends playing and where they are with a green orb.

Some cool Fable 2 'things' include a nifty master chief available in the limited edition version. And, Gamespot calls Fable 2, "Laugh-out-loud funny.5" But, the game is short, and some believe the game gets over fast. Fable 2 sadly ends up becoming a bogey. I recommend holding off until a price-drop. Fable 2 is available exclusively for the XBOX 360 and is rated M.
+Funny
+A man's best friend is the name!
+Expansive!
+Characters fun to talk too.
-Short
-On-line not up to par.
-Story's opinion varied
?Why stop at a dog? Why not a cat?
RUMOR: Fable 3 is currently in development and possible DLC for Fable 2 soon.

Shoutout: The Pit

2008-10-21T22:23:00.002-04:00

Recently, I checked out a blog named adequately "The Pit". It is named "The Pit" because "Anything can fall into a pit...[the blog could] get pretty random." It has already had a nice array of posts including a very humorous, yet oddly disturbing Youtube video, a Large Hadron Collider update, and a review of Fable II. Check it out!

It's Halloween! (Part 1)

2008-10-21T21:32:00.004-04:00

The Scariest Pumpkin EVER:
The SECOND Scariest Pumpkin Ever (On bottom right EEK!):
Obama!!!!!!

In all seriousness though, this guy is amazing at Pumpkin carving!

Do you want to believe?

2008-10-20T21:30:00.004-04:00

1
UFOs one of the several wonders of the world. People claim to have spot them, others call them mad, shows such as UFO Hunters are built around the idea. But, are UFOs real? Britain recently started a three to four year program releasing 160 UFO files open to the public. 1 Inside the files include many claims such as a man ordered to fire at a unknown spectacle, a UFO. But, before the man fires the unknown speedily flees, "[he says]... it was absolutely death defying." Read more of the files at the source.

Fable II draws near!

2008-10-19T22:01:00.005-04:00

This Tuesday, Fable II, Peter Molyneux's brain child will be released on store shelves. The game is the sequel of Fable and Fable II will follow the same format but Fable II is exponentially larger in every way. For a full analysis be sure to check out the Water Blogged review this week!

Watered Down Spotlight: "Life On Mars"

2008-10-15T20:21:00.005-04:00

From the United Kingdom's BBC station, the ABC television station in the United States took up the adaptation. The story revolves around a detective, Sam Tyler, from 2008 who is hit by a car. This incident causes the main character to 'transport' to the past, going to 1973. But, transport isn't necessary the word for it, because the question is: Did he create this world he is in? or, Did he travel to the past? The show gives great insight to the culture of the 1970s. Sam Tyler confuses people talking about his cell phone and the people reply, "What are you trying to sell?" Another highlight is when Sam Tyler first enters 1973 and goes near the car the song Life On Mars, David Bowie, plays which
The pilot centers around the detective trying to figure out the case of the murderer who takes hostage his victims and then kills them. This is a very dear case to Sam because his significant other, Maya Daniels, was allegedly taken by the killer. So Sam thinks his travel to the past was to figure out killer. Check it out Thursdays at 10 PM and you can watch it here on the the official ABC Full Episode Player. It is definitely worth checking out!

Tokyo Game Show: Semi-Wrap Up

2008-10-12T21:38:00.004-04:00

Well, this week was Tokyo Game Show. The Tokyo Game Show is "a video game expo / convention held in the Makuhari Messe, in Chiba, Japan... [open to the] public during the final two days.' [1] The big hitter at the event was Microsoft, and second Playstation, and a distant third Nintendo. Some of the revealed games included Halo 3: Recon, an expansion to Halo 3 with a new campaign that is planned to be released fall 2009. [2]. And, a new sonic game was announced as well for the Wii named Sonic & The Black Knight. Also highlighted was the upcoming game Little Big Planet, the new xbox 360 fall update, Halo wars, fallout 3, street fighter IV, new Kingdom Hearts games, Resident Evil 5, and Prince of Persia. The biggest announcement was probably the leap of Tekken 6 from a sony-exclusive to xbox 360 game just like Final Fantasy XIII.

You can read more about the 2008 Tokyo Game Show at IGN and Gamespot.

The fat lady sings...and sings... and sings... and sings... about Pirates

2008-10-08T22:21:00.005-04:00

Sacha Baron Cohen
Tim Burton
Russel Brand
First there was the Matrix trilogy which some believed should not have gone past the first movie. Now there is the Pirates the Caribbean Movie which shouldn't have gone past the first as well. Not only has the Pirates of the Caribbean had a trilogy, which some view as average at best, but Pirates is scheduled for a fourth.1. It is planned to be directed by Tim Burton known for such recent films as Corpse Bride. Also talks for famed Sacha Baron Cohen, widely known for his Borat and for upcoming Bruno, and Russel Brand, known recently as Aldous Snow in Forgetting Sarah Marshall, to be in Pirates of the Caribbean 4. Not much else is know about Pirates of the Caribbean 4, but I will continue to keep you posted.

The Spirit

2008-10-05T21:32:00.005-04:00

The Spirit Trailer 1
The Spirit is a new action drama film directed by Will Eisner and Frank Miller, the man behind Sin City and 300. 1 The story is an adaptation of the comic about a former rookie cop fighting crime as The Spirit. Did I mention he mysteriously returned from the dead? The enemy, the Octupus (Samuel L. Jackson), is out to wipe out what The Spirit is there to save. Enjoy the film Christmas Day, December 25. 2 Enjoy.

Watered Weekly Special: My, How Time Flies!!!

2008-10-02T22:04:00.004-04:00

Google 2001
Google turns 10, my how time flies. Google has transformed from a top search engine to a gigantic corporation. The company has become a household name and with people using the phrase, "Google it!" The company has involved immensely, happy birthday Google and hope for many great years to follow. You can read more about Google's time line and view Google as it was in 2001.

Star Wars: The Force Leashed!

2008-09-28T22:51:00.004-04:00

I'm sorry about the lack of posts last week. I was on a break, but I will try to get back into the schedule again. This post will be quick because there isn't much to say about Star Wars: The Force Unleashed beside the disappointment.

At the first announcement of the game, I was greatly excited and started to anticipate the game greatly. With each new tech demo, I was awed further. But what goes up must come down. The game with all the potential, immense force powers and cool universe, becomes a big disappointment. While, I dislike bashing a developer who spends hours upon hours constructing the game to it's perfection, this game cannot be viewed highly. First, I was disappointed to learn of the lack of on line play or any multilayer for that matter, limiting replay ability. 1 Second, while playing the demo, I learned about the annoyance of the controls. Such as it is hard to choose which object you want to force grab. Also, I felt the hardest part of the game wasn't the AI but the fact that I kept falling off the ledge in the game.
But, it isn't all bad. The story is viewed as "moving" and "intense" by Gamespot. 2 Some people believe that this story should have been the new Star Wars film instead of Star Wars: The Clone Wars. Some speculation points to The Forced Unleashed as the next Star Wars film in the series. 3 In the story you take the role of Darth Vader's secret apprentice, Starkiller during the story arc between Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith and Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. Starkiller's duty is to hunt and rid of the remaining Jedi after Emperor Palpatine orders to kill them. 4
Overall the game is seen as disappoint, the gamers still hope for a KOTOR 3. Until then we may not get a deserving Star Wars game. I advise a rent for Star Wars: The Force Unleashed or at least wait until the price drops significantly.

Weekly Watered Special: And the fall television season begins...

2008-09-17T21:33:00.006-04:00

Well it is this time of year again. No not Christmas, or Easter just yet (but maybe big name stores think so already), but instead it is the beginning of television prime-time season. Some television shows have already started such as J.J. Abram's Fringe. Other shows will premiering very soon.
Due to the writer's strike a couple months ago, television shows had a rough and abrupt ending for such shows as Heroes. This caused unpleasant seasons of shows in many critic's eyes. But, fear not the writers have recovered from this toll of a strike and now have been working non-stop on these new seasons.
I have started watching J.J. Abrams' Fringe mainly because I enjoy the television show Lost and J.J. Abrams' is the original mind behind Lost. Fringe is an O.K. 'TV' show compared to Lost. But this post is not about Fringe or about my like or dislike of Fringe and J.J Abrams. I have written this post to inform the reader of many of the great shows premiering that I plan to watch. Fringe is shown Tuesdays at 8 PM.
This week premiering on FX is It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia on Thursday at 10 PM with two new back to back episodes. Next week is a slew of premiers by NBC. On Monday at 9 PM Heroes returns. On Thursday 'Comedy Night Done Right' returns with two new one hour episodes of My Name is Earl and The Office. The week after that, the week of the 28th of September, Chuck returns at 8 PM on Monday September 29 on NBC. Saturday Night Live (SNL) has already returned to it's late night Saturday shift with Michael Phelps hosting the first episode. SNL will soon premiere Thursday episodes starting Thursday October 9th on NBC at 9:30. Last but not least, 30 Rock will premiere on NBC October 30th at 9:30 PM.
Be sure to check out all the great shows these television stations have to offer. You can catch up on your favorite shows at either their official website or their portal at . Enjoy your fall television season!

Rock Band 2: The Same Game But $60 + New Achievements?

2008-09-15T20:40:00.019-04:00

As seen in the Rock Band 2's opening cinematic the big draw to the hotly anticipated sequel is 'Battle of the Bands.' In the original Rock Band, the players could form a band and "rock the world" by forming a band with, but not all necessarily needed, a bassist, a drummer, a singer, and a lead guitarist. The only showing of the players' skills were displayed via leaderboards. Now in Rock Band 2 the 'gamers' can take their skills and put it to the test against other Rock Band players. This improvement is nice but the problem arises that the player cannot quickly get a battle set up, but instead the battle of the bands consists of bands posting scores and trying to better each other. 1 The battle of the bands mode is not wasted, but instead a great way to avoid the annoyance of waiting for the other band to play their 'gig' then you play your 'gig' and so on.
While adding a mode (Battle of the Bands) Rock Band 2 drops single-player career mode and replaces it with a single player Band World Tour. If you have not played the original, Band World Tour mode allows you and a few buddies to join up and start and band, obtain fans, and as the slogan goes, 'rock the world.'Though I feel this drop of career mode was not a disappoint because the player is not required to always have multiple people to play Rock Band.
For music games the biggest concern is music, "Oh, I am going to buy Rock Band because it has Tom Sawyer..." Two series, Guitar Hero and Rock Band (with the addition of Konami's Rock Revolution this year) have been competing for the music game consumer's money. The consumer mainly wants a music game with good music.
Harmonix's Rock Band 2 has almost eliminated this complaint. Rock Band has a lot of tracks. With the 84 tracks in Rock Band 2's disc alone sums up to more music than in any of the Guitar Hero games. Also the consumer can transfer 55 of the 59 tracks from the original Rock Band to Rock Band 2 for a measly price of $5 or 400 Microsoft Points for the license charge. 2 Not included in the transfer is the hard rock or metal songs such as Metallica’s Enter Sandman, Tokio Hotel’s Through the Monsoon, Black Sabbath’s Paranoid and Iron maiden’s Run to the Hills. But, did I mention the Downloadable Content (DLC) that not only works on Rock Band but works on Rock Band 2 as well? Harmonix promises to have over 500 tracks including Rock Band 1, 2, and DLC by the end of the year. 3 Currently Harmonix has over 200 songs readily available. This slew of Rock Band tracks almost eliminates the complaints. Whatever the consumer wants in a song may eventually show up as a DLC or in a future Rock Band game. A list of the songs available can be viewed at IGN.
Maybe after the music in a music game the consumer looks at the instruments. The instruments of Rock Band 2 are the same as Rock Band, but they are much sturdier and are wireless. Harmonix hopes that the problems will not arise with the equipment like last year when much of the equipment, the drums and guitar, was sent to Harmonix to be fixed. The guitar features a better strum bar, but is still a similar guitar to last year's guitar. 4
The Guitar
The drum set is similar as well, the pedal is reinforced so the pedal does not break, the drums are not as loud as the first, and the drums are velocity sensitive (the sound is louder or softer depending on how hard the player hits the drum). 5
*Image not created by me

The consumer can purchase a premium Ion drum set for $300, but I will not go into that set because it is not the official drum set of Rock Band 2. 5
The game is very similar to the original in terms of game play. Some of the graphics are different and there have been some additions to Band World Tour such as making a music video and hiring managers. But, as the old saying goes, "If it ain't broke don't fix it." Rock Band 2 is spectacular, they have added one small feature that really is important, being able to play with friends in the same band over live in 'Band World Tour.'
I have purchased this game already, have already put hours into my band (The Bandanna Banditos), and got a free t-shirt (Hooray!). I did avoid the premium pack of all the instruments, because I already have the Rock Band instruments. The Guitar Hero: World Tour instruments look more appealing to me. I give this game a water concentration of 90! Harmonix delivers rock god powers a second time!

By the way, my favorite song is Charlene (I'm Right Behind You) by Stephen and the Colberts it is currently a free DLC.

Sorry, No Rock Band 2 Post Tonight

2008-09-14T22:13:00.003-04:00

Sorry I am late writing a post on Rock Band 2. Tomorrow, I will write an extensive post on Rock Band 2. I was too busy enjoying Rock Band 2 today that I was unable to get around to write a post. Sorry.
But I will leave you with this:

Watered Special!: Middle of the Week Madness

2008-09-10T20:10:00.003-04:00

1
Have you ever stopped and thought about death? Have you ever wondered about your time? Most people do not think about death or rarely contemplate the thought of death. But, before I get too far into this let me back up a minute. Early this week I learned about the activation of a machine called the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). This machine's purpose was to re-enact the conditions after the 'Big Bang.' Many people feared that the activation of this machine would cause the end of the world. Fear not, fellow readers, the world did not end. The machine, activated early this morning (September 10, 2008 EST), was a success. While no new information about the conditions after the 'Big Bang' have arisen yet, we are glad to know that having the LHC on will not end the world!2 We can continue on our lives, never thinking about death again...(December 21 2012)

Spore: Metacritic say yes, others say no

2008-09-07T19:12:00.011-04:00

While I have not personally played Spore yet, I have been reading up on the game for some time now. The game was announced a few years ago at the 2005 E3 (Electronic Entertainment Expo) 1, and has been delayed a few times. After the few delays, spore was finally released today 09/07/08. Spore had high expectations, because of the company creating it, Maxis. Maxis is known for it's highly successful series The Sims, and The Sims 2.
The Spore Creature Creator was released a few weeks ago and was received highly. But, with such high expectations the game can be a disappointment easily. Overall at metacritic, a site where the average of critic reviews of media products are shown, has high scores for the game. Although the score is not as great as expected.
Over at IGN Spore receives an 8.8 out of 10. IGN says however that Spore does not have much depth and is more tuned toward "Rookie" gamers.
At Gamespot Spore receives an 8.0 out of 10. Gamespot, like IGN, says how the game is not as deep as expected. Also Gamespot spots that the individual gameplay elements are extremely simple and early stages are not very engaging.
I can look beyond these flaws because Spore offers so much more with the creative elements. Spore offers brillant customization design at many stages in the game. Spore allows creation of your creature, your transportation, and more. I plan to pick up the game this week. Spore costs $50, plays on the PC and the Mac, and is rated E+10 for Comic Mischief and
Mild Cartoon Violence. 2