And so we’re back! Again!

On this episode of the Northern Geekcast, we try and make up for our missing episode, seemingly by making this one extra long  – Oh! Let’s face it, we just don’t know when to shut up. :P

But if you enjoy listening to our ramblings, be sure to join us today as we discuss the Red Cross, PETA, and OnLive. We also share our thoughts on the upcoming Batman: Arkham Asylum game, and we finally tackle our comic-book based movies debate.

All this, and much more, on Episode o8 of the Northern Geekcast!

 

 Northern Geekcast: Episode 008 [145:24m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

People make books into movies. People make comics into movies. They have done so for years now, and will more than likely keep doing so for years to come. When I was young, I remember I would lament and criticize movies for not doing justice to my favourite literary tales. Since then, I’ve come to understand that books and movies are simply two different mediums. I’ve come to terms with that. Now every time I walk into a theater, I remind myself not to get overly anxious and to keep my expectation levels reasonable.

Having said that, I thought the Watchmen movie was horrible.

I already knew, heading into the movie, that there would be changes made to the script. If the Watchmen movie would have remained completely faithful to the graphic novel, we would have found ourselves watching a 5-hour long movie. The problem, I thought, was that there were too many drastic changes; too many important details were left out. As someone who has read (and loved) the book, I couldn’t help but feel gut-wrenched by the sheer number of plot-holes and the mutilation of the storyline.

But I stood my ground (or rather, sat my seat) and watched it the entire way through. It was like watching a train wreck: gruesome and horrid, and yet impossible to look away from. I had to know how it ended: the story had changed so much, so many details had been left out that, had the filmmakers kept the original ending, nothing would have made any sense.

Part cheesy comic book movie, part soft-core porn, Watchmen left me feeling angry, disappointed, and embarrassed. If you liked the movie and I’ve upset you, then I offer you my sincerest apologies. I certainly hope some of you were able to find enjoyment from this film, but after having stepped out of the theater, all I could think of was:

“Well, at least now I understand how Laurie must feel after being teleported by John.”

There has been a lot of hubbub about the game MadWorld and how it’s single handly ruined the Nintendo Wii’s family friendly image with its unnecessarily, over-the-top violence. I’d lament about how simultaneously ridiculous and depressing this is, but I feel I’ve already covered this topic sufficiently when I covered the Top Gun documentary.  Instead, I figured I’d point you towards this article by Destructoid’s Jim Sterling. He does a far better job of explaining things than I ever could.

Speaking of accountability, I just wanted to point out that there won’t be a podcast this week-end, nor will there be one the following week-end. The Northern Geekcast should return to its regularly scheduled intervals starting on March 28th. Thanks for understanding!

As avid video gamers, we’re used to all the nonsense and the propoganda surrounding our favourite hobby, so whenever an unfounded acusation rears its ugly head, we are perfectly content to look away and ignore all the tomfoolery, right? Well, that would be the smart thing to do.

On March 6th, CBC (The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) ran a special entitled Tog Gun on one of its flagship programs, The Fifth Estate. The program covered the unfortunate events surrounding the death of Brandon Crisp, a 15-year old boy who one day ran away from home  after his parents took away his Xbox 360 and was found dead a few weeks later at the base of a tree.

I can only begin to imagine what it must feel like to have to bury your own child, and one so young at that. My condolences go out to Brandon’s friends and family, and I hope that they can amass the courage to move on with their lives.

With that said, I want to make it clear that my gripe with this issue does not lie with the parents, but with the CBC, The Fifth Estate, and their shoddy documentary they seem to believe passes as professional journalism. Throughout the entire episode, Gillian Findlay, the journalist behind this debacle, continuously displays her complete and utter lack of understanding of the material by repeatedly making statements that are  untrue,  or at best, unfounded.

You can watch the entire documentary here, if you feel so inclined.

I would also like to point out that if you skip forward to 16:30, you’ll be able to watch the segment that inspired today’s strip; it’s rather sad just how closely the strip mimics the real thing.

On Indie Nation #53, Anthony Burch featured a small Flash-based game called The Linear RPG, which essentially makes a critical analysis of JRPGs.

To be honest, I wasn’t very pleased with the game at first. It seemed to me that the person who had made this game was simply trying to be witty by making fun of one of my favourite genres. After having “played” it some more however, I started to change my mind, because although the game was obviously meant as a figurative poke to the ribs, it was in fact very clever, and although I hate to admit it, awoke in me some of the simple pleasures I receive from playing a real JRPG.

As for the article by Burch itself, I understand his general argument, but still believe his logic is flawed. He argues that:

Although I will admit that many JRPGs make use of rather simple combat mechanics, I would hardly say that I “suffer” through them; in fact, I would dare say that I rather  enjoy sending my party into combat, sometimes spending countless hours leveling them up simply because I enjoy doing so. It should also be noted that his argument against repetitive gameplay could be used against many other types of games – we’ve all played through some very monotonous first-person shooters and hack-and-slash action games. As for the worth of the stories they present, I can’t argue with him about his own personal tastes, but I will simply state that I have found many JRPGs to have amazing stories, riddled with intrigue and moments in which I have found myself brought to tears.

*****

Another game I highly recommend you take the time to try out is a small indie game called Don’t Look Back. It’s a rather simple platformer with rather simple controls, but there is a certain level of beauty and intelligence behind it that I can’t help but appreciate. Sometimes the simplest designs are the best, and this is a perfect example of just that.