Flip-Flop Fanboy: The OcaRe-run of Time

Well, hindsight is always 20-20, isn't it folks?

I must say that on the face of it, a straight up remake of one of Nintendo's most popular (and subsequently ported) outings in the Zelda franchise, even with a fresh lick of paint and Twilight Style Motion Control (Maybe even Plus+, you never know...) wouldn't be a good idea.

But looking back at Ocarina's history, it is entirely possible that a remake wouldn't be entirely horrible at all.

No, I haven't completely lost my senses in some Choco-licious Easter Stupor. As mind-bendingly wonderful the cocoa-based wonder-drug is, it does nothing to effect my clarity and focus on this wonderfully wonderful chocolately chocolate...

...Okay, maybe a little...

But back on topic. Ever since the 1995 SpaceWorld tech demo, the title was hotly anticipated. Whereas Super Mario 64, which was developed alongside Ocarina, was released the next year as a launch title, Ocarina spent a while longer in development limbo, bouncing from a 64DD title, to a stand-alone cartridge title with a DD-Based expansion to come along after...

For the uninitiated or the un-nerdy, the Nintendo 64DD (Disk Drive) was an unmitigated commercial failure, originally conceived to sit underneath the N64 and run along with it, expanding on already released titles. (Random Fact: This was the original premise of Banjo-Tooie Stop'n'Swop interaction with it's predecessor).

Most of the titles in development moved to cartridge or were canned entirely. (Random Fact: The Death of the DD put paid to the development of the first 3D Pokemon RPG. Pokemon Stadium was also on the list, but moved over to Cart form.) This was the fate of the Ocarina expansion, known in quarters as 'Ura Zelda' or 'Zelda Gaiden' (The later name springing from memory only). It did eventually seem to resurface in the form of a Bonus Disk in certain LOZ: Wind Waker packages as 'Master Quest', though all this really did was change about dungeons slightly.

I'm guessing though, that it was intended to be something much more... And only helped fuel speculation of rumours of 'Temple(s) of Light' (See Fake on Left) and being able to actually get the Triforce itself.

So, this is what I'm saying:

If I got told that OcaReRun was actually going to be a fully realised, bells and whistles version of everything Ura Zelda was supposed to be, and maybe more (I'm thinking in amongst the veins of a lot of Fable II's DLC in additional story veins, emphasis on seemingly secondary characters and some kick-ass sub-quests)...

Then I'm willing to give my support to it.

This way, it's less Lucas' deviant exploits in Peru, and more a long-awaited Director's Cut, or Extended Edition. Nintendo reading from the book of Peter Jackson and LOTR.

Possibly controversial in amongst those of you I speak to, but...

The thought of seeing Ocarina become deeper, even richer an experience, ESPECIALLY given the (oft-complained about on my part) superficiality of current generation Wii games...

Surely that's worth placing the sword back in it's pedestal for?

Dan's Guide to Video Games... Resident Evil 5

When you hear T-virus do the hairs on the back of your neck stand up?
When you have nightmares does a certain Presidents daughter's voice pierce your sleep?
"LEON!!! HELP ME LEON!!!"

Recently, Capcom released another installment to the Resident Evil series. This one, sequentially named Resident Evil 5. After the events of Resident Evil 4, a new type of enemy was introduced into the series' horrifying armory of enemies. Las Plagas. These enemies have been forced to have a parasite injected into their bodies. The parasite grows and grows until Leon comes along and timely blows there head off. At which point the parasite activates and explodes out of the stump where a head was once attached, effectively emptying the player's bladder.

And thus Resident Evil 5 picks up. Many fans wondered whether the T-virus would make a reappearance, or whether the Las Plagas would haunt another portion of the world. Long story short: It's kinda the Plagas. Chris Redfield is sent to Africa on a mission to capture a man who is suspected of selling Biological Weapons on the black market, and thus, once again, all hell breaks loose.

Okay, enough backstory. Check it. In RE5 you get to play the entire game with a partner, whether it be with CapCom's self-proclaimed smartest AI, who appearently finds it effective to shoot enemies THROUGH it's human partner, or with a friend on the same XBox, or over XBox Live. Go CapCom for trying something new, sort of. The new partner system is insane when you play it over Xbox Live. Each partner retains there own inventory, gold stash, ammunition etc. Ammo and Herbs can be trades and given to the other player, guns however, cannot be given. Which makes sense, even though it is annoying. When two human players are playing the game, one can be the point man, armed with a shotgun, pistol, and grenades, while the other is support wielding a high powered rifle, machine gun, and pistol. Yes, that is indeed how I played through with my co-auther K Bridges. He was the front man, I was support. It worked VERY well, when he wasn't too busy looking around to ignore his partner's frantic yelling of a chainsaw wielding lunatic who was chasing him.

Off of this whole two player thing. The game runs very well. Control system is much like the previous games. TONS of bonus material. Myself, I am only 23% through the game.

Mercenaries Mode: Dude. I always loved this mode. I still played this mode on my Wii when I came home for the weekends. It's just amazing. Go kill stuff, you have 2 minutes. Go. That's just awesome. I would like to think of my partner and I at being pretty good at this game. Yea, not. We played one round of mercenaries, and they graded us with a D. The lowest rank next to death. Damn. Lots of practice ahead of us.

Overall
Graphics: 9/10 - Beautifully terrifying graphics. Recommendation: Diaper.
Sound: 8/10 - Well done.
Gameplay: 9/10 - Same ole high quality I expect from the Resident Evil team.
Difficulty: 8/10 - The game is pretty difficult the first time around. After the first playthrough it is easier, with the option of unlimited ammo, the game just gets easier. The mercenaries mode is where the difficulty really shines. You have 2 minutes. Kill as many things as you can. O yeah. You get the guns CapCom lets you have. No uber shotgun here... Damn.
Replay Value: 9/10 - The main storyline can be replayed using the SAME WEAPONS you just upgraded throughout the entire previous playthrough. Nothing like killing first level Manjini with a fully upgraded shotgun. The Mercenaries mode is crazy hard, that is where the real challenge of the game lies.
Multiplayer: 9.5/10 - Amazing Multiplayer abilities. There is nothing more terrifying than hearing your partner scream because of something, and you have NO IDEA what is causing it. So you scream anyway.
Overall Grade: A-
Recomendation: Go Buy It. Seriously. You won't regret it. Just make sure you have a friend who has it also and is willing to play it with you.

Commercial Success killed the New Idea... Star.

Bad title, I know... But. It ties in.

DigitalSpy are reporting (link) that Nintendo are due to announce the next Wii outing for our favourite Green-Clad, Elven Hero...

The title?

"The Legend of Zelda: We've Run Out of Ideas So We're Remaking Ocarina of Time Instead."

*Rolls Eyes*

Bad Nintendo! *fwaps with rolled up Newspaper* BAD! We want new ideas. NEW! Yes it's a brilliant universe, but we're seriously going into Lucas-Esque Re-Touching (Read: Molesting) of the Original Star Wars movies...

And that way madness lies...

- DA Out.

Movies that aren't old enough to be classics, but I still took this long to see.

I went to the library over this last weekend and checked out "The Wackness" featuring Nickelodeon's Josh Peck and several other stars you wouldn't expect in a film about drugs, sex and living as a white teen who has serious depressive problems and listens to Notorious BIG.

We'll start at the least obvious and work our way up. The soundtrack, along with the snippets of original score, was really great. It's fun to dig up those old 90's hip hop tunes after you watch this. If you have them.

The acting was great. Ben Kingsley returns to the world of great cinema, but is actually outshined by the subtle greatness of Peck. Peck transforms into the teenage drug dealer in an instant, and you can tell that he is the emerging star of his former duo on children's television. Pretty good work from Famke Janssen and the Olsen twin who isn't out of her skull as well. Great return performance from Juno's Thirlby.

The story is atypical in the world of teen dramas and spans an entire three months in a sort of faux Odyssey of gritty New York. It has love, sex, humor, and everything else. A good if not great film. 4/5.

Going for the No-Prize...

From Emma Frost's Wiki page:

"At the meeting, it is revealed that she and Prince Namor share a romantic history. During her days as the White Queen, Sebastian Shaw sends Emma to convince Namor to join the Hellfire Club. Instead, Namor takes her to his kingdom and they begin a relationship. Believing Emma to have betrayed him for Namor, Shaw sends a reprogrammed sentinel to Atlantis, attacking the two and destroying the kingdom. As Namor confronts Shaw for his treachery, Selene takes telepathic hold of Emma, erasing her memories of Namor, who vows revenge on Shaw. In the present, Emma reveals that her initial battle with Phoenix unlocked her memories of Namor. She makes a pact with him, seducing Shaw and using her telepathy to make Namor believe she has executed him, while secretly telepathically incapacitating Shaw. Per their deal, Namor vows to protect mutant-kind as his own people, while Emma, more determined to fill her role as a leader of mutant-kind, contacts Scott to have Shaw captured by the X-Men for "crimes against mutant-kind." Approaching him later in his cell, Emma reveals that she has captured Shaw for Namor and on the basis that the Sentinels he commissioned were ones later used by Cassandra Nova to destroy Genosha. She sentences him to remember nothing but the faces of the Genoshan victims using her telepathy. "

So, no Brazillian Rainforests...? No Wild Sentinels...? Just having Sebastian Shaw to blame, then wasting him as a future antagonist...?

*roll eyes*

SPOILER WATCH: X-Force #13

From what I've read, this issue will be desive and controversial. With a blatent death of a Cult B-List X-Character and a pair of Big Question marks...

...I'd like to re-iterate my earlier point.

STOP KILLING PEOPLE!

*sigh*

So much for the Nextwave Reunion...

Comics to Television: Why haven't these been picked up yet?

If you haven't heard of Bill Willingham's Fables, I suggest you go to Amazon.com right now and order all the trades of it you can. The basic plot is that due to a horrible conflict in their own world, a legion of Fairy Tale characters have taken up residence in New York City. Basically you have these characters adapting to life in the "real world" filled with intrigue and mystery.
Now, ABC has ordered a pilot based on this series. I will be watching it when it comes out. Because Fables is that awesome. So awesome it hurts. Go buy it. I'm serious. I'm not going to tell you again. >: I
 
But this got me thinking. What other series are begging to be given the small screen treatment? Here's some ideas.
 
Series Title: Academy X/X-men: First Class
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Possible Network: FOX
 
With it's strangle hold on the X-men franchise, you'd think FOX would try to boost it's mutant market by capitalizing on the popularity of teen dramas like The OC, Gossip Girl, etc. Marvel's Academy X is about a group of students at Xavier's Institute, and dealing with being not only a hormonal teenager, but a hormonal teenager with superpowers. 
 
Likewise, X-men: First Class is a retelling of the early years of the OG X-men (Cyclops, Marvel Girl, Iceman, Angel, and Beast). Again, teen drama and superpowers are a cash cow. How many seasons has Smallville been on now? Yeah. I thought so.
 
Series Title: The Walking Dead
Publisher: Image Comics
Possible Networks: Showtime, HBO
 
Robert Kirkman's ode to George Romero's classic is one of the best comics out there, zombie fans all over praise the work for it's study of our survival instincts and it's realistic portrayal
 
It is a sprawling drama, about the ultra violent struggle of man vs. the undead, as a rag tag group of survivors fight for their lives against the zombie horde.  This just screams Showtime or HBO, two networks that have simultaneously cornered the markets on both engaging character development and mature themes. 
 
Who wouldn't love watching a hour long zombie drama? I know I would!
 
Series Title: Gotham Central
Publisher: DC Comics
Possible Networks: The CW (Warner Brothers)
 
Ok, here's a concept.  Procedural Cop Dramas have been steadily popular for YEARS. Shows like CSI, NYPD Blue, The Shield, etc have been on the top of the ratings charts for such a long time, you'd think that a comic written by the award winning Ed Brubaker would be easy pickings.
 
Not convinced? What about a Procedural Cop Drama written by Ed Brubaker about being a cop in Gotham City. Yeah, I thought that'd do the trick.  Long story short, it's about being a cop in the shadow of the Batman. A Batman series without Batman. Cool right?
 
In fact, the CW wanted to pick this up a series, but the memory of the dismal Birds of Prey series stuck with them and decided against it.  The characters are well developed and compelling, the rogue's gallery is the MOST colorful/iconic groups of miscreants and malcontents ever put on the page, and Batman is selling like nothing else right now. Seems easy enough of a choice right?
 
Series Title: X-factor
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Possible Networks: FOX
 
Again, since FOX owns the right to the X-men, they would be the ones putting this one out. A team of wonderfully b-list X-men characters operating as private detectives in "Mutant Town", a district of New York City that the X-gene positive have made their own. Mutant Town is a lot like California's Castro district, for those not in the know.
 
You have the lovable Jamie Madrox, a man who's life can best be described as multiple choice (he has the power to create duplicates of himself, each representing an aspect of his personality), his best friend, the muscle bound Guido Carosella (with the tounge-in-cheek- alias of Strong Guy), femme fatale Monet St. Croix (telepathic, super strength, flight, and arrogant as hell), X-men Legacy/Jamie's main squeeze Theresa  Cassidy (Daughter of Banshee, similar powers), Scottish lycanthrope Rahne Sinclair, and depowered Mutant Julio Rictor make up the team. The book itself is amazing, and a show based around them would be fantastic.
 
Series Title: The Question
Publisher: DC Comics
Possible Network: The CW
 
DC's second most notable detective, Victor Sage has already appeared in animated form (see Justice League Unlimited), and has a huge fan following from his comic appearances as well. He's also the main inspiration behind Watchmen's Rorschach,  cool right?
 
"But Kyle, wouldn't a Batman based detective show be better?" You may ask. But Victor isn't from Gotham, he's from Hub City, a urban wasteland with worse crime than Gotham. Victor doesn't have Bruce Wayne's limitless resources or gadgets, just his keen intellect and his own two hands.  
 
How's that for compelling television? 
 
Hard boiled neo-noir would suit him best, with some internal dialogue to narrate the story. I really hope the CW is reading this, because GC and The ?uestion would be so much better than an Aquaman or Robin TV show (both projects they've tried to get off the ground).
 
Series Title: Scalped
Publisher: Vertigo Comics
Possible Networks: HBO or Showtime
 
Scalped is best described as a well written mash up of the film noir and western genres, telling the story of Dashiell Bad Horse, who returns to the reservation after fifteen years of absence, celebrating the fact by picking a fight with whomever crosses his path. Chief Lincoln Red Crow local bigwig, notices our hero's enthusiasm for getting his hands dirty and hires him for the tribal police, of which he is the chief as well. Bad Horse's primary duties are the taking out of meth labs - Red Crow is about to open a 97 million dollar casino, the 'Crazy Horse', and needs to clean up the reservation's public image before he can get things into motion.
 
Of course, there's a twist. Bad Horse is an undercover FBI agent, whose immediate superior still means to bring Red Crow to justice for the murder of two FBI agents, thirty years ago.
With "Urban and Gritty" being so common now, something "Rural/Western and Gritty" is goddamn refreshing, and perfect for the premium networks to run with. I also love the fact that Bad Horse is named after a character in the Maltese Falcon. 

All in all, if I were in charge of a television studio, I would BEELINE for these properties. Until that time, when's Fables on?