Bevendre

When reviewing a created work, I think something that’s often forgotten across mediums is that pieces from different genres can’t really be held as comparable to one another at raw base value.  The point of a review is to judge how successfully a piece accomplishes what it set out to do, not necessarily how revolutionary or unheard of its advances are, or how present aspects are that it made no claim of having.

One cannot judge a movie marketed as a budget romantic comedy for its use of visual aesthetic or cinematic setpieces because Avatar came out.  One cannot judge a movie marketed as a popcorn fluff explosion fest for the way that it demonstrates the human condition and the faults of modern capitalism because Oscar-bait movies have come out doing just that.  If a movie markets itself as one thing, especially if it does so heavily, then it should be held up to its marketing and the expectations therein, and compared with other films that have proved successful in that genre.

The same is true for books, and in today’s world, video games.  One cannot judge a linear platformer or shooter that takes 5-6 hours to finish for a new player along the same grounds as they would judge an epic 80 hour RPG.  The genres are so staunchly opposed in intent, motive and marketing that they are virtually incomparable.  That, I feel, is where a lot of corporate/professional reviewers, and a large mount of upset gamers fall into a pitfall.  Because the video game market has become so saturated with new releases people neglect to look at a game for what it is and what it directly portrays itself as.  Many people hold everything in the medium on a flat scale with little to no variation for presentation type or genre, and personally I find that approach fundamentally flawed.  

People are more than welcome to have their opinions and preferences on what they enjoy in a game, or any medium, but if a game, movie, what have you does not fall into those parameters, that does not mean that that piece is inherently bad.  Just because a piece does fall within the realm of one’s preferences does not make it inherently good, especially if nostalgia is involved.  A review, and criticism in general is meant to highlight the aspects of the piece that are generally well done, and the aspects that need polish, whether they are the aspects that one looks for in particular or not.  How heavily the various aspects of creation should also not be held at a concrete flat line, but left adaptable based on how well the medium accomplishes its intent and fulfills its marketed promises. 

There’s something I don’t quite get about the modern video game industry.  Lately there has been a fair bit of rage and discontent directed towards pre-order incentives and I don’t quite get why.  I understand being upset with pre-orders as what is promised does not always live up to the delivered product (*cough*Destiny*cough*) but the disappointment with pre-order incentives still floors me.
It’s not disc-locked content as most digital incentives are largely aesthetic, and if not tend to require a decently sized download.  In the case of MKX the pre-order incentive is an exclusive character that has long been in the series but rarely been playable.  That’s a great incentive to pre-order if you ask me.  Free physical merchandise or content that is doubtlessly going to be released as paid content down the line seems like a great thing to incentivize early adoption, but it’s being hated upon.
“In no other generation did this happen!  I didn’t have to pay forward for extra stuff in Megaman!”
No, you didn’t.  Granted, when Megaman was first coming out and during the last few generations the videogame industry was smaller and competition was less.  Companies didn’t have to put out more to try and draw the eye of consumers because there were fewer competitors vying for the consumer’s money, and so there was no need.  Look at the market now and that’s not the case.  Games come out all the time and often with a decent amount of competitors in the same release window.  To ensure that the consumer spends their money on a certain game of course developers and publishers are going to have incentives to adopt early, especially as success in ENTERTAINMENT IN GENERAL is often determined within the first couple months of availability.
“But no other industry does this bullshit!”
Yeah, they kind of do.  Between limited editions, entry contests, reduced interest rates, added bonuses and special deals retailers and companies do stuff very similar to pre-order incentives ALL THE TIME.  The only real difference is that many of those added bonuses are positives outside of a single videogame, are in shorter supply, and tend to wind up saving more than a couple dollars 6 months later.
A pre-order incentive is intended to encourage buyers to commit to a game early, which can be risky at times.  They’re not evil though.  They very rarely give a player an advantage, and if they do then it’s only a timed advantage until others get ahold of the same months later.  If you don’t plan on getting a game in the first place, then there’s pretty much no purpose in complaining about the pre-order incentive for that game.  If you do plan on getting a game early on, then a pre-order incentive might be what pushes you from a maybe to a hell yeah, and that’s fine.  It’s a little extra on top and DOESN"T COST ANYTHING EXTRA save for an early investment that can generally be cancelled.  If you are interested in a game, but don’t want to or can’t get it early on, good on you.  You might miss a minor thing, or may have to pay an extra $5 for bonus content months down the line when the game is 20% off.  

Depression is a scary thing.

One of the scary things about depression is how it skews one’s perception of the world, and of their life.  One hundred blessings, friends and experiences that have brought joy and laughter appear to be nothing.  One single act, phrase, or observation consumes the mind and thoughts, and just lead to more and more and more, no matter how great or small the complaints or criticisms may be.

All of the successes of one’s life crumble before a single failure.  All of the happy times with friends and family and loved ones are but hearsay after a string of harsh words.  Every compliment ever received is ash in the mouth after a single insult.

Perhaps the scariest thing about depression, though, is how it can affect anyone, no matter their lot in life.  It’s a sickness of the mind, and a poisoning of the soul that does not care who it touches, or when.  It can make the brightest star and the lowliest grains of sand feel equally without worth or purpose.  No matter how often they are told how important their light is, how firm the support they have given, it means nothing when depression hits.

It doesn’t need a trigger, though it may help.  It doesn’t need a source.  That makes it all the worse.  Depression doesn’t feel as bad when you can find out what put you in that state.  When you can’t though?  That’s when it’s really scary.

Right now, I’m scared.

Silver Spoon: I bucking hate TTG.. CN basically RAPED a perfectly good animated action and comedy series and turned it into a JOKE!

THANK YOU!

The original Teen Titans cartoon was not afraid to tackle issues that were controversial for children’s programming.  It would deal with issues and topics rarely covered in teen-driven or even adult programming, and it did it with well defined characters and a fine mix of seriousness and comedy.

TTG! has the occasional good joke setup, and on occasion a decent comic moment, but for the most part it spits in the face of the original.  I don’t mind the animation, or even the character designs (though the style of the show doesn’t sit well with me as a whole) my problem is with the characters.  This is a personal gripe more than anything, but when a joke is made at the expense of a character, or is done in complete disregard to their establishment as a character it makes me angry.

The vast majority of episodes of TTG!, if not all, work to undermine or simply oppose moments and character arcs set up in the preceding series.  I know they aren’t connected directly, but the presentation of TTG! comes off as a bad fanfiction of the Teen Titans animated series more often than not, and one that relies too heavily upon a greater connection to the DC universe and slapstick.

I respect the effort and work of the people that work on the show, I really do, but it is portrayed (at least to me) as a spiritual successor, and sadly it’s one that violates the characters and lessons of its predecessor in such a way that makes me worry for those that watch it without thinking about it.

As much as I love the music that accompanies Superman properties, and as much as I enjoyed the animated series growing up, I cannot bring myself to like Superman as a character, and it’s not just because he’s overpowered.

To me, Superman is an excellent example of a character created to solve a problem, and one held back by its creation.  Superman was created to instill a sense of hope, goodness, and to a point patriotism in a population facing the Great Depression, and then World War II.  He was meant to be ideal, and insurmountable, and he has remained that way but while it is good that his goals have been met and maintained, it is perhaps worrying that he has been unable to change as a character in his tenure.  

Superman’s the boyscout who will do no wrong, or he’s the dictator who prevents all things he sees as wrong.  Unlike other heroes with a ‘tragic’ backstory, Superman has little to motivate him into going down the right path besides ‘it’s the right thing to do’, and this isn’t bad, but it is bland.  On the occasions that his beliefs are pushed, most often in Otherworld timelines, his ‘right thing’ mentality supersedes reason and right to make him a controlling force in the world, rather than a protecting one.  This is clearly shown in the recent Injustice line, but also in earlier storylines in comics and cartoons alike.

Superman is severely overpowered, and as you say he’s meant to be so.  This is great for an ideal character meant to inspire, or a Messianic character as Supes is often portrayed.  It’s not a particularly good trait for a character though, at least not one that is meant to mingle with the common folk, or who would need assistance which, depending on who’s writing the story and determining the limits of Supes’s powers, renders the JLA a rather moot point. 

Perhaps my greatest issue with Superman is that if he wasn’t one of DC’s big 3, or wasn’t such a long standing character, he probably wouldn’t be accepted by many fans today.  If taken out of the DC universe, or considered an OC Superman embodies most every aspect of a Mary Sue character that is close to being justified.  He’s a perfect character, and that’s not a good thing.  Perfection is unattractive, it is unattainable, and it is unrelatable.  

Superman, at least to me, stands as a great role model, but a terrible character because he’s the perfect ‘character’.  His flaws are self-imposed rather than being dynamic or organic.  His personality is generally one sided and tends to be either black or white with little moral grey area in between.  He’s a great character to introduce kids to, and to idolize but a poor one in many other regards.

As always, everyone’s entitled to their own opinions, and to support them as Nathan has done, but every opinion is open to debate and counterpoints.

This has been a random rant.