Stuff I Watched in 2017

It's New Years Eve and I'm yet to make a Films of the Year list. Or a top TV list but then I barely watch much TV due to playing games for 90% of my leisure time. But then this year I also watched The Handmaids Tale and I can't not talk about that... So this here blog will be a meandering spiel about stuff I watched.

Comic stuff first of all because I'm a big geek and there was plenty of it. This year we had Thor Ragnarok, Guardians 2, Spider-Man Homecoming, Wonder woman, Justice League, Logan and even Lego Batman. Safe to say that Justice League was the worst film I went to the cinema for this year. Less offensively bad than BvS or Suicide Squad but it was dull as dishwater, made feck all sense as a sequel to BvS, gave us Henry Cavills CGI top lip and turned Batman in to a completely useless comedy sidekick. Flip me. Don't call me a Marvel fan boy just yet, I happened to really like Wonder Woman... It's not perfect and the final act is rubbish but Gal Gadot is superb and both she and the film in general just ooze an endearing charm all over the place. Oh and it has that No Man's Land scene which is probably the most memorable from any film this year.

Marvel stuff next! I was all really good... Thor Ragnarok took cues from Guardians and dished up colourful sci-fi and jokes aplenty to give the god of thunder his best film yet and many peoples favourite Marvel film. It's not mine admittedly, I seem to be the only person who thought there were too many jokes and not enough actual threat or melodrama. Unlike Guardians which for me had a better balance. On first viewing I was a bit disappointed but only really because the predecessor might just be my favourite film ever. The second entry has a little bit of overindulgence in some areas but for the most part its still flipping great. Spider-Man was a confident and lovely reboot with a geeky, fast talking, actual teenage Spidey/Peter.

Logan was a different beast altogether, ditching many genre tropes and taking our grizzled hero on a road trip with an aging, swearing Xavier. These two have been so good for so long, through great and terrible films and this was a brilliantly heartfelt exit for them. Oh there was some violence too and then that new kid who managed to steal the show from the experienced pro's on multiple occasions. What a film.




Non comic stuff.... Loads I haven't seen. Way to many. So don't berate my favourites and reply with 'but you haven't seen this yet...'




La La Land. You've all seen it. I loved it, you probably hated it. I can't remember a film with as much praise being so disliked by fricking everyone I meet. Maybe the hype affected it, who knows. I adore Emma Stone in this, I love that divisive ending and I came out of the cinema humming the music with a smile on my face as my wife told me to shut up.

The Big Sick. Only just saw it last week but oh my, that was a lovely film. Took me a little while to open up to it but by the end I was lauding it. It's a great character piece about one man and two sets of parents. His own happen to be Pakistani and want a traditional arranged marriage for him but he falls for a white American girl. You could probably write the rest of that story in a clichéd romantic way, but this film really isn't that. It surprised me, amused me and  it made my eyes water a little bit. Twice.

This blogs really long now, oh dear. Quick bits: War for the Planet of the Apes was epic, an actual brilliant third film. Blade Runner was good but a bit too slow and kind of forgettable for me. Star Wars was a fun popcorn munching action drama. Dunkirk was tense and brilliantly directed. Lego Batman was the funniest film I saw this year. Girls Trip was the least funny comedy I've watched in perhaps ever. Kingman 2 was a riot, tons of fun with that. Baby Driver was really nifty and it's gimmick of action scenes matching music is a joy to see/hear. Mother! was the weirdest mind fuck of a film. Never bored but found it completely baffling. Read up on it after, thought about it for days. I can't say it was good, but it was an experience... 

Right, my actual favourite film of the year. I think. Definitely on first viewing anyway but that opinion could change on repeat viewings. Get Out. I went in knowing of the surrounding buzz but at the time I really didn't know much about it. I was blooming mesmerized the whole way through. It uses racism, jokes, horror movie jump scares and some deliberately confusing weirdness to produce a work of genius. I really liked this film.

TV stuff!! Then you can go back to reading tweets or doing anything more respectful of your attention span. The Good Place is nice. I pretty much like everything about it but yet I'm a fan that doesn't find it that funny. It puts on a smile on face though so job done. The Handmaids Tale. Lets be honest, I'm only chucking TV in here so I can splurge my praise for this show on your screen. It is majestic TV. Grim and hard to stomach for much of it but that what makes the other moments so powerful. The way this show takes the tiniest of victories for its lead character and has you cheering inside.. Amazing. The soundtrack choices and the facial expressions of Elizabeth Moss are all it takes. She is perfect in this role, it is a faultless performance. The direction of each episode and the design of the world, all brilliant. I still rave about that one scene shot in the back of a van, when the doors open... Just watch it.

Still with me? I'm talked out. If I've left stuff out it's because I found it average (Punisher, Trainspotting 2) or I haven't seen it yet (Moonlight, Hidden Figures). There isn't enough time in the world and there's always something new. Here's to not watching all the new stuff in the New Year! Sure as long as we see Avengers it'll be grand.

My 2017 in Games

It's Christmas next week!! Which means your social media will be filled with 'best of the year' lists, in between Star Wars debates, Donald Trump and cat gifs. I want to join in, mainly so I can talk in a sensible, reserved and unbiased manner about how Nintendo have created actual magic and changed my life forever...


Yeah ok, I do love me some Nintendo but I promise I'll talk about other games too. Should also point out that I haven't played all of 2017s releases because I'm not doing this for a fricking living. I haven't even bought a game since the end of October, which in internet time was a lifetime ago.

I started the year playing Christmas and birthday presents, so sorry to bore you with talk of 2016 games... Ratchet and Clank was a fun and technically pretty charmer. Dishonored 2 was superb and the only game I've played through twice this year. The level design is second to none and the toolkit of powers it gives you encourages investigation and experimenting in each perfect playground.

Lets cut right to March time and a big ol' paragraph on the tiny release that was the Nintendo Switch. I've said it in about five other blogs and I'll repeat it till my keyboard battering fingers fall off, I bloody love this machine. The shape of it, the speed of it, the ease with which I can play two player Mario Kart on a train... and of course, the games.

Zelda is my game of the year. There was that one weekend in which I doubted it, caused by a binge play of Mario Odyssey, but I've been revisiting Hyrule in the past week and it is just magnificent. No game matches it for sense of exploration. It takes the open world design and removes the usual map markers to leave you just going. Go up there, go over that way, go anywhere you want. You will find something. It's a huge and incredibly detailed world that can be tackled anyway you want. It manages to be both charming and challenging and it somehow recreated the same sense of awe that I hadn't truly felt in a game since I was about 14 and playing Ocarina of Time. It is has overtaken that now as my favourite game of any year ever.

It did have some blooming competition though. Mario Odyssey is weirdly similar in that it asks you to poke around and discover new joys. It's more condensed however with the power moons (the games reward/currency) being crammed in to every nook and cranny. You'll be jumping platforms on your way to one moon before dressing up a pirate for another then turning in a stack of ten Goombas in order to impress a lady. It's a non-stop grin fest of creative genius.

Enough Nintendo? Ok then... Horizon was pretty good eh? I t took me a little while to really get in to it, but when I did I fell in love. The combat in that game, taking down robotic versions of wildlife and dinosaurs, is thrilling and rewarding in a sense barley matched in a game of that size. I completed a bunch of the unnecessary side quests just because they usually led to a fight and those fights never got dull. The games narrative was the biggest surprise though in that it somehow made robot wildlife in an empty world make sense. It also presented us with the one of the best leading characters this generation, the feisty and committed Aloy.

If narrative is your thing then I can't recommend strongly enough the beauty that is What Remains of Edith Finch. It takes you through the stories of a family who have nearly all passed away and with each one we are presented with changes in gameplay and visuals. From a cell-shaded walk through a horror comic, to being a baby in a bath or out with your dad in the hills getting photography lessons. It is a short experience but filled with ideas and carefully crafted moments. I've no shame in saying my eyes watered twice. There is little as moving as having to do something you don't want to do, of having to push the buttons that will create a result you don't want to see. Damn you game, I'm thinking about that scene again...

I played a lot of games this year and I can't write a paragraph for each. I've really enjoyed Splatoon 2 and ARMS on Switch. Both have kept me coming back due the constant free updates Nintendo treat us to. I liked Shadow of War for its core basics and nemesis system but the mission structure was weak and it got a little repetitive.  I'm getting Nier for Christmas and I'm excited by its regular occurrences on everyone else's end of year lists. Haven't played any of the big FPS games or Persona or Assassins Creed because I just don't have the time or money. All are supposed to be great though so my January and February should be pretty fun.


In summary: 2017 was an utterly brilliant year for this hobby. Barely know what's coming next year but Spider-Man should be on a similar blog post around this time in 2018. Maybe Metroid? Please give me Metroid. Till then its back to Zelda.

Six months with my Switch

Six months ago I started the third of March in a slow moving queue of fellow geeks, waiting impatiently for the Game store in Belfast to hand us our new babies. Once home I opened that box with the finesse of those antique loving folks on the telly. I looked at each part in child like awe, still amazed at how tiny it all was. So tiny. Then came Zelda and more wide-mouthed gawping at this new born loveliness. Cut to today and my little Switch is six months old. They grow up so fast.

Seems like a good time to review the box's life so far, especially since it's fast approaching it's first Christmas which will be a really interesting time. It no longer seems to be a question of will people buy the Switch but more can Nintendo make enough to meet demand. In Belfast here I think you can still walk in to a shop and buy one but the UK has never been filled with Nintendo lovers. In Japan it's a different story, with literal queues of 3000 people waiting for a raffle ticket which lets them 'win' the ability to buy the thing. What-in-the-name-of-f***

So it's a success then! Nintendo are back after the colossal failure that was the Wii U. I loved my Wii U too, I defended it blindly and enjoyed my time with it but Nintendo has lessons to learn from it and learn them they did. The hardware itself is sleeker, smaller and more in line with rival tech as opposed to Fisher Price toys. The OS is snappier and leaner than any console I've played. The speed with which you can boot it up from sleep mode and be playing a game is both insane and glorious. It makes my PS4 look like a geriatric climbing stairs.

This is all stuff I could have said six months ago though. The difference since then is the games. Zelda Breath of the Wild is currently my favourite game in all of time. I racked up 70 hours in three weeks (for comparison, despite loving Horizon it took me six weeks to finish on 50 hours) DLC is coming before the years out and that'll probably be better than most full games. There was a bit of  a lull after Zelda which I filled with Snake Pass and Mr Shifty but I was still yearning for more.

Mario kart 8 Deluxe hit at the end of April and although it was port of the Wii U game I still jumped in and fell in love all over again. The game was mostly the same but the console makes the difference. Four player on the Wii U consisted of handing out a gamepad, pro controller, Wii remotes and maybe a nunchuk or steering wheel. A cluster of nonsense. Switch? Four joy-cons. Tiny, neat and simple. As strange as it makes me, I love my Switch for being so tidy and neat. Other thing I couldn't (be bothered) doing with the Wii U version; playing against my mum! Took that Switch up home, plonked it on a kitchen table and tried not to laugh to much as she finished in 11th. Beaut.

The summer is when it really clicked in to gear. ARMS launched in June and took the mantle of only fighting game I don't completely suck at. Not that I'm good at it either but I always have fun. Even my wife managed to hold her own and kick my arse occasionally. A mere five weeks after that Splatoon 2 released and pretty much consumed my life for the next month. I'm still only halfway through the single player and I've barely scratched Ranked mode because the Turf War so is so blooming addictive. Its fast, vibrant and unlike anything else out there. Apart from Splatoon 1.


I need to play more of it and I need to go back and play more ARMS. Which makes it really daft that I just bought Mario and Rabbids. Too early in to say much about it but it's off to a good start. In three weeks time I'll be buying SteamWorld Dig 2 and at some unspecified date I'll be needing Stardew Valley. Then Super Mario odyssey comes out on the 27th October and oh dear god there's not enough time to play all the damn games. To solve this dilemma I've had to start bringing it to work so I can play on my lunch.

Until now I've been pretty precious about carrying it about to much but then that's really one of the best features. There was one day back in March when I watched some colleagues play Snipperclips and laugh away at that quirky oddity. The Switch has been on two train journeys, both times used for multiplayer hijinks and each time impressing whoever got a go. I even braved it getting it out in a pub one time. I'm such a bad parent.

Most of the time though it's been kept safe at a home. Either I'm saving Hyrule on the TV or I'm losing at Splatoon in handheld because I'm secretly trying to follow the wife's Greys Anatomy marathon at the same time. Either way, I really love that tiny wonder. So tiny.

the Spider-Man Homecoming review

There's a new Spider-Man film out and for the first time the screen version of that character shares a universe with Iron Man and the Avengers etc You already know that and you know you're going to see it... Which makes this review completely pointless. But hey, I like to tap a keyboard when I'm excited.

Yes I've got that tingly post-film buzz and my cheekbones still hurt from grinning. This is a really fun film. It's also a sweet film, in a way that sets it apart form the other Marvel efforts. I like it when my superhero's are nice and I don't care what the rest of you DC fans say. The original Spider-Man 2 is still one of the best damn superhero films because it's all about his love for MJ. Well that and stopping a speeding train, a good film needs variety. 

Back to the new one..  This film is about a teenager with super-powers and a big heart. High school friends and crushes were enough to occupy most of us but here's a kid who just got home from fighting with the Avengers and wants to continue doing so. Peter is the ultimate fan-boy, geeky and in awe, but more than that he's the kid that wants to join the adults, to impress and to be treated like a man.  He also wants to do the right thing, to genuinely help everyone he can. And that means he turns down his friends, skips school stuff and can only stare longingly at the girl with no time to woo.

Tom Holland is superb here and conveys it all brilliantly. He goes from excitable puppy in the company of Stark, to nervous and shy kid at the party, he's the sweet and caring nephew of his Aunt May and he's the wise-cracking web-head we all know and love who will ruin the day of any wrong doer. He is my favourite Peter parker/Spider-Man. Not saying it's my favourite Spidey film, and I like what both Garfield and Maguire did, but this guy feels like the comic character on screen rather a version of him. He is a living Peter Parker.

It helps that he's actually young. For once we get a comic film picking teenage actors to play teenagers and predictably they're the best folk for the job. Peters best friend Ned provides some lovely comic relief and a more believable friendship than the Harry Osborn one of old. Other legacy characters get new takes and I'm not going to spoil them but they're new, they're different and I'm excited to see were they go.

I've loads to still talk about but I can't blog all day... Michael Keaton is brilliant as the Vulture, a bad guy who's not trying to take over the world but instead just raking in money by illegal means. His story is tied in smartly with the Marvel universe and it all leads some tense scenes pre- final fight.

You know Tony Starks in the film and he's as good as always. You know there's web slinging and wise cracks and all of the Spider-Man traits you'd expect. I really love the character. I love how a geeky kid puts on a suit and becomes this confident, quipping hero. I adore watching him move on screen, web slinging about in acrobatic fashion. There's no power more fun to watch than web slinging. No character as endearing or amusing as Peter Parker.  This film is fun. And tense, and sweet and action-packed. It's Spider-Man dammit. This review was pointless, let me know when you've seen it. We'll share a grin together.

Nostalgia Tripping

The Crash Bandicoot re-masters have just took this weeks number 1 spot in the game charts. They also managed to have the biggest single format launch of the year so far, beating the blooming brilliant Horizon. And if facts don't sway you then how about some anecdotal evidence? I know people in real life that bought it. Yeah not just twitter people, actual people...

The biggest shock and the one that'll get this blog to its point.. Crash Bandicoot is over 20 years old. My wife and two other ladies I know bought this package because they loved the game when they were younger. It was nostalgia for them. A chance to relive their youth without using 20 layers of make-up (I'm joking, don't kill me) Another lady I know told me that the PS1 was her first console. What in the actual fudgery... If ever a comment made me feel old.

PlayStation is now at a point were it can create nostalgia. It's something Nintendo have done for years and something I never really considered other game companies would do. Reminding people of their productive weekends in front video games and cashing in on those precious memories. Crash Bandicoot, it alarms me to say, was probably the first game for many people. Not Mario, or Duck Hunt but Crash Bandicoot. Or Wipeout.

Hell even I have some nostalgia for Wipeout. The futuristic visuals and the dance soundtrack combined to make the example that videogames were suddenly cool. So cool. And I played it every Saturday night at my local church youth club. All the coolness. Wipeout got re-mastered as well, and just a month a go it topped the charts. People want those old games again and only now have publishers caught on that we're willing to buy them. What will be interesting to watch though is what happens next. Do people really want a brand new Crash Bandicoot game? Or was it enough to get the old games with nicer visuals? I'd say the latter but I've been wrong plenty of times before.

Of course the real nostalgia kings are still Nintendo. If you need proof of that then you've oblivious to tech news in the last 12 months. Pokémon Go was last summers phenomenon, reuniting 30 year olds with another childhood favourite. The NES Mini was released in November, or so say the rumours because nobody could seem to find stock of them. Its successor the SNES mini has only just been announced and it's already sold out. Amazon have enforced a one per customer policy and there isn't an online retailer in the UK still taking orders. Nintendo can't make enough of them. And just to confirm, this is a tiny replica of a 25 year old console that plays 25 year old games. Its easy money for Nintendo.

So why is nostalgia doing so well? Are you thinking I'll come up with an answer? Did any of this blog suggest I'd have an intelligent thought in my head? Some other people like to say that it's all about the state of the world, that Brexit and Trump has made the nostalgia drug a bit more potent. Maybe we all want a bit more escapism. Others would say that the business men have just been clever, looked at a bunch of 30 years spending their life savings on avocados and thought 'we'll re-sell them their childhood.'


Could be loads of things. Could even be that the stuff we liked as kids is still really good, and unlike films or TV it's not easy to get old games. So they can resell them to us. Forever. But hey lets not fret about pocket money and we'll just be kids again, carefree and square-eyed from staring at pixels too long.

a slightly inept gamer playing ARMS

 

ARMS is the newest Switch release from the team behind Mario Kart 8. Their previous game is probably the only racing game I've bought in years, because it’s easily the most accessible racer and the best for having a multiplayer laugh. ARMS is their entry in a genre that I find completely inaccessible, the fighter...

Even Smash Bros, Nintendo's family friendly take on the punch-em-up is a game that I fooled myself in to thinking I could play only to then go online and get my ass kicked repeatedly.  At one point yesterday I had a similar reaction to ARMS, encountering three opponents in a row who were bound to be laughing at me as I took a beating and barely sneaked in a hit. This purchase was looking like a tortuous mistake.

Thankfully my luck improved and I came up against some folk as average as me. Or maybe I got a lot better, but I doubt it. It’s a game of boxing, all about dodging and swinging punches. Those punches happen to come from Mr Fantastic style extendable arms with a range of gloves that shock, burn freeze or just generally slap the fudge out of your opponent. The extendable arms set it apart from Wii Boxing, that game which turned into a farcical swinging of Wii-motes until someone tired first. With your rival usually kept at a distance you’ll find yourself constantly moving and trying to avoid attacks as much as getting your own hits in. That movement is why I like it and why I think I might be able to avoid embarrassment online.

Multiple matches went down to the wire and the feeling of claiming a win when I was one punch away from defeat is a beautiful thing. Some fights had me unloading fists in a flurried frenzy whilst others had me retreating from a stronger attacker, timing my punches and throws better in a battle of wits. Some fights had me doing a bit of both but no fight ever felt the same.

Then I played some local matches against my wife who just so happens to be the most competitive being I’ve ever known. What started as “ill play your new game if you make the dinner,” turned into about ten rounds across the various modes of victories, defeats and gnashed teeth. I was not immediately better than her. Even when I did win it felt close. She got punches in and cheered, I retaliated and she swore. It was all really good fun.

Apart from the standard fights there’s also versions of volleyball and basketball which change things up and provide more chuckles. The fighters all have unique traits but I haven’t picked a favourite yet because they’re all so well designed. Each character is like something from a Saturday morning cartoon and the games visuals are a colourful blast to the eyeballs. It’s a charmer and a looker.

All in all I’m really impressed so far. The point of this not-really-a-review though was to say that it’s an easy one to pick up and play, even if you’re normally rubbish at the likes of Street Fighter/Injustice. I’ll still get my face punched in repeatedly but I’ll be enjoying the flip out of it regardless. Unless my wife gets on a real winning streak, can’t be coping with that.

E3: the Nintendo show

Last E3 blog! And it’s a bit late as after Nintendo’s Spotlight I had to go outside to a place filled with people and air and that kind of weirdness. The benefit is that as I write about Nintendo now I may have seen their showcase twice…

It was ok. My first impressions were a lot higher but upon reflection it was an ok presentation with some brilliant elements. The opening segment was another one of those lifestyle trailers showing the young people doing sociable things like going to parties, playing football and spinning cars around a garage like some kind of Fast and the Furious fanboys. All very stylish but it also makes me wonder if I’m using my switch wrong. I took it on a train once but I’ve yet to get invited to a rooftop party with it. 

Dropping during that bit was our first new announcement, Rocket League. The indie football-with-cars game that every fan has been asking for since the switch got announced. It’s a multiplayer favourite and we want all the multiplayer games on the Switch. I’m happy to see it there but I also only own it on the PS4, am I going to buy it again?

Kirby and Yoshi both had new titles announced for 2018 which is pleasantly early for their franchises. Both are nice additions to the library but again I can’t guarantee I’ll be picking them up. The indie scene has been filling my 2d platforming needs (where’s SteamWorld Dig 2?!) and probably will until I get some more Donkey Kong in my veins. 

Xenoblade 2 got reconfirmed for 2017 and showed more of its battle system and story. It’s a JRPG and another game that’s just not for me. Can’t get in to that genre but I know plenty who do and I recognise that this is release is a big deal on Nintendo’s schedule. The question you may have now is what the flip does this blogger actually like and is he buying anything?

Metroid Prime 4. Ooh sweet saints of Nintendo. There wasn’t a single game I wanted more and when that logo started appearing… My jaw dropped, my arms went up in the air, there was some tingling in my underwear. The hype consumed me. Only problem was there was no blooming game shown at all, just a logo but still… We now know what Nintendo are doing with Metroid. We needed to now, it’s been 10 years since Prime 3. 

In a similar fashion we got told that a main Pokémon title is in the works for the Switch. An inevitable title really but after last week’s Pokémon direct showed another 3DS update there was a bit of an online tantrum. Well those fans now know it’s coming, just not when or what it’ll look like.

And that sums up Nintendo’s showcase really. They always said they were focusing on 2017 games but dropping in names for what’s coming after is what e3 is all about. to We also know what we’re getting this year and two of the biggest titles are getting their own separate slots at E3. ARMS and Splatoon 2 tournaments will show those off but I’ve already got the pre-ordered and they’ll occupy my summer. The Zelda DLC packs had also been purchased before this spotlight gave details on what I’d paid for. Its Zelda, I don’t need to know anything. Take my money. Those titles and a bunch of indies are a good first year for me, but there’s one more title that shifts it to greatness.

Super Mario Odyssey. Trailer of the show, my highlight of the whole thing and a grin inducing beauty. We all knew Mario would be jumping and exploring and we had seen in January that he can now throw his hat. Didn’t think that would lead to the hijinks we got in that trailer though… You can transform in to nearly all of the things. Goombas, bullet bills, tanks. The gameplay opportunities are huge and Nintendo know how to give us a digital playground. Plus you get dress Mario up in more than just his trusty dungarees. I want my poncho and sombrero wearing Mario and I want it now. Unfortunately I have to wait until October but even that’s slightly earlier than expected. This trailer was just full of goodness and lifted everything else around it. Nice job Nintendo.