Category: 2017

Posted on in 2017, Current Writing, Essays, Gaming

What Does ‘Civilization’ Say About Civilisation?

[Authors Note: Throughout this piece, when referring to the game series Civilization, I will use the American English spelling because that’s where the game originated and thus what it’s called. When referring to the concept of civilisation I will be using the British English spelling]

 

So, you may or may not be familiar with the Civilization series of games. In simple terms, the Civ series is a strategy game series wherein you take control of a civilisation and lead it to victory. There are a few things that happen when you game-ify history and I’m going to use that lens to see what the choices made in designing the series say about how its creator’s ideologies. Whether they uphold unexamined ideologies or use the game to delve deeper into these ideas.

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Posted on in 2017, Current Writing, Essays, Gaming

Back to the Jet Set Radio Future

So, E3 was last week. It was mostly a run-of-the-mill E3 with a few nice surprises. For me, the nicest surprise was the announcement from Microsoft that they would be bringing original Xbox backwards compatibility to Xbox One (and hopefully also PC). With that in mind, and the fact that the original Xbox was my first console, I thought I’d compile a list of games that I’d like to be brought into the future.

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Posted on in 2017, Comics, Current Writing, Essays, Film

Thoughts on Wonder Woman

This is not a piece I thought I’d be writing. Last year, following the festering pile of unmentionables that was Batman v Superman, I swore off DC films. I was convinced nothing was going to change that. If Warner Bros kept following BvS down the shithole, then there was nothing for me in the DCCU. However, a lot of people whose opinions I respect were praising Wonder Woman, and WW’s place as the first female superhero meant that her movie had an important place in the pantheon of superhero films. Also, tugging at the back of my mind was the thought that if this movie failed hard, studio execs would blame it on the female lead rather than the fact that it’s the fourth instalment in a franchise that occupies the same collective mental space as a tired horror franchise.

Since I’m writing this you probably gathered that I’ve now seen Wonder Woman. After seeing it, I figured my thoughts could be summed up in a single tweet. However, as I mulled over it during the night, I realised I have a little more to say than that. Not much more, but a little more. So, my initial tweet’s worth of comments would have been.

Wonder Woman was enjoyable. A good movie, not a great one. Amazing what happens when you have a director directing, and a screenwriter writing.

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Posted on in 2017, Current Writing, Literary, Short Stories

Look Who’s Back in Town

[Author’s Note: This piece is a sequel to the piece What We’ve Become.]

 

The room was all wood panelling and polished metal corporate logos. Scott Darrow sat far back in his chair in the empty room. There were several other chairs around a large wooden table. Each chair was near identical to the ones next to it. They were black, cushioned, curved, and all had wheels affixed to their legs. Scott messed with the levers, trying to lock his chair in position, slightly tilted, so he could sit back comfortably. Once he was successfully adjusted, he began spinning towards the spotless glass windows. The windows reached from floor to ceiling. From his position, he could see most of the city. Part of his vision was blocked by skyscrapers taller than the comparatively squat office building he was currently in. The large wooden doors swung open as his agent stormed into the room.

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Posted on in 2017, Current Writing, Literary, Short Stories

What We’ve Become

The place was a humdrum coffee place on the corner of a busy road. Nothing remarkable about it. It was one of those franchise places. He used to grab his coffee here a long time ago. He approached the coffee place hesitantly. He reached into his pocket and felt for the cold metal of his smartphone. He had received an email and arranged a time. If he’d been born in an earlier time, the summons might have come as a letter. Through the glass windows of the coffee place, he could see the inner workings of the coffee shop. Baristas working behind the counter, brewing beverages for twenty bucks an hour. He crossed the street and entered the door on the main street. The cold chill of Melbourne’s winter weather left him as the warmth of the climate-controlled coffee shop coalesced around him. He queued behind the rows of busy business types waiting for their coffee. He ordered a flat white and waited for his order.

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Posted on in 2017, Current Writing, Essays, Gaming

The Greatest Game That Will Probably Never Get Made

Before you start this article, watch this.

Good. Now, that you’ve done that we can begin. I’m going to assume you’ve done it. I’m trusting you here. If you haven’t watched it yet, you’re missing out. Scout’s honour? Anyway, here it is again and then I’ll proceed unimpeded.

So, recently there’s been some hubbub about that new Prey game by Arkane Studios. You might have heard about it. Prey (2017) was teased last year at E3 during the Bethesda E3 press conference. The trailer for that game is alright too, now that I think about it. Link here. The trailer is part-Groundhog Day, part-The Matrix, part-System Shock, part-The Thing, and so on. Prey (2017) blends these influences well and altogether looks like a decent game.

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Posted on in 2017, Comics, Current Writing, Essays, Film, TV

The Reason Marvel TV Doesn’t Crossover with the MCU

That title feels a little clickbait-y, doesn’t it? If it were more clickbait-y, it’d be called ‘The REAL Reason …’. I’ve been meaning to do this topic for a while. Some time ago, I heard this idea about the reason why there’s not much crossover between the Marvel TV universe and the Marvel Cinematic Universe. There are a few reasons and that could be given but I reckon there’s one big one. Though, before I get to it, let’s go on a journey first.

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Posted on in 2017, Current Writing, Fantasy, Short Stories

Fracture Part Three – Malron

“You brought a Fae on board my ship!” Varda cursed out Finn.

“I came of my own volition. I was not smuggled aboard like chattel,” Nessa defended.

“Silence,” Varda commanded. “I know the magic your people possess.

Malron watched the exchange happen from across the room. He was slouched against a wall. Malron knew that Varda was feigning her outrage a bit. Damaged as she was, she relied on these newcomers to help run the ship and make sure they made a profit. However, revealing that hand would leave her very poor. Nessa’s Fae presence provided a bargaining chip. The Fae were considered a human myth. If they ever existed, which now clearly, they did, then their civilisation would have been disrupted when the world exploded. Fae draw their power from the earth below them apparently. Malron wondered if this story about the Fae had been a human misunderstanding about magic. All magic flowed through the core, perhaps the Fae practised magic by drawing close to the core, hence the myth about the power of earth. Malron was very curious to find out how this Fae came to be here.

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Posted on in 2017, Current Writing, Essays, Film

I Really Liked Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2’s Ending

[Warning: Contains big time SPOILERS for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. Read at your own risk. Ye have been warned!]

Ok, so this past week I went to see Guardians 2. This isn’t a review or the like. Instead, there’s a segment that I wanted to discuss. A part of the film that I really liked. Admittedly, it might just be me. On the whole, the film was overall pretty good. There’s a baseline quality from Marvel that they’ve managed to keep across all fifteen of their films so far. It’s an impressive feat where you can say that the worst of the Marvel universe is far behind it, and even at its worst, it’s watchable. The same can’t be said of some of their competition. Anyway, that should be enough general stuff to hide the spoilers below the read more on most websites.

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Posted on in 2017, Comics, Current Writing, Essays, Film

How to Fix the Fantastic Four

What’s up all? I’ve been doing some fiction stuff recently and have strayed away from my earlier bread and butter. There are a few reasons for the shift and I might delve into that later. If you prefer my fiction, that’s not going away. If you prefer my non-fiction/opinion stuff, that’s not going away either. Anyway, enough of that, onto today’s subject.

So, the Fantastic Four film franchise has had a rocky past of late, well more like an ongoing rocky existence. From the 90s Corman film, to the 00s films starring Captain America before he was Cap, to the stupidly-titled 2015 film, Fant4stic. It hasn’t been an easy ride for Marvel’s First Family, with their films being generally received on a scale of Ok to Bad. First, let’s delve into the tricky part of adapting the Fantastic Four for film, and then I’ll throw my hat into the ring attempting to the wrangle the beast at the conceptual phase.

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