Well hello thar! I’ve been hanging out in the back, from afar, on the porch, rocking my easy chair back and forth, listenin’ in with my listening stick passed down from ma pappy. I’ve been without a computer for most of the year so I spend my time growing a beard and contributing to @shmups when I learn about another Japanese videogame I’m forbidden to purchase. I don’t reckon I have anything in common with all’y'all whippersnappers anymore with the “disc videogames” I rarely purchase and the “television shows” I no longer watch. Either way if you fancy a strange and conflicting viewpoint, here is what I was up to at one time or another.

Scott Pilgrim

This isn’t at the top of my list because of any superfan complex. Scott Pilgrim is one of the extremely few multi-medium tie-ins that worked out great in terms of quality. Of course that means all of them sold almost fuckall compared to the big players of other licenses on any of those mediums. None of the Scott Pilgrim products were “the greatest things ever made” by a long shot, but all of them to me were better than good, made me happy, and are worth owning. Because of Scott Pilgrim, I also learned there are far less unique Facebook and Twitter users than site stats say.

Android OS / Federico Carnales

I used to roll one of those Palm PDAs in the early ’00s. They died rather quickly, so I became disorganized. This smart phone shit made pocket organizing a thing I can do again. This changed my life, sorta. It is important to me. The touch-everything hullabaloo instead of using a stylus is also a nifty thing, as is internet radio and on-demand web shows. Federico Carnales is the other reason I haven’t thrown my Droid out the window because he made LauncherPro Plus. There’s a nasty problem with Android 2.2 where after you max your memory, every time I go to the home screen I have to wait 15 seconds. LauncherPro Plus lets me add a bunch of shortcuts to bypass the need to go to the home screen. As long as I can multitask from app to app, I should remain good.

Super Meat Boy

There was a time SMB always meant “Super Mario Brothers”. SMB now stands for “Super Meat Boy” now stands for because it is a better game than Super Mario Brothers. I like the quick-play aspects of the stages, I like that they’re hard, I like that they’re fair, I like they can be made harder, I like the cut-scenes, I like the plentiful thoughtful level designs, and I like the smartass-er-y of the Team Meat developers.  Even the bugs and glitches are in the player’s favor. Everyone should own SMB for no particular reason.

Solid Steel

This is a podcast radio show apparently twenty years old. It is a mix from artists of the Ninja Tune record label like Mr. Scruff, Kentaro, DK, and DJ Food. The music goes in all kinds of directions from techno, grind, house, DnB, dubstep, trance, what-have-you. I can drop this in the car with the young folk and they will say to me “Who! Who is this playing?!” and I will say “Solid Steel, Waaaaaaat!” Then the young people, they will tell me, “I must have this. Get this to me.” To which I reply, “I am kinda tired. Pass me the flask.”

Radio Clash / Mashuptown / KEXP / NPR: All Songs Considered / Last.fm / Shoutcast / Podrunner

Yes, a seven-way tie. Only last year, I had problems with going somewhere to discover music conveniently. After smart-phoning my shit up, I setup shop so all these stations and services could function when I have a spare second. Now I rarely hear my music collection because I always have a steady stream of new music on the queue with no time to capture and search. Radio Clash mixes many oddities and mashups, Mashuptown and KEXP: Song of the Day rapid-fire me single downloadable tracks, KEXP: Music That Matters and NPR: All Songs Considered narrates in-between undiscovered tracks, Podrunner keeps me not dying during a workout, and Last.FM or Shoutcast internet radios are thrown on when my 3G is going to be stable for awhile. I am on headphones 700% more than I ever have before thanks to this combination of sound.

Podcast 198x

This is a strange and wonderful podcast. Sean and Ray talk about games as people who are able to notice and reflect upon details of full experiences well beyond just the art and sales. You will hear about scoring systems, endgame insights, and just how fresh or wonderfully different something can be on hard mode. This isn’t one of my favorite podcasts because I agree with everything they say. I disagree with them often. 198x is a gentleman’s podcast because they bring an intelligent new perspective to the table far different from Giant Bomb, DGR, Fast Karate, or Gamers With Jobs. 198x reminds me there are actually people still enjoying a game to completion in a challenging environment instead of rushing through everything the fastest on Easy Mode with cheat codes. For that, we thank you and please stick around. Oh and it doesn’t hurt their website is fucking rad. www.podcast198x.com/

Blur

This racing game is fucking sick! Mario Kart madness matched with an awesome soundtrack from the Ninja Tune label kept me in the happy place until my home theater had to be disassembled, along with Bizarre Creations itself.

Mommy’s Best Games

Nathan Fouts is a smalltime hero of mine. His two games this year Shoot 1up and Explosionade add innovative flavors to genres I enjoy. He got leaderboards working, he listens to community feedback, and he’s awesome to listen to on interviews. One of the things I respect most is his short style of hype-train promotion. The year(s) of screenshot bullshit reduced to 1-2 weeks is a welcomed method to game promotion from my viewpoint. It probably doesn’t work out for revenue in the end, but I tip the hat nonetheless.

Xona Games

Jason and Matthew Doucette are aligning themselves nicely to becoming the best western shmup developers I know about. With a questionable knack in marketing tactics, backing up the years of hype-train with Decimation X and Score Rush earns this company some legendary respect in the indie scene. Being able to say “I’m big in Japan” is a lifestyle I’d like to live. Decimation X3 was the #1 360 Indie game in Japan after all.  The other reason I love this group is Jason and Matthew compete and scorechase on their own games right along with everybody else while openly discussing how the innards of their titles work.  Best of all, they’re actually more skilled than I at playing videogames.

Cave

The leaders of the 2D shooting game and awkward quasi-perverse suggestive promotional art are expanding their empire beyond Japan. It is confuggling to know more players see Cave as a skilled iPhone developer rather than a leading creator of competitive scorechasing videogames.  2010 saw their first western publisher as Aksys released DeathSmiles NA. Cave’s Guwange became their first XBLA game. MAME finally got to see Ketsui, Espgaluda, and DoDonPachi DOJ. Everybody else with the tech got to see DoDonPachi Resurrection on iOS or J-360.  It is good to know people no longer have to dig very far to grab a taste of the hardest (fairest) videogames known to man.

Radiangames

Luke Schneider gets his green by making a single beautiful glowy engine, then finding as many uses for it as he can for $1 each. JoyJoy, Crossfire 1&2, Fluid, Fireball, and Inferno are available for $6 total. What you will receive are entry level arena STGs, exercises in analog movement, and an original slider shmup series.

Doggcatcher / Revision3

Armed with a proper podcasing app called Doggcatcher, I’ve gone on to turn my phone into an on-demand television.  Most of that television is from a network called Revision3. Web shows like Bytejacker, Ben Heck, Penn Point, Tom’s Top 5, ROFL, Digg Reel, and Destructoid make lunch breaks a magical place.

Inception

BWOOONG!! Besides being the bizarro-vuvuzela and the best notification ringtone ever, Inception proves either smart movies can still make money as long as there are guns, or anything Chris Nolan does will make money. I’m not really sure, but I want to watch this movie four more times.  BWOOOONG!!

DJ Hero 2 OST

I haven’t gotten the game because I haven’t hooked up my home theater. I did get a hold of the soundtrack. It is a solid collection of mashups. DJ Hero 1 was pretty much my game of the year, so I’m pretty comfortable with what’s here.

True Grit (2010)

The Coen Brothers can always put on a show. I didn’t mind The Dude replacing The Duke. The changes and additions were acceptable. Hell I just may see it again ’cause I couldn’t make out what Jeff Bridges was griddy-slurring 80% of the time.

Girl Talk

One of the mashup leaders, our hero boy-king released new album All Day. He’s giving it away at www.illegal-art.net/allday/ The main difference of this new Girl Talk from other new mixes is the samples get some longer time to hang out as opposed to the A.D.D. trip experienced in other mixes.

Yongzh & Ryan Frawley

This tag team is the only reason gaming on an Android phone doesn’t leave me sad and empty inside.  Yongzh creates the best handheld emulators I know about; responsible for Nesoid, Snesoid, Gensoid, and other Game Boy emulators. Ryan Frawley is responsible for the Wii Controller IME which lets me (seamlessly) use a wiimote and classic controller to play said emulated games. These two developers are international heroes and if you have an Android phone, you are immorally responsible for making this combination happen.

The Karate Kid (2010)

Somehow getting away with subbing this as a chick flick, I was unexpectedly very entertained by the fighting and the empowering kids with the seriousness. For a short while, I will respect Jayden Smith until I can’t get away from his next attempt to rap and he becomes a solid thorn in my side for the next 40 years.  I will continue to mourn the absence of an obligatory Joe Esposito cover, but this was a small price to pay for such a pleasant film.

Angry Birds

PS3’s Pain on a 2D plane with added round cuteness animals. Sadly, this is the best game Android can offer.

Toshiba Laptops

Expensive consumer electronics are a bitch.  One day Forbes says one company is the leader, next week that company switched to cheap parts and won’t answer your tech support calls. Everything can do basic computing needs nowadays. But what is out there that isn’t designed to fall apart in less than two years?  I’ve decided that company is Toshiba. Besides encountering a few laptops that people say they’re gonna upgrade simply because they’re five years old, my mom bought one, dumped a full can of diet soda in the keyboard, closed the laptop thinking that would make it dry better, and turned it upside down so all the pop went behind the screen. Oddly, in a gesture of total witchcraft, leaving the laptop running for a few weeks magically clensed itself of all pop stains. The screen now works perfectly and there are zero sticky keys.  All that bullshit is more than enough for me to recommend Toshiba computer gear no questions asked for a long time.

You know, I think I talked about most of this stuff already, but it’s too damn awesome not to be remembered for this year.  Let’s begin! 

Back Dynamite:  Okay, so technically the movie was released in 2009, but how many of us saw it in the theater? The awesomeness of this film became truly widespread when it was released onto DVD back in February. The internet was abuzz at the uniqueness of this film, and after at least six different viewings this year I can see why. The brilliance of this film isn’t in it’s clever writing, quotable one-liners, or how it never really takes itself seriously; no the magic comes in how every time you watch it you pick up on something new and funny. It has become my “go to” movie whenever I have company over, and I’m always thanked when the film is done. As of last week, this film was one of the few Netflix streaming videos that won’t allow you to have a Netflix party with. The reason? Everybody would be doing it as this movie is even more awesome in a  shared viewing. I don’t believe Netflix has the bandwidth available for the nightly Black Dynamite parties that would no doubt be going on.  Until then, I say you go just go and buy this film.  It will sit nicely next to The Blues Brothers, Animal House, and Caddyshack.

The Walking Dead: You know, the sad thing about a zombie movie is after two hours the feature ends and we are left wondering what happens next. But what if we could watch what happens to our survivors for a long period of time? At least that was the concept behind the popular comic series developed by Robert Kirkman. For a comic, The Walking Dead is unique as it focuses far more on character development and less on the zombie hoard.  The zombies, in fact, act much like a dangerous natural element that the characters have to deal with and less of a plot element. The other cool thing about The Walking Dead is how real it is. People resort doing doing some pretty nasty things to one another in their quest to stay alive just one more day. Main characters come and go and we should expect that in a world where the dead rule the Earth. This past Fall, AMC released a six-part mini-season based on the comic. I was both excited and a bit anxious as to what we might see onscreen as Hollywood has a tendency to mess things up or dumb things down for their audience. But this was AMC, and the first episode stuck true to the comic storyline. And with over five million viewers, it was the highest-rated premier on AMC and became the most watched cable series for its demographic. The storyline would eventually split from the comic, but the overall tone and emphasis of character development over action stayed the same. AMC has picked up this classic for another 13 episodes, and I personally can’t wait to see what happens next. 

No Ordinary Family:  2010 had some great TV shows: Madmen, Breaking Bad, The Walking Dead, but this little show on ABC has become a guilty pleasure for me. The show is essentially a live-action version of one of my favoriute films, The Incredibles. The Powells are an ordinary, dysfunctional family who gain super powers after their plane crashes in Brazil. The father (Micheal Chiklis) has super strength, can leap several blocks, and is seemingly invulnerable. The mom (Julie Benz aka Rita from Dexter) is super fast, and as a scientist by trade she is more than curious about how they got their powers. Their kids (Kay Panabaker and Jimmy Bennett) have lesser powers as the girl can read minds while the son has become a Reed Richards super genius. There is a bit of Heroes-like mythology going on in the back-story, but the real strength of the show is the characters and how they interact with one another and grow from their new found abilities.  Whomever is writing the reboot of the Fantastic Four should pay attention to this show, as Disney and ABC “get it.” It’s campy and fun, and even the bit characters play their roles to the tee. Even the unlikely pair of Chiklis and Benz seem to pull off a believable couple together. Bottom line, the show is just plain fun, and I hope I get to see more of it in 2011.

Kinect: I’m one of those people Microsoft was targeting when they thought up Kinect. I don’t own a Wii, but I am interested in what it can do. But with all the shovel-ware and stories about it collecting dust, I could never get myself to drop the cash to jump into the experience. Kinect seemed like a more logical transition for me, and upon purchasing one last Fall I can finally understand what motion gaming is really all about. Folks can argue that there really isn’t a lot out there right now, especially for the hardcore gamers. I can admit that may be true, but I am also convinced that Kinect is here to stay and that the future looks bright for the peripheral. I say this for many reasons, but mainly because the tech just seems to work and there is something magical about gaming with no controllers. It has revitalized the gaming experience for my entire family, and for me that is well worth the money I paid for it. Here’s hoping that the new titles that come out for the system are as tantalizing and cool as Dance Central and Kinect Sports.

Red Dead Redemption:  I might piss off some Grand Theft Auto fans out there, but Red Dead Redemption is a better game.  In fact I do believe that it is RockStar’s BEST game yet and one that I can’t seem to stop playing. Maybe it’s the newness of the Old West that got me hooked. Or perhaps it was the amazing storyline and characters. Or maybe it was the surprise ending that got the internet abuzz with discussions. Whatever the reason, Red Dead Redemption is in my top ten list of favorite games ever played and the new DLC keeps me coming back to the environment for more fun partners.  Not to mention that the DGR night we had in the game, holding the fort from sleazebags on our server was quite frankly one of the best times I have had on Xbox Live ever.  Thanks guys (and Token). 

Inception: Christopher Nolan has proven that he’s the King of the Mountain when it comes to directing movies. Not only did he make us rethink how we view one of the most iconic super heroes of all time, but he can take us to places we never dreamed of before. Such is the case of Inception, a movie that is as close to perfect storytelling as I can remember. We follow Leonardo DiCaprio and his team into the world of the dream and are left wondering if what we experienced was ever real at all. When asked if he could explain what he actually meant by the end of his film he stoically explained, “If I did that it would ruin the entire reason why I filmed Inception. The movie is supposed to leave you questioning. If you feel that way, it did its job. The man is a stud, and I can’t wait for how he ends his Dark Knight trilogy and the upcoming Superman project.

Lost Finale: Never has a show left me feeling so satisfied and with so many unanswered questions at the same time. For six seasons we watched the survivors of Oceanic Flight 815 unravel the mysteries of the strange island they were stranded on. The storytelling and acting were top notch, and the show spawned several podcasts as viewers tried to decipher the clues left behind in each episode. Whether you enjoyed the final episode or not, Lost and its canon have secured their place in our society and lore. Just the other day my colleagues warned us not to open the hatch when dealing with a sticky project. It is a show that I will miss, and one that I will also enjoy revisiting on BluRay. 

Mass Effect 2: This is my pick for the Daryl Awards this year. Why, you ask? No, not just because I can bone alien creatures (ohhh yeah) but because the character development in this game is so strong, I actually miss them when I am not playing. Bioware has simply mastered the dialogue tree and you can’t help but feel a connection to the characters in the game. That, and it’s the only game I can remember that built on my decisions from the previous game. Countless references to seemingly unimportant characters and my encounters with them solidify that the world of Mass Effect is uniquely mine; there are no two universes that are exactly alike. They fixed the combat system so things flow much smoother and no more tedious armor and weapon upgrade guessing games, just lock, load, and kick ass. Downloadable content for the title has been nothing less than stellar and the last installment (Lair of the Shadow Broker) dramatically changed the universe I play in. I have to wonder how the addition of that single piece of content will affect Mass Effect 3. That, my friends, is sheer brilliance in game design. 

Good BAD Movies:  As Hollywood searches for some creative ways to express itself without rehashing old ideas (thanks but no thanks Yogi Bear) certain directors have seemingly created their own genre by making really bad movies that are just plain FUN to watch. The story-lines (if any) are paper thin, the acting is laughable, and the effects are ridiculous, but for some strange reason they work. Maybe because these movies know they are bad and never try to be anything other than what they are. This summer, we saw what may be the goriest and most awesome killer fish movie of all time, Pirhana 3D.  A movie that took the 3D realm to new heights with 3D boobage (and mind you there was not one boob onscreen that I didn’t care to see, they were all excellent). It was campy and fun and one of the best times I have had at the movies this year. Later in the fall, I gathered my fellow DGR faithful for a Netflix showing of Bitch Slap, a movie that truly must be experienced in a group setting. The movie was awesomely terrible and one that I plan to enjoy with a group of friends over and and over again. Let’s hope that we see this trend continue as directors take their craft just a bit less serious. It may not make a good movie, but if we are entertained I certainly don’t care.     

Robot Panic:  I remember when I got the email from Hilden, “Hey Ryker thanks for submitting all this cool shit. Here’s access to the blog and keep up the good work.” Those that read my stuff know that I haven’t always been a good writer, in fact we might be able to make a pretty good argument that I’m the opposite. But at least I have the opportunity to contribute to a community that shares my interests and is pretty bad ass. I’ve also been blessed to help the guys do their live shows and that is a real treat.  I am always impressed with their passion in delivering a great show every week, and just how genuine they all are.  Last Summer we all got together at Moe’s for the 5th anniversary show and bonfire (sorry about your neighbor’s house Moe). It was one of the best times I have had all year; hanging with the good friends I have made here and enjoying a night together.  For the real magic in all of this isn’t in the articles I write, or the awesome shows the guys do, but it’s in the community that we all share. So thanks to all my friends here, your are truly amazing.  Here’s hoping for a great 2011!

I was feeling rather let down by this years crop of summer movies.  Iron Man 2 came out way to early and it’s been kinda downhill since then.  Oh sure Toy Story 3 was awesome, but overall it’s been a summer movie season where I have felt let down.  Where is the movie everyone is talking about?  Where is something that I can enjoy and yet have a lively discussion afterwards?  Who can save us from the doldrums and lack of creativity in Hollywood?  No, not Batman, but you would be close.  For the movie gods have listened to our cries and brought us a savior, and that savior’s name is Christopher Nolan.  For the Director who brought us The Dark Knight and Momento has challenged us to rethink how we view movies yet again with his latest masterpiece Inception.  It’s stylish, well acted, incredibly well paced, lots of action, and best of all it makes you think.  For me I don’t know what else I could ask for in a film. 

The film centers around Dom Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio), a wanted thief who enters the dreams of others to obtain information that is otherwise inaccessible.  Cobb and his team, Arthur (Joseph Gordon-Levitt from 3^rd Rock ), and his “architect” (someone who designs the world of the dream) Nash (Lukas Haas) are working a heist inside the mind of Saito (Ken Watanabe), whom is aware of their deception.  Cobb and his team fail the mission, but soon realize that Saito was auditioning them for something greater.  Instead of stealing evidence from an enemy, Saito would like Cobb to plant an idea into his head instead.  Such an activity is called inception, and it is not only very difficult to pull off, but dangerous as well.  As a reward Saito will pay his team very well and provide Cobb what he desires most, the ability to return home and see his children.  

Cobb accepts Saito’s offer and recruits a forger named Eames.  Forgers are capable of shifting their appearance within the dream world and a must for an act of inception.  Cobb must also find a replacement architect as his was captured by Saito’s men in the botched mission.  He finds a suitable student in Adrianne (Ellen Page) and while he explains to her the rules of the dream world, Adrianne begins to suspect that there is something bothering Cobb.  In his dreams she see’s visions of his deceased wife Mel and his inability to let go of what happened to her.  While Adrianne fears that Cobb is a threat to his own mission, she agrees to help him but with a watchful eye.  Can Cobb’s team plant an idea into the mind of Saito’s rival Robert Fisher (Cillian Murphy aka The Scarecrow) or will Cobb’s own insecurities and nightmares be the downfall of them all? 

The first thing you need to know about Inception, is it’s not a film you can passively enjoy.  You can’t decide to run to the bathroom or get a refill on popcorn and expect that when you come back you can just jump right back in.  Every frame in this film has something of value to it, something that can help explain what is going on, or a red herring as to what you THINK is happening.  It is literally a visual puzzle of your mind that Nolan helps you unravel in the span of two and a half hours.  Missing any pieces of this puzzle will inevitably sullen the experience for you.  It’s also an intricate enough puzzle that you may desire re-visiting to pick up on things you may have missed.  So unlike most Summer movies, you’ll WANT to have your brain with you when you enjoy this film. 

The next thing you need to know about Inception is the visual artistry is exceptional.  I’m not just talking about the special effects which are top notch, it’s how they are woven into the imagery itself to make you think or catch you off guard.  Every explosion, twist and turn of the minds eye in this film is painstakingly planted there for a specific reason.  Many times you won’t understand why something just happened until future narrative tells you why it was important.  This visual storytelling keeps you on the edge of your seat and your brain can’t help but ask for more.  

The acting in Inception is quite solid, and I am slowly becoming a DiCaprio fan.  He is meticulous about what scripts he chooses lately and I for one applaud his decisions.  We watch as this outwardly stoic and confident thief shows us the turmoil that races in his own mind, especially when he dreams.  In this way Cobb is like so many of us, trying to be tough when he is hurting on the inside.  The supporting cast is also quite good, but they are helped by a script that is extremely well written and mostly glitch free.  And for a story like Inception, continuity is a must.  It reminds me of when I first saw The Matrix and how nail tight it appeared to be.  Over the years I have noticed only a few small things in that film, but nonetheless the script was sound.  

I really can’t go into more detail on the plot or the ending as that would spoil the fun of the film.  All I can say is that as someone who frequents the theater, I am acutely aware of where a story is taking me.  So when a story goes in a direction that I did not expect, I am pleasantly surprised.  I found myself having this pleasantly surprised feeling through most of this film.  Plots would twist and things would happen that I didn’t see coming, and yet in retrospect these twists all felt right and not insulting to the audience.  Again, master storytelling at work.  I even heard that the end of this film was simply fantastic and I will admit that indeed it was.  Nolan ends his story in such a way that it naturally sparks debate, but remains true to the essence of the visual puzzle that is Inception.    

I can’t recommend this film enough.  Christopher Nolan has done it again and you owe it to yourself to go and see what everyone will be talking about this summer.  You can even be like me, and see it a few times, it’s that good.   (Oh and please use Spoiler Tags if you want to get deep into specifics of the film)