Dead Like Me: Life After Death

Dead Like Me: Life After Deathwas the straight to DVD movie that followed the critically acclaimed series, Dead Like Me, and attempted to give it some closure that it didn't get in its second (and final) season.

The movie starts with the restaurant where George, Daisy, Mason and Roxie all gathered together to get the day's reaping assignments from their boss, Rube, burning to the ground. Our quartet of protagonists are shocked to find their former boss no where in sight, and discover that he has finally moved on and that they have a new boss.

The movie manages to capture a lot of the charm of the series. However, a lot of issues just played out as cheap and contrived, in an attempt to bring closure in the space of a movie. George's reap causes her to become entwined with her younger sister's life. It felt forced and contrived, and served little purpose. The lack of closure for Reggie and Joy after George died (and, unbeknown to them, became a reaper) was part of what made the series so poignant.

The loss of Mandy Patinkin (who played the original boss of the reapers) was a big hit to the charm of the show, and it lost some of the structured feeling, as each of the reapers gave in to the excess provided by their new boss. While their characters didn't necessarily act out of character, they felt largely forced. The loss of his guidance forced the characters to make their own way, which was certainly an interesting plot, and better than many they could have done, but it jsut didn't feel bad.

Dealing with a reaper gone bad (their new boss) felt too much like one of the episodes in season 2. The emotional core of George and her sister again felt forced, with Reggie being involved in a secret romance and trying to find acceptance among her peers. This felt incredibly cheesy for the story.

All in all, it wasn't a bad ending for the series, and it wrapped up lose ends perfectly well, but it still managed to fall far short of the original series and leaves the viewer feeling disappointed.

The Futility of the Console Wars

I kind of touched on this a few days ago, but I wanted to touch on it in more depth. It comes as no surprise that Nintendo, XBox and PlayStation are in a 3 way war with each other. But what is really the point?

Gamers tend to polarize in favor of their favorite platform. Their preferred is the only "real" console, and too be a "real" gamer you have to have one.

But what are these companies really accomplishing? Increasing fractional points of their marketshare? What does that even mean anymore? How many households really don't have more than one? True, a few truly can't afford it. Some just don't care. But after all these years, people that want them pretty much have them. Going off the prices of the brand new consoles (let alone what their prices have fallen to over the last couple of years) the total cost of all 3 would have been $1400.  A large chunk of change to be sure, if paid all at once. But, when you break it down over the long term, the XBox 360 was the first of the new gen to come out, and it came out in November 2005 (not a bad strategy. Come out a year earlier than the PS3 or Wii and get a head start). That was 62 months ago, though. If you set aside just $23/month, you'd have all three right now. And that's going off of new prices, let alone the massive drops we've seen in the last couple years.

So, if you really wanted all three, you could easily have reached that mark by now.

 So really it comes down to what you prefer in your console. More and more, the consoles are trying to overlap each other. The Wii started off catering to the family market, trying to appeal to a broad base, and offering a family friendly system that parents and grandparents would feel comfortable getting their kids. With their innovative motion control system that got the kids up off the couch, and being the first console to develop software that went beyond simple gaming, the Wii has a strong base. Mario and Zelda will never go out of style, and their party games are changing how families spend time together.

XBox has long been the console appealing to the 18-34 male demographic. Halo and other FPS titles are what the XBox was built on, and their offering of Achievements and online multiplayer struck true with the "hardcore".

PlayStation found a niche in the middle. A large number of strong exclusive releases keeps it popular among hte hardcore. Games like LittleBigPlanet and ModNation provide options for families. Almost most importantly, PlayStation's creator, Sony, is able to add alot of functionality that the others couldn't. It comes with a Blu-Ray player (which of course was developed by Sony), and through firmware updates is able to keep on the cutting edge without the need for a lot of excess hardware. PS3 already supports 3D technology, and all signs point to it not going out of date for a long, long time.

But now, it seems that they are all trying to trample on each other. The Wii is trying to pick up more ports of the "hardcore" games. XBox and PS3 both are embracing the action-controllers with their Kinect and Move respectively. XBox is making a serious push to put out exclusive family-friendly games like Kinectimals. And the PS3.... well, the PS3 has Kevin Butler. And that just plain makes them epic.

But I wonder what would happen if instead of trying to simply grab more customers, these consoles (in particular the Wii), especially when it comes to their graphics device) moved more towards simply improving their experience. Focusing on what they do best, and perfecting it, and giving their fanboys a taste of what each console individually has the potential to become.

Right now, the only real victims are the players. Berated by their friends for buying the "wrong" console. Feeling obliged to defend their choice of console to other gamers they come across, and the idea that whichever console you happen to own, you must clearly fly their fanboy flag.

Internet Didn't Just Kill the Video Star

Back in the day, I remember pouring over players' guides for my games. Finding all the secret areas, helping find the smoothest route through a level, and completing all the optional side-quests. I had an entire shelf filled with them.

But it dawned on me the other day that the last player's guide I actually bought was a couple years ago. Nowadays, I don't even consider picking one up for my games (except Pokemon, but that's because it is more encylopedic and allows for easy browsing through the full Pokedex).

With internet sites teeming with guides written and published by other gamers, forums with which to ask (or find an answer to something someone else asked) questions about how to conquer a certain aspect of any given game, and even video walkthroughs available on YouTube, there is no point to shelling out cash for a players' guide. A quick Google search can even bring up the map for Super Nintendo's Jurassic park. I used to spend hours carefully pacing and measuring where I was, and drawing it in colored pencil on graph paper.

I can't remember the last time I actually jotted down notes during a game (not counting WoW, where notes are related to gear and AH prices rather than notes about the story itself). Anymore, I simply keep my laptop next to me when I'm playing, and within 30 seconds I can find the answer I need.

In some ways, its almost sad. Few players guides are worth the price. I think the only guide I still have and use that I think is worth it is the Legend of Zelda: The Twilight Princess leather-bound special edition guide. Guide's aren't entirely without their value, however. It provides everything you need in a simple package (no wading through forum posts trying to find something), and the writing for the walkthroughs tend to be seasoned with anecdotes and humor.

But those alone aren't enough. Bradygames and Prima need to wake up. I'm sure they've noticed the declining sales, but they aren't doing anything about it. Guides cost about the same, and still don't come with any kind of perk to encourage using a paper guide versus a searchable text guide on the internet.

Even I can't think of much that would entice me to buy guides that are going to eat up shelf space. Any token "collectible" items they offer with it are unlikely to be cool enough to pique my interest. In-game rewards are rarely necessary to fully enjoy the game. Maybe add some concept art, some back story, and maybe an interview or two?

Who knows. As the players' guide sections of game stores dwindles, I know there will come a day when my kids will wonder I had to go buy books to have a game walkthrough. Just brings back a little nostalgia for the days when I spent the time I wasn't gaming pouring over these guides, learning every game I had inside, out, and sideways in ways that in a world where I don't have to dive too deep to find what I'm looking for, and finding extra tidbits along the way are rare.

The Biggest Loser: The Ultimate Workout

The Biggest Loser: The Ultimate Workout is the latest in a line of Biggest Loser workout games, and the first compatible with the Kinect. While I have not played other TBL games, I have played other fitness games, mainly on the Wii.

The Ultimate Workout is probably the best I've seen. First, if you're a fan of the show, you'll enjoy getting to work with your choice of Bob, Jillian, or both. If TBL isn't your thing, then you still get an excellent comprehensive workout. You are given a wide range of tools to help you meet your goal that I don't see so comprehensively offered in others.

The first thing offered by TUW is a body analyzer. This picks up your measurements without the need to go find a tape measure. These are not entirely accurate, but if it is off by enough to matter, it seems to go far enough that it is easily noticeable (it read my neck as 216" around. I'm pretty sure that my neck isn't 18 feet around). It has a standard array of offering recipes, calorie trackers, and a "Lifestyle Tasks" that give you simple tasks to help build healthy habits.

The game offers 10 different workout programs, with focuses ranging from large amounts of weightloss to muscle toning, to intensive training. The game uses a fitness test to help you determine your level of fitness, which helps to ensure that you don't push yourself too far, or go too easy. While other games offer this, I felt TUW had a much better test, and I was very happy with the level of my workouts. It also provides a variety of workouts from basic aerobic and muscle exercises to yoga to boxing training, keeping your workouts varied and more interesting.

Utilizing the power of the Kinect to provide a controllerless experience, this game takes away a lot the frustration of at home workouts. When using workout videos, it can be hard to do a new exercise and be sure that you're doing it correctly, and with the Wii, the necessity of holding the Wiimote and Nunchuck makes adding things like dumbells and medicine balls nearly impossible. With the Kinect, TUW is able to tell you if you're not doing an exercise correctly, urging you to correct your shape, kick higher, lunge farther, etc.

By far, this is the best workout game I've played, but it is far from perfect. There are a number of features that are lacking, or outright missing. First, despite clearly being compatible with XBox Live, there is no way to email yourself the recipes listed in game. You have to break out the pad and pen and try to copy it down from the screen.

Next, there is no way to change your workout to account for injuries. During my first week, I bruised my knee (unrelated to the game), but there was no way to adjust my workout to avoid aggravating the injury. There were plenty of exercises that didn't bother me much, but no way to reset my daily workout.

Third, there is no way to schedule specific days off outside of trying to set your initial schedule (when you start a workout program) to line up with what you need. There is no way to account for things like going out of town for a day or two, or other one-time adjustments easily. This would be a great addition to the game, to allow that week's workouts to be set to catch up with what you will you be missing.

Finally, the limitations of the Kinect can skew your scores for individual exercises, and cause the trainers to get pissy with you. It can be incredibly frustrating to be executing the exercise correctly, and hear that you're quitting, or have that one show up as your worst exercise (instead of seeing your real worst that you need to focus on improving).

Now, I know many gamers rail against the idea of workout games. They feel that exercise and games are antithetical. However, this view severely constricts what our consoles are capable of doing for us. I've found games make the best form of exercise. Going to the gym is a headache, exercise videos can end up doing more harm than good, and the structure and motivation provided in these games can help to keep you focused.

If you're interested in working out, whether to improve your fitness or to lose weight, this is a good buy that will not end up on the back shelf when you reach your initial goals.

Achievements and Gaming

Achievements have been around for a while. But until this latest console generation, it has been largely up to the individual games as to whether or not to include them, or what their depth and breadth would be. But, with PS3, XBox 360 and PC all offering them, it adds a new dimension to the games we play.

Achievements encourage us to fully experience the game, perhaps pushing us to sample aspects of the game they might otherwise bypass. And they do so in a way that is non-intrusive. Participating is not forced on the player (unless the player is completionist and OCDs over getting all the achievements for a given game), allowing us to avoid things that we just don't want to mess with.

World of Warcraft is definitely the most prolific with achievements. With well over 1000 achievements, and pertaining to all aspects of the game, any player can feel accomplished by how many achievements they can get. Raids and dungeon groups are encouraged to complete fights in more difficult ways, and players are encouraged to actively pursue PvP activities. But no one loses out on any kind of substantial rewards if they skip, merely cosmetic ones.

This is the best kind of achievement system. You don't want a game to force you to do a bunch of stuff you don't want to in order to gain important rewards. Achievements should reflect your dedication and skill, not be a requirement to complete the game.

They also increase replay value as you have more incentive outside of curiosity to see all the endings, or find all the secret items. I never got all the flags or killed all the Templars in Assassin's Creed because there weren't trophies associated with them. There was no point for me. While there is that sense of personal satisfaction, that's all. You don't get anything tangible that you can quickly compare with friends.

It has expanded the interest in individual games, and their replay value, but have remained just weak enough of a pull that games can't used them as a crutch. They can't expect a bad game to float along just because gamers will be trying to get the achievements.

The Wii needs to get on the bandwagon. It's one of the downsides of playing games on the Wii. The lack of achievement support just makes a game feel less fun. Not all games offer their own achievements, and those lacking them leave one feeling little incentive to explore the game to its full capacity. It may be a trend caused by the increasing need in our society for something tangible, rather than enjoying intangible satisfactions, but its the reality we live in.

As we progress through the future, achievements won't be going away. They are too powerful of a tool for game developers to help focus the player on varying aspects of the game for developers to give them up, and players enjoy getting them enough that it will continue to hold our interests.

Cross-Platform Gaming

Console wars have existed since consoles were introduced in the 1980s. Talk to any gamer, and they will quickly be able to tell you why their favorite platform is the best. Whether PS3 or XBox, PC or Wii, we all have our favor
Each platform, though, does seem to have its niche. The Wii is great for family games, the PC great for RPGs and RTS (where great amounts of hotkeys and the fine control of the mouse can improve the experience), the XBox seems to be best at more "grown-up" games, and the PS3 lives in a great middle ground.

But, the divisive lines get a little silly. Most titles are available cross-platform. Assassin's Creed II is going to be just as good, regardless of what you play on.

I think the time has come for the various platforms to stop fighting with each other, and embrace each other, at least to an extent.

Most cross-platform games have primarily the same kind of achievements and trophies, and the same kind of multiplayer. In the upcoming Portal 2, gamers will be able to connect via Steam to play multiplayer across both PS3s and PCs. I think that this is a huge step in the right direction.

One of the hardest things about playing multiplayer is that your friends cannot always play with you. If I have AC Brotherhood for PS3 and my friend has XBox, we're not going to be able together. The platforms need to come together and embrace each other. We need to support cross-platform multiplayer, cross-platform friend lists and chat, and cross-platform comparison of achievements.

By doing this, we can start to break down the walls of console partisanship, and start to create a more open arena, where players can choose based solely on their own personal preference, rather than what they feel will keep them better connected with their friends.

Come on guys, lets come together.

Wizard of Oz

A couple weeks ago I was watching Wizard of Oz with the kids. I've seen before, of course, but not in years. I was actually very impressed with the quality of the film, and the special effects, particularly given that it was made 72 years ago.

The story, of course, is timeless. The novel came out 1900, and even 111 years later, its still a story filled with heart and magic, and entirely entertaining. The journey of Dorothy as she learns how important friendship and family is, and learns the importance of intelligence, courage and love.

Aside from being visually beautiful, the actors are filled their parts perfectly. Judy Garland's Dorothy creates a charming heroine, but one with faults that she must overcome. Almost surprising for the time period, Dorothy does not come across as a damsel-in-distress, and aside from being a little naive, has the spunk to be a formidable foe for the Wicked Witch. She travels through the land of Oz, eager to get to her destination and find her way home, and remains resolute in the face of danger, even when the Wicked Witch offers her safety in return for the ruby slippers.

The Scarecrow creates a charming, clutzy, and loyal character to help guide Dorothy through the hazards of Oz. Initially, the studios wanted to hint at a future romance between Dorothy and the farmhand counterpart to Scarecrow. While this was cut from the film, you still can see the chemistry between them, and see the affection they have for each other.

The Tin-Man is caring and compassionate, and provides the moral compass for the group, helping them remember to be kind to others, and take the moral high ground. The Cowardly Lion provides excellent comic relief, and his character has become widely recognizable. His fear at the silliest things helps keep things lighthearted when the movie takes darker turns.

The Wicked Witch was masterfully portrayed by Margaret Hamiltion, and her character has become iconic. She provides the perfect amount of pure evil, and creates a formidable foe for Dorothy and her friends. She is thoroughly well-developed, and has a fullness to her character that many other similar movies lack in their villains.

A story of friends, love, and perseverance makes this movie into a timeless classic that will still be popular for years to come. An instant classic, and one of the best movies out there.