P4: Gritty Reboot

Thursday is right in that the focus of the plot is significantly different than Alien. Alien was a haunted house movie in space; Prometheus is something much bigger. It focuses on our origins and what it means to be human. It's much more At the Mountains of Madness and much less Amityville Horror. However, you are correct in that Alien did not have a spectacular plot either. In fact, its characters did dumb things, there wasn't much explanation for what was going on or why, and hey--critics gave it a pretty lukewarm response at first, moreso than Prometheus, which has actually garnered a lot of critical praise. Also, as the president of your local chapter of the Prometheus Defense Counsel, I am obligated to tell you to not listen to the criticism and go enjoy the movie anyway. It blew me away and is one of the best movies of the year. Some plot elements are not explained in full, but that is by design. The overall ambiguity of a lot of the plot seems to have inflamed a certain section of its target audience against it, and certain flat characters and tropish moments have incited rage. But rest assured that plenty of us love it, warts and all. I could not disagree more. There are little references you will catch, and obviously you'll go in there with some background info on Weyland Industries, androids, and the like. But the movie fleshes out new elements of the Alien universe without treading on established areas. I don't think you need that background at all, though I do recommend it for an enriched experience.

I think there's room for countless kinds of games with different depictions of violence. It's just the bulk of the market right now seems to be that Gears of War type realistic-but-not-weighty, no consequences, balls out action violence that doesn't really even seem tongue-in-cheek or self-aware. I've heard it pointed out that it's dissonance of the highest degree to have a character act kind or funny or warm or whatever in cutscenes, then go out and straight-up murder 500 people before the next cutscene. It would be refreshing to have that rethought once in a while.

Addressing a few of your points throughout the thread Dean: More CNN's fault than Nintendo's. A cursory glance at Nintendo's website, the press emails CNN undoubtedly received, or Nintendo's E3 site would have corrected that error. Bad reporting through and through. Yes, Wii 2 would have indicated a new system more than Wii U I suppose. Beyond the price announcement as you said and the product's release this will be a non-issue. And lo and behold, Nintendo is launching the system with games featuring both, nary a Metroid or Zelda in sight. From the website that shall not be named: "There are friend codes, but it's not the existing friend code system," Fils-Aime said. "What do I mean by that? Here's what I mean: you will be able to identify people as friends and have a certain level of interaction vs. a different level of interaction for the more general population. The method by which you identify someone as a friend is a lot simpler than what's happening today with Friend Codes." The problem I believe people had with the Wii version, I told Fils-Aime, is that adults who owned the system felt like, hey, if I'm an adult, treat me like an adult and let me friend people I've met online without having to call a person and exchange a code or something like that. "Agreed," Fils-Aime said. "You feel like those people will be happier?" I asked. "Yes, they will be." So to me it sounds that they're simplifying the process of adding friends, but still limiting interactions with non-friended people, perhaps limiting voice chat and other messages. That sounds good to me, and it addresses the core issues with friend codes in the first place. That's the opposite of what I'm hearing. I'm hearing that they're acknowledging previous weakness in the infrastructure itself (not necessarily their own in-house games, as those will likely still focus on local play), and that everything just hasn't been fleshed out yet to a point that they're ready to show it to the public.

I agree Alex, and we need to see more. My guess is they are still scrambling to get it together before launch. Don't get me wrong; they are in a precarious position and need to act carefully. Success in the last generation does not guarantee success in the next. But I just don't see them folding due to a weak online system, assuming it does have basic gameplay functionality and further connectivity than the Wii does now.

How have they not rectified it? Launch titles like Pikmin aside, by all accounts Wii U will have better and more robust online play and features than the Wii did. I don't know where you get off saying they won't see a ninth gen when they've trounced both competitors soundly this generation and are dominating the handheld race. Slightly anemic online does not sound a death knell for Nintendo, especially with their target audience.

That was about the only thing that really bugged me and I won't defend it. I'd like to say it was homage to old horror films like Alien, but in all likelihood it was lazy writing for the sake of plot.

I don't pay attention to Sony much because I don't have any of their hardware, but wow The Last of Us gameplay video looks great. Other than the usual combat system, everything looked top-notch. May have to borrow a PS3 at some point.

Lego games are perfect for the kids. You never lose and come right back when you die. No violence since they're just toys, relatively simple mechanics but fun to try to get all the unlocks and secrets for the adults. My 4 year old has logged almost 60 hours on Lego Star Wars III. Come to think of it maybe that's not healthy...

Eh, sick of hearing about that. It's a trope, yes, but there are logical explanations for it. Accept it or don't, but there are hundreds of examples of less believable action and writing in the theaters each year. Not sure why this one scene makes people so angry. There are legitimate complaints people have with the movie, but I don't feel this is worth harping on. PA is particularly smug and annoying about it too.

I played a little CS:GO on my friend's account; it's really quite good. I will buy day 1. Also been mostly dabbling with some Killing Floor, Metroid Other M, Skyward Sword, Far Cry 2, The Witcher 2, Medal of Honor, Dead Space 2... Yeah, I can't settle on a game for some reason =/

I don't really care about online in Wii/console games anymore. I know a lot of people do, but I just use it for local and my PC for online games.

P4 used Resurrect on the TV thread! It's super effective! Yeah so I couldn't find a more recent general TV discussion thread. As good a place as any I suppose. Been watching Supernatural's seventh season and finding it just as uneven as the last few. I still watch it because the wife enjoys it, and I really like the two main characters and their actors. However, I will say episodes 5-8, which finally got back to some good old-fashioned monster hunting, were some of the best in years. I love the in-universe Supernatural comic self-referential stuff ("Supernatural is not very popular.") Also, started re-watching HBO's Band of Brothers on DVD. Dat production value... I did get choked up when the Dutch boy has chocolate for the first time. The show does glorify the Allied side and demonize/dehumanize the enemy much of the time though. It rarely shows Nazi faces; they always have their helmets pulled down and close-ups will just go to their uniforms. Oh well, good series with some great actors (enjoyed seeing a younger Professor X in episode 4).

I will play the ever-loving heck out of it, but I will try to keep the hype levels low.

Two interesting links: Ridley Scott & Lindelof interview -- sheds some light on some of the events. Spoiler heavy Random blogpost -- some interesting insight on the symbolism in the film. I think he reads a little too much into a few things, but he's got some nice ideas. Spoiler-heavy

UT3 and BFME2 are great.

It's just not the same without the neckbeard from BioWare's stock photo.

All these people are having such a hard time confusing the OK Movie thread with the Good Movie thread. What is with you guys!?

Wrong topic, would you like me to move your post into the Good Movies thread?

I am betting on $249. $299 is the highest they will go. Or I will eat my Mario hat.

Eh, it's easy for us to criticize when we're sitting in comfy chairs watching the action unfold. If you've just been through hell for 48 hours or whatever and I'm always a little forgiving of that kind of stuff in horror movies, because you need a little bit of stupidity to move them along. Heck, the whole Alien franchise is built on people being idiots. This song is great: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1oo9VuVdmMM&feature=relmfu

Simplicity. That's a good word for what it lacked. Alien had one plot--there's an Alien, and one twist--the android dude. This felt more convoluted.

Some characters made bad decisions, but that's what people do--and I didn't feel anything was too contradictory to established personalities or motivations. As for the themes, the very theme of the film is a question; it was not intended to answer anything. So from that perspective it's the movie equivalent of a Bob Dylan song ("the answer is blowing in the wind"). So I can see why it can disappoint, but I enjoyed it very much. Ethan: Saw it in 2D. I feel that practical effects nearly always do a better job with matching the lighting in the surrounding environment. Just a few shades off, the wrong hue, whatever, and CGI looks totally fake.