Feeling a little bloated and sad lately? Your PS3 or Xbox 360 might be your "X Factor" according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. According to a study by the CDC in conjunction with Andrews University and Emory University, it was found that gamers on average are 35 years of age, overweight, and prone to depression. 552 people between the ages of 19 and 90 in the Seattle-Tacoma region of Washington State were surveyed. 249 respondents reported themselves to be gamers with 56% of them being male. Men who played games were found to be heavier than their non-gamer counterparts and also reported higher levels of Internet usage than society at large. Female gamers showed higher occurrences of clinical depression and were found to be generally less healthy than non-gaming women.
"Health risk factors differentiated adult video game players from non-players," National Center for Health Marketing researcher James Weaver said in a statement. "Video game players also reported lower extroversion, consistent with research on adolescents that linked video game playing to a sedentary lifestyle and overweight status, and to mental-health concerns." The CDC equated gaming to "digital self-medication" citing that people play games to "literally take their mind of their worries."
Critics have attacked this study due to the relatively small sample size and its limits to a single geographical area. In a country as vast as the United States, life styles and attitudes vary widely from coast to coast. Health concerns over video games are nothing new. They have been blamed for rising obesity rates among children over the past decade. Similar parallels can be drawn to studies on children and television in the 1950s, when TV was believed to cause similar mental health problems. Rather than being the problem, video game addictions are a symptom of much larger issues that the health care systems in a wide variety of countries have failed to address, forcing people to find methods to self-medicate mental health problems. Rather than blame the medium, the medical community needs to look inward as to how it can offer better mental health support.
Source: DailyTech
I'd though I'd start another feature for the month profiling the cars of gaming. Every hero needs a set of wheels to get around and the car is often the unsung sidekick in the gaming world, outside of racing games. Take Sam & Max for example. A crime fighting duo consisting of six foot tall dog Sam, and Max, a hyper-kinetic rabbity thing, though he refers to himself as a lagomorph. The two "freelance police" need a car to catch perps of course, and what better car than their heavily modified 1960 DeSoto Adventurer..jpg)
DeSoto, named after a Spanish conquistador, was a line of cars produced by the Chrysler Corporation from 1928 to 1961. The Adventurer was produced from 1956 to 1961 as a lower cost alternative to the top model DeSoto Fireflite. In total, 11,597 cars were produced. The 1960 model featured a Chrysler 383 V8 engine with two barrel carb producing up to 350bhp allowing it to accelerate it's bulky mass from 0-60mph in under 10 seconds. The car had traditional 1950s styling with a long, sleek body complete with tail fins.
Sam & Max's black and white 1960 DeSoto Adventurer is a heavily modified version of the production car. For starters, it is a hard top convertible despite no convertible versions being made during the 1960 model year. The car is capable of both space and time travel, and it can also drive under water. It presumably has a pressurized cockpit when the top is up to allow it to accomplish these feats. The car has also driven clear across America in search of a missing Bigfoot. Sam is the one who does most of the driving as Max cannot see over the dashboard or reach the pedals. Sam is terrified of Max's driving ability, most likely due to the lagomorph's crazed homicidal tendencies. However, max will occasionally drive to allow Sam to do drive-by shootings while trolling for wealthy perps with "broken" tail lights down White Collar Crime Dr. Since going to Hell in Telltale's Season 2, the DeSoto has become possessed and developed a mind of its own.
Games the Freelance Police DeSoto Adventurer is Featured in:
-Sam & Max Hit the Road (1993)
-Sam & Max Season 1: Culture Shock (2006)
-Situation Comedy (2007)
-The Mole, the Mob, and the Meatball (2007)
-Abe Lincoln Must Die! (2007)
-Reality 2.0 (2007)
-The Bright Side of the Moon (2007)
-Sam & Max Season 2: Ice Station Santa (2007)
-Moai Better Blues (2008)
-Night of the Raving Dead (2008)
-Chariots of the Dogs (2008)
-What's New Beelzebub? (2008)
Sources: Sam & Max Wiki, Wikipedia, How Stuff Works
For more DeSoto Adventurer images, check out Conceptcarz.com
Got a request for another game car, plane, boat or any other vehicle to be profiled? Post it in the comments section. A couple of ground rules first though. It has to be a real vehicle, no fictional ones. Secondly, it has to come from something other than a racing or simulation title unless that game specifically focuses on that vehicle only. So nothing from Gran Turismo. Please provide the name of the vehicle and the game it is from, and if possible the model year and a link to some information on it.
Sony finally laid to rest the long standing rumours of a PS3 slim by finally introducing the console. The PS3 Slim looks about half the size of the current generation. Amazon.com claims it is 33% smaller and 36% lighter than the current model. It has been given a more curvy design but lacks the high polished finish and chrome trim of its bigger brother. In my opinion, this design more makes the console look significantly cheaper too. Speaking of price, Sony has announced the Slim will retail for $299 US and will include a 120gb hard drive as standard. Other than that, specs are the same as the current 120gb model. The current fat model will also receive a price cut to $299. Sony is claiming it is available for retail immediately. Amazon.com has the console listed for pre-order while other sites are claiming it will be released September 1st. The price cut for current SKUs is effective as of today.
Sony also introduced Firmware 3.00. It doesn't really add anything new and exciting other than some cosmetic changes to the XMB and a partial overhaul of PSN. A strait copy/paste from the official PS Blog details the following features.
- “What’s New” – The “Information Board” will be replaced with a “What’s New” section, which allows you to enjoy interactive PlayStation news every time you start the PS3 system. Located under the PlayStation Network icon, “What’s New” displays the latest and greatest game, video, PlayStation Network and PlayStation news and releases, as well as your recently played games, in a sleek, new animated format.
- Status Indicator – In the top right corner we’ve added an indicator bar, which displays your user icon, friend icon, the number of friends you have online and a small message icon to let you know if you have any new messages. The indicator also includes a scrolling ticker that features the latest news from PlayStation Network. In addition, when you press the PS button, the battery life indicator will no longer cover up the clock.
- Friends List – Now your PlayStation Network friends will appear in a slightly redesigned format on your Friends List. Also, messages will now be viewable from each of your friends’ respective profiles.
- PlayStation Store Shortcuts – We’ve added a handy shortcut icon to the PlayStation Store under both the Game and Video categories so you can access the latest content quickly and easily.
- Personalization – Personalize your PS3 with new dynamic custom themes and avatars. Dynamic themes as well as free and premium avatars will be available through PlayStation Store. A dynamic theme takes your screen to a whole new level as it incorporates animated objects into the background.
- Trophies – Showcasing your hard earned trophies just got better. Update 3.00 gives game developers the ability to modify how they display trophies for add-on content. Base and add-on game trophies will continue to be combined into a single list so you can see where you stand in a game as a whole. Within that list, trophies will be broken out into subcategories—base trophies and add-on trophies—that way, you can easily view the percentage of your base game trophy collection, and separately track your trophy progress in add-on packs. Look for this enhancement to be included in upcoming games.
Source: Playstation Blog: Slim, Playstation Blog: Firmware 3.0, Amazon.com
Magazine Game Informer surveyed 5000 readers to determine failure rates and satisfaction with the repair process for the three current generation consoles. The results show that the Xbox 360 is suffering a staggering number of hardware failures. Of the respondents, 360 owners reported that 54.2% of their consoles had failed. Those sent in for repairs had a second failure rate of 41.2%. Xbox owners were also the least satisfied with the service they received with only 37.7% reporting a good experience. 3.6% of 360 owners said they would never buy a Microsoft console again due to the high failure rate. The Wii and PS3 faired significantly better, having failure rates of 10.6% and 6.8% respectively. In terms of customer satisfaction, the Wii and PS3 were almost even with 56.1% and 51.1%.
I think the numbers do seem quite high though I suspect they're including as "failures" anything that requires the console to be repaired including worn out fans, hard drives, and optical drives instead of just catastrophic failures such as the 360's infamous Red Ring of Death. This would explain why the Wii's rates are so low since it has the fewest moving parts. This news doesn't bode will for Microsoft though, who has been battling serious hardware issues with the 360 since day one. We can only assume that sales may have been better had these issues not existed to begin with. One has to admire the resilience, or stupidity depending on how you see it, of 360 owners. Many keep coming back to the system due to its strong library of games while Sony has failed to take advantage of consumer dissatisfaction with the problems by not aggressively building their library and marketing the PS3.
Source: IGN
Amazon's new Kindle is all the rage right now in the United States but it seems to be having its own Orwellian moments. Kindle owners who had purchased George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four and Animal Farm found their digital copies to have mysteriously disappeared. Amazon claims that a third party publisher had mistakenly assumed that the two works were in US public domain. This is a fair assumption since in many jurisdictions, including Canada, copyright remains in force for 50 years after the creator's death before being released. Orwell died in 1950. In the United States, copyrights last for 70 years after the death of the author, meaning 1984 won't enter public domain until 2020. The current copyright holders of both works demanded that Amazon pull the content, which the company complied.
Amazon did not simply remove it from the store but sent out a message to all Kindle 2 readers to delete the two works. This was done without the knowledge of those who had purchased the work. Rather than incurring the wrath of (ironically) Orwell's estate, Amazon is now being sued for violation of their own terms of service as well as violations of the Washington Consumer Protection Act and the Computer Fraud & Abuse Act. One of the plaintiffs, Michigan high school senior Justin D. Gawronski, had been studying Nineteen Eighty-Four for school and had made notes using the Kindle's built in note taking feature. When he went to start up his Kindle, he found the book was gone but the now useless notes and bookmarks still remained. Gawronski expects he will have to read the book all over again. "A note such as 'remember this paragraph for your thesis' is useless if it does not actually a reference a specific paragraph," the suit noted. A second person, Antoine Bruguier, a Silicon Valley engineer, has also been listed on the suit. Bruguier claims that Amazon sent him an email notifying him that a refund was being processed. He asked to keep the book but Amazon refused, noting that they would not provide any "additional insight or action." Bruguier claims Amazon deceived him by making him think the books he purchased were his. Amazon's terms of service do state that books are licensed, not sold. However, it goes on to say that users have the right to keep a "permanent copy" to "view, use, and display such Digital Content an unlimited number of times." The suit contends that Amazon never disclosed that it could remotely remove content from the reader without the knowledge or consent or the purchaser.
This suit pretty much sums up the reasoning for my lack of comfort with digital downloadable content. When I purchase a paper book, I own that copy and I am entitled to do what I please with it under fair use. I can read it, make personal copies, lend it to friends, and sell it if I choose. Furthermore, the license on print copies can never expire or be revoked. The inherent intangibility of digital copies has given a great deal more power to content holders than they ever had before. Probably the most disturbing part of all this is that Amazon has given itself the power to remotely control the Kindle, allowing them to add or delete content at will without the user's knowledge. This is technically illegal as the law suit contends. Under the Computer Fraud & Abuse Act, it is illegal to install or remove files from a computer without the user's knowledge and explicit consent. This was the reason Sony BMG was sued in 2005 over the CD rootkit debacle. It is also partially why Electronic Arts was sued over Spore and SecuROM DRM in 2008. Despite this, parts of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act still manage to trump these laws. It is best to avoid diving head first into the realm of digital content until solid laws are passed that guarantee some form of stronger consumer protection. Amazon has pulled the bait & switch on their customers and I really hope the two plaintiffs manage to get some laws changed out of this suit.
Source: The Register, Wikinews
"Conglaturation !!! You have completed a great game. And prooved the justice of our culture. Now go and rest our heroes!" This grammatical nightmare was the ending screen for the original NES Ghostbusters game, produced by Activision way back in the late 80s. The game has an infamous reputation for being just awful. In fact, so have most other Ghostbusters games. I smiled when I saw the ending screen included in Atari's new game. It can be seen on one of the computer monitors at the Ghostbusters' firehouse. Unlike so many of the ones that came before it, Ghostbusters: The Video Game is actually quite good. The game proclaims that this is the third movie. Indeed the story plays out in exactly that fashion.
Gameplay
You play as a newly hired rookie Ghostbuster rather than one of the actual characters from the movie. Ray, Peter, Egon, and Winston are all there, voiced by Dan Aykroyd, Bill Murray, Herold Ramis, and Earnie Hudson respectively. It's nice to see Winston finally included in the game as he seemed to be suspiciously left out of past ones. Annie Potts returns as the Ghostbusters secretary Janine and William Atherton returns as EPA agent Walter Peck. Saturday Night Live alumni Brian Doyle-Murray is new to the cast as Mayor Mulligan. Alyssa Milano, known for roles in Charmed and My Name is Earl, voices Dr. Ilyssa Selwyn. It's vary nice to see nearly the entire original cast return to voice their characters. This really ties it in beautifully with the concept of the "third movie".
The game itself begins where the first movie began, at the New York Public library. The library is soon to host a new exhibit on Gozer, the demon god. Late at night, a woman is seen running past two security guards followed by a huge blast of energy that engulfs the city. Slimer escapes soon after, heading back to the old Sedgwick hotel. The Ghostbusters soon encounter other powerful ghosts from their past including the librarian and Stay Puft. Missions vary from being part of a team of one or more of the other Ghostbusters, or solo. The goal of the game is simple enough, catch ghosts and destroy deities. The Rookie has been hired on as the experimental equipment technician, who's job is to test Egon's new inventions. At the beginning of the game, you're given the standard proton pack, which is used to weaken then wrangle ghosts into your trap. Hitting R2 activates the proton stream to attack the ghosts. Once the green reticule around the ghost turns red, the pack automatically lassos them, where you have to fight the ghost into the trap, deployed by hitting Square. Once trapped, you can further weaken the ghost by "slamming" them with L2, when your slam meter reaches full, which is charged by pulling the ghost in the opposite direction they're trying to go. Once weak enough, pull them over the trap and wrestle them in. Pick it back up when you're done with X. Other weapons become available later in the game. The green slime pack from Ghostbusters 2 allows you to neutralize caustic black slime as well hurt enemies. It also packs a slime tether which can be used to tether objects or manipulate them; it's used by L2, which is the secondary weapon function button. The dark matter generator allows you to temporarily freeze ghosts, and the meson collider is especially effective against deity ghosts. Boson darts fire a high powered charge from the proton pack, working as its secondary weapon. Certain weapons are more effective against some enemies than others so it's best to play around. Catching ghosts or destroying deities brings in money, which can be used to purchase upgrades for weapons and other inventory. Destroying property takes away money.
Another aspect of the game is using the PKE meter, which detects hidden ghosts (red screen), environmental phenomenon (green), or hidden possessed artifacts (blue). It switches to a first person view when using it. Scanning various things using R2 collects information for the Tobin's Spirit Guide, including the ghost's methods of attacks, how difficult they are to capture, and what their weaknesses are. The Spirit Guide as well as weapons, tutorials, and gameplay information are stored in the PKE meter, accessed by hitting start. Hit triangle to enter scanning mode.
The game itself can be quite difficult at times, especially if played on experienced or professional mode. On the proton pack, a green bar on the right side shows your current health. If you drain it, another Ghostbuster will come and revive you if they're near by. If not, you fail the mission. You can also revive your own colleagues if they fall. It's not so much the more powerful ghosts that are the big threats, but the ones that attack in large groups, such as the possessed wall sconces in the Sedgwick level. You'll also need to periodically vent your proton pack when using weapons to prevent it for overheating. This can slow down gameplay somewhat. The Rookie's dodge and movement abilities are somewhat limited. You can run and dodge using the circle button but this feels delayed and is often pretty much useless beyond normal movement.
The levels themselves are well done with plenty of variety. The entire game has eight in total, and it can be beaten in about six hours depending on the difficulty setting. The artistic style of the game blends a mix of cartoony atmosphere with realistic character models. The game has trophy support and multiplayer to keep you busy for longer, though I didn't try the latter. Overall, Ghostbusters is a fun game to play despite it's minor flaws. Fans of the series will definitely get a kick out of it.
Technical
Sadly, despite it being a solid game, Ghostbusters does have some technical issues on the PS3. Despite Sony owning the Ghostbusters IP, the Playstation version is clearly inferior to the Xbox 360's. For starters, the game does not run in HD. On the 360, it does run at 720p but on the PS3, the resolution is limited to 960x540, which isn't much better than Euopean PAL's SD video resolution. Rather the PS3 will upscale the game to HD. My TV indicated it was running at 1080i but it certainly did not look like it. Textures are washed and aliasing problems are clearly evident. Once again, programming difficulties on the Cell were blamed. After three years of the PS3 being on the market, and vastly superior games being developed for it, this excuse just doesn't fly any more. If your programmers can't develop on the Cell, sack then and hire some that can. Given that Atari published the game, this doesn't surprise me though considering the technical garbage that studio has produced over the years. In contrast, Ghostbusters is an achievement compared to most of their rubbish. Aside from the low resolution and bad textures, there really aren't any more other technical issues. There's no tearing or frame drops. However, I did notice that during pre-rendered cut scenes, lip syncing seemed a bit off.
I already mentioned how impressed I was with the audio. The voice talent is spectacular and the game includes all the classic themes and sound effects from the movie. From a technical standpoint, audio is where this game really shines.
Conclusions
Compared to other Ghostbusters games, this one is definitely the best. Compared to other games in general, this one still has issues. The gameplay is just plain fun and the controls are decent enough. The resolution issues on the PS3 though are inexcusable, which is what prevented it from getting a higher score than it did. This is easily worth an 8 out of 10 on the 360 but it gets docked half a point on the PS3 because of the graphics problems. This is definitely worth a rent, especially if you're a fan of the series. It's the first game for the IP that really lets you feel what it's like to be a Ghostbuster.
Score: 7.5 out of 10
What works
-Outstanding use of original cast for voiceover
-Fun gameplay with all your favourite weapons from the movies
-Good level design
-Excellent music and sound effects
-Intriguing story really does feel like the "third movie"
What Doesn't Work
-PS3 version doesn't run in HD
-Textures look washed and 3D models have aliasing (jaggies) issues
-A little on the sort side
-Dodge and run controls a little unresponsive and not vary useful
Prototype is a vary appropriate name for this game, as that what it feels like. It's a decent enough concept for a game but still quite rough around the edges. This summer has been odd in a sense since we've seen two vary similar superhero titles released at around the same time: Prototype and the arguably superior Infamous. The latter being a Playstation exclusive while the former was developed as a multi-platform release and published by Activision. In the game, you play as the anti-hero Alex, who is attempting to stop an infection gripping New York City. The game has some impressively strong moments but in the end, it's weaknesses prove to be the kryptonite that beats down its superhuman strengths.
Gameplay
The game begins with all hell breaking loose in the tutorial level. It then jumps back several days earlier where you suddenly wake up from the dead on the morgue slab at GENTEK Corporation, a genetic engineering company. Alex soon discovers he's acquired super human strength and the ability to shape shift provided he absorbs the thing he needs to copy. You can use the shape shifting ability to gain new "weapons" and defences, or disguises. The game's world is controlled by a fascist government's soldiers known as the Blackwatch, who are attempting to contain the city after the viral outbreak. Alex sets out to protect his loved ones and find out who infected him and the city.
Gameplay itself is in the pretty basic open world beat-em-up style. Square and Triangle unleash regular and heavy attacks respectively. You can dodge by hitting O and the right stick in the direction you want to go. The D pad is used to select various weapons and disguises, which is further enhanced by the circle menu. (You'll have to excuse me if I make a mistake about the controls since I'm writing this over a week after I rented it) R2 is used to run up walls, including just about any building while X jumps. You can hit O to grab onto vertical surfaces and use the left stick to climb around. Health is in the greying out screen style though one difference between this game and a lot of others is environmental variables don't hurt you. Even if you jump off the top of the Empire State Building, you won't die. Only enemies can do damage. Heath doesn't recover automatically, so watch the red health bar at the bottom. You can gain health by collecting red orbs found in the game, or by consuming civilians or stunned enemies with the triangle button.
For weapons, you have a selection of your claws made out of shape-shifted matter, a giant fist of the same, your own human fists, and guns enemies drop. You can also use your super strength to lift certain objects and throw them at distant enemies. All work in pretty much the same way. Targeting is done by the L1 button. Speaking of enemies, you'll face blackwatch soldiers, military vehicles, infected civilians, and GENTEK mutants, which get stronger respectively. You can drive military tanks by hacking the vehicles by repeatedly pressing triangles. Enemy and friendly AI is pretty poor though, most often just randomly running around like chickens with their heads cut off. Having civilians tell you to "fuck off" if you bump into them, in true New York style, is not exactly pleasant to hear in a game like this. Alex seems pretty anti-social though the way he pushes people around. The city is populated with a large number of NPCs but none seem to react to your presence until you do bump into them. Soldiers and the infected don't put up much of a fight so it's really only the mutants you have to watch out for.
Alex's powers can all be upgraded and new powers can be bought in the game if he gains enough points, as in other titles such as Force Unleashed. One thing lacking is any sort of block ability to defend against enemies, though a shield power can be purchased as an upgrade, though it's effectiveness is limited.
The game itself is a mix of open world with structured missions. You can navigate to the next mission be heading to the yellow marker on your map, where you'll be given instructions on what to do next. Some missions require you to infiltrate an area by consuming someone and using them as a disguise. Others require you to collect items and others are purely combat or escape. This is pretty standard fare for this type of game and it doesn't really bring anything new to the table. Like all open world titles, mission variety is limited and the game can get vary repetitive vary quickly. Overall though, the controls are tight and the missions are challenging, which is plenty to keep players busy. The big open world city concept also gives quite a bit of replay value as you explore the city. The game also has trophy support.
Technical
Probably the biggest weakness of Prototype is the graphics. The game looks extremely dated by at least five years. Textures and objects lack detail and the whole world has a grey, washed look to it. This game could easily have appeared on Playstation 2 or the original Xbox without much alteration. NPC characters are also pretty badly done and Alex himself is only average looking compared to other PS3 games. Graphics may not be everything but they could have at least tried to make it look better. Other than that, I saw no issues such as tearing, frame rate drops, or freezing. On the audio side, voice acting for the main characters was well done but NPCs seemed a little cheesy to me. I can't even remember what the music was so the score isn't exactly memorable. Of course, I already mentioned the poor AI. Prototype runs at 720p.
Conclusions
Prototype is a pretty decent game but it pales in comparison to the similar Infamous. It's not exactly a technical achievement by any means with it's bad graphics, average audio, and idiotic AI. Gameplay is decent though it really brings nothing new to the table. This is a standard open world beat-em-up, there's really not much else to say. I suggest trying Infamous instead if you're looking for the super hero experience. This game is worth a rent but I probably wouldn't buy it.
Score: 7.5 out of 10
What Works:
-Solid controls
-Action packed gameplay
-Good variety of missions for open world
-Upgradable powers
-Intriguing story
What Doesn't Work
-Bad graphics look extremely dated
-Audio not memorable
-Idiotic AI
I'm curious to know how this meeting of suits went. Who at EA's marketing and legal departments honestly thinks that this is a good idea. EA has launched a contest for Comic Con to advertise Dante's Inferno. They're challenging convention goers to "commit an act of lust" on one of their booth babes, prove it, and be entered to win a grand prize dinner for two with a pair of bimbos, plus limo service and free swag. I'm not sure that the feminists or the labour board is going to like this too much. Imagine being groped by a bunch of pimply faced geeks all day while having to maintain composure while they get rewarded for being an obnoxious, dirty manwhore. I figure this is either going to end in one of two ways. 1) a huge lawsuit or 2) on an episode of Maury. In all fairness, EA has probably hired strippers or something to do this job. I really hope it's not the poor college girls and young models they usually hire for these gigs. Getting treated like a piece of meat all day long then having to go out on a date with the biggest horndog. Makes me glad I'm not a woman. It also makes me die a little inside that the gaming community is being reduced to this. Those poor girls. I am aware I'm probably feeding the beast by just posting this. Publicity stunt without this being an actual contest? Let's hope so.
The gist of EA's contest
Remember your booth babe is a human being.
Source: Ars Technia
"Mr. Bay, those aren't ideas they're just special effects." "I don't understand the difference..." Ah yes, another Michael Bay classic, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. My best friend was stoked for this movie after seeing the first one. She's a big anime fan so this is right up her ally. After the movie, we both pretty much had the same reaction. In the immortal words of Jay Sherman "it stinks." Well maybe it's so bad it's good. No, it doesn't even qualify for that. Transformers 2 is just plain bad. I think it encompasses everything wrong with the summer blockbuster. It lacks anything resembling a concrete story and heavily uses CGI special effects as filler.
The movie begins as Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf) is heading back to college, and thus has to separate from his girlfriend Mikaela Banes (Megan Fox). Has car Bumblebee also says that he will miss him. Sam still has a shard of the energon cube from the first movie, which the resurrected Decepticon leader Megatron wants. This is so he can use it to fulfil The Fallen's command, which somehow involves destroying the sun. The Autobots, under Optimus Prime, have to stop him. However, they run into problems when Optimus dies in battle. Sam, Mikaela, and the other Autobots have to hunt down the location of the Fallen's sun destroying weapon to finish him off once and for good. Ok, so that pretty much sums up the entire film.
The movie runs for 150min, which is at least an hour too long. This movie relies heavily on filler, such as extensive scenes of LaBeouf, Fox, John Turturro (playing an ex CIA agent), and Ramón Rodríguez (Sam's college roommate) wandering the Egyptian desert. These scenes do nothing to advance the story only serve to show off just how annoying the characters are. The film was also significantly dumbed down from the fist one, if that were possible. In one of the first scenes we see, Sam's chihuahua is madly humping another dog. Sam's mom while visiting his college somehow buys pot not knowing what it is and goes on an unfunny stoned rampage to the embarrassment of her son. (I'd be embarrassed too if I were in this movie) Despite all that, I took the stupidity right up until truck balls. The Decepticon Devastator (the giant robot seen climbing the pyramid) actually has two large wrecking balls dangling between his legs, which the movie clearly points out through Turturro's observations. Bay himself has confirmed that these are Devastator's "testicles". Really, truck balls?! It doesn't really offend my sense of decency but come on, it's just so incredibly stupid. That one scene sucked my IQ down 50 points. Why would anybody put that in there! You know somebody made an executive decision to keep that. Then there's Mudflap and Skids, the two cars that bust out the Ebonics. Some have claimed the look and voices of the two Autobot twins is a racial stereotype against urban blacks. I wholeheartedly agree. Once again, I'm not morally offended by this, but it's just dumb; Jar Jar Binks dumb. Lastly, there also seems to be a lot of hot models attending Sam's college. This is a common Hollywood cliche in movies like this. After five years (don't ask) at UofT, with the majority of the student body being female, I can assure you that college does not look like that in real life. Well, unless you have an Asian fetish, then go nuts.
If the movie couldn't get any worse, the all consuming special effects look awful to boot. The Transformers have a cartoony/plasticy look that doesn't add to the realism. It's a live action movie but it almost has a Bed Knobs & Broomsticks feel to it; a cartoon within a live film. CGI, when poorly done, will always stand out like a sore thumb. A good artist will make them look like they belong there. A good example would be Iron Man last summer, or Lord of the Rings. Transformers just looks like garbage though. The faces of the robots were particularly badly done. Transformation scenes looked good though but the robots should probably stick to their disguise forms. Mind you, the explosions and action scenes are well done, as they should be considering it's 90% of the movie.
Over all, this film has no saving grace. I have no idea how this movie has continued to stay in the top 10 box office gross list for so long. It's probably the worst movie I've seen in some time. Definitely not worth the $10 for the ticket. It's unnecessarily long, it's boring, it looks awful, and it has no story what so ever. Don't waste your time, not even renting it on DVD.
Score: 2 out of 10
What Works:
-Transformation scenes and action involving live action actors looks good
What Doesn't Work:
-Everything else
Back in the early 90s, Canadian youth orientated cable network YTV broadcast a series of early computer animation clips during their "Short Circutz" segment. A majority were from The Mind's Eye: A Computer Animation Odyssey, a series of art films which was produced in 1990 by Steven Churchill of Odyssey Productions. I had long forgotten this still until I stumbled upon it on Once Upon A Win, a nostalgia blog. The clips are examples of vary early, some would say groundbreaking 3D computer animation. This was made five years before Toy Story. Admittedly, these clips have not aged well. A film such as Mind's Eye would have taken expensive, professional render farms to produce in 1990. Contrasted to today, something similar could be produced by amateurs using a single, low cost home PC and basic 3D modelling software, and could be rendered in real time at high resolutions. Despite their primitive appearance, the films do have a certain beauty to them. The music for the films was produced by several musicians including Thomas Dolby or Blinded by Science fame. In case you're wondering, the original Mind's Eye is not available on DVD. There were some VHS copies floating around but for most people, Youtube is the only place you can watch them.
