Congrats WB you finally got somewhere ahead of Disney. You’re the first to reboot your franchise. Now don’t repeat your past failures and you might…MIGHT…win your audience back. But that future is not bright…with the new Superman movie on the horizon already getting panned by the Internet community. Can it be saved by Green Lanterns’ Light?
With what little information available on the show itself, I wanted to talk about the likely-hood of success, and what needs to be avoided. For a full breakdown of what we know, I’ll provide a couple of links:
Until I saw the news about Sinestro being cast…I didn’t know this show was even in the work. I’m kind of a fan of Green Lantern, not because of the comics, or past films…I’m a fan because I saw a fan trailer for a fictional Green Lantern film that cast Nathan Fillion as Hal Jordan. I saw that and went, “Yes.”
Since then I’ve been waiting for him to be cast in the role. I got my wish–kind of–when Fillion was the voice actor of Hal Jordan Green Lantern in a DC animated feature film: Green Lantern: Emerald Knights. I watched that, learned about the Green Lantern Corps, and took a liking to them. Also, Green Lantern…if you know, you know. 😉
I’m gonna be paying more attention to this because, so far, all we have is the casting of three primary characters, but little in the way of plot. No sign of Fillion, even though he’s supposed to play a Green Lantern in Superman. The HBO series fate may be tied to the success or failure of Superman, but then again, maybe not.
Superman may flop, in which case, this show may never get made. Superman may be a huge success…which might get James Gunn out from under the…insert obvious pun. If that second option happens, there’s still a long way to go; but as long as WB doesn’t screw up, we could have a cool new show to watch.
Here’s what WB needs to avoid:
Letting the actors talk
Letting the show runners talk
Letting the directors talk
Making something completely different but slapping Green Lantern on the product label.
I could go on, but you get the idea. WB needs to NOT do the things that Disney does.
Here’s what WB needs to do:
Follow the source material (golden age, please)
Honor the source material
Pay attention to what made people love the source matieral.
Talk to the fans like they know more than you about the source matieral.
Got it WB? Do that and you might overcome “Superhero Fatigue,” which we all know is just, “Crap fatigue.”
When I found out about the Indiana Jones game, like many others, I was skeptical. I mean, can you blame me? Most, if not all of the mainstream AAA games to come out in the year previous have been trash. The indie devs and foreign studios were the only ones who seemed to believe in making quality products anymore.
For those paying attention, much hope was lost when we saw that Bethesda was putting this out. Look at Starfield and its DLC. Look at the downgrade that was the Fallout 4 Next-Gen “update”. Suffice to say, we were expecting another slow-motion train wreck.
That’s why I was surprised, after 10 hours of playing Indiana Jones in story mode, that it wasn’t trash. Now, mind, it wasn’t the best game ever. The game devs (more on them later) didn’t seem to know how to give players what they needed to complete quests without going to online game guides. And, really, that’s my only major complaint.
To be fair, it’s been a long time since I’ve tried to play any games without a game guide. So the lack of instruction in Indiana Jones for completing quests is more annoying to me than it might be to others. But, to be fair again, I’ve seen how other games–from Bethesda, in fact–give means for the player to find the hidden thing, or an idea that some aspect of the quest they’ve just been given can’t be completed yet.
I was also surprised to find myself enjoying the story. It actually felt like an Indiana Jones adventure and didn’t resort to using member-berries. It had the same humor, the same style of story telling beats, the same imbecilic miscreants Indiana Jones fights in the movies.
You start out the game with a semi-accurate re-creation of the opening sequence of Raiders of the Lost Ark. It’s meant to introduce you to the important game mechanics so I didn’t mind the call back. You then interact with Marcus Brody before taking off for the Vatican. The motivation for leaving is a bit forced, but it’s alright. Exploring the 1930s Vatican is interesting. The game introduces the classic Nazi villain there. And most of the other characters you interact with have enough depth so as not to be boring
I feel like the game would have been better had it been in third-person instead of first. I always enjoyed watching the fights Indie gets into, because it was fun watching him get beat up. Being in first person for combat takes that away.
Going back to the game devs, I do want to point out that while Bethesda slapped their name on it as the publisher, it was actually MachineGames who built this game. I can still, however, see Bethesda’s influence on this game. There’s the main story of the game, but there’s also side quests called “Field Work,” collections quests, called “Discoveries”, and puzzle quests called “Mysteries.” There’s also a lot of going back and forth and back and forth as you are given tasks by Father Antonio.
It was the discovery and mystery quests that got me all flustered due to the lack of instruction. A simple comment in dialogue or a note in the journal to indicate that we hadn’t done the requisite step was all that was needed to save me hours of wandering around the map needlessly.
…sigh…
Well, as I was saying, Bethesda’s fingerprints are all over this game, but thankfully not where it counts. It seems at least one game studio knows how to make a game bug-free. In the 10 hours I played (agreed, it’s not a lot), I didn’t run into any bugs…at least, none I recognized as such. But that’s not to say this game is not without its frustrations. I already mentioned one major annoyance, but here’s another.
The menu interface is a bit of a mess. It’s hard to navigate because they’ve split everything to the left and right, leaving you stuck staring at a page in your journal that’s stuffed full of things you’ve found related to the quest you’re looking at. The left side allows you to switch between quests, but then you have to look to the right to see the individual entries or clues you’ve found. The entries aren’t in the order you found them, so you have to dig through them. There’s no log to say, done this, done that, meaning that it’s impossible to determine what the next phase of your quest is supposed to be without the mission markers.
The maps are only semi useful. They look nice and accurate for Indiana Jones in the 1930s; you can even move around while looking at them to help orient yourself. Problem is, they don’t help you actually navigate to the mission marker that shows on your HUD. And that marker isn’t that useful either…at least, not when navigating across large areas with multiple routes. I’ve been led “around my elbow to get to my thumb” a couple of times.
Basic movement and interactions with the environment are fine, I guess. You get nice visual prompts that there’s something to interact with. But like I was saying before, fighting as Indiana Jones isn’t that fun. The controls are confusing, and the combat timing is a bit weird. You get the nice Indiana Jones sharp punching sounds, the whip crack is accurate, but action sequences just feel off. By the way, I hope you like those sounds, cause you hear them…a lot.
My overall opinion of Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is that it’s very middle of the road. It’s not the best game I’ve ever played, but it’s also not the worst. It’s not boring, like Starfield, but it’ll never be as popular as Fallout. If you like Indiana Jones, there’s enough here to satisfy you.
I also recommend you wait for it to go on sale. A lot would have to be improved to make it worth the full price.
Other Topics Discussed on This Live…
Daredevil Born Again Trailer
Diamond Comics FIles Chapter 11 – Universal to Acquire DC Based Companies
Square Enix Bullies Gamers
VideoLAN AI
Assassins Creed Delayed Again
Hiro’s Hard Drive: Switch 2 Leaks
Zuckercuck Bends Knee to Trump
Mariner’s Review: Indiana Jones and the Great Circle(edited)
In the ways that movie studios should not be emulating Disney, making live-action remakes seems like it should be at the top of the list.
No one told this to to Dreamworks Pictures, though, which currently outshines the Mouse House in terms of quality of entertainment and box-office numbers. This year alone they had two box-office hits: Kung Fu Panda 4; and The Wild Robot. But those days look to be over, as the live-action remake has been announced for one of (arguably) the best animated franchises of all time: How to Train Your Dragon.
Everyone on the Laggin Out staff, and beyond, all groaned when they heard that this was a thing. We all know how that’s been going for Disney, so to see another studio go that direction is a big red flag. We’re not interested in recycled stories, ad nauseum, we want something new and fresh!
Now, as per usual, any movie remake is going to get a lot of blowback (by now you know my opinion). This remake is no different, but overshadowing the criticism of an unneeded remake is the criticism of the casting choice for who will play Astrid.
Nico Parker is of mixed race. I’ve not seen any of her work, so I will not comment on her talent as an actress. She’s has a few titles to her name, so she’s not new to the movie scene. On the face of it, however, the first impression a lot of internet critics have is that this is DEI rearing it’s ugly head yet again.
So that would be two strikes against the movie: a live-action remake, and a DEI hire for the lead actress…but let’s not emulate those who are quick to cry wolf. Hiro and I were both surprised when we dug into this story to find a response from the director that was actually thought out and makes a good case for justifying the decision in favor of Ms. Parker.
Director Dean DeBlois wrote on his Instagram account the following:
We auditioned many actors for the roles, including actors who looked like their animated counterparts. But we chose the actors who best embodied the spirit and personality of the characters, since the tribe in this version is made up of descendants of the finest dragon fighters from everywhere the Vikings had ever traveled (which historically was far and wide — Vikings mixed with many cultures).
This is what casting should be–those who bring the characters to life get the job. Ms. Parker seems to have done that. Besides which, Deblois makes a good case for why Vikings would be different races, or mixed…the history of the tribe. Deblois also adds:
…we’re crafting a fantasy, not historical fact, and all will be revealed in time. We’re not making a shot for shot remake. We just stock close to key moments to honor the original — which I remain very proud of.
What a novel concept…a director not crying “RRRRRRRRACISM”, but instead justifying his decisions in a way that make us stop and think.
I’m still not excited to see another live-action remake, but at least this one I’m willing to hold my opinion until I actually see what the reviews look like.
It’s been a rough six months for Ubisoft, and BioWare isn’t that far behind. Their games have tanked, their transparent lies are becoming more known, and their popularity/defenders are dwindling by the day. They need to do something so they can still hope to have value when their companies put up the “For Sale” sign.
We might have seen a glimmer of hope from the Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed when he admitted that DEI was toxic to their latest entry Shadows (see the report from Eurogamer). It was not to be, however, when he dodged taking the blame and instead tried to flip the conversation back to the self-deluding idea that while his game’s accuracy doesn’t revolve around the lies of the individual characters in the game (Yasuke wasn’t a Samurai, despite what he wants you to believe), but rather what they represent. So clearly, he’s still interested in the REPRESENTATION! aspect of THE MESSAGE!
Another ray of sunlight briefly broke through the clouds when Ubisoft replaced the Creative Director of Star Wars Outlaws. She’s clearly the fall guy here because Creative Directors still have bosses and that boss, in this case, still isn’t owning up. In an Earnings Conference Call Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot dodged a questions faster than Neo dodges those bullets in The Matrix. RIP Ubisoft.
Finally, in a move that seems to admit failure, BioWare is reported to be removing the entire team responsible for the disaster called Dragon Age: The Veilguard. For context, the CEO of EA was blowing smoke up the investors back sides about it’s “breakout potential” a mere two days before the game released. And now, a couple of weeks later, it’s been declared worthless.
We’d normally celebrate the news of terrible game dev team getting fired. Unfortunately, that’s not what’s happening. Instead, their being moved over to murder another BioWare IP: Mass Effect5. RIP BioWare.
It’s like Ubisoft and BioWare are allergic to money, common sense, and popularity.
This topic might be a bit dated at this point, but it’s not our fault that Amazon can’t not bring ridicule on themselves. This time, as reported on That Park Place, Amazon MGM Studio Boss is committed to propagating the propaganda that The Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power is doing well, which doesn’t ring true. Pardon the alliteration and puns.
Jennifer Salke, whom I will refer to from now as as Ms. Sulk, made a claim to Variety that “over 55 million people…have engaged since Season 2 launched.” That’s a very interesting turn of phrase. The word she used…engaged…isn’t the typical verbiage when discussing how well a show is doing. What one typically looks at is how many people watched.
Here’s an example. Samba TV reported that 1.8 Million US households watched the premiere of Season 1. 902 Thousand watched the premiere of Season 2. See how that works? (Wow, 47% drop?)
Ms. Sulk’s failure to define how or where the engagement takes place leaves us doubting her credibility. The double speak she used next didn’t help either, “And if you look at the long-term trajectory, which is how this company looks at an asset like that, this is a long-term investment in that franchise.” LOL…WHAT?!
And it gets worse. Ms. Sulk followed up with a claim that “well over 150 million viewers” are “watching and engaging with the show.”
But…um…wait…
It’s not just me, right? Did she multiply her initial number by 3? Or is she referring to another 95 million people who watched Rings of Power Season 2, but somehow didn’t engage with it?
We could play with this all day; using Ms. Sulk’s math skills to pick apart Amazon’s lack of realism with their viewership and ‘engagement’ with respect to Rings of Power. However, we’re not going to do that. Instead, check out the full break down of actual viewership numbers presented at That Park Place to see just out of touch the Amazon MGM execs really are.
Other Topics Discussed on This Live…
BANDAI NAMCO CUTS POKEMON DO YOU?
SISTER CLONE TROOPER?
“CAPTAIN BLACK AMERICA” PLOT LEAKS
MOON STUDIOS CEO DENIES WORKING WITH ALLEGED GAME DEV
SCHOOLS MERCANTE
SWEET BABY GASLIGHTS THE GAMING INDUSTRY
To see the Live stream, check out the following link. The Amazon MGM topic begins around the 1 hour 47 minute mark.
Well…here we are again. The ‘idealogues’ vs the regular gamers. What was the controversy this time? A remake of a game has unnecessarily updated a character model because it’s ‘problematic.’ To add to the controversy, the Japanese creators were caught on tape criticizing Western censorship…which then got censored.
I know…shocker. If your reading this as if I’m speaking very deadpan, you are correct. To get the full details, here’s the link to the article we cited at Push Square, and the followup story at That Park Place.
We chose this topic based on our interest in gaming and our own exhaustion with Western game companies pushing ideology instead of story…or just simple fun. But the story became just a little larger than that. Instead, we’re talking about a MASSIVE over-reaction.
The original broadcasters of the interview complained about a mistranslation of what was said in the original Japanese broadcast. This led to the translation being pulled from the internet. Okay, that might be fair. The single mistranslated word didn’t really affect the tone or context of what was being said, but whatever.
But then, why pull down the original broadcast? Aha, that’s the real question!
Speculation is that it was pulled down not just because it was mistranslated, causing a new controversy, but that the game creator and interviewer’s comments themselves were controversial. How dare someone criticize the Western gaming industry for censorship! CENSOR THEM!!!
Except, guess what. As Hiro says, the internet is forever. And look at that, we’re all now talking about the thing that got censored talking about a thing that got censored. It’s almost as if censorship does the opposite of it’s intent. How weird.
Other Topics Discussed on These Lives…
ZELDA LAUGHS AT VEILGUARD PREORDERS
GHOSTS OF YOTEI DRAMA ISN’T WHAT YOU THINK
CAT WALKS 500 MILES, AND THEN WALKS 500 MORE
KOTAKU EDITOR IS PLAYING WITH FIRE
MAN HAS A RICH COLLECTION
You can watch the Live podcast below. The Dragon Quest topic begins around the 1 hour 15 minute mark.
I’m borrowing this article’s title from MontyCircus’s post on NintendoLife.com, because it’s a brilliant title and I couldn’t think of anything more poignant.
So, yeah…Sony making headlines…the wrong kind…again. Do these megacorps not learn from each other’s past mistakes? You would think these people would learn some self-awareness given the fact that their market shares are dropping and their popularity with consumers is plummeting. If it were me, I’d be leaning back in my very expensive leather chair, maybe looking out the windows of my overly priced office, and thinking, “What’s going on?”
But, no. Those in charge are instead thinking to themselves, “How can I enlarge my Christmas bonus package?”
Now, I admit that’s hyperbolic, but that’s what this feels like.
The new PS5 Pro is coming out, and is priced at $700. Boooo, Sony, booooooo!!!
Here’s the reason for this negative reaction: it’s an unnecessary price tag on an unnecessary upgrade. The new console is said to be able to support 8K screens. Chieftain and Hiro pointed out on the Live podcast that the ability to support 8K screens is pointless. The human eye cannot distinguish the difference between 4K and 8K. So what’s the point?
Back when the PS4 Pro was offered, with 4K support, it made sense to upgrade from the standard PS4 because you could actually see the difference. A tangible benefit the price tag at release of $400. Beside that, the 4K TVs were closer to being mainstream, and games were being made with 4K in mind. Now, games devs may have 8K in mind, but I have not yet seen any 8K TVs at my local Wal-mart.
“Hey, everyone! Go buy an 8K TV so you can see these awesome improvements on the PS5 Pro!” Oh, wait…you can’t.
Other Topics Discussed on This Live…
Space Marines 2: Shorter Games for the Win or Lose?
Woke Boycotts Don’t Work
RIP James Earl Jones
No Batman in Batman Series?
We’re not gonna Take This!
Cautionary Tale for the Great Gazoo
A Proper Take on the Gaming Industry
To see the Live stream, check out the following link. The PS5 topic begins around the 30 minute mark.
There’s been a video going around the interwebs. It’s about Deadpool…it’s about Disney. How had I not seen this before the live?
[Yeah, how come?]
To be fair, I’m not as attentive as most when it comes to Pop Culture news.
[But…you work for a channel that reports it.]
I know, but I just started…
[You help pick topics…]
I know, I know…can we get back to the topic, please?
[Oh! Sure. Go ahead, Peanut.]
Anyway…with Disney unable to stay out of the news…
[Yeah!…like, ever…]
…
[…sorry…]
It was no surprise that Deadpool had to comment on a news item that finally hit main stream. We reported on the story, with an update that was the reason it hit main stream, on the Live a few weeks ago. To break it down, there was a restaurant on Disney property failed to properly prepare an allergen free meal, and someone…well…died.
[GASP!]
A lawsuit was filed against Disney, which they tried to weasel out of in the most tone-deaf way possible. Their claim was that the husband of the victim agreed, via Disney+ TOS, to arbitrate all disputes with Disney. Meaning, he couldn’t take them to court.
We bid our readers to look up this story online for further details, as there’s much to discuss and we could rabbit hole easily. The point of this article, however, is to feature what happened at a Disney attraction featuring our favorite smart-ass.
[Oh, I’m honored!]
Deadpool, being Deadpool, had to call it out.
[*snicker* Yeah, I did.]
But it’s the location where this happened that’s both funny and shocking, and saying to Deadpool, “Maybe too soon?”
We have the clip here…
If you can’t tell by the title…or the sign above his head, this was “Story Time with Deadpool,” a Disney California Adventure Park attraction. This begs the next question, did Disney sanction this script or was it ad libbed without them knowing?
[Hehehe…you’ll never know…]
If it was ad libbed, is someone now fired?
If it wasn’t, it’s surprising that Disney allowed it, as they’ve been rather…shall we say…
[Sh*theads?]
[Hey, why’d you censor that!]
Exactly.
[Sh*theads, Sh*theads, Sh*theads!! STOP IT!]
No.
[F*********CK!]
Yes, in the past they’ve been rather over protective of their brand, ignoring, denying, or even censoring bad press. The fact that this was allowed would be a sign that they’ve woken up…
[*gasp* Was that a pun? Kinda weak, but still good.]
Thank you.
[Welcome.]
If they’ve woken up, maybe Disney is working behind the scenes to turn things around. Probably too little, too late, in my opinion. It’ll be interesting to watch, though, like watching your enemy try to escape quicksand.
[Wow, that was dark. You surprised me with that one, Mariner.]
On the flip side, if someone is now fired, we could use another writer at Laggin’ Out. There’s no pay, just good people who actually have a sense of humor. Please reach out.
[And touch someone. Preferably me. 😉 ]
Other Topics Discussed on This Live…
RINGS OF POWER NEWS
THE CROW REVIEWERS ARE CAWING
G.I. JOE VIDEO GAME COMING SOON
NO-THANK-YOU-NETFLIX
Tomb Raider Series (Laggin’ Out Rejects it)
RIPPASEND!
COD: BLACK OPS 6 PC REQUIREMENTS
Compared to last week’s reveal for Star Wars: Outlaws
CWA (GAME DEVELOPERS UNION) FILED BAD FAITH COMPLAINT
To see the Live stream, check out the following link. The Procreate topic begins around the 2 hour 7 minute mark.
When the movie War for the Planet of the Apes ended, I felt that the franchise had reached an acceptable close. I would have, however, accepted another installment because I’ve always been an Apes fan. I remember watching the originals as a kid, and even enjoyed Tim Burton’s version.
When I learned that Hollywood was returning to Planet of the Apes–going back and showing the Rise of Caesar, the Dawn of ape civilization, and the final War for ape dominance over humans–I was excited, eager, and not disappointed. After three movies telling Caesar’s story, from his perspective, I was ready for a return to origin, so to speak.
The original Planet of the Apes novel and film adaptation told the story of a human in a world of apes. It revealed this odd world through his eyes. If there was going to be a new film, showing how far the apes have come since Caesar, what better way to learn about it than through the eyes of a human?
The movie trailer for Kingdom even gave us a hint that this was a possibility. We saw a human who looked to have retained her intelligence, and she was running from apes. This was what I grabbed onto because we didn’t get much else. There was nothing else in the trailer to tell us what this movie could be about. This turned out to be good and bad. Good in that the movie didn’t promise things it didn’t deliver. Bad in that there was nothing to deliver.
It’s like the writers had three stories they wanted to tell, and couldn’t decide which to give us. The editing of this film failed to help us, because it had the same problem. What we got was a mash-up of smaller stories that are only connected because they have some of the same characters. In the end the movie ran too long and led nowhere.
What we got was a coming of age story that morphs into the story of a wanna-be tyrant that then morphs into the story of what happened to the last intelligent humans. In fact, I struggled to write this review because there was no cohesive through-line for any of this. The only connective tissue was they all existed in the same 2 hour 25 minute block of time I will never get back.
Here’s the worst part: this movie was completely human-centric. We spent the first third of the film focused on a mysterious human girl. Next, there’s an ape king who covets human power and technology. Finally, the human girl’s motivations are revealed as she leads the apes on a mission that makes no sense.
Like I wrote earlier, this movie is full of nothing. We didn’t get to see ape civilization. We didn’t get answers about any of the big questions the film left us with. The ending will only make sense if we get a sequel.
My recommendation is that, if you have a desire for Planet of the Apes, rewatch the films that came before this. Any one of them will at least give you plot, a single story to follow, an ending with meaning. Everything that Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes did not.
Other Topics Discussed on This Live…
GAME STONKS 2: ELECTRIC BOOGALOO
“RED BOX” D&D ART DISCUSSION
NEW XBOX PRESIDENT’S INTERVIEW
STEVE BUSCEMI ATTACKED: PERPETRATOR CAUGHT
BONUS TOPIC: WHAT HAPPENED TO THE EX-PREZ OF WotC?
To see the Live stream, check out the following link. The Mariner’s review begins around the 9 minute mark.
The news dropped earlier this week by a Chinese publication that Hasbro might be in negotiation with Tencent to sell them Dungeons and Dragons (D&D). Also, Larian Studios–the company behind the highly successful Baldur’s Gate 3 (BG3)–has been named as the proxy for the negotiations. Considering the source, with no confirmation from Hasbro or Tencent themselves, it’s easy to say, “X to doubt.”
However…
It’s been established that Hasbro lies. One specific case sighted is that they’ve lied by saying they weren’t tanking the value of Magic: The Gathering (MtG) trading cards. Bank of America looked into it and said otherwise. So, Hasbro’s denial of this story cannot be believed at face value.
There’s credibility to this story in that Larian has a stake in this deal as they are partly owned by Tencent. On the other side, Hasbro has been quietly shopping D&D around, so who’s to say Tencent is their latest prospective buyer.
Hiro is not a fan of Tencent, but argues that the timing of this news–following the breakout success of BG3–might not be an accident. Right now, however, we’ll have to wait and see if there’s more to this story, or if it’s even worth a dime?
Other Topics Discussed on This Live…
CHIEFTAIN BOUGHT A NEW TV AND IT BROKE THE STREAM LAYOUTS
BLACKLIGHTONI DISTRACTS THE VIEWERS WITH HAIR COLORING TIPS
HIRO DISTRACTS THE VIEWERS WITH GUN TALK
FAN CALLS IN
HIRO DISTRACTS BLACKLIGHTONI INTO TALKING ABOUT TEA
CARL WEATHERS PASSED AWAY (actual topic)
BLACKLIGHTONI DISCOVERS AND REPORTS MEGAMIND SEQUEL
MARVEL’S FIRST RAZIE NOMINATION! (actual topic)
Ant-Man 3 was this bad
Indiana Jones will probably get it, but, still…
ROYAL RUMBLE BACK TO BACK WINNER! (actual topic)
DOOM CAN BE RENDERED ON THE E. COLI BACTERIA (actual topic)
To see the Live stream, check out the following link. The Palworld story begins around the 1 hour 5 minute mark.
