The Future: Social Games and AAA Games

 

They say the future is always clouded and that nobody can predict it. I happen to agree.

However, some things are clear and for the game industry these are the things I see.

The most important one? How internet games are going to get more and more attention than AAA titles. You’ve all heard of games like “Farmville”, “Mafia Wars” and other such games right? Maybe some of you even play them once and awhile or are totally addicted to them. Me, personally I don’t like them that much because I’ve always lived my gaming life in the AAA titles. However, more people are focusing their attention to these kinds of games and are making them very cheap or free to use so they can attract more people and get more money this way. Now I don’t think this thing will last as long as most people think it will. Eventually this stuff will die out until something new comes out, but it will stay for awhile.

Why?

Well for one, it’s free and people love to get free stuff. The games are easy to understand and for those trying to work in the game industry these games make a good start to work on when you’re starting out. All the big companies don’t want prodigies. They want people who know how to work in a team, know about the game industry itself, and have spent two or three years working on games. Social games are great for gaining experience. 

Another reason is that most of the games don’t need any sort of updated software or a console. You just need your computer and a connection to the internet. People don’t have to spend hundreds of dollars getting a new console or upgrading their PC’s to get the requirements to play the game, you just click and go.

So why do I, and a lot of other gamers, don’t like these kinds of games? A lot of companies are focusing on these social games so much that those who do want to do AAA titles have no choice but to comply and work on these when we want to play and create the next God of War or Demon Souls. But it’s simple to understand why these companies keep on issuing demands for more social games, its money. 

Now I’m not going to go on a rampage and say why companies should focus more on creativity then money because A: Our economy sucks. B: It’s the same artist vs. business crap we hear every day. And C: It’s just how business works. When you look at the rank on how Zynga, the company that made Farmville, was worth 5.51 Billion compared to EA’s 5.22 Billion last year in October then that says something.

We also have more people going to the social games and such because the game industry is, in my opinion, at a turn. We have had the longest console time ever with the 360, PS3, and Wii and there is no sight of a new console being made yet.  A lot of bad games are being made with the only big ones being from the same companies we always see, which are a bad sign; I think we need to see a few new rising stars. People are getting laid off (no surprise), companies are going down (again no surprise), things are costing more,and with the state the world is in with the economic backlash (Yes even you China, we all know your faking it) everything is just harder. 

We also have a few idiots in the gaming industry who really need to get a bash on the head and start taking the industry seriously. Don’t come into this industry unless you’re serious because we have been trying for years to get everyone to take us as a real business and we’ve only gotten one foot out the door, don’t ruin it for us!

But I faith that everything will work out. AAA titles will be good again and social games will be like 95 percent of all the flash games you play on Newgrounds, just things to play if nothing else is left.

And if that don’t work….well there’s always hoping of a zombie apocalypse.

Later.

Narrative or Gameplay?

 VS

                 For all those people who think that Game Design is all about story and narrative while creating characters and their personalities, then please hit yourself on the head and wake up. That is not it at all Game Designing is about. Narrative is an important part of being a Game Designer, but the most important part is the gameplay, specifically the mechanics of a game.

                This is a discussion that has been talked about for some time in the game industry. What is more important and what should we focus on more? Most people say that gameplay is a more important issue to deal with and I happen to agree. However, we shouldn’t ignore the aspects of narrative either. After all, every game tells a story like any other media and while it may not be like Hollywood or novel like, story telling is still something that should be looked up to more. But before you make any story really work, you need to focus on the Gameplay aspects of the game first. After all, unlike movies and books, games are an interactive experience. The player must be doing something to progress the game forward so it can continue to the end. Even games that focus heavily on narrative have some aspect of interaction. You may have a great story, but that won’t matter if the player doesn’t find the game interesting through its mechanics. 

                Take a game like Call of Duty. You run around shooting people. Core mechanic is that and it does it well. Aiming, reloading, picking up weapons, how far the bullets go, damage, the perks, attachments, and more all change the experience of the players actions and the experience they feel playing the game. Story wise it’s like a regular commando movie about stopping terrorism from destroying America, boring. But because of its gameplay, Call of Duty is the most popular first person shooter game around. Then you take a game like Heavy Rain where the only main mechanics are motion control, quick time events, and a few puzzles. Most of the game is story based, but it was a successful game because it was done so well. Visual Novels, which are like choose your own adventure games, only have a story and clicking a choice. That’s it. Yet thousands of these are all over Japan. Granted the majority of them having hentai scenes may play a part of it, but the fact that these games are so popular in Japan, as well with a certain audience in America, is amazing.

                  The reason why we need gameplay more than narrative is simple. If we have no interaction with the game…then it’s not a game. Any game you can think of features you doing something from moving a joy stick to clicking buttons in a certain order. Even board games have you doing stuff like moving pawns or rolling dice. It’s this interactivity that makes games enjoyable and special. Be it casting a spell or slicing a demon in half or ordering a squad of troops to take out an enemy tank; this is what we as Game Designers need to focus on the most in order to draw our audiences in.

                So while some games do focus more on story, it’s important to remember that gameplay is always needed and, in most cases, is the most important aspect. Without gameplay, the game doesn’t exist. That is not to say that gameplay and narrative can’t blend. Look at Deux Ex and Mass Effect. These games have blended both pretty well and are looked at by many Game Designers for inspiration to blend both of them. So while we still are trying to find the perfect way to combine both, we must remember that for our games we need to make our games interactive.

We are Gamers and  we are Legion!

Later

Top 10 games that I think influenced the year

Well 2010 was a lot of things, video games being one of them. We had a lot of good ones and bad ones this year that have influenced us. Some deserve more credit than others and this is my opinion why.

(ALL opinions are mine. Also I do not own any images shown in this post)

Top 10 that I think influenced the year most are:

1. Modern Warfare Black Ops: Not only did this break MW2’s record for most sales in 24 hours; it’s a more improved version of it. I’m serious, I like both games, but MWBO was faster, had better controls, and more multiplayer options that were more fun, like Barebones.The guns and kill streaks were well thought out for the cold war atmosphere, which is a better feeling then the WWII world we no longer love. Yet it’s not so different from the Modern Warfare feeling which we still do love. Plus, it had you killing zombies as JFK and that’s cool. The single player is also much better then it’s predecessors with great visuals, a better storyline, and a lot more intense action and difficulty. You will die a lot in this game, but you will continue playing regardless of your frustration because it’s hardcore. Really hardcore. Even if you didn’t like it, you have to admit it was one of the most talked about games before and after its launch and still is.

2. Minecraft: Even if you don’t play it like me, you have to admit this is amazing. A single beta version of the game only and millions play it all over the country. The unique thing is that it’s not so much used as a game as it is for constructing the world around you into a scene then posting the work online for others to see your creativity. We’ve all seen pictures of people making places, people, events, and more with the tools used. It’s innovative, creative, and allows the player a lot more freedom then most games. Best of all it’s simple to understand. This isn’t even the Gold Disk version of it, so who knows what the finished product will look like.

3. Red Dead Redemption: This game blew everybody’s mind. It was such a total 360 twist from its original counterpart that I wondered sometimes if I was watching a Wild West movie instead of a game. If there was ever a game better then GTA in sandbox gameplay it was this game. Everything around you is always happening in real time, the gun mechanics have greatly improve, the story is something out of a Clint Eastwood film, and the online gameplay is tons of fun for everyone. It’s perfect and there’s nothing else to say else about it. Even its DLC, Undead Nightmare, was great. Heck, that was a game all on its own. If you don’t have this game, buy it now.

4. Assassins Creed Brotherhood: This game is just…wow. Some of us wondered if this was just a DLC or a sequel. Turns out it was a sequel that was completely awesome and, although familiar, offered new ideas to the game that made us continue assassinating people over and over again. I’ve only played it a few times with a dorm mate, but from what little missions I did I could see many improvements. For one thing, you are actually judged based on how well you did your mission which gives you more money if you’re a better assassin. You don’t need to do the whole building town crap, but just improve stuff on a whim. The best part is that you can train your own assassins, make a guild, sent them out into world missions or use them to help you kill targets that are hard to reach. It makes you feel like your really are part of a guild of assassins. Besides the new items and weapons the only more awesome thing about the game is the multiplayer. All I can say is just play it and you won’t put the controller down.

5. Civilization V: Now Civilization has always been an impressive game series, but this one takes the cake. While some features are gone, the new AI is easier for newcomers and the graphics are just eye dropping. It’s more than just a strategy game, this time you are creating and ruling a civilization that is growing by your choices and standards. You can be a peaceful nation, a war nation, be democratic, be communist, focus on trade, focus on art, invent new technology and more. Everything you do is by your hands and always effects the world overall, not just yourself. You can even pit your civilization against others online. Everything from the song to the cutscenes is enough to make you want to play again and again.

6. Mass Effect 2: This came out way early this year, but it deserves to be on this list. The sequel to one of the greatest narrative games of all time is not only better then the first game, it’s learned from the first game. No more Mako and no more multiple weapons while changing them every 3 minutes. Instead we get faster paced action, a new way to interrupt speeches in a funny or bad ass way, and a story in a galaxy that is darker than we thought it was originally. Mass Effect 2 is like a Space Western Movie where you’re on own and almost everyone is against you. The characters are each special and well designed in both the looks department and personality (Jack being my favorite), the worlds are unique and special in their own way, and the best part? You get to see the choices you made in the first one effect the world of the second game now and it’s never the same no matter how many games you play. That’s just awesome narrative right there mixed with gameplay, god bless you Bioware. This game is looked upon as making the most interactive experience in a game ever and is used for examples in every field making this a must see. 

7. Pokémon Black and White: Pokémon is, and always will be, remembered as one of the fastest and most popular video games to spread out worldwide. A huge mega hit in Japan, it’s already broken most records and is still being sold in Japan as its number one game. Sadly it’s not out in the US until March of this year, but some people are already buying from Japan and learning Japanese just to play the game. Others are getting ready to order it or are talking about it on forms and such. It’s gotten much talk since word of it came out long ago and already we got anime, manga, fanfiction, fan art, and more dedicated to this game then you can think. Even though it’s not in the US, this is still something that has caused a lot of influence this year so it should be counted. The reason its lower is because it’s not out here yet.

8. Monster Hunter 3: Although this came out last year in Japan, I’m going to count this because of the influence it had in west this year. Monster Hunter was never a game I got into, but apparently everyone else did. You are a hunter with a giant ass sword who goes around, with other players if you want, to kill giant colossus sized monsters ranging from dinosaurs to dragons and more. In my college, at least 10 people I saw were talking about this game all semester in every class I went too. Great visuals, realistic monsters, tons of fun they say. Maybe I’ll check it out. But since coming out into the US it’s been the talk for months and is not stopping anytime soon.

9. Final Fantasy 13: This game was more than just beautiful; it was a new step for the entire series. JRPG’s are not popular here in America, but Final Fantasy has always been one of the few exceptions. A new gameplay experience, level up system, storyline well written, and music as awesome as always. Final Fantasy XIII brought a lot to the gaming world. It brought a chance to make the art tell the story and showed a new never before seen battle system that was familiar to old players, but new and creative for a chance in pace. The animation is so real and so visual that you have to respect the artists for their dedication and if you are a Game Artist, this is a game you should study and analyze. If Game Designers have Mass Effect, then Artists has FF13. One of the best the series has given us in a long time.

10. 360 Kinect and Playstation Move: While they are not really games, they deserve the spot because of the hype and uniqueness they brought to their systems. Now I, like many, didn’t think much of the two and felt that it was going to either fail and bring more harm to the industry or succeed and bring a new experience that would change it. To my surprise, and joy, it was neither. Despite being somewhat successful it didn’t ruin the industry nor did it improve it. Still, it used new technology and was talk about a lot so it gets a spot.

And that’s what I think the top 10 are.

If you agree or disagree, please state why or ask questions!

Later and let’s hope the new year is good.

A New Idea

I’m working out the idea of a new board game I’m planning to create. It’s a game I call “Battle Royal The Board Game”.

                For those of you who don’t know, Battle Royal was a 1999 Japanese novel written by Takami Koushun. It takes place in an alternate universe style Japan (called the Republic of Great East Asia) where, after the World War II, the government became a fascist dystopia like society that pretty much is like 1984’s Oceania. Rock and Roll, homosexuality, foreigners, and anything exported from other countries are completely outlawed. You can’t speak, write, or say anything against the government and people are executed daily. In fact, the National Baseball team is forced to commit seppuku if they lose to the American baseball team (They really hate America, seriously they never stop telling you that). However, the worst of it is the Program.

The Program is when 50 third-year high school classes are isolated every year and each class is required to fight to the death until one student remains. Their movements are tracked by metal collars around their necks which contain tracking and listening devices. If any student should attempt to escape the Program or enter declared forbidden zones a bomb will be detonated in the collar, killing the wearer. If no student dies in any 24 hour period, all collars will be detonated simultaneously. They are all given weapons, food, and water and are then are sent out like animals to kill one another. The winner gets their face on TV, along with all the reported deaths, a card from the leader saying “Thank you for playing” and they leave…..wow, what a rip off. Officially it's meant as a military research project,but it's actually a means of terrorizing the population.

The story follows a class of 42 students, 21 boys and 21 girls, who are forced to go through the program. The point of view follows everyone of the class, but the main characters that are focused on are Nanahara Shuya, the main protagonist who wants to find a way out peacefully, Nakagawa Noriko, who is a friend of Shuya and was the crush of Shuya’s best friend Yoshitoki, Kawada Shogo, a mysterious transfer student who’s hardcore and awesome, Kiriyama Kazuo, a sociopathic gang leader who is perfect in every way as well as the most active member of the game, Souma Mitsuko, a psychopathic girl who uses her body to seduce other players, Sugimura Hiroki, a martial artist who searches for his best friend and crush, and Mimura Shinji, a genius who searches for a way to escape. I suggest you read the book if you want to find out what’s going to happen or you could watch the movies or read even the manga since they are somewhat similar all around.

So anyway, an idea came to me about how to make this into a board game. A map of the island is used at the start of the book (Which I have) so that can be my starting spot to draw on. I can get the photos of the players, the weapons used; have something like a combat system. Put the real rules of the Program into the game and continue from there. I’ll report more of this later on, but it’s good idea to start thinking up game ideas and try to follow them if you can. Board games are some of the best ones to start because as a Game Designer, you should be thinking about all kinds of games and not just electronic ones.

Competitive or Free Riding?

                If you’re a game designer in training like me, you’ve heard many times that the game industry is a very competitive way of business with many other newbies, like me, trying to make an impact so we can get hired. While it’s true that competition is needed for any job, some people just can’t handle the pressure of it and instead want to just spend their time making something they like for their audience.

                My first year studying at Champlain College was one of the best times I ever had in my life. I was given tools and access to programs that allowed me to do something I never had a chance to do in high school that often, express my creativity. I didn’t care if I was the best or if I was the worst, I just wanted to do the thing I love. I had fun and people liked my ideas and work. Sometimes it was better than others, but most of the time it was nothing special. Still I learned and I enjoyed doing it. I was free riding that year and I never regretted anything.

                Not like this first semester however where I went against everything I was. We started programming and game art, two subjects that I feared I was going to do terrible on and as such I worked a million times harder then I normally did. Pressure got to me and I didn’t have a great experience as I wanted to have. Granted I improved over the months, but I was too worried about the grade itself then the quality of the work. I didn’t let my creativity and free roaming sprit fly, I just wanted to pass and was trying to be the best so that I could get that grade because I knew people were better than me. That was one of my many mistakes that semester that I regretted.

                In programming, I was able to actually do well which was a surprise. I thought I was going to be terrible at programming and I put more effort into that then anything because I thought I was going to be far behind. In the end I was wrong, I did well and I managed to do everything on time. Granted I got a lot of help, but I managed to pull a B out of that class. I was filled with worry that I wasn’t going to do good and I would be behind in all the classes, but my teacher didn’t give up on me and said I had the skills and I just need to be more creative. That was when the reality hit me. After I came home, I realized I was too worried about the other students and their work and not about mine. What I should have done was focus on my work the way I wanted it to be and make my audience, the teacher, the only one I should have impressed. Sure having my peers impressed with my work would be great, but I was obsessed with how I would look with others that I blinded myself to what why I wanted to be a game designer in the first place.

                 I love to entertain people and I love to be creative. Video games have always been something I knew well enough about and I was good working with others so I decided to be a Game Designer to entertain people. By being my creative free flowing self last year I was able to do well and have fun doing it. This semester I made the mistake not being myself and worrying about everyone else.

                I’m sure a few of you are like that too. You don’t care about the competition and you work for the love of the work itself. This is who you are and that should not change you. Sure we are competing in our dog eat dog world every day, but that doesn’t mean we should let it take over who we are. So if you are a competitor and you do better trying to be the best then go ahead and do that, that’s how you do your thing. But if you’re like me and you want to entrain your audience with your work your own way, then keep doing it. 

Matthew Reviews: Tron Legacy

                In 1982, a film came out that had Sci-fi fans running to theaters to get a firsthand look at a new movie that combined new technology with computer graphics into a cult phenomenon known as, Tron. Starring Jeff Bridges, David Warner, Cindy Morgan, and Bruce Boxleitner the film was about a computer genius and gamer named Flynn who gets trapped into the digital world (And no there are no cute monsters in this one) by an evil A.I. who is forced to battle his way through cyberspace with the help of a program named Tron, designed by his best friend Allan. What was amazing about Tron was how almost everything was computer generated from the background to the costumes to even the weapons and gear they used. Sure it wasn’t the best story film ever, but the scenes and images were beyond astonishing at its time. If you were a computer geek, this was a film you had to see both then and now. It still remains one of many inspirations for people getting into computers or games, including me. Now in 2010, there is a squeal known as Tron Legacy and while the title really doesn’t suit the movie (I’ll explain why) I guess you can say it’s a good squeal to a good movie.

1.       1. Animation/Imagery

               -Well, this is Tron so this going to be the biggest part of the movie. Half of the reason why the original Tron was so good was because of the computer graphics and the video game colored lights of red and blue. In fact you see a lot of that in this film which makes it sort of symbolic. Red being evil while blue being good like in the last one so there is some familiarity. Now when Tron came out in the 80’s it was beyond amazing for it’s time for the way it looked as a live action film and it brought jaws down to the ground. Now in 2010 when technology has become thousand times better, it’s just pure f’ing amazing. The art is just like what we would expect, it reminds you so much of the old Tron universe, but at the same time it’s new. It’s upgraded to something a lot better and this is mostly thanks to the new technology and skill we have today. The movie takes place in an area known as The Grid. Like the first movie, this area is beautiful but because of the dark plots and manipulations going around it you could say it’s a beautiful cyber-dystopia which fits the plot well. We also get to see our favorite and familiar stuff like the Disks, Lightcycles, Cyber Tanks, and those rails that travel on those beams of light. We also get to see new stuff such as Lightjets, Lightwalkers, and yes, we even see Lightsabers. What’s with all the light? I mean granted the outside of the Grid is nothing but a dark storm and you need the bright lights to see, but couldn’t they come up with  more original names? Oh well.  Anyway, it’s big, it’s grand, and it’s what NYC will look like in the year 3000. The graphics are just awesome.

2. Sound

-The entire music is done by Daft Punk…….that’s all I need to say. If you don’t know who Daft Punk is, please listen to one of their many hits and then slap yourself for not knowing who this amazing duo gifted by God are. Okay, I suppose I should say more than that. Well, a lot of the old songs, music pieces, and sounds from the original movie are redone and placed in this. And the upgrade is phenomenal. I mean the one thing about Tron was that it sounded like a video game world back when we still using Arcades and our NES’s. Now it sounds something you would hear on a PS3 or Xbox 360 and that’s good. Because times have changed and our video games have changed. We want something to sound familiar to our times yet a sense of familiar among the old times. Take the Mario Theme, it’s still used after so many years, but its tones and sounds have changed greatly because we apply new stuff to it to make it better. And that’s what technology is all about, upgrading and adapting. Tron Legacy’s music lives up to its expectations and more.

3.  Story

-Okay this is where Tron Legacy does fall short on. Story plot wise, the original Tron wasn’t good at trying to make us interested. We were mostly amazed at the looks and the music then focusing on the story. We knew a guy who was the most amazing and coolest adult ever got trapped in a digital cyber version of the real world and was trying to battle his way out of it by fighting an A.I. and his army with the assistance of a program who could kick ass named Tron. After that….nothing special. The plot was predictable and it was simple, too simple. Granted a guy getting sucked into a computer is a unique idea, but the problem was it was never taken advantage off. No big surprises, no big plot twists, and sometimes, especially if you didn’t understand computers, you were a bit confused. Tron Legacy kind of makes the same mistakes.

The story starts off back in the 80’s where Flynn, the original protagonist, is with his son telling him about The Grid. A world he’s created with the help of his best friend’s program Tron and a program version of himself named Clu. Now I know what you’re thinking, how can Jeff Bridges look like his old self from the 1980’s? It’s all thanks to CG ladies and gentlemen. Yeah you can tell its all fake, but to be fair it’s a bit better work then other CG faces like that Arnold one from Terminator Salvation. Anyway, we see he has a son named Sam who is just a brilliant and daring as his father. After tucking him in, Flynn goes to work only to disappear and never reappear. To make matters worse, Sam’s mother passed away when he was younger and soon his grandparents as well, leaving him in the company of Flynn’s best friend Alan. Over time the company his father owned, ENCOM, has decided to not follow Flynn’s original idea of free access to information and instead try to give it the highest bidder. Sam, at age 27, doesn’t agree with this and sabotages their latest project before being arrest. Now why doesn’t the son of the CEO and a major stock holder of the company just say “screw you guys we do this my way”? Well the reason…is never fully explained well. Maybe he feels like he’s not worthy of the company, maybe he still blames his father, maybe it has too many bad memories…who knows. Anyway, Alan comes over and tells Sam he got a page from his father’s work place at the old arcade and suggests he goes looking there for answers. Sam does and we get that old nostalgic feeling of seeing classic old arcade games with great hits from the 80’s and 90’s playing on the jukebox. Ah, good times. So Sam finds a special door hidden behind a Tron game and finds the original laser and a computer that teleports him into The Grid where he is amazed at what he sees. This is where the movie really kicks off.

                After being captured by red colored programs, he is suited up, given a disk, and is forced to play games. After fighting in a diskwar tournament, he is soon taken to meet the evil overlord of The Grid….Flynn?! (DUN DUN DUN!!!!!) No, it’s actually Clu, played by a CG Jeff Bridges. It turns out Clu took over Flynn’s Grid and turned it into his own while trapping Flynn in cyber world. It’s later learned that Clu has been turning programs into his “perfect” idea and plans to invade our world through the portal too, of course, take it over. I’m going to stop here because I don’t want to spoil more, but trust me when I say that everything you see will be vary easy to guess what happens. Why? Because the story is short and the plot is too simple. Granted it tries to bring some other sub plots like the fate of Tron(He only makes limited appearances in this film which is strange since his name is on the title), some new form of life called ISO’s which could change the world, and why Clu is who he is, but that’s really not crammed in enough. My guess is that the movie was so expensive on the looks that they had to cut the screenwriting down from their original idea. I mean it’s only an hour and half long. Granted that’s longer than the original, but you would expect it to be at least 2 hours.  Still, it’s a decent story of a kid trying to find his father, but you’re going to be disappointed if you think it’s anything more than that.

                4. Characters/Acting

-Well we got the original movie characters such as Flynn and Alan, as well as his program counterpart Tron for about…10 minutes of total screen time. Flynn is still his old self, but he’s gotten a lot wiser. Hell, he looks like a Zen Obi-wan Kenobi with an 80’s attitude.  What’s also interesting is that Flynn is like God in this Grid like world. He’s able to manipulate and change the world to his liking, but Clu, his self made program counterpart, can also do so. Clu is our Nazi, really he is. He was a program whose job was to help Flynn create the perfect system and change the world together. When the ISO’s, who will be explained in the story briefly, came to the grid it was Clu who thought they were flawed, as well as Flynn, so he staged a coup and took over after killing nearly every ISO (Sound Familiar). Clu is like a Cyber Hitler with an idea of only perfection on his mind and seeks to concur the world to make it also “perfect”.

                New characters include Sam, our new protagonist who is Flynn’s son and is every word of it. He’s brash, bright, charismatic, daring, and bold. Think the old Flynn from the old movie only as a child growing up in the 90’s and millennium. Yet, despite all this the only real emotional scenes we get from this guy are with his father whose he has been hoping to find one day his entire life ever since he was a kid. Other than this, he’s got the personality of a brick. Not a brick of shit, but still a brick. Nothing is really lovable about the guy, but you won’t hate him either. He’s just…there. I mean Clu and Fynn’s acting is well done, but he could have used a bit more practice. Oh and there is a hot chick….who also has the personality of a brick. Makes the two of them work well really. At least they didn’t have much of a romantic relationship thank God. So the acting and characters really could have been better, but for the most part you’ll ignore this because of the pretty lights.

5. OVERALL: IT’S GOOD!

-Sure the story is easy to predict and the characters do have a good amount of blandness to them. But it’s still a movie to see, especially in IMAX. It’s got amazing visuals, the music is great, the fight choreography is done really well, and we get to see our favorite old time classics upgraded to an awesome boost. Go see Tron and judge for yourself if it’s a worthy squeal. But me? I say it is and I give it a 4/5.

I’m Matthew Nunez giving you my word; now it you excuse me…..I’ve got to listen to two robot looking French cyber men making sweet sweet music…..okay that sounded wrong.

Later

And So it begins....

Well, it's the first day and here's the first blog. I don't have much to say at the moment because I'm off to visit an IMAX 3D theater to see Tron Legacy. Having watch the old movie I'm interested in seeing how much these guys did. Does it blow like almost every other squeal or revival that's come out? Or will it rock like the first one? Time will tell.

Later