Shmee.Me

October 12, 2015

Star Wars: Battlefront Is The Real Deal!

Well I thought I would be able to ignore Star Wars: Battlefront, but sadly I was wrong. I thought that it would be just another Battlefield clone. With Star Wars sure, but something I could write off. It is just not fair that there is another game coming out this year that I want. The open beta is a ton of fun. The controls are tight. The power-ups are well placed and they change flow of the game in the best ways. It is a blast to jump in an AT Walker, or finding a Luke or Darth Vader upgrade. Even putting down a turret in just the perfect place to stop the enemy onslaught. It is just plain fun.

You have one more day to try out this game before it comes out. You need to go home right now and give it a shot if you haven’t yet. I guess it is yet another game to put on my Christmas list. It is a long list now.

April 2, 2015

Star Wars Versus Star Trek, Shmee’s Take!

io9.com recently had their Sci-Fi/Fantasy March Madness poll, and it came down to Star Wars versus Star Trek. It was a predictable final two, but one that was very hard for me to choose between. On the surface they appear to be similar: they take place in space, they have a multitude of alien species, and they both get in quite a few skirmishes, but they are in reality very different.

Star Wars is a mystic fantasy with a mysterious and powerful ancient religion, and no matter how far things progress, they will always stay the same. Humanity can’t get better than it is. There is no light without the dark. Star Trek on the other hand is totally Sci-Fi. Everything can be explained by science, and humanity is always getting better. Give humans more time, and they will make themselves in to better people.

Those are both interesting premises (one person broke it down between theocracy and communism, and he wasn’t far off), and I love to delve in to their worlds, but the fantasy element is what makes Star Wars end up winning this battle for me. It allows my imagination to run wild. Sure it is a bit pessimistic about human nature (so am I), but it gives me space ninjas with laser swords, and a hope that one day I will be able to turn off my light switch at night by just concentrating really hard. I guess I will always be thirteen.

That doesn’t mean the space exploration, and constant state of discovery that Star Trek provides is lost on me. It just doesn’t give my imagination the same sort of jump start that Star Wars does. I love both these franchises very much, but in the end if I had to pick one it would be Star Wars, prequels and all. I hope next year io9.com doesn’t force me to pick between DC and Marvel, because that would just be cruel.

March 27, 2015March 30, 2015

Will Ferrell Sings The Star Trek Theme!

I know my blog has been YouTube heavy this week, but times are slow in the Shmee media consumption department. Still Will Ferrell singing the Star Trek theme is pretty great, and it really does need to be on my blog. This is no doubt the best thing to that has happened because of the Get Hard movie.

August 14, 2013

Star Trek: The Animated Series

I always thought I was supposed to dislike Star Trek: The Animated Series because it wasn’t canon and the episodes could be a little silly at times, but after watching it, I have to say that I quite like it. Sure some of the episodes are not great, but in being animated they got to have far more extra terrestrial landscapes and characters.

The episodes range from pretty good to pretty bad, but still it was is another twenty-two episodes with the original cast and crew, so if you like Star Trek it is streaming on Netflix right now, and it is worth the bandwidth.

August 13, 2013August 13, 2013

Five Favortie Star Wars Characters!

I have watched a lot of Star Wars movies, played a ton of Star Wars video games, and read more than a couple Star Wars books and comic books, so I thought I would give you my favorite Star Wars characters.

5: Jek Porkins

Porkins cracks me up every time I watch Star Wars IV: A New Hope. All my life I have wondered how desperate the Rebel Alliance must have been to recruit this guy, but like all things Star Wars the expanded universe has given him tons of back story so he doesn’t seem like a the fat incompetent idiot he is. I mean even his name is a joke, but that is why I love him. It is the sort of thing that only Star Wars would try and get away with. Stay on target Porkins, stay on target.

4: Darth Vader

It quite is fashionable now to bad mouth George Lukas, but when he created Darth Vader it was a moment of pure genius. I don’t think there is a more iconic super villain in all of fiction. The Joker may get close, but he is no cyborg mage with a laser sword that can choke you from across the room with his mind.

3: Han Solo

Speaking of genius creations, has there ever been a character that oozed cool like Han Solo? The more of a jerk he was, the more lovable he became. Being a Jedi is pretty sweet, but he is the character I wanted to be when I grew up. All I need to do now is find a Wookiee that will be my friend.

2: R2D2

R2D2 is the hero of the Star Wars movies. Delivering messages, open doors, hiding light sabers, and pretty much anything else. Without R2D2 the Rebel Alliance would have fallen apart and the Empire would have won. I am not sure that you can say that about any of the other characters. This foul mouthed droid is the best character from the movies bar none.

1: HK-47

HK-47 is from the video game Knights of the Old Republic, and the only character on this list not from the original trilogy, but that is because HK-47 Personal Assassination Droid is awesome! His name is stolen from another famous video game assassin, and he loves to kill meatbags. In the game if you let him kill people he loves you, and if you don’t he hates you. He was not the most powerful character in the game, but his lines were so well written that you needed to have him in your party just to hear the stuff that would come out of his speakers.

Dishonorable Mention: Boba Fett

People love this guy for some reason, but when his big moment came did he shine? Oh no, he gets knocked in to Sarlacc pit while wearing a jet pack by a blind Han Solo. Maybe you should be paying attention eh buddy? If there was ever a chumpier way to get beaten, I have not seen it. This dude is the worst.

So there is my list with a little Boba Fett trolling thrown in. I hope you like it, but since we are geeks, I don’t expect you to agree, and I would love to hear your list!