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Gotham Gets Better!

gotham

Last night’s Gotham episode “Selina Kyle” built on the solid pilot.  Without having to introduce all the characters this show really got to be the over-the-top procedural that it should be.  This episode is about kids getting snatched off the street and shipped overseas, and the only person who seems to care is James Gordon.

I am a little worried that Gotham is already a little too corrupt, and that it might need Batman a little sooner than young Bruce Wayne can don the cowl, but at least this series shows how bad the city is.  They still like to drop the names of Bat-villains a little too much, I am not sure I need many more than the ones they have already introduced, but it sounds like one of the bad guys they used in Arrow may soon be making an appearance.  I am curious how they will handle that, or if they are just having some fun at the audience’s expense.

I was worried about this show, but it looks like it is delivering on its potential, and we just have to wait a little longer to see how The Flash, Constantine, and iZombie turn out.  If even one of those shows is good DC will have a solid TV line up this year.

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The Problem With Always Online Worlds!

2013-destiny-game

So last night I decided that I wanted to play some Destiny, but instead Lizard Squad decided that they would go and DDoS (distributed denial-of-service) Activision, so instead I got to play a screen that said I couldn’t connect to Bungie’s servers, and that I should look up the error code “cattle”.  Now this is Lizard Squad’s fault, but really if Activision wants give me always online games they need to be prepared for guys like this coming to take them down.  A lot.  Because these guys love ruining people’s day, or night in this case.

As more and more games try and deliver always online experiences the more stuff like this is going to happen.  Now if Destiny had allowed an offline mode that let me play single player I would have had a lot of fun, but no, this new MMO style setup let people like Lizard Squad rain on my fun.  The more we rely on the cloud and services like Xbox Live and PS+, the more power we give jerks with a bunch of malwared-up computers.  So developers are either going to need to do a better job of protecting their servers from these guys, or give us more ways to play their games.

I hope they are going to do both that way I don’t have a lot of wasted Sunday nights watching loading bars and disconnection screens.  Those are not very fun games, though I might be more willing to play them provided they gave me loot for it!

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Listen To Some Pathfinder Tales!

plague-of-shadows

Thanks to PAX, I was able to get my hands on a couple of the Pathfinder Tales books based off the very popular table top RPG Pathfinder.  One book I like, and one book I am struggling to get through, but it seems to be getting better.

Plague of Shadows was a fun sword and sorcery romp about a woman trying to free the man she once loved from a curse.  It hits all the right notes, action, romance, dragons, and some elves.  It doesn’t take itself super seriously, but at the same time it tells a fun story.

Called to Darkness on the other hand has been kind of a slog.  It is a about a girl trying to get revenge for the murder of her family, so she trudges along with shaman and complains a lot, and every now and than she yells “Blacklion”.  It is fine, but not especially interesting or entertaining.

These books do provide good glimpse in to the world of Pathfinder, and let you know how all the races and monster types “live” in this universe.  I am not sure that I will read a lot more of these books, but I wouldn’t turn them down if they were given to me for free again.  If you are looking for a little light fantasy read, Pathfinder Tales may suit your needs.

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The Tale Of Princess Kaguya Looks Amazing!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lYD0ZXjX6JQ

I know this trailer has been out for awhile, but I have procrastinated watching it, and I really shouldn’t have because Studio Ghibli’s new movie looks like a masterpiece.  The Tale of The Princess Kaguya is about a girl that grows extremely fast, but what will draw you in is the amazing art.  This movie is looking like a must see, and it shows that Studio Ghibli will be fine without Hayao Miyazaki.

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Gotham Gets TV Season Off To A Good Start!

gotham

I was a little skeptical of the TV show Gotham, but it has at least got me interested enough to keep watching it.  The show follows new Detective James Gordon as he tries to fight crime in the completely corrupt Gotham City.  His first big case is of course the murders of Thomas and Martha Wayne, and he is in way over his head.

I think they got the tone of this show right.  Thanks to its comic book roots it is crazy and a little over the top, but it still manages to take itself seriously so that it doesn’t seem like a farce.  It did suffer a little bit because they tried to introduce too many characters, so it didn’t really ever focus on what was going on enough.  For instance they kept showing young Selina Kyle, but she never really did anything,  Next week’s episode is named after her, so maybe it will make more sense.

The show seems to have a good cast, and the sets bring Gotham to life.  We will see if they can build off this episode in to something really good, or if they get lost in the weeds, and it becomes yet another canceled FOX TV show.  For now it looks like FOX is my home for Monday nights.