A Non-Spoiler, Non-Review Of Star Wars: The Force Awakens

I write this review in the knowledge that you've probably seen the film already, and there's only so much I can add to the thousands of reviews and clickbait articles on this subject. This is kind of rush job too, as work and family commitments make the full attention the film deserves impossible. I am also nice enough not to discuss spoilers, for that hypothetical and unfortunate reader whom hasn't seen the film, and may find the experience tarnished by my comments. So here's a selection of brief statements about the movie.

Yes, its better than the prequels, that low hurdle is easily overcome.

Its beautiful, and John Boyega's character is the best part of the film.

Thanks to a combination of callbacks and purposeful imitation, TFA feels a lot like the original three films.

Said similarities don't always benefit the narrative, and the original cast essentially hijack the film for a replay of the Battle of Yavin.

Its next to impossible to comment on Kylo Ren without ruining a big part of the film, although I consider him to be THE weak link in the entire business.

Star Wars has developed self-aware humour all of a sudden.

I hit sensory overload  a few times, like when watching Age of Ultron or a Transformers film.

And finally:

Its closer to Jurassic World, than Mad Max: Fury Road.

That's all for now.


Image sourced from StarWars.com, Copyright Disney etc.

New Star Wars: The Force Awakens Trailer Released

Even though its only a matter of days until the film comes out, the new Star Wars is still being hyped up with a new trailer, and this one introduces a buttload of new footage.

Hang on. Wait. No. That's Star Trek. Sorry people, false alarm.

This obvious joke has been brought to you by "Cynicism", "Pessimism" and "bad memories of Into Darkness". Seriously, its too early to tell if this is gonna be worth your time, but if you were hoping for something closer to the source TV series, that isn't what they are leading with here. Is it fair to judge the film based on this trailer, plus the last two movies? Not really, but tempered expectations won't hurt.

Youtube Highlights: The Flocking Game Industry

Hi there, its time for another selection of youtube clips that have caught my interest in the last week. Today's theme, games going wrong. Also: swearing. Lots of swearing.


Vogelsap's Jeroen Van Hasselt, the guy behind The Flock, has given an extremely frank presentation on why that game failed. I feel sorry for him, it was an interesting idea. No audible swearing here.

In more indie games news, not all of them are nice. Jim Sterling, a man as foul-mouthed as he is right, as spoken once more about his ongoing battle with Digitial Homicide, a company politely described as shady, and probably due some sort of legal attention.

And on the subject of Indie games developers acting badly, we have Overkill Software and Starbreeze Studios, this time adding microtransaction to Payday 2, despite repeatedly promising they wouldn't. ReviewTechUSA summarises the issue below, with some swearing.

Apparently not wanting to be left out, EA has announced that their Star Wars: Battlefront game will feature a seasons pass of downloadable content comparable in cost to the game itself, plus microtransactions. I think you can't fail to make money on a game like this, and anything other than retail price is greed. The AngryJoeShow has this to say. And curse.

And, just to lighten your mood, to prove that not everything is wrong in the world, a bunch of youtube personalities are running a Blood Bowl 2 league. Not because they were sponsored, but because they love the game. Here is a recap video made by league organiser wowcrendor.
Again, some cursing.

I love me a bit of Blood Bowl :)

Youtube Highlights 2: Its a trap!

Hi there folks, I thought I'd try this again. Here's a selection of good youtube clips I've found in the month plus since I last did this.

Coming from ActivisionGames, Transformers: Devastation was released this week, to a generally positive critical reception. Its on my to do list, here's the launch trailer.

I think I have shown remarkable self-control in not buying this immediately.

And speaking of hair metal, explosions, and new games, DevolverDigital's Broforce is coming out of early access on the 15^th, and so they gave us this. Its also on the to do list. 

Roll Out Roll Call was last weekend, and I missed it. Masterforce however shared this guerilla video of possibly the single greatest collecting panel I've ever seen.

Shine on, you crazy diamond. Shine on.

And finally, on a much more serious note, John Green of the vlogbrothers posted an analysis of the Syrian Refugee crisis. If you want a slightly less reactionary discussion of the matter than you'll find in the tabloids, you could do a lot worse than this.