2014: The year that was

All things considered, as an opening year, for me I count both Blaster's Projects and Blaster's Reviews a success. At time of writing, Blaster's Projects is approaching 1300 pageviews and Blaster's Reviews just broke 4000 so thank you to all who do read my content. This post isn't going to be much, its just me providing a bit of back story to some of the content that was published in the last 10 months, as we leave 2014 behind us.

How the Grinch Stole Christmas: "Tomorrow's Christmas, its practically here"

"T'was the night before Christmas, and all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse." I'm 100% confident saying that there is no person alive with access to literature who doesn't know of Dr. Seuss and if for some reason you don't, THEN YOU HAVE NO CHILDHOOD. The stories are iconic while still being simple, each with a story to tell and a lesson to learn in a style that no one can replicate and an art style just as unique. However, his stories haven't really transferred well to the silver screen recently with one of the first of the new wave being The Grinch (Its called that here, I'm sticking by that name as I'm reviewing the movie, I don't know why the Australian version is like that, I just know it is for some reason). Is the Grinch one of the better ones, or just as bad as the later films?

Rescue Heroes: Thunderbirds are... wait... you're saying there's a difference?

You know the saying "with age comes experience", with it also comes confusion. Have you ever re-watched a show that you used to love when you were a child and go "I used to watch this?" It's a weird feeling isn't it?

When I was working on the schedule for content uploads, I had a spot free to which I offered the choice to my mother as today is her birthday. After several weeks of changing her mind, she "chose" this (by that I mean she suggested it and I said "I have to start working on it, no more changing your mind"... Of course there's another one which I turned down for now so... one review at a time...), forceful padding aside, lets see how this not Thunderbirds holds up, Rescue Heroes Season 1+2 (I'm having trouble finding season 3 somewhere I can obtain it to review).

Top 20 MLP: FiM songs

This is something I've had planned for a while. At this point in time I have a schedule of posts for both Blaster's Projects and in particular, Blaster's Reviews. The reason for this is because, while I am open to doing requested content, I do need something to fill in the gaps for when there aren't any requests and at the time of writing, there wasn't any requests. When I reviewed the four seasons of the show and the two films, I wanted to do a list of my favorite songs from the series as a whole because more often then not, they are great songs. Seeing as I didn't even mention the songs for the reviews, its only fitting to see which ones were the best songs now. I'm not putting in any rules for this list but I ask that you respect my opinions on these because, from the research I collected while writing the reviews, I know that there are songs on here that... got mixed opinions.  You can pretty much figure out what I think of the shows's music based on this list, without further ado...

My Little Pony: Equestria Girls: Rainbow Rocks. Don't let this Siren cast her spell

So those who have been paying attention, I started reviewing the series the week this film was due to go to cinemas and the week I posted the first film was the day it was released on DVD... to my knowledge, there is no connection to the film and today, or this week, I just wanted to give it some time to settle. When this is done, while I have one final post to make at the end of this week, I will have covered the FiM series released to date. I won't review the latter seasons on their own, but I am still willing to review other aspects of the franchise if I get requests for them. With that out of the way: Rainbow Rocks.

Super Smash Brothers for Nintendo 3DS: Smash ain't no joke

No intro, no more padding. You know what's coming. I've drawn this out enough, time to look at Super Smash Brothers for Nintendo 3DS.

The Hype Train for Smash 4

For a newcomer to this kind of hype train, this was incredible to see. This isn't a review, impressions or anything like that. This is just a reflection on what has been.

E3 2013: This was a weird time to be a Nintendo fan. The Wii U was barely selling and had no system sellers, the 3DS was doing better but still not great and for the first time ever, a first party games company decided not to do a live press conference at E3, instead opting for a Nintendo Direct. The Direct itself, while it had some good titles on it, there wasn't anything we didn't expect. "Oh look a new Mario game" "Oh look a new Zelda", there wasn't anything to really care about... until the finale...

What does 2015 have in store for Blaster's Reviews and Blaster's Projects

Before I begin, thanks for the 1000 page views, I know I don't update this site often, but thats just because I don't have anything to talk about. But even still, thank you, it means alot to see people reading my content on both sites.

With 2015 almost upon us, I think it might be time to talk about some upcoming plans for Blaster's Reviews and Blaster's Projects (though not in as much detail)


For Blaster's Reviews, with some miscellaneous reviews scattered between, there are some marathons planned for the first half of the year:

1. During January, I'll be reviewing 4 Direct to DVD films to which the franchise they're based on has a spot in my heart. BIONICLE: Mask of Light, Legends of Metru Nui, Web of Shadows and The Legend Reborn.
2. To celebrate the 1 year anniversary of the two sites, the Digimon Anime will be reviewed including the films. Do note that most of them will be using the English Dubs.
3. To coincide with the launch of Avengers: Age of Ultron, the Marvel movieverse (not including Guardians of the Galaxy at this time) along with Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D will be reviewed.
4. During July, I will once again be tackling E3, which may mean that there will be a lot of Impressions occupying the space after.

 On top of that, two new review types will be opened up during the course of the year

1. The Retake Reviews: If I or another reader thinks that one of the previous reviews could have been better, I will begin rewriting them and posting a brand new review of them. Imagine it as a sort of "Then and Now" kind of post.
2. Comic book reviews: I've always been curious about Comic books and Blaster's Reviews has given me a excuse to loo into them. These reviews will be reviews of spesific arcs and individual issues, not comic series. For those who don't know, a comic arc is a small "mini story" in a series of comic books where the story flows directly from one comic to another. Two examples of this are "Blackest Night" from the Green Lantern comics (though it is a cross over) and "Genesis" from one of the two comic book series I do follow, the Sonic the Hedgehog comics. These reviews will be dependent on requests and suggestions so feel free to make requests (I don't ignore everyone except the Patreon supporters, you can talk to me, I don't bite) as to what arcs you'd like to see a review of (just give me some basic info like name of the arc, publishers and what series its from).

As for Blaster's Projects, I unfortunately don't have much to say. But what I do have to say is this:

1. How to think like a Game Designer isn't dead and more posts on that will appear, I'm just struggling to find a topic, so feel free to make suggestions.
2. Turnabout Smash: The Project itself is currently halted due to lack of progress on the production for the Prologue and writer's block for Chapter 1 (I know how I want to end it, just not how to get to it). I have plans for Turnabout Smash so that you can still see a form of the project but I am still looking for writers to work with in order to see this project complete. More news on that plan later.
3. Super Smash Brothers: Fan Disagreement: I have nothing to say about this because SSBFD has, to me at least, become Turnabout Smash. I used SSBFD as a base so to me, the two projects are the same.

That's a little taste of what's to come next year, but there is more then that coming. As I said during the comic book discussing, seeing as it applies for all material, I'm open to requests and feedback as you're the ones motivating me to keep writing, to keep improving. Thanks for the support, and enjoy the rest of the year. Tomorrow and Saturday will be finishing off the Week of Smash and then I'm finishing off the MLP reviews with a review of Rainbow Rocks, and my built up Top 20 MLP songs list.

Week of Smash bros.: Top 10: Smash bros. Fighters

Day 3 of my Week of Super Smash Brothers, and what better way then to celebrate the top 10 fighters I've used in the games I've played (again, this excluded Melee). Do note that most of these entries come from Brawl and Smash 4 as they are the two I've played the most. If you see a character here, chances are you'll see me play as them.

Week of Smash Bros.: Super Smash Brothers, Super Smash Brothers Melee and Super Smash Brothers Brawl.

Its surprisng to see just how far the series has come, only 4 (technically 5) games in this series, and its one of Nintendo's guaranteed System Sellers. But just how did it become that? Time to look at Super Smash Brothers for the Nintendo 64, Super Smash Brothers Melee for the Gamecube and Super Smash Brothers Brawl for the Wii.

Week of Smash Bros. Top 20: Super Smash Brothers Remixes

Super Smash Brothers, there's a reason why its one of Nintendo's biggest system sellers, and throughout the course of this week, I'll be posting why. So sit back, and enjoy the Week of Smash.

Super Smash bros has always had great songs playing in the background of stages. and with 618 songs, not including Super Smash Bros for WiiU yet, there's a lot to listen to. I guarantee there will be at least one song that you'll enjoy in these soundtracks, hell, it might be on this list. There are only three rules for this.

1. The song must be in the games themselves (Smash 64, Melee, Brawl or Smash 3DS). I'm going to do a separate list for songs exclusive to Smash WiiU when I get closer to reviewing it (when I can get a copy of the game (at time of writing, just after the ORAS review was published, the game isn't out in Australia). Project M also will not feature in any of these posts due to the lack of PAL version at time of writing. Smashing Live (an orchestrated version of some of the songs from Melee) also doesn't count.

2. The do have to be remixes made for the games (as far as I can tell). If they are game rips, they do not qualify for this list.

3. Goes without saying, they have to be remixes, original compositions for the individual games are also disqualified.

The way these are name shall be:

Eg. Song (Smash bros game) (Franchise it came from): 

as a heads up.

First Impressions: Avengers Age of Ultron

Age of Ultron, the sequel to the box office hit "The Avengers". To say this movie is building up a hype train is a understatement and for good reason. With the success of the first film, how could they top it?

Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire: May the trumpets be herd, for Hoenn's Out

To say that I was hyped for this game is a understatement. With Pokemon posts taking up a decent chunk of the content here, its safe to say that I'm a Pokemon fan and if you've read my review of Ruby, Sapphire and Emerald, then you'll know that I'm a Gen III fan boy. So of course I was excited for Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire (which for the rest of the review shall be referred to as ORAS). After playing it for just over a week, how well does it show off the strengths of Hoenn and how faithful is the remake? Do note, spoilers are plentiful here (unlike the IGN review).

Team Fortress 2: "A World war themed hat simulator" - Valve

What is there to say about Team Fortress 2 that hasn’t been said? If you play First person shooters or have Steam, then you know of this game. It’s one of the few FPS games that doesn’t try to take itself seriously and never has. The trailers, the taunts in game, the weapons, the characters, everything about this game is designed to be comical.

Rant: Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric and Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystals, how the community has treated them

I was going to save this for when I actually reviewed the games but by that point, this ship would have sailed and sunk.

While I will say that I'm proud to be a Sonic fan, I've had my share of entertainment from the series, one of my biggest problems I have with the series is the fans and how they react to new games. When a new game comes out for the series, you either hear praise for it from the fans, or you get everyone saying "this is the end of Sonic games, the franchise is dead" and so on. That second one is the reaction to the two Sonic Boom games, and while I haven't played the games yet, from what I've seen of the games, the "critique" from the fandom is off by a mile.

PSA: Adsense for Blaster's Reviews

When I created Blaster's Reviews, I intended for this to be a long term project that would develop and grow over time. However, for some of its aspects to grow, I do need to earn some money. I've always intended to create video reviews in the future and chose not to do it straight away due to lack of personal equipment (I can rent the equipment, but at the time, I didn't know if this would be successful, I still don't, so I chose not to do it).

I am enabling a feature called "AdSence", a feature that enables advertisements to be displayed on this site once the application is approved. This hopefully won't be permanent, should the application be accepted, but for the time being, its a necessary evil, I know its annoying. Once a reliable option becomes useable, I'll disable the ads, you have my word on that. But until then...

One note on Patreon, considering the main topic, my patreon account still exists and you can find it in the "About me" section to the right. If you do enjoy my content or want to see a specific form of content (it can be anything), Patreon donators will get the priority (though I do read all requests). If you enjoy the content but hate ads, please become a Patreon supporter for the two sites.

Finally, due to the way Adsence is set up, there will not be ads on Blaster's Projects, that remains untouched by this.

Next week is still the Team Fortress 2 review so stay tuned for that

Pokemon Ruby, Sapphire and Emerald versions: Care for a tropical holiday?

On this day in 1995, I was born. On this same day in 2005, I received what would be the first of many games in this series: Pokemon Emerald version. And it is for that reason why I held this review back an extra day, to coincide with the 9th anniversary of me picking my first starter Pokemon.

Pokemon Generation III was a weird time for Pokemon. A large chunk of its fan base left the series as they thought they were to mature for it or they were "Pokemon'd out" due to the last two generations, while at the same time, a brand new wave of fans started to play the series. If you ask any older Pokemon fan, they'll tell you they either came in during the hype of Pokemon Generation I, or during Generation III more often then not. There were people who hated Generation III during its prime, but what about 9-11 years later? As with all my reviews, no nostalgia goggles here, time to pick apart Pokemon Ruby, Sapphire and in particular, Pokemon Emerald version.

As with Generation I and II, the formula for completion is still pretty much the same: Get starter Pokemon, defeat 8 Gym leaders, stop people who are trying to do evil things, defeat the champion and congratulations, you're done. However there are a few new things to this (for their time) along with gameplay that newcomers would find archaic. This is the list of new features from Bulbapedia:

Top 10: The sounds of Pokemon

To make up for not having a post on Wednesday (to be explained later, trust me there's a reason). I figured there should be something to make up for it, so here are my Top 10 Pokemon songs from just the games, but remixes from the anime are allowed. Yes there are a lot of Battle themes here as I prefer those over the other tracks, not that they are bad. Do note that these songs loop so you don't have to see the full video (assuming you actually play these videos...).

10. Battle Gym Leader (Kalos) from Pokemon X and Y

Transformers: Age of Extinction... YOU HAD ONE JOB BAY, ONE F$@#*() JOB!!!

WARNING: This post has been known to cause connection issues due the the large size and large number of images.

Back in June, I did the Transformers Marathon to coincide with the release of Transformers 4: Age of Extinction (Revenge of the Fallen actually coming out the day it was released here). Do I regret the marathon itself? No as it was a learning experience, what I regret is saying that it ties in with Bayformers 4. But I am a man of my word, and I did say that I'd review Age of Extinction. In-case you couldn't tell from the title... let's just say I hoped you like Zeta and Omnicron's review.

Do I even need to explain the plot, as with the other films, while there are slight differences (more here then in prior), they are still the same film. Something happens to the Autobots, Decepticons come back, listen to whiny human character, cut to final battle. But if you want details...

Opinion piece: The concept of True Fear

That is correct, you get two opinion pieces today.

While I do investigate all different kinds of the mediums I review, all different genres, play styles ect, horror isn't one I investigate often. While I have my own personal fears and there are scenes in films that creep me out because they rely on those fears, when a movie, show or game is meant to be scary, I find that I'm even less scared by it. With all the talk about Five nights at Freddy's happening at the moment (maybe a review next year, I'm rarely topical, you should all know that by now), it has given me a chance to ponder the concept of True fear and why I'm not as easily scared by horror.

So what is the difference between horror and "true fear"? For me, its the human factor. The human imagination is powerful and it can scare you more then any movie of show could. What's scarier, a lifeless corpse in a dark hallway, or seeing someone shoot that person while they are alive? When you see a dead body, with blood around him, your mind instantly starts thinking "who did this? How did this person died? What did the killer look like?", it leaves more room for the imagination to take effect, and as such this person without a face seems more terrifying, the illusion itself is scarier then then this person is, and when done well, it can be truly terrifying. That's why I think books do this kind of horror the best because while it can describe the face, the imagination can still alter it, so in reality they still don't have a face, but instead thousands of slightly different faces. Fear of the unknown is a fear shared between most people on this planet, hence why people fear death, hell and the devil, and at a root, the imagination can be a cause.

This concept also lends itself to the concept of the Uncanny Valley, when something looks so realistic that it stops being realistic. As human beings, we're used to seeing common sites in society, we know what a human face looks like as a example. But when robots start being made with human esque aspects to them, human eyes, moving mouths ect. In trying to replicate realism, it actually stops looking realistic. In horror, the concept can be used to scare you. Look at Five nights at Freddy's and Slenderman as examples. If you look at the designs for the anamatronics in the game, they all have that Uncanny Valley aspect to them.

The same can also be said for Slenderman (before taking into account his other... features...). It's no accident that there's no face on him.

There is another aspect that these two concepts share for their games in particular, the shock value. You don't know when and where these characters will show up, and combined with the the atmosphere that the games have, it will get those jump scares out of you. I haven't seen enough of the gameplay of either of them to accommodate for the music (should it exist) but the dark colours, the lack of any other presence, and the lore the games have

For Five nights at Freddy's can be found here for those curious http://www.gameskinny.com/qp4nb/five-nights-at-freddys-lore-hints-you-may-have-missed
And here's the lore for Slenderman (because I've had a hard time finding a source with detail):

A common problem though for shock scares is the lack of subtlety. a patch of blood every hour and a chilling theme is scarier then blood pools every 5 minutes... that I'd hope would be common sense.

Finally, a final excellent tool in horror is the lack of control, the lack of power. An army of zombies isn't threatening when you're a walking tank, that defeats the purpose of horror. The greatest horror monsters have all shared traits with the humanity of the time with their greatest strengths being the lack of strength you have to challenge them, but letting the viewer walk away wondering, questioning "am I really like that?" Even modern characters like the Nolanverse version of the Joker has that aspect to it. If you can master those tools, then you can create something truly terrifying. Until next week for Transformers 4.

Don't be afraid of what comes alive at night :)

 ... Its and old joke, but a good joke...

Why do Bronies and Pegasisters exist?

I believe I speak for a large majority of the world who also don't have a clue as to why this question needs to be asked. There are people who make money off of Youtube trying to answer this question and personally, while I see their opinions as valid takes on the question, I don't think it's the whole answer. Seeing as I've just finished my review of this generation of the series's first film, I might as well throw my opinion into the mix as well. Is this opinion the final answer to the question? Probably not, though I do believe its a step in the right direction. This is a wall of text FYI.

As a forward for those who aren't aware of the term: a "Brony" is a male fan of the My Little Pony franchise in some way. It is a self endowed term that the community gave to itself. Due to a large, and loud, portion of the community being male, the fan base refers to itself as "Bronies". However there is a female equivalent (which I found during the research for this topic, I generally don't like to look to deeply into fandoms due to... distasteful products fan communities have produced) called "Pegasisters" (I swear to Arceus I'm not making this up).

One of the closest takes on the question is this (as a short hand version): the current MLP generation is written as a sitcom and men tend to prefer sitcoms and comedy in general over other genres. There are, however some flaws with that view. Generally speaking, a sitcom generally follows every member of its main group (take for example, The Big Bang Theory, every episode gives each member of its main group a decent amount of air time). One of the biggest hurdles to overcome when putting MLP in with these types of shows is that, while you may see the main cast in each episode, any given episode tends to revolve around a select few of them and the others would only appear if they needed to be. So while it might be a comedy, it isn't a sitcom. The other issue with this view is that it negates the other portion of the fanbase, the intended market.

So why do I think its fanbase is the way it is, a part of it will be explained if you read these:

"Animation is different from other parts. Its language is the language of caricature. Our most difficult job was to develop the cartoon's unnatural but seemingly natural anatomy for humans and animals."

"Animation offers a medium of story telling and visual entertainment which can bring pleasure and information to people of all ages everywhere in the world."

"You're dead if you aim only for kids. Adults are only kids grown up, anyway."

Who was the person who originally spoke these words? Walt Disney. The man spoken of as one of the geniuses of animation, the man behind the most well known animated character in history. This style of thinking is still used in the Disney animation studios (at least, to my knowledge... theory) to this day. There's a reason why people still watch Disney films, regardless of their age: because their films are targeted towards everyone and I believe the same can be said for MLP. When I finally caved into my curiosity, I said to myself "if its anything like what my sister watches, then I'll look into the first 5 episodes at the most (to give the series a fair chance), and move on if it doesn't pursued me to keep looking into it". At the end of the first two episodes I was asking myself "Did they seriously just do that in a show for that audience?". Normally a pilot episode/ episodes are used to shown as concepts as to what the rest of the show is going to be like and while the pilot for MLP is misleading to a degree, it did accomplish its goal of deviating itself from the other children's TV shows (both for boys and girls). As I looked into it more for this review, I started seeing several resemblances to animated Disney films.

Before I go into this point, I want to talk a little bit about Marketing (yes I know its boring, I had to learn it in High School). When your marketing a product for kids, your not only targeting kids, your also targeting their parents. The reason for this is that, more often then not, the parents are going to be the ones to fuel their children's love for the series. For example, I didn't get into Transformers from watching the show, what first got me into is is a birthday present from my parents, which was Transformers Armada Jetfire. From there I discovered the show and the rest is history. The other aspect to targeting parents is this: If a child is watching the show, then the parents will either ignore the show (loosing a possible viewer), the child will either want the parents to watch the show with them (which may make them phase out, loosing quality time with the child) or watch the show with them because they have nothing better to do with their time. If the parent likes the show, then the parent will most likely be inclined to buy the toys based on that show for their child, earning more money for the company. It was probably this trail of thought (in some form) that convinced Hasbro to green light the changes.

This doesn't describe why the team behind the show would decide to make these changes in the first place. And for that, I want to divert your attention to these:

1. "cartoons for girls don't have to be a puddle of smooshy, cutesy-wootsy, goody-two-shoeness" Lauren Faust

2. 

3.

(Yes, I know the videos mostly relates to games, but the concepts still apply for TV shows and film)

So what do these have to do with anything? The first video talks about designing for children and the later points are what I want to bring attention to. "Kids are adults with a lot less experience", contrary to popular belief, children can handle complicated ideas if it is being presented in a way that makes sense for them. I mentioned in my last opinion piece, on how the Transformers have survived for so long, that the stories that have succeed, that will survive the test of time explore complicated ideas while keeping that simplistic theme, one of the reasons for that is because of how younger generations can interpret these concepts. Children can understand more then most would like to admit, the only issue is that they need to be taught these concepts in different ways to others. I want to divert your attention to Avatar: The Last Airbender (and maybe Korra, I haven't watched enough episodes to base the following on Korra though), the series is mature and well constructed, yet all ages can understand its messages because it is written in a way that teaches all ages. I intend to review Avatar later so I'm not going to go into much more detail, stay tuned.

 As for the second video and the quote, it shouldn't be a surprise to anyone that more and more stories are getting darker re-imaginings and, contrary to popular belief, MLP:FiM is a darker re-imagining when compared to its predecessors (from what I've herd). The quote is by Lauren Faust, the concept designer for this current generation, spoke that as a inspiration behind the changes.

"My Little Pony was one of her favorite childhood toys, but she was disappointed that her imagination at the time was nothing like the animated shows, in which the characters, according to Faust, "just had endless tea parties, giggled over nothing and defeated villains by either sharing with them or crying". With the chance to work on My Little Pony, she hoped to prove that "cartoons for girls don't have to be a puddle of smooshy, cutesy-wootsy, goody-two-shoeness"." Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Little_Pony:_Friendship_Is_Magic

Darker doesn't have to mean "grey", for darker can come in all forms, in this case, darker themes. The world that has been crafted for FiM appears to be like nothing seen in the series before (I can't say for certain I haven't seen previous generations and I don't know anyone who has). I mentioned before that marketing likely played a key part in Hasbro greenlighting project, but there is another reason, and ironically it's Michael Bay. With the financial success (sadly I can't argue with that) of the Transformers movies at the time (so the First film, and Revenge of the Fallen) Hasbro was looking to redesign and re-imagine their other brands. Lisa Licht suggested to Lauren Faust that her animation style fitted the MLP series and from there, the rest is history.

Finally, during my investigations in the series, I found a common insult being thrown around, saying that all bronies (in particular) are autistic in some form. As a man who is diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome myself, I find this offensive... but possibly with a shred of truth to it. Now before I have insults and attacks thrown at me, let me explain. A common connection between people who have Asperger Syndrome and Autism is the kinds of shows, film, visual stimulus in a nutshell. People with Aspergers and Autism tend to enjoy "simplistic" shows, simplistic as in facial and tone. A common issue Aspie's and Autistic people have are issues with facial expressions, body language and tones, its why a common issue is sarcasm. While I was analyzing the show and Equestria Girls, I noticed the way the characters behave is simplistic when compared to people of the real world. You know what the characters are feeling as they have simplistic facial expressions and tone. You know when someone's annoyed, scared, happy, bored ect because the simplistic actions, however not so simplistic that its insulting. Again, the way the show is written means that it teaches without forcing the lesson, something that is very hard to do. I released a questionnaire a while ago, but I didn't get enough replies to conclusively prove this theory. Thank you to those who did participate though. I should stress, this does not mean that I think all bronies are Aspie's/ Autistic, this is just to shed some light as to why Aspies and Autistic people might like the show.

So at the end of the day, why do Bronies and Pegasisters exist? There are many reasons, several I haven't addressed in this. However I don't believe it was a accident, I think it was going to happen, but that should say how well its been written. Next Wednesday: Transformers Age of Extinction... but I have something else for today, come back later for a festive post.

My Little Pony: Equestria Girls: "There's nothing funnier than the human animal"

Direct to DVD films are to movies what Shovelware and, specifically, movie tie in are to video games, nothing but a quick cash grab even if the final product is awful. The budget is kept as low as physically possible to make the most profit from fools who were stupid enough to buy it for either themselves or for their families... With the success of the first three seasons along with the success of the other products made based off the show, it makes sense that a movie for My Little Pony would be made. The film itself, titled My Little Pony: Equestria Girls has received mixed reactions amongst the community, there are people who will defend it and others who would destroy it. But how does it fair from someone who looks at it as a movie? Time to review My Little Pony: Equestria Girls.

Top 10 Zones in the Sonic franchise

With the release of the review of Sonic Unleashed, I thought it would be fitting to look at the best zones (in my opinion) from the Sonic series. The rules are simple for this.

1. Sonic Generations levels cannot be included unless it's alongside the original level

2. No game can occupy two spots on the main list (honorable mentions not included)

One final thing before the list is started, no, Green Hill zone or its clones is not on the list. While I enjoy the zone, its overused.

10. Tropical Jungle, Sonic's story (Sonic 06): 

I will always take better execution over ideas. The popular level from Sonic 06 is Crisis City... and the original level was awful due to its poor execution. Bug after bug for the snow board, questionable collision detection (worse in Flame Core) and a Mach Speed Section that almost made me take a sledge hammer to the game. Tropical Jungle may be a worse level in terms of ideas, but it's better execution makes this one of my favorite levels from the game (its not saying much, trust me). Elise as a gameplay mechanic works more often then not and the level design is fun to play. This is the only level in the game that I rarely lost a life in and when I did, it was because of my error and not bugs. I will say though that the level for Rouge and Silver are AWFUL. "When people are getting lost in a Sonic game, there's a problem, A BIG PROBLEM"

9. White Park Zone Act 2 (Sonic 4, Episode II): 

 Just Act 2. While White Park Act 1 is also a great level, I'm not a fan of Act 3 (its a water level, if you've played a platformer, then you'll know why). Yes White Park act 2 is mostly automated, but Sonic has always had a degree of spectacle to his level design and White Park is proof of it. The zone as a whole is gorgeous and Act 2 is the pinnacle of it in my opinion. The carnival theme of the level and the use of the carnival lights is just beautiful. Act 2's music track is also my favorite track in the Sonic 4 series... its catchy...

8. Night Carnival (Sonic Rush): 

I swear this looked good back in 2005... Sonic Rush was a early DS title (same year as the system's launch here) and for the time, it was good. Night Carnival has some of the best, fair level design of the game (I'll go into detail another time but lets just say Dimps's level design is well known in the Sonic community for all the wrong reasons) and its a joy to play through. If I'm going back to Rush, its to either play this or Huge Crisis (that one purely because of Jeh Jeh Rocket... yes that is the name of the track). I love the idea of the light acting as platforms, it could have been executed better, but it still holds its own.

7. Sky Babylon (Sonic Rush Adventure): 

This was the best video I could find, skip to 7:34 for the level

Notice how all the levels made by Dimps are grouped together... Both Sonic Rush and its sequel Sonic Rush Adventure have the gimmick of letting players either play as Sonic or Blaze the Cat, each one behaving similar, but with enough differences to make them both enjoyable. If you're going to play Sky Babylon though, do yourself a favor, play as Blaze, this video should prove to you why. Sky Babylon itself is hard, but I still think its fair as its the second last level in the game, I expect it to be hard. The level itself looks beautiful and its theme is beautiful. Boss is a royal pain though and is without a doubt, the worst part of the level.

6. Rail Canyon and Bullet Station (Sonic Heroes):

Rail Canyon:

 Bullet Station: 

Remember when I said I'll take execution over ideas any day, well to those who say I'm a hypocrite because of these two levels, I say "I didn't have a problem with them". I actually like the concept of Rail grinding in Sonic games, yes it automated, but dam does it look cool. These were the levels I really wanted to see in Sonic Generations as it would have been a nice change of pace when compared to what we did get in the end (seriously, enough with the green hill and city tropes). I'm willing to bet there are some people that are asking "Why do you not find this broken?" and to that, "it's because I didn't know there was a better way to switch rails then jumping with the flight character".

5. Stardust Speedway (Sonic CD):

Yes, the metal Sonic fight is a big reason why this is here, but I also like the level design of Stardust Speedway, its thrilling, the soundtrack for the Japanese version (aside from Sonic Boom, I'm not a fan of the US soundtrack) is a joy to listen to and the level design as a whole, while yes it can be confusing, the golden rule still applies "GO RIGHT". Again though, the Metal Sonic fight helped bump this up as its a fun boss battle.

4. Chemical Plant Zone (Sonic 2 + Sonic Generations):

Sonic 2: 

Sonic Generations: 

What can I say about Chemical Plant that hasn't already been said? Its Chemical Plant Zone, nothing I say would be anything different from the 22 years of praise it has gotten. The reason why its not in the top three isn't because its bad, but because I like the top three just a bit more. I will say though that Act 2 in Generations is one of my favorite acts to replay.

3. Skyscraper Scamper Day (Sonic Unleashed): 

WHY WASN'T THIS LEVEL PICKED? I DON'T CARE HOW GOOD ROOFTOP RUN'S THEME IS, THIS IS THE SUPERIOR LEVEL!!! Sorry... In case you couldn't tell from the review of Unleashed, I love Skyscraper Scamper Act 1, more so then Rooftop Run. While I loved the clock tower in Rooftop Run, running up Skyscrapers, to me, is more awesome. If the two levels would get combined then it would be perfect.

2. Starlight Carnival and Asteroid Coaster (Sonic Colours):

Starlight Carnival: 

Asteroid Coaster:

I'm grouping these two together as they share similar ideas. The thing about Sonic Colours is that there are really only three zones. Tropical Resort (which is very similar to Planet Wisp), Sweet Mountain (and Aquarium Park) and the worst offender of it being Starlight Carnival and Asteroid Coaster... But thankfully, they are still so fun. The main reason for this is Starlight Carnival more so then Asteroid Coaster because Starlight Carnival looks beautiful. The music is beautiful with Asteroid Coaster's being my second favorite set of themes in the game and both zones are fun to play. Sonic Colours was on the Wii, and if this isn't proof that games can still look good aesthetically wise on the Wii, then only one other game has a chance.

And the honorable mentions (in no order)

1. Palmtree Panic (Sonic CD):

2. Death Egg Zone (Sonic 3 & Knuckles):

3. Casino Park/ Bingo Highway (Sonic Heroes):

4. Spring Yard Zone (Sonic the Hedgehog):

5. Rooftop Run (Sonic Unleashed):

1. Speed Highway (Sonic Adventure and Sonic Generations):

Sonic Adventure: 

Sonic Generations: 

 I don't care what you people think, Speed Highway is awesome. I love the three tracks that play in the original level and what they did to the level in Generations is amazing. If you ask anyone I know, they'll tell you I was hyped the moment Speed Highway was confirmed for Generations, and it didn't disappoint. I think Speed Highway is the best Sonic zone I've played because of how much of a thrill it is to play. the platforming still has that sense of speed to it and the thrill moments in the level are real thrills.

Before I get any hate as to why nothing from Sonic Adventure 2... I haven't played that one yet... Feel free to post your thoughts on this, what do you agree with, what makes you hate my guts ect. Next week, not only will the "marathon" continue with My Little Pony: Equestria Girls, but a new opinion piece. As for the topic, well that would be giving something away wouldn't it?

Sonic Unleashed: UNLEASH THE KRATHOG!!!

2006-2007 is a part of a time most Sonic fans would rather forget. Sonic hit rock bottom at that point and his 15th anniversary was "celebrated" with disgust. There was Sonic Riders; which is probably the best Sonic game released at the time, Sonic Genesis; put it this way, a fan actually made a rom called "Sonic 1 on GBA done right", don't believe me? http://www.sonicstadium.org/2008/08/finally-sonic-1-on-gba-done-right/ . SONIC the Hedgehog (more commonly referred to as Sonic 06), which is one of the two contenders for the title "Worst Sonic game ever made", Genesis being the other, and Sonic and the Secret Rings for the Wii early in its life cycle (and that should be all you need to know on it). That time period was so bad for the franchise that another bomb would kill the franchise permanently.

Hidden reviews: The Bookworm

Don't expect these to come out often. As a part of my course work, I wrote a review of a play I worked on a few weeks ago. If this kind of medium is enjoyed, then I'll try and do more and make it a constant review type if I can. Understand though I have a low budget for this site at the moment so don't expect plays and musicals to appear often. 

When most people think of a play, they normally think of shows that go for several hours, standard 5 act structure ect. Short plays aren't common as most people don't think its worth the investment nowadays, combined with the domination of the musical, and you have a structure that is few and far between. However there are times when less is better and the short play The Bookworm is evidence of it.

So what's the story of The Bookworm? You know the stories of medium addiction? the stories of people becoming so invested in some sort of medium that they can no longer tell the difference between what is fiction and what is reality, this is one of those stories. The story focuses on the character Paige Turner (its not the worst pun name I've herd) as the play delves into her back story as to why she is the way she is, so obsessed with literature, with stories, that she can't tell the difference between stories, not even her own. The writing always has that dark overtone to it as a result of the concept and the character.

The set has that feeling of "done on a budget" but never in a way where it becomes obvious. The set makes use of the venue's limitations well and you do feel like you're in this woman's home...room as I doubt she's seen a hallway in some time. The set has more books in it then I've seen almost anywhere (not including libraries). And with the primary lighting being standard lamps, it adds to the cozy, yet creepy feeling that the play itself uses. 

The writer of the play, Belinda Campbell, acts as Paige Turner for this and it shows just how thought out the character is. Campbell can pull of the character perfectly, further adding to that cozy yet creepy feeling. There are points where the script can get scary in a disturbing way simply because of how well the character is portrayed, the voice the character has, the movement on stage, its beautiful in a disturbing way.

If you have a chance to see it (should it ever get shown again), I would recommend seeing it, its short but worth it.

Mini Project: How to be a Game Designer Part 1: Structure and the mind

Every now and then, I hear people ask "how can I be a game designer?" with a conversation that tends to lead to more and more questions. Combine that with a large portion of fan games not having a competent game designer, if not one at all, I thought I'd try and lend a hand with it. Every now and then I'll be posting to here a few tips and tricks I taught myself, and the way I approach my reviews. I should note, this fist post is going to be a long one and may ruin people's ability to enjoy games and to that, I'm sorry. If you're still curious, lets begin.

The first thing that needs to be covered is the best tool at any person's disposal if they want to work in IT, and even other fields: the Problem Solving Methodology. Whenever you're designing anything, you should always keep this tool in mind. The Problem Solving Methodology is devided into 4 parts:

Note: System= any form of hardware/ software

1. Analysis: What is your problem? how is it caused? Before you do anything, you must know what it is you're going to do, analyze every aspect of the problem. Analysis is what this part is going to primarily focus on.
2. Design: before you even boot up a piece of development software. Design your system. Have a physical copy of your design documents which should have everything to do with the project, including testing and evaluation requirements (more on that later). Your final product may look nothing like what you design, which is fine, but you shouldn't be designing it on the fly.
3. Development: The "fun" part, making your system. Your code, your renders, this is when you get to finally see your project take shape. One thing though I can't stress enough, TEST EVERYTHING! this isn't the time to use your testing and evaluating requirements, you're job in this phase is to make sure your system works, not if it does its job. Your testers see if it does its job and your testers should not have any hand in the development of the system (as in they shouldn't be working on it, their job is to test, not make). You are actually the worst person to test your system as you know how its supposed to work.
4. Evaluation: So your system is out to the public, now is the time to bring out your evaluation documents. After your system has been in the public for some time (a good base is six months after release), you need to look at the public feedback, see how its being used, the common errors people have, find more problems and go back to analysis.

The big thing to remember when working in the IT industry is "Fail Faster". Every fail costs you money, but it also makes your system better. The later into development your failures show up, the harder it is to fix and the more it costs. Fail faster, don't be afraid to fail, it happens. Its better to fail during the design phase then it is to fail in the development and evaluation phases.

So now you have those tools in mind, now its time to play some games... but if your a designer, you not playing them just to have fun, you're analyzing them. You always have to ask yourself "Why did they do this?" "What would it be like if it was like this?". Remember, everything in a game is done for a reason.

Here's a small exercise. I want you to play a game, any game of your choice, for this example, I'm going to use Pokemon Red and Blue versions. Once you've selected a game to play, set yourself a point to finish analyzing, for this example I'm going to go up to (and include) Pewter City, though you can go as far as you want to. Now in Pokemon Red and Blue, during that time, what can and can't you do?

1. You get the opening intro.
2. You can choose the name of your character.
3. You can choose the name of your rival.
4. You can get a free potion from the PC.
5. You are given a basic guide of the controls.
6. You cannot go into tall grass.
7. You are given your starter Pokemon.
8. You are introduced to the battle system (when you battle your rival).
9. You are introduced to NPC's.
10. You are introduced to Tall Grass and wild encounters.
11. You are introduced to the Pokemon Centre and Pokemart.
12. You are introduced a Gym you can't enter.
13. You are given the Pokedex.
14. You can choose to have another rival battle.
15. You can choose to be taught how to use a Pokeball.
16. You are introduced to dungeons.
17. You are introduced to eye contact.
18. You are introduced to Trainer classes.
19. You are introduced to type match up.
20. You are introduced to "loot".
21. You are introduced to Pokemon Gyms.
22. You are introduced to the concept of Fossils.
23. You are introduced to Gym Badges.
24. You are introduced to the concept of TM's and (hinted at) HM's.

Once you have a list of introductions, now its time to ask why and if needed, how?

Note: these are basic investigations on the matter, the more complicated analysis you can provide, the better. I'm just using minimalistic as a example.

1. Why is there a opening intro? To get people excited to play the game and provide some basic knowledge of the game for first time players.
   
2. Why can you choose the name of your character? To make Red the link between the player and the game, so that the player can feel that its them doing these tasks and not another character.
   
3. Why can you choose the name of your rival? To make the game feel more unique. It's your adventure, not another's.
   
4. Why can you get a free potion from the PC?To reward and encourage exploration along with introducing the player to PC storage.
   
5. Why are you given a basic guide of the controls and how? You are never told how to, you are encouraged to look. When you are told, its hidden away to give players a chance to figure it out for themselves, making the tutorial a more rewarding experience.
   
6. Why are you denied from going into tall grass? To ensure you get your starter Pokemon, giving you access to the combat mechanics.
   
7. Why are you given your starter Pokemon and why can you choose what your starter is? To introduce players to the concept of Pokemon and to give players a stronger bond to the Pokemon, to act as the first step in the player thinking of them as a friend, a partner more so then a tool.
   
8. Why are you introduced to the battle system (when you battle your rival)? To allow for players to grasp the basics required to make it through the game and to build up a rival in their minds, more so then just allowing the game to tell them "he's a rival".
   
9. Why are you introduced to NPC's? To help encourage exploration and to make the world feel more alive.
   
10. Why are you introduced to Tall Grass and wild encounters? To help enforce the skills learned in the Rival battle before introducing the player to the catching mechanic along with showing players places where they can find wild Pokemon.
    
11. Why are you introduced to the Pokemon Center and Pokemart? To introduce the player to the different kinds of buildings and what buildings you should be looking for in new cities and towns.
12. Why can you not enter the Gym in Viridian City? Foreshadowing for the plot
    
13. Why are you given the Pokedex? To give the player a in game way of tracking all the different kinds of Pokemon.
    
14. Why can you choose to have another rival battle? It is a reward, adding to the intensives to explore before you get to the first dungeon.
    
15. Why can you choose to be taught how to use a Pokeball? To allow players who know how to catch a Pokemon to skip it while giving the players who don't know how to the intensive to ask NPC's, adding to the exploration.
    
16. Why are you introduced to dungeons? To introduce players to the concept of the game's mazes, along with Trainer battles and introduce the concept of them before taking off the "training wheels" in Mt Moon.
    
17. Why are you introduced to eye contact? To allow players the chance to avoid trainers and showing them how far they can see the player, where their blind spots are.
    
18. Why are you introduced to Trainer classes? To encourage the player to use a variety of Pokemon, as each class uses different kinds of Pokemon.
    
19. Why are you introduced to type match up? To hint to the player that each Pokemon has weaknesses, encouraging the player to investigate each Pokemon's strengths and weaknesses and hint to the player to have different kinds of Pokemon on them at all times.
    
20. Why are you introduced to "loot"? To introduce the player to the item system and to encourage exploration.
    
21. Why are you introduced to Pokemon Gyms now? To introduce the player to the concept of "boss battles" and provide a ideal point for the player to be at in terms of levels.
22. Why are you introduced to the concept of Fossils? To foreshadow the event in Mt Moon and eventually the Fossil revival system.
    
23. Why are you introduced to Gym Badges? To show the player how to progress to new areas in the game, because you cannot leave Pewter City without Brock's Badge.
    
24. Why are you introduced to the concept of TM's and (hinted at) HM's? To show the player another way to teach their Pokemon new moves.

That's a analysis of the first three routes, dungeon and towns/ cities in the game, and where I end this for now. But as a fun activity, either use your list or the one I provided here and imagine what the game would be like if something was changed or removed, imagine how it would have effected the game.

Kirby Triple Deluxe: Nintendo does have more then one Platformer mascot

Yeah, contrary to popular belief, there are actually more Platformer mascots from Nintendo that aren't Mario. For clarification, a Platformers is a gameplay style, often seen as very arcade in nature as it is getting from point A-B while jumping over obstacles, its the father of Parkour in short.

With every new Nintendo console, you're going to get your staple franchises. You're going to get your new Mario (sometimes 2 in the case of the WiiU), you're going to get your new Zelda, your new Mario Kart and your new Smash bros (I'll get to that one later), Kirby is one of the franchises you don't hear a lot of because it either gets very little publicity or it appears closer to the end of the console's cycle. Kirby didn't get a main series game on the Gamecube (instead we got Kirby's Air Ride) and didn't appear on the Wii until Kirby's Epic Yarn. Portable consoles have been kinder to Kirby as we got 4 Kirby games for the DS. During the wait for Smash 4, Nintendo was kind enough to release Kirby Triple Deluxe, the pink puffball's first appearance on the 3DS (that doesn't include the Virtual Console), how does it compare to its predecessors? Time to see just how big his black hole of a stomach is this time.

To Boldly Flee: Because everyone hates plot holes

The year is 2012, Doug Walker has decided to stop writing Nostalgia Critic episodes, but not without leaving on a high note. The team still has a anniversary to release, and what better way to finish the character then with a 3 and a half hour long sci-fi movie. Time to, for the last time, re enter this world, To Boldly Flee.

So how does one go from... whatever you call Kickassia, to medieval in the form of Suburban Knights and then To Boldly Flee? Well...

Suburban Knights: When a sequel isn't really a sequel

What's the first rule of a sequel... more often then not its keeping the same theme as the first film. One year after the release of Kickassia, the Channel Awesome team bring out a new film that... somehow connects to Kickassia (in other ways besides mentions). The hunt is on for a power of old, time to delve into fantasy with Suburban Knights.

Disclaimer: I know its not the cover, I couldn't find a good image of the cover

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Seasons 1-4... This is going to be a long week...

When I started this reviews site, I knew this would come up sooner or later. This is one of the reviews that I’m not sure how it’s going to be taken, not by fans of the show or by you who read this, but by people I know in real life. This is also something that I have quite a bit to say so this is one of the reviews that are going to be spread over several posts (five to be precise). I am willing to review other aspects of the franchise at a later time if I get the request for them, especially while I look to see what sticks and what doesn’t. But until then, let’s get this underway, to whatever it gets, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Seasons 1-4.

Disclaimer: No, I am not a Brony and I'm definitely not a Pegasister (though I'm hoping that last one is obvious...)

I would insert a cover here, but I couldn't find a good one so...

Mario Karts 7 and 8: Time to burn rubber again... and again...

With every new Nintendo console, we are guaranteed a new Mario Kart at some point. From its debut on the SNES, Mario Kart is one of Nintendo's safe console sellers with every iteration managing to push units. While I said I was going to do just Mario Kart 8 (even though I still lack a Wii U, thank you to EB games Swanston Street for having the full version available to play), if you're familiar with the Mario Kart iterations, you'll see why I'm grouping Mario Kart 7 for the 3DS in this review as well. Time to hit the track.

Batman Assault on Arkham: I never thought I'd see people breaking into Arkham...

It has been 75 years since Batman first appeared to the world. One the two mascots of DC Comics and one of the most well known superheroes of this day an age thanks to the overall success of his appearances in other mediums (including the Adam West TV show nowadays, the animated TV shows including Batman the Animated series, Batman Beyond and Justice League, the Nolan films (in particular The Dark Knight but I'll save that one for latter) and the Arkham games) it isn't surprising that DC would want to celebrate it somehow. Several animations have been released this year to celebrate the anniversary including the one below...

and the subject of this review: Batman Assault on Arkham. Time to let the Rouges out, the madhouse is open.

The Lego Movie: No I WILL NOT sing that song

While I can’t speak for everyone, I wish that there was more stop motion animation. I applaud people who go out of their way to make high quality stop motion animation and use the style to their advantage along with the material. Why do I say this, because Lego is generally the standard Stop Motion material as people tend to make their sets, characters and props out of Lego, because its so easy to do (in comparison to other stop motion styles like using Transformers toys). Movies made by Lego on the other hand are... forgettable for the most part. I only know of five other Lego movies, one of which I couldn’t name off the top of my head to save my life. To my knowledge, all of Lego’s films have been direct to VCR/DVD/Blu-ray and none of have come to or launched at a cinema (at least not where I live...)... until The Lego movie. So how does the Lego movie hold up?

Pokemon Zeta and Pokemon Omnicron: Don't you just love fan games?

Forward: I’ll be changing the format of this review slightly because I couldn’t phrase is any other way. This review is also very long, one of the longest I've written so far.

Ah fan games, a small portion of the gaming community that is more often than not shunned. Fan games are exactly what the term sounds like, their unofficial games based on franchises made by fans of said franchise. I’ve played a few fan games over the years, mostly Sonic games which have been, more often than not, quite good. However I haven’t had a lot of luck with Pokémon fan games. While I have played a few, the ones I remember are Pokémon Quartz version, which I barely got into, Pokémon Platnium for the Gameboy Advance, where I found a game breaking bug that meant I stopped playing it, a few rom hacks like Blaze Black (which I recommend if you want that harder challenge) and Snakewood (a rom hack of Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald where Hoenn is infested with zombies...not as good as it sounds, trust me) and recently, Pokémon Zeta (alternate version being Pokémon Unicron Omnicron), which as you know, is the subject of this review. I will openly say that I haven’t finished the game, and I do acknowledge that some of the points brought up in this review could be a result of the development software used, RPG Maker. The game itself is also in “Open Beta” so there is a strong chance these issues could be resolved in the future.  For the purpose of this review, I played the Open Beta 1.4.9 and I will be bringing up comparisons to the main series due to the nature of this game being a fan game.

Another rant: "Parents" against video game

Ever since I wrote the rant on the R18+ rating in Australia, I've been doing some more research in the matter, and to say that my findings disgust me is a understatement. I know I said that I'd never do this kind of rant again but this is something that truly deserves it. While I'll be focusing on one particular group, do note that this is also targeted towards any other similar group. The target for this is @MomsAgainstGam, A Twitter group of American and Canadian parents who are obsessed with the, at times, destruction of violent video games. I'm not going to go into all their points because when I read any post on their site, I feel like I'm loosing more and more brain cells that could be used on something that isn't atrocious. As usual, I'm not holding back any punches for this. If anyone wants to argue any of these points, feel free to get in contact with me. Anywhere you see a link to this site with the username of the person posting being some variation of my user name here "Liam Blaster Sanders" is normally me.

I'm pretty much going to be looking at each of the arguments that's being presented at time of writing (25/8/2014). If that's not something you want to read and your not associated with these kinds of groups, leave now.

1. Before I get into the overarching points: YouTube commentators. These people are attacking Youtube content producers such as JonTron and PewDiPie because "there's nothing sadder then watching someone play a video game". Do you people stop and think about what your typing? Seriously? Because I can ask the exact same question about professional sports players. What's the difference in watching people play a video game and people playing any sport? Its the same thing, the only difference is that one of them is becoming a common medium of entertainment and the other is currently a common medium of entertainment. Your attacking people who enjoy making people laugh, who make money off of their own content. These people are entrepreneurs and comedians. Lets plays are also a way of advertising for video games: If people enjoy watching someone play a game, they are more inclined to play that game as its a more reliable form of marketing then a normal review (hypocritical considering the content of this site but the point still stands). Are these people for everyone? No, everyone has different tastes, the same as TV shows.

2. Minecraft is a violent video game. I'm still recovering from the bruising on my forehead because of how hard I slammed my head on the nearest wall. With the amount of people playing Minecraft, you people should feel ashamed of this misconception. For the .01% of people who have never heard of the game, Minecraft is a open world sandbox game, where your free to build whatever you want to build. This is why I slammed my head against a wall several times because Minecraft has been given the nickname "THE VIRTUAL LEGO GAME". If your going after Minecraft, then your also going after other creative medium. Yes there are monsters in the game that you do need to kill (for the most part), but this is because of the game's survival mode, WHERE YOU NEED TO DO WHATEVER YOU CAN TO SURVIVE AND THRIVE. Are their guns in the game? If you mod the game, but its not in the vanilla game. Are their builds out their that are inappropriate? Yes because someone decided to build it. That's not the game's fault. I also want to bring attention to this post chain ( https://twitter.com/dankmtl/status/503750987837095936/photo/1 ) because this pretty much summaries the misconceptions about the game. Fans of the show My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic will also notice the error in the image. I looked up Tara Strong's career as a voice actor, and the funny thing is about this (almost certainly fake screen capture because it's easy to edit your name on a iPhone) photo, Tara Strong never voiced the character "Rainbow Dash" in the show. She is a voice actor, but of the character "Twilight Sparkle", something that took me all of 20 seconds to find. Want to know what also took me no time to look up? Minecraft being used in education, helping children learn skills that will help them in society, or how about Computercraft and qCraft? Mods that are raising the next generation of computer programers and Quantum physicists. How about all the marvelous, gorgeous builds that people have built in the game, from small shacks, to gigantic cities. From a simple target practice mini game to roller coasters and adventure maps. Or how about all the fan made mini games you can find on Minecraft Relms? Survival games, capture the wool, spleef.

3. The assault on "White male gamers" and gamers in general. While I will openly admit that the behavior of most of the people who reply to post and the account in general is disgusting, the people that their using to highlight their point is a small minority (that are unfortunately the loudest). Yes, the gaming community has people that I'd be ashamed of knowing personally. But that's not the community. Gamers are also (for the most part) nerds in general so these kinds of attacks are going after everyone who classifies themselves as geeks or nerds. I am personally insulted by these people because its people like this Twitter group that makes me not want to be apart of the real world. Its these kinds of people that have bullied me since I've gone to kindergarten. They say that they are "afraid of white male gamers", the last time I checked, the dictionary definition of fear wasn't "to provoke a particular audience to prove a point". I ask you, to the people who are afraid of gamers, to the ones who say that "Parents who spawn white male gamers are little different from producers of biological weapons.", go to a nerdy event. Go to a gaming convention, a tournament, even a small club and see what these "terrifying" white male gamers are really like. Anyone can be someone their not when their hiding behind a keyboard and monitor. Most gamers actually hate the kind of people your promoting, we're ashamed of those people because they give fuel to people like you. You want to know what "Gamers" are actually doing? They are the ones making games memorable, the Smooth McGrooves and the Glitch City's who make our favorite game songs even better, the Extra Credits and Game Theories who analyze games, to find out where they falter and where they thrive. They are the ones who help charities like Child's Play and TLC for kids who help make children's lives better when they are in hospitals thanks to video games. The Sonic-a-thon, a marathon of Sonic games, played by sonic fans, earned over $20,000 dollars for Child's play, none of the commentators got a cent of that money. they are the aspiring developers who, like the developers of today and in the past, will expand the medium. Gamers are not the people your promoting, what your promoting are nothing more the trolls and griefers.

4. Violent video games. From what I've read, you people define EVERY GAME AS VIOLENT (something that I know no one actually thinks because I'm willing to bet that you've played at least a game in your lives). You people think that "People who play Mario games are violent and are encouraged to take drugs", "That Pokemon and Sonic encourage animal cruelty", "That every person who plays racing games are reckless drivers", "That every gamer plays Call of Duty and GTA". Hell, why not go further: Kirby encourages cannibalism, Phoenix Wright is nothing but violence, Mass Effect promotes same sex relationships, Samus is oversexualised. Let me just rip all these arguments apart, shall I?

a. Mario games are violent and are promoting drug use: I DON'T KNOW ANYONE WHO THINKS THAT JUMPING ON PEOPLE, RUNING INTO THEM WITH THE POWER OF A STAR, THROWING BOUNCING FIREBALLS AND SHELLS ARE ACTUAL WAYS OF KILLING PEOPLE. No one can jump high enough to seriously hurt anyone and if they fall, they themselves are going to be just as hurt as the intended victim. The Starman power is impossible including the ability to throw bouncing fire. Shells might, at the most, break a bone but they can't die from one. As for the "drug use", the intended market for the games wouldn't know that a Mushroom could be a drug and the game actually promotes eating healthy mushrooms (trust me, it works).

b. Pokemon and Sonic encourage animal cruelty. I'll answer Sonic first as that's the shorter of the two. If your familiar with the early games in the series, then you'll know that YOU'RE FREEING ANIMALS FROM THE ROBOT, NOT SHOVING THEM IN, in fact, this promotes anything but animal cruelty. As for Pokemon, the intention of the games is to encourage a bond between you and your Pokemon. If people do think that it promotes animal cruelty, then their forgetting the core reason of the game. The game was based on bug catching, a hobby of the game's director Satoshi Tajiri, and with the latter features of the games (including Pokemon Amie which is literally putting Pokemon into Nintendogs, a game that if you say has any negative repercussions then you really need to rethink your life) helps encourage a bond between you and your Pokemon. I still have several Pokemon I caught in my original play through of the first Pokemon game I ever owned, Pokemon Emerald because I'm attached to them.

c. Every person who plays any form of racing/ driving game is a reckless driver. You're pathetic if you actually think this. I shouldn't have to rip this argument apart because if this was true, then the population wouldn't be anywhere near as big as it is. This is just stupidity talking rather then actual fact. People are more willing to take risks in a video game because their isn't any real danger when comparing video games to reality.

d. Every gamer loves GTA and Call of Duty. Two words. I don't. I've barely played GTA because I couldn't get Vice City to work on my previous laptop and I couldn't be bothered trying again. I might play 5 someday but it isn't on my priority list. As for Call of Duty, I hate it, I think its overrated and that there are better First Person Shooters out their because they don't try to hide the fact that they are retextures (this is based on my experiences with COD 4, Modern Warfare 2 and Black Ops).

e. Kirby promotes Cannibalism. KIRBY HAS INFINITE FLIGHT, YOU CAN FLY OVER ALMOST EVERY "ENEMY" IN THE GAMES. And the same as Mario, unless people have developed the ability to inhale creatures like a vacuum cleaner and replace their stomach's with a Black Hole, no one should think this is a valid way of killing someone or something.

f. Phoenix Wright promotes murder. Yes, because its a murder mystery story. Your trying to figure out why they died and make sure that the person who actually did do it is sent to jail.

g. Mass Effect promotes same sex relationships. What I want to know is why people think this is a problem. Same sex couples shouldn't have to deal with what they have to deal with now. The only problem with this is that people think that same sex couples are the devil incarnate and the entire problem is because of what should realistically be nothing at all.

h. Samus is oversexualised. The actual statement is that Samus, without her power armor is oversexualised. Aside from spin off games, Metroid Zero Mission and Metroid Other M, when you see and play as Samus, she's in her armor, the armor that made every person who played the original Metroid game think she was a guy. The oversexualising of female characters is a actual issue with games, I will admit this, and the only reason why this is the case is because of the old ways of development and design. In my personal opinion, if your complaining about the main character, weather its because they are oversexualised or because they are a specific gender, then your not getting the point of the character. The point of the playable character is to be the link between the player and the game, the playable character should be designed based on what the rest of the game is and if it means that they are a specific gender, WHO CARES. I don't care what gender the character is, all that I care about is "does the design match the world" and if it does, great.

5. Violent video games. VIDEO GAMES ARE NOT TOYS, VIDEO GAME DEVELOPERS ARE NOT TOY MAKERS. Everything I would say in this I've already covered in my last rant so I'm not going to bring it up again. What I am going to do is show you this:

And say this to prove a point: going back to the sports example (using American Football and AFL as a example). Why is it that people think its fine for kids to watch grown men beet up fellow players for what is realistically pieces of rubber stitched together and filled with air and then encourage or make their kids play those games, but its suddenly a crime when they need to stab a rat to make it through a sewer? Why is it ok for people like Michael Bay to destroy Chicargo, complete with racial stereotypes, but wrong for me to build something in Minecraft, fill it with TNT and see it blow up? What is the difference? Why can films and TV shows bloom as a artistic medium but Video games must always be for kids? Is it just something that I'm missing, some core aspect of artistic mediums that Video games don't have. Oh wait, that's it, its RESPECT. Their are people that respect the medium, know its potential and want to see it bloom into something that no other mass medium can do. But its groups like these that hold us back because of that old stigma of "video games only being for kids", that's pathetic. As i said before, you could argue every game is violent or praises something negative to children, that's when you have to be actual parents and teach them.

Finally, Video games addiction. How insensitive can you people be. Aside from the fact that the actual term is Video Games Compulsion, you people are making it out to be the equivalent of drugs and alcohol and while that might be the case for some, for most people its, once again, thanks to people like you, along with gamers in several cases, that are the reason why it exists and for you to be stating that "You know the answer" is atrocious. These videos are probably the best summary of the actual situation.

I'm not going to do a final summary of this, I don't think I have to. All that I will say is this. If you read this, please spread this. I'm not saying that just for more views, in fact that's not even my priority for this. The reason why I say this is so that people who think the thoughts I've attacked can see these, so that people can actually learn. Its thoughts like this that have brought out the absolute worst in humanity before. To the people who think that the destruction of violent video games is the best way of stopping these problems. read these:

• “The burning of a book is a sad, sad sight, for even though a book is nothing but ink and paper, it feels as if the ideas contained in the book are disappearing as the pages turn to ashes and the cover and binding--which is the term for the stitching and glue that holds the pages together--blacken and curl as the flames do their wicked work. When someone is burning a book, they are showing utter contempt for all of the thinking that produced its ideas, all of the labor that went into its words and sentences, and all of the trouble that befell the author . . .” ― Lemony Snicket, The Penultimate Peril 
• “Books can not be killed by fire. People die, but books never die. No man and no force can abolish memory... In this war, we know, books are weapons. And it is a part of your dedication always to make them weapons for man's freedom.”
  ― Franklin D. Roosevelt 
• “If people wrote their reviews on paper and put them into a real, physical library, I am sure that the Goodreads administrators would be very reluctant to pull them down from shelves and burn them. When you can get rid of a piece of writing just by clicking on a few links, there’s a temptation to believe that it’s less serious. But it isn’t. It’s just less clear what you’ve done.”
  ― G.R. Reader, Off-Topic: The Story of an Internet Revolt  
• "Once, long ago, A great man said this to his colleagues, to remind them that killing an idea was as much a sin as killing a man. 'for books are not absolutely dead things, but do contain a potency of life in them to be as active as that soul was whose progeny they are; nay, they do preserve as in a vial the purest efficacy and extraction of that living intellect that bred them. I know they are as lively, and as vigorously productive, as those fabulous dragon’s teeth: and being sown up and down, may chance to spring up armed men. And yet, on the other hand, unless wariness be used, as good almost kill a man as kill a good book: who kills a man kills a reasonable creature, God’s image; but he who destroys a good book, kills reason itself, kills the image of God, as it were, in the eye.' If that's true of books, can it not be said ten fold regarding games?"
  -- Daniel Floyd, Extra Credits: Free Speach
• Man has always been afraid of the unknown, of change. What man might see as negative, they will want to eradicate, to keep things the same, even if what they might think is change isn't change at all. I once saw a swastika in one of their posts, trying to connect it, the once symbol of peace that is now used to remind people of the horrors of war, of the men and woman killed because they were Jewish. How ironic that the symbol that they are trying to shove on a entire interactive medium actually better represents the people themselves and not their target.
  -- Myself, Liam "Blaster" Sanders, in this post

To the people who are, like me, just as angry at these kinds of people. If your going to attack them, don't give them the fuel they need. When you go after them cursing, swearing ect, your helping them prove their point. These people are like fires, give them the fuel they need and they'll keep doing this. Debate them though, fight them with intelligence and they won't have the fuel they need.