iTunes being helpful; I have purchased 2 albums today, which have convinced me to blog again – these releases being Neighbourhoods and Artificial Heart.

Neighbourhoods
Blink-182 are masters of the toilet humour pop punk. I dare you to find a finer 3 minutes of pop-punk than Anthem. You can’t, it can’t be topped, it can’t be re-done, and the only direction to go is forward. Which is good then, because Blink have not gone back – they’re not trying to ape past successes. 

Anyway, there are billions of reviews on the internet; I’ll just give the short version: Tom DeLonge is some special kind of insane now, his bright outlook on life completely gone, and he has no concept of subtlety. He never did; as lyrics such as “need a job just to sleep in sheets” prove. However, now that his subject matter is far more serious and filled with metaphor, his writing isn’t subtle and complex enough. However, despite his taste taking a turn for the odd and overambitious, he can still write a damn fine chorus; as Wishing Well proves.

Hoppus’ lyrics fare slightly better, he’s always been the more emotional side of Blink, with Tom usually taking toilet humour, until he decided to grow up in the most adolescent way possible. Two Hoppus fronted songs: Heart’s All Gone and Kaleidoscope show his more nuanced (lyrical) style, and keep that blink-182 dynamic intact.

I’ll keep this short – there are a billion reviews of Neighbourhoods on the internet, and just give my opinion. Blink are back – and this is brilliant. They may not be as good, and they never will, but they can still write some good songs – and I’m all the happier for it.

Artificial Heart
Still listening to it – but bloody hell Jonathan Coulton’s great. It’s no wonder TMBG’s own Flans has taken him under his producer’s wing. I’m still listening to it – it is a brilliant pop album. Nothing more, nothing less, and that’s exactly what you want. 18 tracks, 47 minutes, only one passing the 3:00 mark (and that’s a cover of his old classic – Still Alive). It keeps the hits coming thick and fast – and the addition of a full band brings an amazing new dimension to JoCo’s sound, fits perfectly naturally.

Just, BUY IT.

That’s all, perhaps I’ll blog again soon.

Part 2 of these blogs. And that’s right. This is Ninja Gaiden 3. Everyone watched the trailer? Good. We shall begin with a preface: 

I’m a big motherfuckin’ fan of the original Ninja Gaiden. This is also a giant lie. I am a fan of Ninja Gaiden Black. The franchise has had a long and storied history that we do not need to concern ourselves with. However, this game (and it’s predecessor, but Black really refined the formula) is, quite possibly, my favourite game of all time. It will never be topped. It will never be kicked off this pedestal. You see, I’m a young man, and it hit me at just the right time, every game I play now is viewed by my jaded, cynical eyes. It had an amazing fight engine, and made me give a shit about high scores. It also had a terrible camera, the worlds most confusing city, a non existent insane story – and fucking ghost fish. And an (obviously) atrocious water level.

Also, it was fucking hard.

So, faced with creating a sequel, a certain insane 13 year old was faced with the question: how to make a sequel? His choice: more. More blood, more gore, more enemies, more insanity. He even managed to fit more breasts in. And more crazy bosses. And even more GOD DAMNED GHOST FISH. It was not as good as Black, certainly in parts it was more ‘fun,’ and the new weapons were amazing – but it just wasn’t as tight an experience. However, I’d say it was a worthy sequel, and whilst I didn’t get into re-playing and karma running in the same way, it was a game that got that franchise right.Which brings us up to this.

At least they've learned to design clothed females.

I’m not going to be one and say that the previous games were flawless. In fact, they had significant flaws. And they’ve changed things that are for the better – the woman featured in the trailer seemed to wear clothes, which is great. Some may say that Itagaki’s blatant objectification was a flaw of those game. However, Not being serious enough was not one of the flaws. Why yes, the stories were non-existent, they did not need to be existent. You had a ninja. He had a sword. People died in a brilliant way. End formula. When I’m killing a Japanese Cockney(?) anti-ninja trooper, I do not need wish to feel guilt for it. Actually, that’s not true – making the player feel guilt in a game is a powerful tool, something that can be used to improve the emotional impact of a video games, and subverting expectations.

Ninja Gaiden is not the venue for it. The core of that series is scoring you on your ability to cut fools up. Attempting to make you feel guilt for that very action is merely going to turn people away. It’s not playing to the strengths. I am all for games which explore morality. I am all for games where fools get cut. But putting them together (especially in what looks like poor poor cutscenes) will devalue the combat. There are ways to do this well – I hear Gears of War 3 has this kind of thing, getting to a more emotional story. But just, with everything I’ve heard, after so much love for this series, there is no better way to say it:

I am very worried about Ninja Gaiden 3.

Okay, I think just under a month is enough time to recover from Spy Kids 4D. Well, not really, I don’t think I’ll ever be the same, but I should press on and create some form of post for this website that I technically ‘own.’

Basically, I’ve been switching computers, my laptop isn’t really capable of the video editing that was going on before, and that’s why you’ve seen pretty much everything stop. However, on the completion of Torchwood, I’m sure I’ll do some kind of written reaction to it. It definitely looks like this shall be going back to the written word, and I’m sure when I’m able, I’ll be making videos when I can.

But – I”m really busy! Back to College, (as the title suggests, I am indeed down with ‘the kids’) UCAS stuff, all the kind of fun fun fun fun fun things, that I know will definitely impact my future greatly. Also, Doctor Who is back, and it’s crumbling under the weight of Steven Moffat’s misguided, polt-hole ridden ambitions, being carried by those which struggle to act too well. And one note on Torchwood before I go: It got good.

I think a list of objectives are in order:

• I would like to pass my A-Levels with an AAB. That’d be nice, you know? Then I’d get into Uni. And begin the cycle anew.
• Get some more MZP writing done. I’m re-writing my mini pilot for submission, and that’s on a deadline, so I should probably hurry up.
• Go eat.