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Gamer News

Grand Theft Auto Online

Rockstar has announced features for its upcoming spring update for Grand Theft Auto V Online. The first part of the update should be available next week according to Rockstar’s online social club. This will be a capture creator which will allow players to make their own custom capture missions. Players will be given options to choose whatever weapons, pick-ups, and other undefined variables as you see fit in these custom missions.

 

Also slated for spring is the High Life update. This update does not yet have specified release date but it promises more options for high end apartments. The High Life update also promises the ability for GTA V Online players to own 2 properties now complete with a second garage. Some new clothing items will come with the update as well as the Bullpup Rifle, Dinka Thrust motorcycle and 3 new high-end cars including the super class Pegassi Zentorno. But the most interesting part of this update is something called the Mental State player statistic. The Mental State statistic will allow players to see just how safe they really are around the players joining them in their online sessions.

 

Finally the long awaited heists are being promised in the spring updates for GTA Online. You will be able to team up with Crew members or other mercenaries on your mission to commit simulated grand larceny. Unfortunately there are still no specific dates so hopefully we see this date sooner than later. More holiday updates are promised to come for GTA Online and some story mode DLC is on the way for later this year.

 

-Z3R0TH3RT33N

Follow Sonic Mercury on Twitter @SonicMercury and like our Facebook page Sonic Mercury

 

 

 

 

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Gamer News

Oculus Rift, Sony's Project Morphues
Sony's Project Morpheus
Sony’s Project Morpheus: Image Courtesy of IGN

Sony has indeed been working on a Virtual Reality headset for the PS4. Titled Project Morpheus, I’m guessing a reference to the Matrix character of the same name, the new hardware was unveiled at this years Game Developers Conference or GDC. Amongst excitement for the announcement of this new hardware there have been several stories related to virtual reality unfolding in recent weeks.

 

First and foremost the acquisition of what logically would be the biggest competitor of Project Morpheus, the Oculus Rift was bought by Facebook for 2 billion dollars. A very impressive feat considering the Oculus Rift began inception as a kickstarter campaign. However pillars within the gaming community haven’t been so enthralled. The fear that this hardware with unknown potential to revolutionize gaming as we know it will now instead be reduced to a tool for collecting consumer information on people under the guise of “social networking” is very real.

The Oculus Rift sold to Facebook for $2 Billion
The Oculus Rift sold to Facebook for $2 Billion

The creator of the popular sandbox game Minecraft, Markus “Notch” Persson immediately cancelled development on a version of Minecraft for the Oculus Rift as soon as the deal with Facebook went through. Notch was quoted on twitter as saying “I just cancelled the deal. Facebook creeps me out.” Many others in the gaming community have expressed similar concerns. Most of the people who have already received development kits for the Oculus Rift are PC developers/enthusiasts who intended the device for gaming experiences.

 

Adam Sessler of Rev3Games made some good points on the future of virtual reality gaming as a whole. He said developing software specifically for hardware like the Oculus Rift will be expensive, especially early on while developers learn how the hardware works. The other thing to consider is at this moment both the Oculus Rift and Sony’s Project Morpheus are not available to public consumers. The starting price point of such hardware is as of now unknown and the relative number of people who can afford, let alone want a virtual reality headset is unknown. With all of that in mind it must be understood that developing full-fledged AAA titles for a virtual reality headset could still be many years down the line if ever.

 

For companies to even consider developing a full-fledged title to utilize virtual reality hardware the install base will have to be pretty high. Otherwise the effort simply isn’t cost effective. Instead Adam Sessler suggested that we should adjust our expectations of what virtual reality as a whole will be. It is more likely we will see applications made by smaller development teams with the goal of emphasizing different experiences, like exploration or  something like skydiving. There is also interest in virtual reality for aid in scientific and medical research as well.

 

Palmer Luckey the creator of the Oculus Rift assures fans that Facebook was the best choice for purchasing the rights to his hardware. Stating that if he had sold to Apple or Microsoft they would have gutted his company and used whatever parts they saw fit to appease their own agendas. Luckey says that Facebook has promised to leave his team intact and allow them the freedom they need to develop the Oculus Rift appropriately for consumers.

 

Be it Facebook’s Oculus Rift or Sony’s Project Morpheus it seems the age of virtual reality is upon us. The applications for gaming and otherwise seem quite promising. YouTube is already full of people who have modified current games to work on virtual reality hardware. To reference Morpheus from the first Matrix movie we will have to see if people take the blue pill and “wake up as if nothing has happened” or “take the red pill and see how far the rabbit hole goes.”

 

-Z3R0TH3RT33N

Follow Sonic Mercury on Twitter @SonicMercury and like our Facebook page Sonic Mercury

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Video Game News

Its not looking good for the XBOX One in Europe right now.  The PS4 is currently outselling Microsoft’s newest console at a rate of about 3:1. Currently sales for the XBOX One are only slightly higher than that of the Wii U in Europe. To give you a little perspective here are some recent sales numbers based on weekly hardware comparison charts from VGChartz.com. The Wii U and the XBOX One are both averaging around 11 to 13 thousand units sold per week. Meanwhile the PS4 is averaging sales around 60 thousand units per week.

 

To add insult to injury the PS3 has been outselling the XBOX One in Europe since early December. Granted recent numbers show the PS3 only outselling the XBOX One by a small margin but anyway you do the math it doesn’t bode well when your brand new next gen console is struggling against the fledgling Wii U and actually being outsold by another console that is going on 8 years old.

 

Finally just to bring the story home sales figures for the month of February indicate PS4 sales in the US outselling the XBOX One 2:1. Which is a fairly significant reveal considering the US is Microsoft’s home market.

 

Just as a side note the most anticipated title for the XBOX One Titanfall is slated to release globally next week and should potentially help sales of the new console. Titanfall was the highlight for XBOX One at last years E3 conference. Developer Respawn opted to forgo a single player mode to concentrate on a rich mutliplayer experience incorporating single player elements such as a plot and NPC’s. [ Non Playable Characters ] Certainly not the first video game to be exclusively online it is interesting to note that both publisher EA and developer Respawn have recently announced that the game will not be made available in the South African region due to a supposedly poor internet infrastructure.

 

Regardless of how big a chunk the South African region makes up for XBOX One sales Microsoft could certainly use all the help it can get to gain some traction against the PS4. The final thing to note about Titanfall is that it will also be available on PC which certainly will cut into potential XBOX One sales as it is far cheaper to buy a computer game than an entire console plus a brand new game. Right now worldwide sales of the PS4 have surpassed 6 million consoles and over 13.7 million games. Microsoft has not released recent sales numbers but it is estimated they have shipped about 3.5 million consoles worldwide.

 

For upcoming news on the console wars and other video game news subscribe to the SonicMercury.com mailing list at the bottom of the page.

 

-Z3R0TH3RT33N

Follow Sonic Mercury on Twitter @SonicMercury and like our Facebook page Sonic Mercury

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Video Game Spotlight

It has been over 6 months since the release of the critically acclaimed epic The Last Of Us. Many including myself have heralded it has a masterpiece of modern day gaming and story telling. Numerous nominations and game of the year awards aside and a prequel DLC on the horizon I believe enough time has passed for a proper retrospective. Now that the initial gloss has had time to wear off and the hype time to die down we can take a more grounded look back at The Last of Us and its impact.

 

I have seen many great games come and go, bosses defeated, puzzles solved, princesses rescued and worlds saved. Final Fantasy 7 springs to mind. It was a high water mark for its era of gaming. It was like nothing I had ever seen before or thought was possible in a video game. I still remember the first time I saw those cut scenes. Cloud and his friends stealing futuristic vehicles and driving them straight out the side of a sky scraper landing on a nearby highway fleeing into the night. I remember watching Sephiroth disappear menacingly as he walked into a wall of flames. The disturbing experiments revolving around Jenova and of course the grim fate of Aerith. These are moments in a game I played 17 years ago that still stick with me. It was an epic that pushed the boundaries of what was possible within the realm of video game storytelling. Final Fantasy 7 created a story built on characters that have gone on to become video game legend. To this day I still talk to people who wish that the Final Fantasy series was still about Cloud and his friends and to be fair the only Final Fantasy game I have played all the way through since FF7 was Crisis Core the prequel to FF7 because it involved the characters I cared about from the original game.

 

Seventeen Years from now will The Last Of Us be as fondly remembered? Will the game share similar relevancy among the gaming community? That is a tough question to answer. If FF7 is the example of how a video game can transcend peoples preconceptions and expectations of what a video game experience can be than TLOU is the evolution of that example. Combining engaging gameplay mechanics with fascinating characters, a well realized highly detailed world and a story of substance you can not help but become immersed in the world of TLOU and become invested in Ellie and Joel’s journey. I don’t want to get too off topic but I think part of why TLOU won so many game of the year awards over Bioshock: Infinite is because the characters actions within the setting matched the tone of the story better. Bioshock’s world is beautifully rendered but it is also highly stylized and I think contrasted with the extreme violence of the protagonist in Bioshock the overall experience suffers for it. That is not saying that the story of Bioshock: Infinite is any less profound or the core gameplay any worse than TLOU but I wonder what the game would have been like had they gone for a slightly less stylized presentation.

 

A major part of what makes TLOU so unique is its humanity. You are constantly reminded of life. Although human life is scarce it is obvious that yours is but one journey among countless others. Every person you meet, every location you traverse and even your own characters interactions tell unique stories of the individuals who exist and have existed in this world. Every enemy you meet may have been a friend had the circumstance of survival not been so immediate. Even the infected who exist as horrible deformations in various stages of decay were once regular human beings. They are horrific reflections of ourselves. Reality is grim.

 

Ultimately this is where TLOU really shines. In the depth of the characters. It is their triumphs in human spirit, their ability to overcome constant barrages of negativity and looming hopelessness. How the characters still find ways to have moments of true levity. They remain brave and vigilant. In a world where existing means endlessly enduring harsh savagery from man and monster, Ellie and Joel desperately struggle to retain and define their own humanity while constantly being asked to compromise that definition.

 

The tale of Ellie and Joel has struck a chord within the gaming community. It is interesting to listen to others talk about their experiences with TLOU as many people speak with an air of reverence for the title. I personally play online occasionally with someone who was so taken by the game and specifically the character of Ellie that they actually created an entirely new PSN account to reflect their appreciation of the game and that character. I know he is not the only one to do this for TLOU and he is definitely not the first person to make a new profile for a game but when you discuss the game with fans like him you would swear that Ellie and Joel were real.

 

We will have to wait and see if TLOU reaches the level of video game mythos that games like Final Fantasy 7 have reached. For those of us who were touched by this epic that really shouldn’t matter, like a good book the story of Ellie and Joel will always be one of endearment. A tale to be kept pridefully on the wall among other greats. It may or may not live on with the kind of high recognition other games have received over the years but it will live on with high regard to all those who connected with Ellie and Joel forever. The fact is a game like TLOU is proof positive that video games truly are a medium unlike any other. As in all media video games have the ability to touch peoples lives in profound ways.

 

Though its only been a little over 6 months since the release of TLOU the roots of a legacy have been planted in fans around the world. Their word of mouth will help the roots spread to new fans. With an all new prequel DLC rumored for a U.S. release on Feb. 14th its safe to say that TLOU isn’t fading from the public eye anytime soon. Given the completeness of the overall story arc it will be interesting to see if a sequel does come to fruition and what it would be all about.

 

( Just off the top of my head real quick, I mean since your here anyway. Can you imagine how cool an MMO spinoff could be? Creating your own characters and weapons, making alliances with other real players all while scouring for resources and exploring more of the chaotic universe presented in The Last Of Us. It could even be possible for characters from the original game to make cameos occasionally. All well I can dream can’t I? )

 

See you in 17 years.

 

-Z3R0TH3RT33N

Follow Sonic Mercury on Twitter @SonicMercury and like our Facebook page Sonic Mercury

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Music Spotlight

Strap on your viking horns and join Pat on his review of the new Amon Amarth album “Deceiver of the Gods.” Pat gives an in depth look at “Viking Metal” as a whole and we find out the good the bad and the ugly for Amon Amarth’s newest offering. You can check out the review here. 

 

-Z3R0TH3RT33N

For more from Pat check out his YouTube Channel The GessNation or his Facebook page The Shred Shack

 

 

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12 Days of X-Mas!

DAY 4
JINGLE ALL THE WAY

“Put that cookie down! NOW!”
I don’t care. I don’t care how stupid it is, I don’t care how the whole film basically hinges on one stupid premise and how Arnold has terrible comedic timing. I still find it really goddamned funny. And there’s only one thing that could have made this movie better, and that’s watching it with friends. Here’s the rule for maximum enjoyment of this movie: Take a drink every time Arnold screams, and they say the word “turbo”. And if you’re watching with Sean, be sure to have an extra one every time Jake Lloyd comes on screen. Because it’s bound to have a rage fueled “You Anakin Skywalking, Pod Racing Little prick”.

No it’s not the best Christmas movie. Hell, it’s not even the funniest Arnold movie. But once you get past the goofy faces, the stupid plot, and the little things that nobody seems to care about but me (Nobody notices that there’s a WORKING jetpack in this universe? Isn’t that like a world changing device, and they’re using it for a holiday parade in Minnesota?), it’s actually pretty damn funny. I guess if you’re so used to seeing Arnold in serious action roles, seeing him scream at toy store owners and run all over town to find an action figure may be a little hard to handle. But Arnie goes ALL OUT in this, more so than he’s done in any movie I’ve seen him in since. He plays a psychotic father surprisingly well, and you can tell he’s giving this his all, from his expressions to the little moments of actual acting. It’s surprising to see him so passionate about this when you consider that most of his career has been consisting of stonefaced catchphrase delivery, so when he has an opportunity to be funny, he usually is. And this has some really funny moments, from his fight with the Santas (one of which is The Big Show), to the greatest scene in cinema history: Arnold Schwarzenegger punching a reindeer in the face and then drinking with it.

The rest of the cast is… okay. Phil Hartman is channeling his inner Flanders as he is the absolute perfect neighbor, down to the cooking, decorating, and sexual advances towards married women. The line into psychosis is crossed a few times, like how he decides to hand out hot chocolate and let kids pet a LIVE REINDEER in his yard. I don’t care how much of an eccentric you are, and I love the holidays more than some people, but if you buy a reindeer for the sake of having it for one day in your yard, you are seriously demented. I really liked the chop shop filled with dirty Santas, I thought it was really funny having Jim Belushi run this workshop of black market toys and claim it was “for the children”. The timing of Arnold getting involved with them at the same time as the bust was a little contrived ut then again, the whole movie kind of was. I was surprised by how much on a recent viewing I liked Sinbad. I’ve seen Sinbad live on stage recently and he’s actually a lot funnier than people give him credit for, and in this movie he’s no different. He gives some pretty funny lines, and his character is involved in some scenes that I DEFINITELY didn’t get the joke in my first time watching it. I especially like when he explained how his wife has slept with everyone at the post office BUT him, and I also enjoyed the fantasy where Jake Lloyd was drinking from a whiskey bottle. You don’t see stuff like that in kids movies anymore! Not that I’m saying movies would be better if Anakin Skywalker got a little wasted on screen, but it certainly doesn’t hurt. Speaking of which he’s… he’s just as good here as he is in Episode 1. It’s no wonder this kid quit acting after only like 5 movies.

This film gets a lot of hate that it doesn’t deserve… as well as all that it does. I think it’s funny where it needs to be and does a good job sending a message when it has to. There’s some moments that could be cut out but then again, it’s a family movie so maybe I’m a little biased. It’s by no means a great film, but I’m never disappointed when I watch it. It’s got pretty much everything I’d expect it to be: It’s a Christmas movie starring an Austrian action hero looking for a doll. If you’re looking for anything closer to a classic than what you got, chances are you’re terrible at judging movies by their poster.

-Pat G

For more from Pat check out his YouTube Channel The GessNation or his Facebook page The Shred Shack

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12 Days of X-Mas!

DAY 3
ARTHUR CHRISTMAS

“We Claus’s used to be the only men in the world who could fly, Arthur. It was a gift.”

This is a new one, but it’s really a great film. It’s an interesting take on the Santa Claus mythos, it’s damn charming, and most of all it’s really, REALLY funny.

I like the idea that Santa has a long line of descendants, not just one magical man. It’s a family thing, and that’s where the heart of the story is. Every Santa Claus is different and each of them is a great character in and of themselves. Arthur (played by an almost stomach-churningly energetic James McAvoy) is caring to the point of almost hurting himself. His brother Steve, however, is more concerned with being efficient and strategic, letting some people get hurt in the process (“Arthur, Christmas is not a time for emotion”. Jim Broadbent plays a great santa claus with a bad memory and a genuine innocence about him. There are times when he seems a bit lazy, but honestly i think it’s just because he’s tired of being Santa. He’s watched the world go by and technology get better and better, and he just can’t keep up with it. And it’s understandable that Santa would be a lot less high tech than the elves (who do most of the work anyway). Speaking of the elves, the little Scottish elf has one of the best voices for an animated character i’ve heard in a long time. My favorite character in the whole thing has got to be the grandfather. He’s one of the funniest characters in any christmas movie i’ve ever seen. Everything he says is absolutely amazing from the tale of when he was shot during christmas of WWII (“Lost 3 reindeer and the elf. Fell out of the sleigh over Lake Geneva, never saw him again”), to probably the most absurd line i’ve ever heard in a children’s film (“That’s impossible!” “They used to say it was impossible to teach women to read!”) And he may not have the most… noble of intentions, but he’s still the greatest character in my opinion, and he gives Arthur the opportunity to deliver the last present in the first place. You could actually argue that he’s the most important character in the movie.

 

The animation is great too. Every flying scene is well designed, and absolutely beautiful. The opening cinematic with the elves delivering presents is so well done and fun to watch. The animation was done by Aardman Animations, who are most well known for the Wallace and Gromit films, and one of my personal favorites in the past year, Pirates: Band of Misfits. The models are much crisper and free flowing than you’re used to seeing with their style, and it’s refreshing for a christmas film. It takes a lot of things we know about christmas and puts a fresh spin on it. I like the idea that Santa’s sleigh is actually an air command center with hundreds of thousands of workers and that santa himself only does like, three houses. I like that they referenced other country’s traditions, like specifying that German presents should go in the shoes. The plot point about the ship being mistaken for a spaceship is also a nice touch.

And i can’t say enough how funny this movie is. The fact that the grandsanta doesn’t know that there’s people who live in Toronto, the detour to Mexico and Cuba (I didn’t know it was the Cuban Missile Crisis! I almost started World War III!), the bickering between Santa and Steve (This is about that pool table, isn’t it! You should have written to me!), and the elves all have funny moments too. My favorites are the crazy old elf warning everyone about 1816 when Santa was spotted, and how when every Santa goes to look for Arthur, the elves freak out and put the north pole into meltdown. But for every funny moment, there’s also a very caring one. You genuinely feel for Arthur as all he wants to do is help one little girl on Christmas. The scenes with the current Santa are also nice because you get a feel that he doesn’t want to leave his job but knows he just can’t keep up with it anymore. It’s also got a great ending with a lot of emotion for all the Santas at once.

 

This movie didn’t make a lot at the box office, and that’s a shame, because it’s really a nice picture with a lot of heart. It’s funny, it’s full of great entertaining animation, and it’s a pretty damn good story for the holidays. Not all the things i watch this month are all touchy-feely, but this one i hope becomes a classic in days to come. The next one will be more in my… age range. But dammit, this is great. So in the words of the Santa computer, “CHRISTMAS ACCOMPLISHED. COMMENCE DECKING HALLS.”

-Pat G

For more from Pat check out his YouTube Channel The GessNation or his Facebook page The Shred Shack

 

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12 Days of X-Mas!

DAY 2
A CHRISTMAS CAROL (1984)

“Christmas comes but once a year, sir..”
“A poor excuse for picking a man’s pocket every 25th of December.”

A Christmas Carol is probably my favorite stage play, probably my favorite Christmas story in general, and I’ve seen A LOT of different versions of it. I recently saw the Jim Carrey version and there were parts of it that were absolutely brilliant. I always love the Muppets Christmas Carol, and Michael Caine plays a great Scrooge. But my favorite combination of everything, from the atmosphere to the acting to the truth to the original story, is definitely the 1984 television production starring the absolute man himself, George C Scott.

Scott plays probably the best Scrooge in my opinion. His absolute cold demeanor in the film is so genuine, and there are even lines where he seems to enjoy being so greedy. His face lights up when he basically robs a few men out of a few hundred dollars on a deal at the exchange. When delivering the classic “boiled in his own pudding” line, he’s actually laughing! What the hell man? But the part of Scrooge, as you should know, extends to a lot more than just being a curmudgeon for half of the film and then being happy about life. You need to see a genuine change in the character throughout the film, a visible understanding for the human condition by the time the last spirit gets to him. And that’s what you see in this version more so than any others. Scott plays an undoubtable bastard for the first part of the film, to the point where you can’t wait for the spirits to show up and knock some sense into him. But the thing is that really shows how great this Scrooge is being played are his reactions to each of the spirits. They are perfect. Christmas Past makes him sad that he’s let Christmas, and his family and loved ones for that matter, out of his mind. Present makes him feel that he should be more charitable to the people around him, from his employees to the homeless he called “idle people” earlier in the film. And then there’s Future which gives him perspective that even with all his money, nobody will remember him in the next generations and he has in fact ruined families. That’s what makes a good interpretation, and that is what makes this version shine. You see the change in him with every spirit, and the look of him happily getting ready to go out into the world on Christmas Day is just fantastic. You truly believe that this man is changed for the better.

The rest of the actors are great too. Frank Finlay is my other favorite part of this film, and his portrayal of Jacob Marley is the version that sticks out the most in my mind. Everything about his performance from the cold dead stare, to the rag he uses to keep his jaw shut until he has something poignant to say, to the powerful, foreboding voice. It’s just awesome. Even when he screams to prove that he’s a real ghost, it’s actually pretty damn scary. The Cratchit family is good too, but this needs to be said… THE TINY TIM IN THIS FILM IS HORRIFYING! I mean Christ on sale, he’s the scariest child I’ve seen outside of the Village of the Damned! The pale face, the sunken in eyes, the robotic tone of his voice, the Ghost of Christmas Future has NOTHING on this kid! The spirits are everything you’d expect them to be. Past is a brightly glowing woman with a very serious tone. Present is a very loud, booming man with a very sarcastic tone (It’s even more amazing when you realize that it’s the lead from The Wicker Man. I keep expecting Scrooge to see a sight that makes him say “Oh Dear God! Oh Jesus Christ!”). And future is… Death, pretty much. I’ve seen a lot of versions of the story where Future is portrayed by a woman in red, or someone with a scarred face, but it’s a lot more impactful when the spirit is a faceless spectre of death. In fact for most of his part, you don’t see him at all. Just his shadow. And it’s a lot more powerful than just some guy in a robe.

All in all, this is an amazing story and even if you’ve never seen A Christmas Carol, that’s the best thing about it. Every single interpretation is self contained, powerful, and memorable in some way. So as that creepy, dead eyed child says against all of our wishes, “God Bless Us, Everyone!”

 

 

-Pat G

For more from Pat check out his YouTube Channel The GessNation or his Facebook page The Shred Shack

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12 Days of X-Mas!

DAY 1 MST3K: SANTA CLAUS CONQUERS THE MARTIANS “We’ve never disappointed the kids yet… (Except the poor ones!)” I don’t care who you are or what your sense of humor is, THIS should be a part of everybody’s Christmas schedule. Mystery Science Theater 3000 is one of my favorite shows, and I can’t thank them enough for introducing me to, and ripping apart mercilessly, the horrid 1964 film “Santa Claus Conquers the Martians”. The movie is about Santa Claus being abducted by aliens because… hey, Santa is freakin’ boss. And since Mars does not have anything like Santa Claus, they decide to take ours. And with the help of two kids caught in the middle of everything, Santa… wins? Makes it home for a Black Tooth Grin before going off on the sled? I’m honestly not sure. It’s kind of weird and stupid, but god damn it I watch it every year. The music in the film is terrible, the acting is wooden, and the story is beyond ridiculous (even for a Santa Claus story). Which is what makes the riffing by Joel Hodgson, Crow and Tom Servo that much better. This is absolutely one of my favorite episodes of MST3K (along with Pod People and Final Sacrifice) and it’s one of those shows where I think almost every line added by the three riffers is absolutely gold. Everything from Santa’s first appearance being interviewed by a television crew (Get the Hell out of my shop!) to the outrageous porn staches on the “aliens” (We’re leaving tonight. Pack your other mustache), to where Santa is passionately telling the two children about his tour in ‘Nam, I laugh my ass off every time. “Worst. Idea. Ever.” [pause] “Let’s do it.”’s also this episode that got me to appreciate the show that much more, and I support the current projects of MST3K’s cast and crew in pretty much everything they do now (Rifftrax more than Cinematic Titanic, but still). This 12 Days of Xmas list I have will be mostly movies that I genuinely ENJOY watching, but with the riffing in between the lines of this awful film, there’s few things I love watching more around this time of year. And as usual I’d like to wish everybody to have more than just a Merry Christmas. Have a Very Patrick Swayze Christmas everyone!!

 

-Pat G

For more from Pat check out his YouTube Channel The GessNation

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Next-Gen News

I had a quick paragraph prepared about how both PS4 and XBOX One have sold over 1 million consoles in their first 24 hours of availability. Their is also this strange thing where both Sony and Microsoft congratulated each other on their respective console launches via twitter. I was then just going to make a comment about how it looks like both consoles are off to a good start and it looks like another great era of gaming has begun. That was pretty much all I was going to write, however there is just one small detail Microsoft neglected to mention. Yes they did sell over 1 million consoles in the first 24 hours of the XBOX One’s launch marking the biggest release ever for a Microsoft console but what Microsoft didn’t mention was that their console launched simultaneously in 13 different countries including the U.S. and Canada while the PS4 has only launched in the U.S. and Canada thus far. While both Sony and Microsoft had record sales for day 1 console launches Sony still has the rest of the world in which to launch the PS4. It will be interesting to see how the consoles fair at the end of the holiday season of this year but if I were a betting man I would say it looks like Sony might have a strong lead in console sales at the end of this year anyway. For more on all things Playstation and XBOX bookmark SonicMercury.com.

 

-Z3R0TH3RT33N

Follow Sonic Mercury on Twitter @SonicMercury and like our Facebook page Sonic Mercury

 

 

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Horror Spotlight

SOMA is a survival horror title being developed and published by Frictional Games and is slated for a 2015 release on PC, MAC and PS4. Frictional Games most famous game up until now is Amnesia: The Dark Descent. SOMA has been secretly in development since 2010. The first official gameplay trailer was released early this passed October and since then a few live-action trailers have surfaced as well. SOMA and The Evil Within are both going to be games within the survival horror genre and while The Evil Within looks to be a promising new horror title that I am excited to play, it is the game mechanics that I am ultimately drawn to. SOMA on the other hand looks to be potentially a catalytic explosion in the horror world. The gameplay trailer alone is enough to give you goosebumps of depraved joy at how unabashedly demented it is and their is a certain uneasy undertone to the live action trailers that give a hint of SOMA possibly being something truly horrifying.

 

The world of SOMA is sort of like if the legendary artist H.R Giger of Alien fame was crossed with influences of Hellraiser and placed in a cold futuristic setting where it appears robot technology is common. The goal of the game according to Thomas Grip Creative Director of Frictional Games in his own words according to his blog entry on Playstation.com states that. “SOMA is meant to chill you to your core, and confront you with questions about your very existence.” The stark setting of the game paired with the commitment to exploring futuristic sci-fi theories and philosophies definitely has my attention as an experience that could possibly stand out as more than just a good horror game and be something truly special that none of us will soon forget. 

 

My impressions of everything I have read and seen so far of SOMA reminds me of a post-apocalyptic short story published in 1967 that was later turned into a 1995 computer game called “I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream.” The story is fairly disturbing about a self-aware supercomputer that engineers mass genocides around the world until their are only 5 survivors left in the whole world. The survivors live in a vast underground complex but the supercomputer holds great hatred towards humankind and thus makes the 5 remaining humans borderline immortal so it can torture them for all eternity. Although there is little evidence that the two narratives will be in anyway similar I just get the feeling that very bad things are going to happen to the protagonist in SOMA. Furthermore the Creative Director went on to say that the player will not take control of a space marine fighting his way out but rather a regular person finding their way through.

 

Three years in development and only a little over a month out of secrecy it seems unfair that we will have to wait until 2015 to get our hands on SOMA. Here is a link to Creative Director Thomas Grip’s blog on Playstation.com so you can read what the game is about in his own words as well as check out the official gameplay trailer which is included on his blog page. Please note as with most horror related media the trailer on Thomas Grip’s page does include some scenes of gore and violence. I have also include links to 2 of the live-action trailers for SOMA posted on Frictional Games official YouTube page here entitled “Vivarium” and “Mockingbird.” Bookmark SonicMercury.com for updates on SOMA and all things horror related.

 

-Z3R0TH3RT33N

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Horror Spotlight

Survival Horror

The Evil Within is an upcoming new horror videogame that will appear on both current-gen and next-gen consoles in 2014. The game is being developed by Tango Gameworks and published by Bethesda Softworks. The game centers around antagonist Detective Sebastian Castellanos. Sebastian wakes up in a gruesome world where violence and death are all around him after he and his partners investigated the scene of a mysterious mass murder. Now its up to Detective Sebastian Castellanos to traverse this decrepit world and discover the mystery as to why all this horrible stuff has been occurring.

 

At first glance it sounds like a typical horror game. Here’s why its not. The director of The Evil Within is Shinji Mikami a name we should all know as he is the creator of Resident Evil and creative lead for every subsequent Resident Evil title for many years. Resident Evil 4 was the last game in the series that he created. The Evil Within is Shinji Mikami’s return to the survival horror genre. Mr. Mikami has been quoted as saying about his new game that this will be a “true” survival horror game in response to his disappointment with current games of the genre he says this game will be, “one in which the player confronts and overcomes fear.”

 

The original Resident Evil series is a masterpiece. The first RE set the bar as to what survival horror could be on home consoles, the second RE far exceeded that bar introducing Claire Redfield and fan favorite Leon S. Kennedy into the horror of a familiar suburban setting in a chaos storm of monsters and zombies, the 3rd RE polished and refined elements of the first two games with smoother menus and action animations as well as detailed ammunition creation options. The 3rd RE also introduced the walking fear-bomb Nemesis who could go through doors and walk up stairs something previously impossible by RE foes instantly cranking up the tension of this entry. Finally RE 4 redefined the genre all together. Everything in the series had been overhauled for RE 4 new combat system, revamped menus and more cinematic presentation. Everything in RE 4 felt bigger and grander. From the story rife with plot twists and strange characters/creatures to the mysterious girl that Leon must rescue, RE 4 was a stout message to the Resident Evil fans and survival horror fans in general that nothing would be the same.

 

The graphical leap combined with the directorial decision to make the camera a 3rd person over the shoulder view that follows the player instead of set camera angles proved a very immersive experience. The visuals were gorgeous for a console game at the time. While I truly did enjoy Resident Evil 4 and had hours and hours of gameplay in the various survival modes alone some of the changes in the game were implications to me as to where this franchise was heading and for me I knew that Resident Evil 4 might be the last that I purchase. As I stated it’s not that RE 4 was a bad game in anyway. I felt Nintendo’s influence on the franchise was obvious however. The further I got into the game the more it reminded me of Zelda. The way items were highlighted in colorful columns and the change sound the game made every time you picked one up. The constant search for treasures paired with the more fantastical creatures versus horrible monsters created by viruses and the constant smashing of boxes and or pottery. Blood seemed minimal. The weird guy you bought items from who always greeted you with the same gruff voice, “Hello stranger.” The fantasy influence combined with the treasure hunting elements were just enough of a departure from the original 3 games for me to long for the old days of running through Raccoon City battling T-Virus zombies and not “Las Plagas” drones sent forth by the ghost of Napoleon’s inner child.

 

Needless to say I was more than a bit wary of the next installment of Resident Evil and my suspicions were confirmed as soon as I saw the trailers for Resident Evil 5. I thought the setting looked boring with lots of muted colors and the focus was obviously action based. Super fast infected people. I really wasn’t that turned off by the two player element that was introduced as I thought it could definitely work if implemented correctly. I played some of it and it just didn’t feel anything like the Resident Evil that I had grown to love. I guess with the success of the highly action based Resident Evil movies starring Mila Jovovich as a superhuman zombie slayer, which by the way undermines the entire genre of survival horror I mean how are you supposed to be scared when Supergirl fights a bunch of monsters that is an entirely different movie than what Resident Evil should be about but I digress, I guess the game developers thought this an appropriate direction for their game.

 

Then their was Resident Evil 6. Featuring 4 separate but intertwining campaigns. After all the hype it got and the promise that it would at least include Leon in one of the campaigns I decided to give it a shot. Originally 3 of the 4 campaigns were co-op until players made it clear to Capcom that it made no sense to have your game be primarily co-op only to offer the final campaign as a strictly single player experience. The 4th campaign was made co-op and available from the start of the game instead of an unlockable campaign made available after completion of the 3 other co-op campaigns. Each of the 4 campaigns had their own specific characters with their own story pertaining to the same global event. I really enjoyed most of Leon’s campaign quick time events aside. It had zombies in a dark creepy atmosphere genuinely conjuring fearful moments at times. The co-op actually worked great here, even with a friend the tension was still high. It felt like a proper evolution of Resident Evil. The rest of RE 6’s campaigns have their moments but they feel superfluous, like other ideas for Resident Evil games sliced and diced from their games and spliced together to create a grotesque Frankenstein of one game. At the end of the day RE 6 is more like 4 separate games under one title.

 

Now Capcom is in financial turmoil and the likelihood of a new Resident Evil from the company is uncertain. Just how bad a state Capcom is really in is debatable but information is surfacing that Capcom barely has enough cash to develop one more feature game. In other words if Capcom pays to develop one more game they could go bankrupt. Something to support this belief that Capcom is on dire straits is that when game producer Yoshinori Ono the producer of Street Fighter IV was asked by a fan on twitter if SF IV would be coming to the next gen Ono responded that Capcom lacked the resources to port the game to next-gen consoles although he expressed that it would be “sweet” to bring SF IV to the next-gen. Porting Street Fighter IV to next-gen consoles doesn’t require nearly the team and resources creating an entire game would. If Capcom can’t even port a fighting game to the PS4 and XBOX One how can any of us expect them to create a whole new Resident Evil?

 

With the most recent entries of Resident Evil 5 and 6 being disappointments for long time fans of the series because of their departure from the initial survival horror genre that Resident Evil helped to define The Evil Within might be just the gloriously gruesome return to the survival horror roots we all grew to love. Shinji Mikami has state that this will be the last game that he ever directs. Let us all hope that Mr. Mikami goes out on a high note helping to create a new chapter of survival horror, one that we can all look upon with fond memories and pass on a new legacy of horror to future generations. I have included a gameplay trailer for The Evil Within here courtesy of Bethesda Softworks YouTube page. Fair warning their is some extreme violence and gore. Bookmark SonicMercury.com for more on other upcoming horror titles in all media.

 

-Z3R0TH3RT33N

Follow Sonic Mercury on Twitter @SonicMercury and like our Facebook page Sonic Mercury

 

 

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Playstation 4 News

The Playstation 4 has arrived, and in high demand. Sony had reported record pre-orders for the new console and the official U.S. release of the PS4 looks to be record breaking as well.  More than 1 million Playstation 4’s were sold within the first 24 hrs of its release last Friday November 15th. The PS4 will be the only next-gen console on the market until the November 22nd release of the XBOX One. It will be interesting to see what kind of sales momentum the PS4 will maintain after the release of its main competitor. In the meantime the PS4 still has the rest of this week to enjoy its moment in attempting to shatter record breaking sales in the United States. It is important to note the console has yet to release in any other region as of this posting.

 

-Z3R0TH3RT33N

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Bat Suit Sighted

Batman’s suit for the upcoming Superman versus Batman film was unveiled  to a very famous fat man. At a special event commemorating the Blu-Ray release of Man of Steel directed by Zack Snyder fellow director Kevin Smith got a sneak peak of Ben Affleck wearing the new bat-suit. Smith was shy to give away too many details but he did say something along the lines of the picture of Ben Affleck in the new bat-suit was enough to make him tear up with joy and that he never thought he would get a chance to see this version of the bat-suit on the silver screen. Kevin Smith recalls the event at the beginning of the latest edition of the podcast Hollywood Babble On which Smith co-hosts with Ralph Garman. In the podcast Kevin Smith goes on to say what comic book artist he thinks the suit is influenced by but the name is bleeped out on the podcast.

 

From years of listening to Kevin Smith in various media I know that one of his favorite all time Batman comics is 1986’s The Dark Knight Returns. So I would have to guess the new bat-suit has a strong Frank Miller influence to get this reaction out of Kevin Smith. To be fair though Kevin Smith is an insanely huge Batman fan so I am sure there are numerous variations of the caped crusader that could garner this kind of emotion from the big guy. He even has a podcast called Fatman on Batman that he records weekly. Personally way too much Batman for me.

 

For some reason the mere mention of this topic seems to send Batman, Superman and DC fans into a huge tizzy of which hero/movie/story/comic/costume/etc. is the greatest and which hero/movie/story/comic/costume/etc. is the worst. If you are one of these people I can’t help but wish Ogre from Revenge of the Nerds finds you and yells “NERDS!”at you at the top of his lungs every time you try to perpetuate this mind numbing bickering that boils down to little kids arguing, “you suck!” “do not!,” “uh-huh,” “nah-uh, you suck!,” until you just stop arguing to the bitter end about FICTIONAL CHARACTERS and just let it go. Take a couple deep breaths, take a walk, listen to a Rush album, admire a well mowed lawn. It’s just not worth it to get so worked up and at the end of the day love it or hate it Superman Versus Batman will come out completely uninfluenced by you. Lets dial the hate down a little and not scrutinize these movies so harshly. They are supposed to be fun. Remember fun?

 

I get 100% that even though these characters are fictional that they still mean a lot to a lot of people. Just because a movie about your favorite character isn’t very good doesn’t mean you have to spew hatred from every orifice. Good movie or bad your favorite character will live on in the very same pages you discovered them on and besides do you really think Batman and Superman would spend all their free time badgering the other about who’s movie was better? They have people to save.

 

-Z3R0TH3RT33N

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Nintendo News

Nintendo has announced the Wii mini, a miniature version of the Wii will be available to the U.S. this holiday season and should retail at about $99. The Wii mini is a bare minimum of the console offering no online functionality it does however come with a copy of Mario Kart Wii in the bundle at no extra charge. The Wii mini is part of Nintendo’s plans to promote “low cost gaming.” Most likely the Wii mini arriving in the U.S. has a lot to do with the less than stellar performance of the Wii’s “next gen” successor the Wii U. No doubt that Nintendo is promoting the Wii mini, which was already made available in Canada in last year, to help absorb some of the losses Nintendo is taking on the Wii U. When I last reported sales of the Wii U the tally was about 3.6 million units worldwide. That number is measured from the November launch of the Wii U to June 30th with only about 550 thousand units sold between December 31st 2012 to June 30th 2013. In contrast the Nintendo Wii had sold about 9.3 million units in the same amount of time with the Wii selling just over 6 million units worldwide in the same amount of time.

 

The Wii U sales numbers have finally been reported for the time between June 30th and September 30th of this year. In this time Nintendo has sold roughly 300 thousand Wii U’s. This brings the grand total of Wii U’s sold to just over 3.9 million units worldwide as opposed to the 13.17 million units the Wii sold in the same amount of time. I have heard from various sources as well as read on multiple sites that Nintendo has projected sales of over 9 million units sold for the Wii U and will not waver from this projection. The reality is that quarter 3 or Q3 for the Wii U is in the books and in the last 9 months Nintendo has only sold about 850 thousand units. Analysts are predicting sales at about 550,000 units for the Wii U this holiday season. The bottom line is Wii U sales coming in at less than half of projection for its launch year can not be good news for Nintendo and its future in the home console market.

 

-Z3R0TH3RT33N

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