Tag: sonicmercury

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Horror Spotlight: Update!

It turns out that their is even more to see this year at Halloween Horror nights. A few more attractions have been added since my last article about this year’s Halloween Horror Nights. One attraction will appeal to horror and videogame fans alike. It turns out that the Orlando location will be getting an attraction based on Resident Evil 2 & 3! The attraction is called Escape from Raccoon City. You will actually get to see the R.P.D. and meet up with Claire Redfield and Leon S. Kennedy. There will even be a 12 foot nemesis walking around firing off a Gatling gun. There will be zombies, lickers and hunters for you to run from as you make your way through famous locations inside Raccoon City from Resident Evil 2 & 3. As a huge fan of these two entries in the Resident Evil series it sounds like an exciting sprint down memory lane. Just the idea of actually getting to run from monsters in Raccoon City, getting to see the R.P.D. and meeting up with Leon and Claire makes me grin from ear to ear. The Evil Dead attraction sounds like a great time but a chance to go to Raccoon City and experience Resident Evil 2 & 3 firsthand is a Resident Evil fan’s dream come true. The other attraction of note is a maze based on An American Werewolf in London where you can traverse the English moors looking for werewolves and explore the circus from the movie, but Resident Evil 2 & 3! You get to go to Raccoon City!

 

-Z3R0TH3RT33N

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

 

 

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Resurrecting Nintendo

I just had this idea on how Nintendo can resuscitate the Wii U. First off number one don’t do a Nintendo direct for this. Do an actual press conference, someplace very public like Sony did in NYC to unveil the PS4. Nintendo should hype this idea up a lot. Launch a worldwide ad campaign all alluding to a mysterious new thing. Give the ad campaign a tone more accessible to an older audience. The final ads should read something like this, “This fall Nintendo brings the power back! Will you be ready?” then they show a release date. People across the globe freak out, speculating are they bringing back Nintendo Power magazine?!” Nintendo lets everyone simmer for a while.

 

After maybe six weeks or more of intolerable silence Nintendo holds “THE” press conference. Lots of build up, dark lit rooms, fuzzy images, news press EVERYWHERE. Then we get an extended video with high energy, maybe even with celebrity cameos all asking, “are you ready for Nintendo to bring the powerback?!” of course they all say yes! Then lights fade to black in the convention center. They start playing the theme from Terminator 2, duh duh duh duh……duh duh, duh duh duh duh…..duh duh! Everyone freaks out, partly just because everyone loves Terminator 2. A spotlight comes on the catwalk there is someone walking down it with a suitcase handcuffed to him. The music builds mixed with  the intro for “Blind” by KoRn. At the end of the catwalk there is a table and a second person pulls out a key for the suitcase and unlocks it. Their back is turned to the audience and cameras as they reach inside. At that moment the song breaks and the lyric “Are you ready?!!!” blasts across the PA system broadcasting into millions of homes around the world and the person turns around and reaches up with their hand held high. On their hand is the Powerglove! Words across the video read “for the return of the POWERGLOVE!!” But not just any Powerglove this is the Powerglove 2.0 completely redesigned and overhauled for the Wii U. Laser lights shine and the music changes to complement an energetic montage video of people having fun playing Nintendo games with the Powerglove 2.0.

 

Powerglove 2.0 has the screen like the Wii U tablet controller built directly on to it with touchscreen funtionality. All the expected features for motion gaming would come built in including actual 1:1 hand gestures just like the original Powerglove promised 25 years ago. Seeing how Nintendo banks so heavily on motion gaming this seems like a no brainer. Think of the possibilities available now with this kind of hardware. You can literally make a first person Iron Man game where you actually use your hand to shoot his blaster. How cool would it be to get messages and videos from in game characters on the screen on your arm. Better yet how great would it be to play online games and actually interact with your friends by talking to them on the forearm of your Powerglove? Combined with use of the regular Wii controller the applications are limitless. How cool would it be to actually summon a fireball with your hand in a game or dialing in codes and lock combinations you have found in the game using the touchscreen on the Powerglove 2.0?

 

For the horror fans imagine a game like Outlast about a reporter who hears strange sounds from a nearby abandoned insane asylum and decides to investigate only to discover, as many would have guessed, was a very bad idea. OK so now picture playing a game like this with some of your friends. All of you are sneaking around inside this asylum in different areas. Each of you can find objects and information to help each other escape. The catch is you have to physically tell them what you know. You have to send a message to your friend from your Powerglove monitor alerting them that you have important information to help them progress through the asylum. Maybe even make the glove vibrate whenever you get a message so as to add to the stealth element. Either way the alert lets you know that both of you need to get to a “safe” area so that you can relay the information. This could add so much to a horror experience. Think about guiding your character to an empty closet while your friend is hiding in a locker and the two of you are whispering details back and forth on the Powergloves monitor because speaking too loudly can alert enemies to your location. Maybe as you progress you can upgrade your abilities and do stuff like take in-game pictures and videos and send recorded messages to each other in the game using the Powerglove’s forearm monitor. You could even base the whole game around the Powerglove like in the game its some kind of tool given to you by your captors. They find the hunt more satisfying if their prey has a “fighting” chance. ( Powerglove aside this is a game I would like to play )

 

To be fair though videogame development is not cheap let alone hardware development and to expect such an elaborate game based on a piece of hardware you would have to have an install base considerably better than that of which the Wii U itself currently has. Research and development for a piece of hardware like the Powerglove 2.0 I just described would not be cheap for Nintendo. That being said though the reappearance of the Powerglove would be huge in the gaming community not just for Nintendo fans. There is a huge demographic of people who grew up when Nintendo ruled the world. Many of us still remember the “Nintendon’t what SEGA does!” days and no matter what console you played on everyone knew Nintendo and what the Powerglove was. Even though I am pretty sure only three games ever came out specifically for the Powerglove and the hardware was notoriously a functional disaster many people look back on the device with nostalgic fondness. Even though it didn’t work very well the glove still looked cool. The technology exists today to actually make the Powerglove everything it was supposed to be, and then some.

 

Ultimately the biggest consideration for a piece of hardware as elaborate as the Powerglove 2.0 is how to make such a piece of hardware affordable to consumers and have the hardware still be profitable. How much are you willing to spend for something like this? $100? $150? $200? If the controller was made well, functioned like I described, was sold at a reasonable price and was supported properly I think Nintendo could gain some serious ground against the upcoming PS4 and XBOX One. The nostalgia element alone would have lots of older gamers going and buying it. I would consider buying one just to have it and I don’t even have a Wii or a Wii U. If you could use the Powerglove 2.0 as a standalone game player for Wii, Wii U and Nintendo DS games and the glove is priced respectively to the console and DS markets it would considerably increase the value of owning the Powerglove 2.0. You could even play augmented reality games like laser tag with your friends. The applications already exist and the Powerglove 2.0 would be an ideal vessel for many of them.

 

In all likelihood under the current conditions of Nintendo and its newest console I would have to say the appearance of a new and improved Powerglove is not happening anytime soon. If done properly the Powerglove 2.0 could potentially be a huge hit for Nintendo. The cost of research and development for the Powerglove 2.0 definitely makes it a financial risk for Nintendo but if done right I think it could be one of the greatest gaming devices this generation. Overall something crazy like the resurgence of a new and improved Powerglove and targeting a slightly older audience are elements that could give Nintendo the spark it needs to excite console gamers again. In this era of the Oculus Rift where we are on the verge of having actual virtual reality in our homes something like the Powerglove 2.0 has the potential to give Nintendo a much needed relevance boost in the current console market.

 

-Z3R0TH3RT33N

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Horror Spotlight

Let me be clear I don’t in anyway work for or have I ever been an employee at Universal Studios. Halloween Horror Nights is an event that has been held annually on and off again under various names throughout the last 20 years at Universal Studios Orlando and Universal Studios Hollywood. For many years the events theme revolved around Jack Skellington of Nightmare Before Christmas fame. In recent years the Halloween Horror Nights event has been themed off of popular horror movies including Friday the 13th which quite honestly I really wish I could have gone to. The reason I bring this all up is because this year looks to be exceptionally awesome if you are a horror fan and a heavy metal fan. Some pretty great horror franchises are being tapped this year for the event so I figured with Halloween not too far off I would break down the different attractions being thrown at this years Halloween Horror Nights.

 

The first attraction this year is a maze based on the Walking Dead AMC TV series. You start off in a maze through the prison from the series the West Georgia Correctional Facility which is obviously full of Walkers. Even the fenced in area outside the prison is full of Walkers. After you make it through the prison there is a forested section full of Walkers and if you can “survive” the wilderness you will actually end up at the town of Woodbury where you can meet the Governor. Universal Studios has promised that you will relive many iconic moments from the Walking Dead series.

 

The next attraction is a maze inspired by the Evil Dead. You literally walk through the forest to the most famous of abandoned cabins in horror history. The description says you can either try to run from the Deadites into the forest or you can try to survive the night in the cabin. Exactly how it works I am not sure, you might have to keep running through the maze as staying in the middle seems like a difficult way to get out again. Either way the maze is filled with plenty of gore and Deadites. When you reach the cabin listen for the words from the Book of the Dead as that definitely will be your cue that lots of crazy stuff is about to happen.

 

OK so by now you probably guessed pretty much all the events are mazes. The next maze is inspired by Insidious. People will actually get to walk through the haunted house from Insidious and experience different moments from the movies first hand. The special effects look pretty impressive as they show a girl being wrapped up by a shower curtain seemingly on its own volition. One of the most exciting mazes for me is the one inspired by songs from Black Sabbath. You start the maze in a demon filled cathedral, then go through graveyards, madhouses, corpse filled battlefields and even a nuclear apocalypse full of mutated beasts. You wear 3D glasses the whole time and Black Sabbath music will be playing in the backround. Personally I would love to see Black Sabbath’s reactions as they all walked through the maze. Its being called a interactive 3D movie inspired by Black Sabbath’s most famous songs.

 

The next maze I am kind of on the fence about. Its a maze called “El Cucuy” The Boogeyman. I am all for bringing back the boogeyman for some good old fashioned horror fun but this maze is narrated by Danny Trejo. It looks like it could be fun and if Danny Trejo only says a few things at the beginning and end of the attraction it probably won’t be too bad but I just can’t for the life of me find him scary. The final attraction for this years Halloween Horror Nights is called Universal Monsters Remix: Resurrection which is supposed to be a revival of the classic Universal Monsters. That sounds really cool I am all for the original Universal Monsters being revived for the 21st century. However the attraction features the music of Figure a dubstep artist. The comments on the page make him seem pretty beloved by Halloween Horror Nights patrons but I really don’t want to see Frankenstein pop and lock. I have no proof that is what the attraction will be like but my own gut feeling is sour towards dubstep Universal Monsters. Not saying it can’t be done but it is with guarded skepticism that I would patronize this final attraction. All mazes were constructed with direct input from the creators and producers of source materials including the Black Sabbath maze, Ozzy, Geezer and Tony all had input on their maze.

 

Other non-maze attractions include “Terror Tram: Invaded by the Walking Dead” sort of a tram tour of a Walking Dead infested area. Bill & Ted will have an “Excellent Halloween Comedy Adventure” if you have a will made of pure steel. There are several “Scare Zones” each with its own theme. One scare zone has you playing hide and seek with Chucky. That could be fun. Another scare zone is themed after the movie the Purge that came out last year where you will be literally hunted by psychos with weapons and no laws. One of the scare zones features murderous french clowns in haunted Paris. ( Yes I am laughing even as I type it. ) There will be a field of haunted scarecrows looking to fertilize their crops with human blood, that could be promising. Finally Walking Dead Walkers will be everywhere inside the theme park so look out. The final attraction is you can actually walk through the backlot used in Season 3 of AMC’s Walking Dead series and it will be filled with Walkers. There will also be a landscape you can run from the walkers in that is inspired by Black Sabbath’s new album “13.”

 

So if I had a way to get to Universal Studios Halloween Horror Nights Hollywood or Orlando and could also afford it. This would definitely be on my list of places to go this year for Halloween. If you can swing it and have the schedule for it this just might be the place to get your scares this Halloween.  As always I am Z3R0TH3RT33N and I will continue to keep you updated on all things Horror, Metal and Videogame related.

 

-Z3R0TH3RT33N

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

 

 

 

 

 

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Playstation News

Sony’s newest revelation is the PS Vita TV. Essentially its a Playstation Vita that lets you play Vita games on your TV screen. The device is about as big as a deck of cards and has inputs in the back of it for HDMI, Ethernet, USB, and has slots for memory cards as well as the actual Vita games. PS Vita TV can be used to stream movies from Sony specific services as well as other online content providers. Currently the device can only be controlled by a Dualshock 3 controller, with a patch coming early 2014 to allow control by a Dualshock 4 controller. Many Vita games utilize touch functionality and it is unclear how different input functions would be adjusted to Dualshock settings. Sony did say that some Vita games will not work on Vita TV.

At $100 the PS Vita TV is looking like a very affordable option to videogame fans on a budget. Much of the PS Vita library is highly acclaimed and rated favorably. With Sony’s strong relationship with indie developers and the release of triple A titles like Killzone Mercenary the Vita library of first class games continues to grow. Vita games max out at about $40 unless you are buying special bundles. If you buy the larger PS Vita TV bundle that comes with a Dualshock 3 controller and 8 gigabyte memory card it will cost you $150.

Another interesting feature of the PS Vita TV is the ability to stream the PS4 to any TV in your house. The example shown in the commercial shows a group of friends coming home to play videogames but someone is already using the PS Vita TV to watch a movie so one of the kids powers on the PS4 and hits a button on the PS Vita TV and he and his friends just go to a different room with a TV and play a PS4 game with a PS4 controller while the people in the other room continue to watch their movie uninterrupted. Not going to lie, if it works as advertised with no latency that is pretty awesome. Sony is also promising that a large portion of PS One classic games will also be available to download and play on PS Vita TV.

To be honest this was a slightly unexpected move by Sony. The recently announced more affordable $200 PS Vita redesign was expected but I doubt many predicted PS Vita TV. Even the larger $150 bundle is still half the price of a Wii U. Any ground the Ouya may have gained with the casual market has just been swiftly ripped out from under them. Sony just stepped into the Ouya’s ring and has told them to go home they just bought the venue. This is a smart move by Sony. PS Vita just became so much more integral to the Playstation ecosystem. If all the features work as advertised PS Vita TV is a very exciting hardware edition to any gaming fan. Here is a link to the commercial so you can check it out for yourself. Offering the PS Vita as a home console instantly grows its install base making the hardware more appealing to developers who might have otherwise been on the fence about the Vita. This means that the PS Vita’s already rich and growing library will likely gain more support from all developers, promising a bright and healthy future for the hardware full of new and exciting experiences.

-Z3R0TH3RT33N

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

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For the Fans!

Hey everyone the feedback has been amazing lately. I greatly appreciate the level of passion followers have. I wanted to thank everyone for supporting Sonic Mercury. When I started I wasn’t really sure what to expect but I think that I quickly found my voice. Clearly videogames have been at the forefront of my updates lately. I promise more metal and horror related articles will be included on the site to help diversify content in the future. I am thinking a top ten 80’s horror movie list is in order.

 

Gamescom was huge! So much stuff was shown off their it really was hard to break it down. Here is a quick overview. Someone at the Sony conference said something like “unlike others, we have had a clear path for our new console.” There was outrage. People were like “Cheap shot!” “ohhh Sony slams Microsoft again!” “Scandalous!!” Honestly at this point who cares? Microsoft messed up really bad and burned a lot of bridges with gamers around the world. Whats done is done. Lets get on with what we all really care about, the shiny new consoles and their respective videogames. Nonetheless people definitely tried hard to make this one comment in a 90 minute presentation a big deal. Seeing the comment in context it sounded to me like the speaker was just saying that they have been focused with the PS4 and the path Sony was taking with their new console. Anyone who saw this as a major jab at Microsoft was reaching.

 

The PS3 slim model will have a limited edition model available next year in the color blue. Special Microsoft employee  only editions of the XBOX One were shown off and they will be white. What is it about videogame consoles in different colors that makes them more desirable? Is it that we actually like the other colors or is it more just owning something that others don’t? “I have a new console!” “That’s cool, I have it to but mine is blue.”

 

Lets see other news from Gamescom. Battlefield 4 reportedly looks a lot worse than expected in the port from high end PC’s to the PS4 and XBOX One editions. This is very disappointing news considering the game is highly anticipated and every demo of the game up until the Gamescom hands on demo were visually impressive.

 

The new revamped Dualshock 4 controller for the PS4 received positive feedback at Gamescom with many FPS fans saying they would now be more likely consider playing first person shooters on the PS4 in the future.

 

Lots more happened at Gamescom but there are some highlights for you. Thanks again to everyone who has been following Sonic Mercury and I promise plenty more content on the way. Look for more info on Sonic Mercury’s new YouTube channel SonicMercuryTV in the next few weeks. Bookmark SonicMercury.com for more unique perspectives on videogames, horror, and heavy metal.

 

-Z3R0TH3RT33N

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

 

 

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gamescom 2013

Tomorrow, August 21, is the start of this years gamescom. The event has been held annually in Cologne, Germany since 2009. E3 is a big deal but Gamescom is the worlds largest gaming event. Gamescom is different than E3 because it is open to the public where as E3 is closed to the general public and is an industry only event, although if you apply early its not unlikely that a regular person could get a press pass to E3.

 

Obviously there is a lot of excitement for Gamescom this year. ( By the way really struggled with how to write it, Gamescom or gamescom because the official logo is stylized with a lowercase G. ) New consoles have been announced and their launch window is only a few months away. For Sony and Microsoft this is election year. E3 is where our potential candidates make their opening statements and this year the statements were very loud and polarized the entire gaming nation. Gamescom is like the next big debate for which console we should vote/pay for.

 

Sony to their credit really only revealed one completely new title ( The Order 1888 ) at E3 and still succeeded in one of the most exciting E3 conferences of all time with their announcements of consumer friendly policies. Microsoft on the other hand has been in a state of constant tailspin since the reveal of the XBOX One before E3. Mandatory Kinect functionality, restrictive DRM policies, poor explanations for XBOX One features and just plain arrogance on the part of former head of Microsoft’s interactive entertainment Don Mattrick did substantial damage among new and longtime gaming fans alike. Since E3 Microsoft has fought a steep up hill battle trying to win back the gaming community however recent consumer polls have shown that roughly 80% of those considering a new gaming console are in favor of Sony over Microsoft.

 

Their is plenty to look forward to this year at Gamescom. Which from the description sounds like its more like a videogame festival with rock and roll concerts and other entertainment throughout the event. Electronic Arts has promised a big announcement in regards to Europe’s largest sports franchise, so basically a FIFA 14 announcement. Earlier this summer president of Sony Entertainment Europe Jim Ryan commented when asked by a member of the press about Sony’s somewhat smaller showing of new games at E3 for Playstation hardware compared to rival Microsoft that its a long year with lots of gaming events and that Sony has a lot going on but had to hold some stuff back saying that they would still need some new stuff to show at Gamescom. Jim went on to say that the president of Sony Worldwide Studios for Sony Computer Entertainment alone currently has 30 titles in development, 12 of which are brand new Intellectual Properties and overall 20 of the 30 titles in development will be shipping in the launch year of the PS4.

 

Meanwhile Microsoft interpreted the negative response to the XBOX One unveiling as having something to do with the fact that they mostly only showed the TV capabilities of their new system and not a lot pertaining to actual games. The backlash resulted in Microsoft showing a huge amount of games at E3, even the segue between game announcements had commercials for other games. Since the negative response to the XBOX One had a lot more to do with the horribly restrictive and poorly explained policies of the new system and not so much to do with the lack of games shown at its unveiling, the plethora of games shown at E3 combined with Sony really sticking it to Microsoft by announcing more consumer friendly policies and a $100 cheaper price tag, did very little to improve Microsoft’s image with consumers.

 

If Microsoft continued on the original path they had in mind for its new system it is likely that the XBOX One could very well have been known as the Damien of gaming. ( See the Omen ) Anyway Microsoft did what they did and the damage has been done. ( I still can’t believe Microsoft sent employees to BestBuy’s around the country to discourage customers from buying the Wii U. ) Policies have been overturned and management has changed. They say necessity is the mother of invention, I would have say its pretty necessary for Microsoft to show the world that they really have changed for the better and they still have great things planned.

 

Gamescom this year promises to be really memorable. Developers will be showing off their latest and greatest software. Sony will try to continue the awesome momentum it has had this year. Microsoft no doubt will try to redeem itself. One of the most interesting parts of Gamescom is that this will be the first event where regular people who aren’t press related will be able to go hands on with the PS4 and XBOX One. We will get honest feedback about how these systems really operate from people with first hand experiences. I for one can not wait to hear what they have to say.

 

There is no doubt that Gamescom is primed for some exciting announcements. I will give highlights so keep coming back to find out the latest about the greatest things from Gamescom 2013.

 

-Z3R0TH3RT33N

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

 

 

 

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Horror Spotlight: Hemlock Grove

Hemlock Grove is a Netflix Original TV series based on a novel of the same name released in March 2012 and authored by Brian McGreevy. Eli Roth of Hostel fame is the executive producer of the series and the show has been nominated for an Emmy in the category of original online only web television. I have to give Netflix credit for not making something safe and taking risks. This is a show that takes out all the stops. A large part of Hemlock Grove’s allure comes from deciphering the unknown but when it comes to events happening to characters pertinent to the story the show can be quite graphic. This candidness adds a rawness and validity to an ever present sense of danger. The tension is high and the atmosphere potent.

 

Hemlock Grove is beautifully twisted, its Beethoven’s No. 5 painted by Van Gogh and played backwards by Slayer. A symphony for the senses. There is sex, violence, drugs, high school, young love, divorce, love triangles, unexplained pregnancies, monsters, murders, genetic manipulations and the supernatural. These ingredients are slow cooked on a rotisserie of intrigue and served in mouth watering bite sized revelations wrapped in mysteries that are fulfilling but never fill you up. The show hits all the right notes, interesting characters, believable dialogue and a refreshing take on familiar mythologies, while still giving respectful nods to source materials.

 

First off I have to mention the fantastic cinematography of Hemlock Grove. Almost every shot, be it an establishing shot of a landscape or a plain old alleyway, looks gorgeous. The use of lighting and filters are executed expertly and almost always seem to add to the atmosphere. Several times throughout the series I found myself just gawking at the scenery. It was seldom that I thought the image quality of a scene suffered a little but in those rare instances I couldn’t say for sure if my internet connection slowed down a little bit or if it was an intentional production choice to add atmosphere to a particular shot.

 

The thing to really get across with Hemlock Grove is that it is so much fun. The world created inside this show is one of limitless potential. You really feel like anything can happen. The characters are unique and satisfyingly fleshed out. While the show has many dark and gruesome moments they never feel overbearing and their is a really nice balance of levity. Another thing that I really appreciate about Hemlock Grove is that it doesn’t hold back, it embraces its premise and its previously mentioned “ingredients” and sprints full force into its own world. Nothing feels toned down, they chose a direction and they run with it. The horror elements are fully embraced and their are some really great effects used throughout the show.

 

The characters of Hemlock Grove are bizarre. Whenever time is taken to add exposition I couldn’t help but pay attention. Every detail just makes the show even more fascinating. Even at the very very end of the series the freight train of insanity never slows down and if anything it picks up speed. You can literally feel the tension in the air and its genuinely exciting wondering what could possibly happen next?! I don’t think I have ever enjoyed a TV show as much as this one.

 

Although Hemlock Grove currently only has a single season of 13 episodes each episode averages 45-50 minutes. Each episode is packed with content and a season 2 has already been approved for the series. There are a few moments of utter ridiculousness but the show is so damn entertaining that I honestly really didn’t care I was having too much fun to let these moments bother me. The climax of this series delivers in spades, the payoff to everything leading up to the end is so gratifying. Questions are answered and a lot of plot points are brought to a close but just enough is left hanging in the air of uncertainty that has me wishing season 2 was already here. If you have Netflix or know someone who does and your looking for an exciting supernatural tale of “Who dunnit?” with strong horror overtones and interesting characters go to Hemlock Grove you won’t be disappointed. In case it wasn’t obvious in my descriptions of the show its probably best you put the little ones to bed before turning this one on as the series does have a lot of adult content such as nudity and extreme violence.

 

-Z3R0TH3RT33N

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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The Wonderful 101

Sorry for the delay on the follow up for the last Nintendo Direct but I had trouble tracking this one down. The latest Nintendo Direct highlights a new Wii U exclusive game called The Wonderful 101. A game about 100 unique superheros. I assume that the final “1” is either a hidden character or a way of saying the actual player is the final hero in the game. The art style is cartoonish in the vein of Viewtiful Joe if you have ever seen that series.

 

You start out with a handful of superheros and go throughout the game unlocking more superheros as you progress. Each hero brings an individual ability/personality to your group as well as makes your group stronger. During gameplay all of your unlocked superheros are present on screen and they move in a mob. New powers and abilities are unlocked and can be upgraded throughout the game like the ability to summon giant swords or hammers. The actual characters you control become the weapons you create to fight giant monsters. Your abilities are also used for solving puzzles for instance making giant ladders or bridges. The different abilities are activated when the player draws a simple specific design into the center of their gamepad.

 

The overall tone of the game is very over the top. The trailer for the game was kind of like a Dexter’s Laboratory crossover with the Powerpuff Girls with lots of references to current superhero movies. Dexter’s Laboratory kept popping up in my head because I am pretty sure Wonderful “Green” is voiced by the same actor as Dexter was. The pacing of the trailer was very similar to that of the Powerpuff Girls and the villains seemed very similar with one villain almost like a robotic female version of Mojo Jojo. In fact the whole game feels like it could have been a show on Cartoon Network during the same time as Dexter and the Girls.

 

While the game has an obvious cartoon presentation it is a little hard to figure out who this game is supposed to be marketed to. The Wonder Pink character comes off as a Russian dominatrix. She wears pink leather, carries a whip and during her superhero transformation she actually says “bad boy, time for a little punishment.” Wonder Pink also contributes a giant pink whip to the team that you can use to fight enemies and navigate levels. The overall gameplay of Wonderful 101 looks like a platformer with some puzzle solving and instead of controlling one character you control a mob of characters.

 

-Z3R0TH3RT33N

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

 

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Evil Dead Remake/Reimagining

(Image appears courtesy of Christopher Ott and London 1888)

 

 

I just wanted to say a few things about the Evil Dead reboot. It seems somewhat appropriate seeing how it just came out on Blu-ray this week. First off I am a huge fan of the original series. I still remember renting the original Evil Dead when I was like ten years old. The smell of row after row of rental tapes, talking to the guy behind the counter. “Say my man, what’s the scariest movie you have?” and the clerk replied, “Why the Evil Dead young man.” When I was a little kid it seems like all we really ever rented were horror movies actually. The Return of the Living Dead series, Alien, Predator, Wish Master, Lost Boys, Silence of the Lambs, Hellraiser, as a kid I really liked the Puppet Master series for some reason and an endless supply of other old horror movies.

 

The original Evil Dead struck a chord. Like any great horror movie you lose your self in the plot and this may sound a bit strange but I actually cared about what happened to the characters in the story. I didn’t know until much later in life that the Evil Dead was already a cult classic by the time I rented it back in the early 90’s. What I did know is that it became one my favorite movies. The story was bizarre, the atmosphere was ripe with tension and a genuine sense of fear was conveyed by the purveyance of the unknown. Before this movie I never fathomed anything close to a book bound in human flesh and inked in human blood or what evils it would unleash upon the world.

 

The X factor of Evil Dead and the subsequent trilogy is the character Ash Williams played by Bruce Campbell. As the series goes on Ash became more and more of a bad ass, quick with a one liner and faster with his boom-stick. The story of Ash Williams has become legend to many, myself included. The character of Ash Williams has appeared in multiple Evil Dead video games and comic book series. Most horror fans would agree the original Evil Dead and Bruce Campbell’s Ash Williams are iconic.

 

Here lies the monumental task of rebooting this beloved piece of horror cinema. ( Note: Evil Dead director Sam Raimi went on to direct the first Spider-man trilogy ) Director Fede Alvarez was hand selected by Sam Raimi to helm this project. The cast and crew were all explicitly told by both Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell to not try and recreate what had already been done. Sam and Bruce, both producers of the film, were very supportive but took on more of a coaching position leaving Fede Alvarez and his cast free to blaze their own story, to create something fresh.

 

The trailers for Evil Dead 2013 were really promising. Lots of gore, lots of violence and deadites. ( Look up the Redband trailer on YouTube its pretty wild NSFW )This was the first horror movie I had been truly excited for in a long time. When I finally got to see it I wasn’t disappointed. Evil Dead 2013 had an interesting plot giving the cabin more meaning to the characters and a real reason for everyone to visit the cabin. It succeeded in recreating the feeling I had watching the original, tense on the edge of my seat wondering what would happen next. It was a lot of fun to say the least, Easter eggs for the initiated were abundant without diminishing the new story in any way. I left the cinema happy to see that one of my favorite franchises was in good hands and to see the Evil Dead legacy grow and know that its legend will live on.

 

I have talked to some people who were really disappointed by this film. I was confused thinking OK it was pretty violent I could see some people who don’t enjoy horror being turned off by this title. That wasn’t the case as it turns out they were huge fans of the original series, and I found out that there are others who shared in their disappointment of Evil Dead 2013. These fans actually left the film confused about what had happened in the movie. Apparently what some fans were hoping for was a shot for shot remake of the original movie just updated with new effects.

 

The shot for shot remake of a classic horror movie has been done before. The one that jumps to mind is the remake of Psycho. A cinematic legend. Anthony Perkins’ performance in the original Psycho film is legendary. The Vince Vaughn performance in the shot for shot remake of Psycho is infamous. Bruce Campbell and the Evil Dead franchise are iconic. Bruce Campbell as Ash Williams is iconic. Like in the Psycho remake no one could ever capture the performance of the original. A shot for shot updated remake of Evil Dead would be a terrible step backwards for the franchise because all anyone would do is compare Bruce’s Ash to whomever’s Ash.

 

Even if it was a good shot for shot remake of the original, nothing original would have been done. What a waste of time to re-shoot a classic film scene by scene when you could just watch the original anyway. Instead what we got was a new story in an updated universe of a legendary horror franchise, with plenty of nods to the past to give die hard fans something to cheer for.

 

Rumor has it that Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell have three more Evil Dead titles in mind. One film will continue with the events of Evil Dead 2013, the second film will be a sequel to Army of Darkness with Campbell reprising his famous role of the chainsaw wielding deadite slayer Ash Williams, and the third film is intended to be a film where Ash Williams’ universe crosses over into the universe of the new series.

 

The Evil Dead 2013 did not give us an Ash Williams. However the film did give us a compelling story and interesting characters. There is plenty of gore and practical effects. Many events that occurred in the original series are homaged. Evil Dead 2013 is exhilarating, a refreshing new adventure in a beloved horror haunt. A thrilling tale that will keep you on the edge of your seat til the credits roll. I give it 4 and 1/2 stars out of five. If you have the stomach and like full on horror movies that hold nothing back I strongly recommend this film.

-Z3R0TH3RT33N

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