Archive for May, 2005
So just came out of seeing Saving Face at the Angelika Film Center - and decided to do a quick blog at the Apple Store. Haha, yes, I even made an image. 
Anyways.. While I was very eager to see this movie, I had no idea what to expect. I was thinking maybe it’s a “cute romantic comedy with typical Asian-American family craziness thrown in” or “something Ang Lee would do.” But what I got was a very fresh, funny and enjoyable film. It is now my new favorite film (and not just because it’s partly about Asian lebsians - har-har) and I can totally see myself going again and bringing more friends to check it out. Sure you may find it more entertaining if you grew up in an Asian household, but no matter who you are, you will totally get a kick out of it!
So it begins…
Sony’s little silver PS3 (or white, or black, hopefully a Burberry plaid by launch :P) made its first appearance during the opening day of E3. You gotta admit, Sony has quite an impressive machine in its hands - or so they say.. Remember all the stuff they said about the PS2 before its launch? Hehe. But with Blu-Ray, Bluetooth, Cell technology and 1080p resolution, that’s a lot of heat the PS3 is packin’. I love how one of their slides on the slideshow was having a two HD display hook-up, for a 32:9 panaromic view!? Hehe - I wish a setup like that was common, but hey, you never know in the future.
Microsoft also had their press conference for the XBox 360 and they put up a pretty well-rounded presentation (no pun intended, though I did like how the stage was circular and the presenters were able to walk and look around in full 360 degrees.. um.. yeah, hehe). I am impressed by the interface and connectivity that MS is proposing for the XBox. It is at this point where you can clearly see where each company is heading towards, and a lot of it has to do with the background of each company. MS is definitely trying to hit a wide range of people, linking them up and creating a massive online and interactive community. Sony is going for the ultimate home theater experience with the best sound, picture, and entertainment setup you can put together. These factors are key and can lead to what type of gamers would go for which system. XBox 360 specs may not match up to Sony, but they are showing a strong third-party support, from MS alum like Team Ninja and Rare, to newcomers like Mistwalker and the surprising addition of Square Enix. Sure for now it’s only FF XI.. but it’s FF XI! XBox Live is what MS will captalize on in the early stages of the console wars, and I think it can work out very well for them (having the free XBox Live Silver account is a good start).
The pic above is from the opening of the Nintendo World store here in NYC. I met up with my ultra-coolness friend Cheryl - who may look cute and innocent but would surely kick your ass in Smash Bros, hehe. We took advantage of the perfect weekend to check out the new store and indulge in the festivities. I’ve never seen so many Gameboy SP and DS consoles - not to mention crazy Pokemon fans - before, and it was quite a sight. I can see the store be something really special when Nintendo releases Revolution, new GC Zelda, and whatnot. Can’t wait! The store’s shopping bags are pretty awesome too, hehe.
More pix can be found here. My favorite is the NES prototype in the store’s “museum” displays.
Okay, I’m going to call this week “Geek Week.” “Why?” you might ask? (Especially since every week is pretty much geek week for me for some reason or another.) Let’s see..
Yeah, so that’s a pretty cheesy title for this entry - but hey, it sounds like it would come from movie promotions, right-right?
Anyways, let’s talk about this movie, which is the latest from director Michael Bay (The Rock, Armageddon). I saw the trailer some weeks ago and recently saw it again (the website launched yesterday) and I have to say, I’m getting pretty curious how it will turn out. Overall, I believe there’s a lot of potential in this movie. One of them being the fact that Bay is taking a bold new step in his film career. Here’s a breakdown.. It will be Bay’s first film NOT produced by Jerry Bruckheimer. Of all of Bay’s films, it is the one with the least amount of hype and early promotion, which says a lot, especially in this summer’s huge movie season. With Bay, is a new player in Hollywood screenwriting world, Alex Kurtzman. Kurtzman has had a good run on television series, and is now working up some big Hollywood projects (The Legend of Zorro, Mission Impossible 3, Tell No One). On top of that, this film - if it gets praise and does well (it’s sure to make some sort of bank) - it would be a good sign for the upcoming and long-delayed, Transformers movie, now said to be in the hands of Bay and Kurtzman.
Saw this article over the weekend, and on Joystiq this morning, so I decided - while I’m starting to get back into blogging mode - why not post it as well.
1Up.com has always been a fun video game site. A lot of it is due to its “classic gaming” articles which brings out that nostalgia factor in everyone. A recent entry has been about the Star Wars games, in preparation for Episode III - which is getting some pretty good reviews. Nice to hear since this is the last movie and will hopefully end the saga on a high note).
Reading the article brings back some good memories (X-Wing vs. Tie-Fighter!), and even though I was mainly a PC game freak (Rebel Assault… dude, I can’t believe that was cool back in the day, hehe), I can’t help but notice that they left out the arcade games! While some can be forgotten, there were two that really stood out for me. First, the original Star Wars game by Atari, with the “leading-edge” vector graphics and voice soundbytes, was so choice (yeah, 80s!). Second, Sega’s Star Wars Trilogy was actually pretty fun and had good looking 3D graphics, as opposed to the FMV graphics of Rebel Assault. It can even be said it was a precursor to the Rogue Squadron games.
I’m sure Star Wars will always be around for the gamers - though they’ve really got to filter out some of the duds. I’m sorry to say I once owned a copy of Star Wars: Yoda Stories for Windows 95. ::Sigh:: 