Monday, August 17, 2009

Brett Favre - Really?

Brett Favre in his hay day vs. Brett Farve in 2009


















I've loved watching Brett Favre ever since I was a little kid. He's the type of player that always played to win and was in it for the love of the game. He played a game the day after his father died and had one of the best games of his career and has earned the love and respect of every football fan in Wisconsin.

That being said, he needs to stop. The man with the most Touchdowns (and interceptions) of any QB in history just announced that he may be returning to the NFL this upcoming season despite his announcement at the beginning of the off-season assuring the NFL that the silver fox would not be returning.

There's something to be said about the resilience of older professional athletes. It's great to see a man in his late 30s and early 40s playing with the younger kids. Football is not one of the sports where this makes sense though. The average shelf life for an NFL player is 3 years. Favre is hitting 18 years if he continues with the Minnesota Vikings this year. His last season was mediocre, and it appears as if he's trying to prove something to the younger players. If he's hurt, he refuses to sit out. If he's thrown 3 picks, he continues to play. I don't care how many people he puts in seats. If he's not winning games, is it worth wasting space under your salary cap for a mediocre older player? I say no. Hang up the Jersey Brett. I loved watching you in the past, but it's just becoming sad.

Thursday, August 6, 2009

Early Pixar Animation



This is "Pixar's" first animation. It was created at the Lucasfilm animation headquarters, but Willam Reeves, John Lasseter, and a few other Pixar animators were on that team. Think of the video games, cartoons, and movies that were created in the 80's. This is the year that Miami Vice and Punky Brewster (reoccuring topic i guess) came out. The fact that this type of animation was even possible is unbelievable. Just imagine the computers they had to work with for this. The Apple IIe had JUST come out the year before.

These were the best video game graphics available then.

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Beatles Rock Band... worth it?

This game truly looks incredible. I will in no way deny them that. The graphics are unbelievable and any true fan of the beatles (movies and all) will adore this trailer.
My problem lies within the premise of the game. Rock Band has been a game aimed at expanding what Guitar Hero started. They added the drums and vocals to spawn new elements to the game play. For that, we are grateful.
However, the fun part of the game lies in all of the different music that is available. We get to play rap, rock, pop, classic rock, indie. Anything we want is available. While, yes, the Beatles repertoire is one of the greatest song catalogues of all time, they are simply one band. The Aerosmith Guitar Hero package (filled with some of the great classic/glam rock guitar riffs of the past 30 years) did not do well, falling far short of its universal counterparts.
The other issue can be found in the simplicity of most Beatles songs. In Rock Band, you keep building up to playing harder and harder songs until the penultimate finger killers. The difficulty and probability of failure adds to the tension and eventual release when completed. The Beatles were not very good at their instruments. Paul could write a decent bass line, and George's guitar parts sounded great but there's no challenge involved. John Lennon just played along most of the time and Ringo shouldn't dignify any insults. They were four guys that could write well and harmonize better. There are no face melting solos to challenge you into the wee hours of the night. No syncopated drum beats to destroy your motor capabilities. No wild vocal riffs, incapable of being reached.
To its merit, Beatles Rock Band will get more people into the franchise and will involve older people into the gaming world. This is always a great service to the gaming community. I'm excited to see how this does in the mainstream and how well the hardcore gamers trash it, and the casual gamers glorify it.