Shop Review: Forbidden Planet (Leicester)

If you don't like clothes and 'gaudy designer label bullshit' - all credit goes to comedian and newspaper columnist Charlie Brooker for that one - shopping can probably be quite a daunting experience for some. However, for that very same group, if clothes turn into 'video-games' and 'gaudy designer label bullshit' turns into 'merchandise and pointless tat from that one series of anime that you bum, where your obsession is gradually turning into a fetish', then shopping suddenly, can turn into a very magical experience. And one stop that should be made when you're on your tour around your local city centrefor new comics, manga, and collectible merchandise, is Forbidden Planet.

I know first-hand myself, how good it is. I attend university in Leicester and so am near a very nice shopping centre where one of these gold mines is located. Within it lies every possible thing anyone could ever think of themselves as a self-confessed 'geek' about… well… not everything. A very large selection, would be more accurate.

Cute knick knacks fill the ground floor to the brim of bursting, where merchandise for well-established characters are sold - such as Hello Kitty, Harry Potter, Doctor Who, Domo-kun, as well as productions by lesser well-known national artists and designers. Their pieces include collectable figurines, zip pulls and key chains that incorporate their range of characters, making them appeal and stand out.

An example of this would be Matt Jones' little robot character 'Lunartik' who lives on the moon and is sat in a cup of tea. There's not too much to him… accept for the fact that he comes in a range of different colours and he's cute as hell. The fact that you don't know which one you've got as well, as they're random, only makes it more exciting. I myself have a little red one sat on my computer, which often has people questioning what it actually is.

The first floor is home to shelves of comics and manga books. It's not a massive shop - the poor thing could hardly compete with it's more well-known, larger counterparts, such as Southampton and London - but, those arranging the layout of the shop definitely used the space they had to the best they could. There are around three shelves laid out across the length of the shop, where there's a lot on offer, but it's not uncomfortable to find what you're looking for, and you're not forever having to squeeze past people. The variety and amount on offer for such a small shop is astounding.

Merchandise, again, is prevalent here. Jack Skellington, Street Fighter, Final Fantasy, Super Mario Bros. (and if you really care) Pokemon and Twilight fill the walls. However, if you're comfortable with spending a fucking bomb, I'd stay away from the very lovely tat that's on offer. It may be tat… but, it's very nice tat, which always tempts me.

The sales assistants are always incredibly efficient and friendly as well, where if you require assistance, they'll help you the best they can or will be honest, and direct you to a more suitable colleague, who can help you with your query. They'll even go as far as to order in certain mangas which are not on sale, but that you desperately want, where once it's in-shop, you'll get a phone call telling you when you'd like to pick it up. To top it all off, they even know what they're talking about… by talking to them, it's easy to see they've all been employed for their passion, concerning this kind of stuff. Oh and the fact that they can work a till.

It's great to see, as so many shops that specialise in a certain type of media, that requires a personal passion and some knowledge, employ fuck-wits, who only know so much as they've been told to know… a certain massive retailer of video games, that nearly became bankrupt recently, I'm looking at you…

Overall, this is definitely recommended, and the fact that these stores are in many major cities, demands you to search out these geeky goldmines. With huge variety, and hugely helpful shop assistants, this really is the best it gets for those that love shopping for this type of stuff… they even let me order in an Ace Attorney manga… I nearly wept with joy. Happy shopping Alt:Maggers!

Read more »

Let's Talk About: Pokémon and Black And White 2!

There is no doubt about it. Pokémon is the don, and I don't mean the Nas song. Somewhere on the internet, underneath the mounds and mounds of 'PokéMemes' you will find a thriving community of fans, and a beautiful and friendly one it is. Back in my younger years, around the time that the Pokémon craze began to die out in favour of other stuff (I think it may have been Digimon), I still quietly kept my passion alive for this franchise, most notably the games (although I love the manga too). I never would have though that years later, there would have been a whole bunch of people just like me on the internet, who just love to talk about their far from acute obsession. Really could've used the internet back then. Nowadays we have forums and websites, as well as YouTube, where official Pokémon games, as well as hacked Pokémon games have been let's played by ridiculous amounts of people, and people love to upload their own commentaries of their experiences of battling online. But way back when, it was just you and a Game Boy (I had a Game Boy Color), a link cable (if you were going to battle or trade with friends) and a cartridge of Pokémon Red, Blue or Yellow. Pokémon Red was the first game I ever owned and completed (I never caught all 151, but I beat the main storyline) and that simple yet wonderful game will always be a part of me, no matter how much saying that is going to reduce my chances of getting laid. 

The first generation of Pokémon was simple. 150 Pokémon, catch them all, get all the gym badges, beat the Elite Four. Bosh. Magic ensued. The graphics were primitive yet charming and the gameplay was easy to understand, however to master the battle system perfectly, you'd perhaps have to be a little older (or a child prodigy). Also, this generation was the generation in which Snorlax debuted. Snorlax is a true legend and really deserves a game of his own. Why do you think Hey You, Pikachu! sucked so much? Because it wasn't about Bo$$lax.

Of course 151 Pokémon just wasn't gonna cut it. There had to be more, and the second generation, in the forms of Gold, Silver and Crystal supplied us with another great adventure, one of the best in fact, as well as another 100 of the little belters. Sure, there are Pokémon traditionalists who believe that Nintendo should have just stuck with the original 151 Pokémon, but just slap them, they're not proper PokéFans. Anyway, the games of the second generation still had that familiar simpleness to them, except they were so much more. The game was absolutely huge. You could do so many new things and you could even go back to Kanto, the place in which the first set of games took place. Fans loved this feature in particular, as previously, once the Elite Four had been defeated, there was not really much in the way of after game. Unfortunately, something must have been lost in translation (the type of translation from fans to game developers) because this type of thing hasn't been done in a Pokémon game since. 

I have always whored the hell out of the Pokémon games but the games of the third generation (on the Game Boy Advance), Ruby, Sapphire and Emerald, was the generation I probably played the most. I played my Ruby cartridge so much that the internal battery ran dry. These games were colourful and bright and the new Pokémon were just plain awesome. The music was okay, but the music wasn't as good as it used to be. Ruby, Sapphire and Emerald came from a nice part of Nintendo's life. Everything was about being social and this was something that Nintendo always promoted with the Pokémon franchise, but in this generation, I felt it was especially at its peak. I had a Game Boy Advance with Pokémon Ruby, while my cousin had Sapphire. I wanted particular Pokémon exclusive to Sapphire, while he wanted the ones that were exclusive to Ruby, so we met up and we did some trades via link cable. Man, I wanted Jirachi so bad... so I was finally able to get Jirachi using Josh's copy of Pokémon Channel and my GameCube to Game Boy Advance connection cable. And don't forget the whole shenanigans with secret bases. Good times. Praise Nintendo. 

It is sad to say, but despite having so much hype for the fourth generation, I didn't like Pearl, Diamond or Platinum much. To me, these games felt like some sort of Pokémon demo for the DS, they felt half-assed. The Pokémon were boring and unimaginative (except Munchlax), the storyline was stupid and if I could I'd just love to dismiss their existence from the Pokémon franchise all together. Sure, they introduced some cool new features to the games, like online battling and trading, as well as using Wi-Fi to visit people's secret bases, but apart from that, I couldn't stand these games. Cynthia can go burn in a hole.

Then came along Black and White, the fifth generation. I was excited, yet at the same time I was scared. All of the new Pokémon looked awesome this time round, but I was worried that the gameplay would suffer, just like the previous generation. When I first started playing White, up until the first gym I was thinking how boring it was and I even took to FaceBook to moan about how this may be the last Pokémon game I will ever play. Then I was taken by suprise and slowly started to fall in love. All the sprites of the Pokémon moved (when they were asleep their eyes shut, which was beyond awesome) and the storyline turned out to probably be one of the best ever once it really kicked off. So, Black and White were really good and they seemed like a step back in the right direction. It was like Nintendo had turned over a new leaf and realised what people wanted, well, except these games lacked the longevity of previous games (like what I mentioned about Gold and Silver), despite having masses of online play options to chose from... they never learn.

 

And I can't forget the two remakes, which kicked ass. FireRed and LeafGreen were great, although they can never beat the originals, as they added lots of new islands. These two games were also very exciting once second generation Pokémon were available to catch, as the jump from the Game Boy to Game Boy Advance meant we couldn't trade from Gold, Silver or Crystal, so this gave us a chance to re-catch 'em all. HeartGold and SoulSilver took Gold, Silver and Crystal and just made them even more awesome, as if they weren't awesome enough already, probably the best feature being the ability to have your Pokémon follow you in the overworld.

Now we come back to present day, where my hype for Black and White 2 is through the roof. Probably because of the awesome anime trailer that surfaced on the internet just a few weeks ago (I'll post it at the end of this article)! This game is the first time we've seen a sequel to another game, although I am pretty sure it is just a remake, like Emerald, Platinum etc. I even got the idea to import it from Australia, as they get it 'spring 2012' but then I realised spring in the land of Oz is Britain's version of Autumn. I realise that Japan have already got the game and this means it has been leaked on to the internets, however I would prefer to purchase and play the real thing when it has been officially translated. Tradition ftw. Some of the Pokémon have new forms (see Keldeo's awesome new form below), and there is a tonne of new features, plot lines and areas to explore. Let's just hope that this game is a fitting tribute to the style of gameplay that we all know and love, and that it doesn't jump off somewhere. I'm pretty interested to find out how these games will link back from to the plots of the original Black and White. Apparently there is a new feature called Memory Link, and when connecting Black and White with Black and White 2, it unlocks little extras in your game relating to your previous character, such as certain people talking about you and also you being able to battle Bianca, who uses the same team as she did in your previous game. Pretty cool really, it reminds me of the Pokémon fan club in FireRed and LeafGreen after mixing records.

So at the end of the day (Jeremy Kyle I see you), it is pretty clear that Pokémon kicks ass and for many of us, it is more than just a game. It is a memory of our childhoods, as well as something that never fails to make us feel happy. As we have grown up, this series has grown and improved with us, developing in to what it is today. It is really weird how a game can have such an amazing effect on all of us. This is hands down, one of the best game series ever invented and I'm pretty sure my life would have been totally different if Pokémon had never existed, it has helped me get in to so many new things that eventually came a big part of my life (for example Anime). Thank you Pokémon, god bless. Be sure to read my Black and White 2 review this autumn (haha)!

Read more »

Song Of The Week: Hot Chip - 'How Do You Do'

Hot Chip have released many minor hits over the past 10 years or so, including the brilliant Over and Over. The reason why I really like this band is because on every album they seem to evolve and the song below shows that they have matured a lot.

This track, in my opinion, is the stand out track on their new album. It is a euphoric funky house track.  It is an incredibly catchy dance tune that will definately take over the club dancefloors all over britain.

This is the Second single, from their forthcoming album, In Our Heads.

Read more »

Pop Punk: The Reunion!

So the new American Pie movie American Reunion has been released and has done its rounds in the cinemas. Of course the same old cheerless movie critics had something negative to say, but they must be missing something because me and Josh went to see it and we couldn't stop laughing. For anyone who watched the original American Pie trilogy, this one will bring back many memories from when you were younger and is the same barrel of toilet humour driven laughs as it always has been. I suggest you go to see it if you are a fan of the original trilogy, or even the whole franchise (Yeah I enjoyed Band Camp a lot, so what?).

However, this post is not about the movie itself, but something else. While watching the movie I noticed how many classic pop punk songs were played in the soundtrack. I remember at one point they played Lit's My Own Worst Enemy and I swear I was just about to start rocking out where I sat, but then I remembered where I was. However there was something missing from the whole equation. A blink-182 song. They had a song in the first three American Pie movies, so why not continue the tradition with the addition of a blink song in American Reunion? They even have a new album of songs to pick from.

Anyway, this got me thinking. To me, the American Pie franchise and pop punk share a very distinct tie, and since we are talking about Reunions and how the original cast of American Pie have reunited, how about we talk about some of the fantastic pop punk bands who were popular around the time of the first three American Pie movies, who have reunited as well! I will also be posting a great song beneath each artist!

blink-182

Well, this one goes without saying. In 2009 we saw one of the most influential pop punk bands of all time reunite. See, New Found Glory were right when they told us that 'pop punk will never die'! 
Perhaps all the other pop punk bands lost hope in their genre when the forerunners disbanded, but shortly after they reunited, many of these other bands reunited too! It seemed like this reunion was a special thing for everyone.
I can't remember what my reaction was to the reunion, but it was probably some sort of dance mixed with loud cheers of happiness. We had to wait two more years for more material, though. Eventually they released a new album, Neighborhoods, which after a few listens, is a real grower. Go check it out, if you haven't already!

The Starting Line

These guys were always a joy to listen to. They seemed to be bigger romantics than the other pop punk bands, who mainly focused on break-ups and the like. It was a mighty shame when they went on hiatus in 2008. But there was always hope of a reunion and it came in 2009, although people thought was just a reunion so the band could tour again, but at Slam Dunk festival last year, they confirmed they were writing new material. I would've been there to witness it too, if it wasn't for the fact I had no one to go with!

Mest

Mest never held a big place in my heart, but I did have a few songs that I liked, and those I like a lot. They were one of those punk bands who seemed to be influenced a little by hip hop, similar to Transplants, 25 Ta Life and Good Charlotte. They broke up in 2006 and then I remember hearing something about the lead singer stabbing some bloke in self-defence. They released a pretty rocking single called Almost and had plans for a new album in April, but it has been delayed due to mixing and mastering.

Allister

If you know about Drive-Thru Records and their 'glory days', then you will know about Allister. They weren't anything game-changing, but they still rocked everyone's socks off with some awesome pop punk jams. They never really broke-up, instead went on a 'hiatus' (a word used frequently by these bands) before coming back together in 2010. Since their reunion they released their first album in five years, titled Countdown to Nowhere, an album I really need to give a longer listen to, but from what I've heard, Allister sound as good as always, which is great, as it sucks when bands come back after many years and sound totally different.

Autopilot Off

This was a band that I've always wanted to reunite, but I never had faith that they would. They split up in 2005 after only releasing two albums, one of them being a major label album. Their sound was a rather dark one, with their major label debut Make A Sound, which featured some pretty complex lyrics, but still featured plenty of those catchy punk hooks. 
They made a sneaky return to the game in 2011 and have confirmed that they are working on a new album. Let's hope they sound as good as they used to be!

 The Early November

Yet another great Drive-Thru band (see The Starting Line and Allister) The Early November reunited in 2011 and are perhaps more emo than they are pop punk. Headed by the musical genius that is Ace Enders, The Early November loved to sing depressing songs that made you feel happy. Makes sense? Nope, but check out their new album Currents coming out next month!

Further Seems Forever

Ah, Further Seems Forever. I forget how much I love this band. They're a bit of an odd chestnut really, having released three great albums, all featuring a new vocalist each time. They can't really hang on to vocalists too well it seems. They started off with Chris Carrabba (think Dashboard Confessional), moved on to Jason Gleason, who was then replaced with my personal favourite, Jon Bunch (who once supplied killer vocals to the band Sense Field). They reunited in 2010 with original vocalist Chris Carrabba and have plans for a new album. It's nice to see them back together, but if I am honest, I would have preferred to hear some Jon Bunch on vocals again! Check out their quasi-greatest hits record Hope This Finds You Well, you probably won't regret it.

Read more »

Song Of The Week: Benjamin Schoos feat. Laetitia Sadier - 'Je ne vois que vous'

Benjamin Schoos is a fantastic french indie pop artist who has a new EP out called China Man VS. China Girl. This is the single taken from this album and it's a great pop tune with a nice summer feel to it. It has been played a lot on BBC 6 Music at the moment so hopefully Benjamin is going to get a lot more exposure over here in the UK very soon, and hopefully this means that he will be making a trip across the border to play some shows (fingers crossed)! 

A quick warning to our readers however... this song is incredibly addictive!

Read more »

Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Future Soldier (Game Review)

Now you see me ... Now you don't! Now you see me ... Now you're Dead!

Ghost Recon Future Soldier is a game that allows you to play as a character who can turn Invisible at will and stay Invisible! This provides us with a rare change from games where Invisibility can be used but with a time limit (for example, Crysis 2), but in this you can remain invisible as long as you remain in the crouch or crawl positions and don't fire (if only you could be invisible while walking, but then again, the way invisibility is handled in this game already adds more depth to the sneakiness of infiltration).

Ghost Recon: Future Soldier puts you in the shoes of Team Predator, a US Ghost Team made up of four members who have to disrupt weapons trafficking in Nicaragua, only for them to be ambushed and killed by a truck carrying a hidden bomb! Now another Ghost Team called Team Hunter have been ordered to discover who was behind this and to of course avenge the deaths of their fallen comrades. You play as Staff Sergeant John Kozak, who is joined by Ghost Leader Captain Cedric Ferguson, Master Sergeant Robert "Pepper" Bonifacio and Sergeant First Class Jimmy "30K" Ellison. Together you infiltrate enemy bases and HQs and elimate people one-by-one in your quest to solve the mystery behind the surprise bomb attack!

The gameplay takes a twist from viewing in third person to aiming (through the scope) in first person, which reminds me of Gears of War. You can order your team to target three other enemies which helps you to move your way through each level quicker compared to similar levels in other games, as well as take people out quietly or focus fire on a specific target. I loved this idea in particular about the game and also I love the idea of the Invisibility concept. When I first saw it in 2010 trailer shown at E3 I felt like my mind had been blown (laughs)! This innovative approach to cover-based shooting makes Ghost Recon: Future Soldier stand out from other third person shooters.

The game places all sorts of different information all over the screen, which reminds me of Iron Man, where Tony sees everything in his helmet. 

You get to control Ground and Air Drones like UAVs to hover through the air, or crawl (or drive) to spy on and target specific enemies from a distance so your team members can move closer to and then take them out.

They game features advanced equipment, for example, sensor grenades and the ability to shoot synchronize shots! One other thing the game features is to include the ability to use the Kinect, which allows you to modify your guns using some pretty interesting motion controls. You use your hands to split the gun apart and add, modify or replace each component before testing it out on a firing range, all through the use of waving your arms and using your hands! I was thinking that if the game was going to be played through Kinect, then it would be hard to use, like Star Wars Kinect, but using it for the gunsmith part was much easier in comparison, since it involved several arm movements instead of having to use your whole body. It is a pretty awesome feeling to be able to use your arms to fire, disasemble and rotate a gun around. I am actually hoping that more games use this method for gun customisation, it is a feeling of pure awesomeness!

 

Overall, this game was definitely worth the wait! I definitely recommend the game to all you fans of shooter games. Compared to other Tom Clancy games like H.A.W.X and the other four Ghost Recon games, this one is really something special. Definitely check it out if you have an Xbox 360 (for Kinect features) or a PlayStation 3!

Read more »

YouTube Video Of The Week: Buried Alive

There's nothing better than a video about a raging kid on an online game to start the day. Thank you to Elliott for this one.

Read more »

Underrated Games: Steambot Chronicles

Here I am, back again. I thought it would be a nice treat for me to tell you about a game that I love that  never got as much attention as it deserved. Steambot Chronicles is definitely an obscure PlayStation 2 game, so obscure that online I couldn't even find a complete walkthrough for it. 

The game, developed by Irem (who also developed R-Type), focuses around a steampunk-style sandbox world, which is where technology has advanced considerably, yet the surroundings look like they are from the Victorian age and everything is powered by steam. 
The story follows a young male stowaway named Vanilla, who meets a girl called Coriander (shortened Connie) who happens to be the lead singer of a popular band named the Garland Globe Trotters whose members subsequently also have the names of other plants, flowers and herbs. 

The game itself is fairly easy to play, however I advise going through the tutorial, even if you only do it just for the special item that you receive. As for the combat, it revolves around using mecha (a word I hate to use, they should just call them Gundam, like they do in GTO.) called Trotmobiles. The battles do suffer from slowdown, but that surprisingly helps out a lot, as the controls can be a little stiff sometimes. 

The cut scenes of the game use the same graphics as the game rather than anything anime. The characters mouths are very well synced to the voice actors, however when moving from one sentence to another quickly using the X button (a technique I appropriately named poke’centering), the audio dialogue sounds rather disjointed.

What about extra stuff to do? Well, because Steambot Chronicles is a sandbox style game there is technically no end to it... even I have never been able to complete it! There are a lot of rhythm sections where you have to play particular instruments with your band or on your own. Also, you can completely customize vanilla’s clothes and even the Trotmobile you ride in. You can even be a bad guy if you want to! For shits and giggles, I made my character think he was a pimp.

There was supposed to be a sequel for the PlayStation 3, but is was cancelled following the Japanese tsunami. All we have right now is a trailer for it, but let's hope that Irem will continue development soon, as a sequel would be really cool!

Overall Steambot Chronicles is a really good game, and a very under-looked one indeed. It will require a lot of spare time to play, but it is still worth a try, even if you can only play it now then.

Read more »

The Raid: Redemption (Movie Review)

The Raid, what to say about The Raid? Well first off the most important thing to say is that this film is not for the faint hearted. The second thing would be that the film is a master class of its genre. Now that might sound strange when said about an action film based solely around a team of Indonesian Police; raiding a single tower block home to a ruthless drug lord and his legions of killers, rapists and gangsters. You may be thinking to yourself, 'surely this is just another explosion filled; shoot ‘em up, violence fest?' Well you would be right, but at the same time you could not be more wrong. While The Raid may have its share of explosions, hallway shooting galleries and the more than frequent hand to hand fight scene, what The Raid also has is an intensity and a sense of tension that is rarely found in most modern day action thrillers.

The Raid is directed by Gareth Evans and starring Iko Uwais. The film centres around an elite squad of Indonesian SWAT members. Their mission is to enter and capture all residents of a single tower block deep within the slums of Jakarta; this block has been attacked multiple times by rival gangs looking to claim territory and every time they have been repelled by the forces that call the tower home. This is Uwais’ and Evans’ second project together, the first being a fairly unknown film called Merantau. Both films centre their action around the Indonesian martial art of Pencak Silat.

The film pulls no punches when it comes to brutality and wastes absolutely no time getting to it. The fights between police and gangsters start thick and fast with very little respite throughout, creating an atmosphere of pure adrenaline. However despite the film being almost solely action orientated it is still entirely possible to feel a connection to, at the very least, the central characters, most notably the rookie cop (Uwais) and the squad leader ‘Sergeant Jaka’. The film lays an incredibly heavy emphasis of the fear of all the members of the police squad and it is made very clear from the onset that these men are not superheroes and are definitely afraid of the all too real danger they are in. It is this sense of danger that gives the film one of its most important qualities, namely the tension. Whereas most action films centre solely on the visual to stimulate (such as explosions, gunfights etc.), The Raid uses the palpable fear to keep the viewer on seat edge. The sheer terror of their situation is made evident very early on; we are immediately made aware that the man they are messing with is a man not to be messed with.

The fight scenes as you can imagine are based largely on close quarter’s combat, due to the pivotal role of the martial arts being showcased. This does not mean however that this is the only source of excitement on display, as there are more than a few highly visceral gunfights between the opposing sides. These gunfights are very expertly done, every bullet taken, every shot fired can be felt. This is largely down to the extremely talented sound and camera work used. The angles are all close-up in nature, giving the impression that rather than being an observer you are one of the squad members and the sounds simply compounds this effect by giving every shot heightened punch with added volume. The camera work is also highly varied with an entire scene being filmed in one over the shoulder shot. This use of inventive filming is brought about due a limitation in space because of the environment. Most of the film is shot from inside the tower meaning that there are no large scale set pieces and all fighting is intimate and real. As for how far the film was willing to take the graphic content, a very well balanced compromise has been found. There are more than a few scenes featuring what could be called hardcore violence however these are kept in check by a conservative use of blood and gore. This does not mean the film feels restrained in its violence; in fact the opposite effect is achieved, without gratuitous use of such effects it doesn’t venture into the realms of absurdity or cringe worthiness. Instead every hit feels real, painful and weighty. This is not an action film that makes you sit back and cheer as the good guys knock the villains on their arses; this is a film where every bad guy they take down is a relief, an exhale but not a chance to rest or relax.

The film ends with a satisfying if somewhat abrupt conclusion. There is no enormous twist at the end to turn everything on its head but there are enough reveals further in to keep you hooked if the action alone wasn’t enough. The conclusion is satisfying, though feels quite muted in comparison to the rest of the film. All characters are well rounded even though they may be seen as simple, and each role is owned greatly by its respective performer. The Raid is definitely an action film worth your time. The film is shot in its original Indonesian language, however subtitles are provided, but if that still puts you off, don’t worry, as dialogue isn’t enormously plentiful, and most of the scenes are fighting set pieces. When there is dialogue (though it’s definitely not to be disregarded) pay especial attention to any scenes involving the drug lord Tama (Ray Sahetapy). 

Read more »

How not to write a music review, courtesy of Kerrang! magazine

Ah, back when Hayley Williams was really cute and Soony Moore wasn't known as Skrillex.

The past week or two I haven't had much time to post. The other guys have all been working on some stuff behind the scenes but due to exam revision everything has been a bit slower. Don't worry, as soon as exams are over, you will have a tonne of cool stuff coming your way! Meanwhile, head over to our Facebook page to see some updates and discussions about various stuff. Please leave us a like if you can! It would be much appreciated. Anyway, this is just a bit of filler (you can call it an Alt:Mag 'Naruto post') for you to enjoy from me during the meantime, and the other guys will have some great posts for you too over the next few weeks, so don't worry.

Recently while looking through some old magazines, I found many issues of Kerrang! magazine. I used to buy that magazine every week back when I was a little emo kid (well, not really), but I eventually decided to stop, as the magazine bothered me too much and my music tastes became of more than one genre. Sure, the magazine is established, has a huge following and sells more than Alt:Mag would ever dream to sell, but that doesn't mean I can't point out how stupid it is. Kerrang! is probably the most biased, contradictory magazine I have ever had this misfortune of reading. They will butt lick popular rock bands like Slipknot and Metallica and leave no space for the less popular bands. They review albums negatively then go back on what they say (they reviewed blink-182's Dude Ranch extremely negatively, then say that the album is actually a classic years later), especially if the band later becomes part of their relentless tours they organise every year. They insult bands like Hollywood Undead, calling them 'crunkcore' and then a year or so later, they have a two page spread about how good they are. Do you get my point now?

However, there was one review that made me grind my teeth with no end. Usually Kerrang!'s album reviews would be biased, but not too much (unless it was a popular band, like Slipknot, in that case they'd give it infinite praise) but the review below absolutely wound me up with no end. The review was about Yellowcard's 'Paper Walls' album, which is a fairly good album, although it wasn't their best. But the fact I liked the album is nothing to do with it, this review is awful beyond belief. They should fire the idiot who wrote this.  

"Yellowcard are shit. And 'Paper Walls' is a decent description of the anorexic nature of their sound. There's nothing structurally wrong with this album, all of the pieces are in place: the riff-based punk song, the commonality of troubled lyrics (delivered in moon-noon-spoon rhyming couplets such as "what am I fighting for/there must be something more"), the quirkiness of having a violin player and choruses that could hardly sound any happier were they attempting to sell you a bottle of Coca Cola. If you like your punk-rock so clean cut that it can only really exist within the confines of a laboratory then 'Paper Walls' is for you. For anyone else, Yellowcard are a sending off offence".

What a sublime review, especially the opening line, no bias there at all. Nothing else to say really, except that crap like this is the reason why we try to avoid extreme bias in our reviews as much as possible.

Read more »

Underrated Games: Canis Canem Edit (AKA Bully)

Sure, we all know that Rockstar are most famous for pumping out quick-fire games that are nothing short of controversial and annoy the hell out of stupid parents who think that video games are going to turn their 12 year old into a mass murderer, and yes, Bully for the PlayStation 2 (or Canis Canem Edit here in the UK, although we tend to just call it Bully here too because it is easier and is kind of an endearing nickname) did receive its fair share of controversy on release. It got banned in Brazil, was nearly banned here in the UK and some pansy tried to get it banned in Florida. A lot of parents and educators didn't like the idea of a game that glorified bullying, but actually if you look a little deeper, while Bully does allow you to bully weaker characters, the game's story mainly focuses around an individual starting out at the bottom of a school's social hierarchy (every school has one) and rising to the top, so actually, the game kind of focuses on bullying the bullies. An 'anti-bully' if you will. Kind of like this video:

So the game focuses around some kid called Jimmy Hopkins (who shares an astounding resemblance to Wayne Rooney) who is a bit of a tearaway and has has been expelled from every school he has attended. The opening cutscene shows him being dropped off at Bullworth Academy, a boarding school, by his neglectful mother and stepfather who he doesn't like at all.

When you first arrive at Bullsworth, everyone is out to batter you except for 'normal' kids and the nerds, who for most of the game, actually help you out and respect you, even if you wedgie them and the like. There are different social groups that you will have to conquer before you become the king of the school, and these are the Preppies, Greasers, Jocks, Townies and Bullies. Each group have different spots at which they hang out, and earlier in the game, are best avoided while your skill levels are low. As the game progresses and you conquer each of these factions, they respect you and will help you out and even defend you from others who attack you.

The game immerses you in its environments and storyline incredibly well. The graphics were not particularly up to scratch for a game of its time, but this game does a pretty decent job at attention to detail and its a highly explorable map (which isn't as huge as a map from Vice City, but it sure does the trick) sure make up for any graphical disadvantages (although the graphics were updated in the 'Scholarship Edition' released on the Xbox 360). Every character in the game has a name and a personality that will make sure you remember each of them by name. Although many people may frown, to me, this game seems like a weird tribute from Rockstar to games like Shenmue, with its day-night cycles, changing weather, and non-playable characters going about their daily routines. That's the Shenmue part, now just add a bit of violence and swearing and you've got all the Rockstar bits.

The music of the game is fantastic. It isn't the sort of music you download the soundtrack for, but it certainly suits the game well and provides your ears with pleasing melodies while you focus more of your attention on the world itself.

Despite it's lack of multiplayer, Bully is still a game that is hilarious to play with friends in company, and with this particular game, a spot of 'winner stays on' never goes a miss. Try having a competition to see who can pull off the near impossible feat of KO'ing the irritating do-gooder prefects (these guys function as police in your school and will put you in detention, while policemen control the law outside of school). See how many you can knock out in a row or try sneaking into the girl's dormitory and get your ass chased by some old shouty lady who never hesitates to screech the word 'pervert' at you. Bully shares the same trait as its big brother GTA (GTA is the big brother because it is aimed more at an adult audience) for being hilarious at the most random moments, mostly stemming from just messing around in the game's town or around the school.

Rockstar mentioned that they may start working on a sequel to Bully after they've released Max Payne 3. Well, Max Payne 3 has been released, so let's hope a sequel to Bully comes soon! The game wasn't exactly underrated on release, but with the jump into the next generation, it has a little more than slightly faded into obscurity. Let's hope a sequel helps to remind past players and teach new players why someone like me fell in love with this brilliant game in the first place!

Read more »