Thanks to some premier passes from my uncle, I enjoyed a sneak peak of the upcoming movie staring Steve Carell: Get Smart. Does it sneak in the laughs or should it have stayed classified? Here’s the details:
The Good: A nice mix of comedy and action. It’s fun to watch and will make you laugh. Most of the characters are likeable.
The Bad: Although there are a few spots where laughter filled the theater, most of the comedy is not hilarious. The movie’s main faults were a few boring spots where it falls into a stock, predictable plot.
The Bottom Line: What it lacks in comedy, it makes up for in some nice, unique action sequences. While I wouldn’t rush out to see it, I’d recommend it for a day when you’ve got some extra time. It makes me want to see the original series (which I’ve found at TVLand.com).
When Uru Live was first announced, went into beta, shut down, and then was reborn on GameTap, we all had different dreams and visions of what it would be like. At its new home on GameTap, some are thrilled and others disappointed. I’m eager to see what Season 2 will be like and will suspend judgment until then; Uru Live is still in its infancy and it’s too early to judge. But here’s one part of Uru that I’m very pleased and surprised about:
When I first saw the deserted Relto in 2003, I wasn’t that excited about it. But now that the Age has grown through various Relto pages, it’s one of my favorite Ages. It’s great to be able to customize something, call it your own, have it look cool, and watch it change and grow over time.
That’s the way I look at Uru Live now that the first season has ended. I’m not sure if the multiplayer storytelling model will work, especially since Cyan Worlds (along with Presto and Ubisoft) have done such an excellent job with a single-person story. It’s not that I’m against multiplayer; I think cooperative gameplay is the future and the fun of gaming. It’s that everyone doesn’t get to experience the story the way it’s being told in Uru Live right now. While I love the concept of information being disseminated throughout Guilds, podcasts, and opinion leaders, I’m not sure if it will be fun. (Much like the idea that all of the Uru explorers get to cooperatively set the lake light level. Awesome concept, but baking pellets isn’t fun.) World of Warcraft has the opposite problem: New players stumble upon the endgame sequence as their just starting a quest since everyone gets to play the story.
I know Uru Live can be awesome. But in Season 2, I’ll start holding it to a higher standard of being awesome and fun.
On a lighter note, I don’t dream about Myst-related things that often, but last night I had a dream that I found a new Age with various new Relto pages. First, a page added the puffer spores from Eder Gira. Next, a page flooded Relto with water. Last, a page added the Cracken from Pirates of the Caribbean. This monster, beached on my Relto, barely fit. But I removed a sharp, spikey thing from around it’s neck causing it to instantly heal and walk into the surrounding water and go for a swim.
(Although I doubt these pages will be added, I’m glad my favorite Relto page from The Path of the Shell appeared in the Uru Live season finale.)
What do you think? What is your favorite Age in Uru Live? Do you wish more video game environments would change over time? What do you like or dislike about Uru Live? What real world places do you enjoy to explore?
“Uru Live is the first MMO since WoW [...] that has made me sit up and take notice…”
It’s great to have Uru Live coming back. It alone will justify GameTap’s subscription cost for me ($60/year - the price of one game for hundreds).
The environments definitely surprised me in the game (when it was in beta the first time around). I remember seeing a concept art sketch and thinking, “that could never be created in a realtime game.” Then, after turning a few corners, there it was. I was soaking up the vista view I deemed impossible.
The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis: An excellent series of books in a fantastic world. After Lewis lead me through hundreds of pages, I was concerned that I wasn’t going to like the ending. How foolish of me.
The Screwtape Letters by C. S. Lewis: A great concept with a unique perspective and very practical issues
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury (Reread): My favorite part is near the beginning, which makes it hard to finish the story. iPod == Seashell
Enders Game by Orson Scott Card (Reread): An excellent way to get motivated for the upcoming school semester. The enemy’s gate is down.
In this inaugural edition of GameSpot’s Pick Five feature, we asked several GameSpot editors to meet this criteria: “Pick five games you have in your collection because you think it makes you look cool.”
Here’s my take:
Psychonauts: This game is so good, only the cool kids know how good it is
Mario Kart 64: Even non-gamers know this game and can respond to me crushing them in it
Uru Live (Uru: Ages Beyond Myst): A grassroots fan effort keeps the MMO’s servers alive and convinces Turner to fund its revival. Awesome cool!
Beyond Good & Evil: Similarly to Psychonauts, this game got great reviews but very few played it. The ones who did are proud.
Half-Life: The most “traditionally cool” game on my list, it’s still smarter and better than Halo.
Yesterday I saw Pixar’s latest movie, Cars. I enjoyed it. The characters were nice, but I don’t think the story was as fresh as other Pixar films. Pixar packed a lot of detail into each scene; I’m not going to mind watching the film over a few times to find some more details.
Today our family finished installing the new garage door opener. It now has a motion senor beam; I enjoy rolling things under the garage door to make it automatically retract. Great entertainment value for me. (Don’t try this at home.)
We also started cleaning and rearranging the garage today. Not so much great entertainment value there.
I wanted to write a big, polished review of Cars. I’d give it 4 out of 5 stars and go through my critique of the plot, characters, and the popcorn I ate. But that’s hard. I usually get too caught up in trying to make my post professional and then never posting it.
So, I’ll probably be writing more “today I had cereal for breakfast” posts than “society presents a dramatic challenge in breakfast product consumption” posts. But I’m not convinced that’s a bad thing.
Thanks to some premier passes from my uncle, I enjoyed a sneak peak of the upcoming movie staring Steve Carell: Get Smart. Does it sneak in the laughs or should it have stayed classified? Here’s the details:
