Friday 19 June 2009

The hottest new office thriller to hit the screens this summer!

When things go wrong at an office in town, one man has the courage to sit down and recover the deleted files. With Kafkaesque performances that really show you how boring the working world can be, Bruce Lee stars in

Enter The Data

"I'm sorry but you'll have stay past 5.30 and finish that report..."

Addiction Warriors 6: Empires!

Hack and slash is not something I tend to like. I'm highly intelligent. However, if you chuck in some emotive stuff (story) vague references to classical literature and one hundred weird characters with a table of biographies, I tend to completely immerse myself in some semi fantasy role play, even if the character design is super manga style. That's why I'm addicted to Dynasty Warriors. Taking command of a character who has god like fighting ability and faced with a ancient battlefield filled with enemy soldiers, repeatedly pressing square for hours takes on a whole new charm. It's very moreish.

Dynasty Warriors 6 Empires is basically the same game as Dynasty Warriors 6. More characters, more moves, more maps- yeah, but basically the same. The major edition is the fact that you can now take over China through a succession of battles on a satisfying map, fulfilling all your tyrannical needs. Uniting China gives you a real sense of meaning; something you can pass down on to other generations.

Whether you like it or not is irrelevant to me. The game is addictive even if it isn't good. It's Koei's highest seller and basically carries the company. The addiction factors are- leveling system- something that can keep you playing even the most banal rpgs: reaching the highest point of excellence open to a little pixelated illusion. Huge number of characters- basically multiply the levelling up element by a hundred. That's about it.

So regardless of what my girlfriend says, and ignoring the truth in the back of my mind that playing hours of this game is actually wasting my life, I will buy the next episode in a saga that seems like it will go on forever and continue to indulge in my unhealthy reliance on Dynasty Warriors.

Thursday 18 June 2009

Infernal Affairs apparently not Current Affairs

You will no doubt have heard of this series of Hong Kong movies and the endless praise that has been showered upon them. They are without a doubt good films; nearly everyone says so. They also came out five years ago so this is not a review. Although I am a legitimate geek, I'm rather a lazy one and not as up to speed or as on the pulse as some of my counterparts. I don't constantly have my nose in the air, sniffing the winds of change in the realm of Middlearth and therefore when I do eventually become an obsessive fanboy, I tend to stand alone and pitiful in my long delayed appreciation. So five years later I now want to be/rifle through the rubbish bins of Hong Kong star Tony Leung.

In my day to day life I'm sure my friends would agree that I'm a young Marlon Brando type inspirational leader of the pack (minus the camp leather caps). Cool, calm, slick: the chicks dig it. However, as I began watching Infernal Affairs I, I felt the transformation take over me. "My god this is so cool" I said to myself as there was no one else in the room. After Infernal Affairs III I was hooked. The acting is so good. The premise is so cool. The script is so crisp. The twists make my neck hurt. WHY CAN'T YOU UNDERSTAND? Never again will I lead a normal life unless I can get this obsession to subside which means seeking out and watching every film any of the actors from Infernal Affairs have ever produced.

I cannot really express how good the films are. Certainly as good as the godfather trilogy, (not three), and I strongly recommend that you get sucked in.