The Change

It's official - electric overdrive is no more. The change is not yet complete, but posting on this blog will cease, and it will remain as a sort of "archive" for the history of the new and improved blog - yuhn. Check it out here.

Disney Buys Marvel For $4 Billion

In an enormous move that is sure to affect the entire entertainment industry, Walt Disney Company has come to an agreement with Marvel Entertainment. For approximately $4 billion, Marvel Entertainment and it's entire stock of characters (+5000) are now part of the Walt Disney Company.

Currently, it seems that Disney will not be interfering with Marvel's game licenses, instead praising their "smart licensing agreements with some of the best videogame manufacturers in the business". Disney also noted the possibility of a team up between Marvel and Pixar, that, unlikely, was being looked in to by both companies.

Now, I don't know about anyone else, but my mind has jumped straight to Kingdom Hearts, the famous Final Fantasy/Disney crossover. Would Marvel be able to make it's way into the series? Sure, it seems crazy now, but so did the entire idea for the game before it was released.

Disney also noted that, while current Marvel movie projects will remain untouched, the company hopes to be the sole distributor of the these films in the long-term. Spider-Man, Iron Man, and Fantastic Four were confirmed to remain untouched by Disney.

Making The Case: An M-Rated "Zelda"

When The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess was released, it got massively positive reviews, with critics praising the tried-and-true formula that had worked for so many years. But critics and fans agreed that the new graphics style, which was much more realistic and less-fantasy based than previous games, was absolutely astounding.

In fact, the new graphics brought upon something that, in my eyes, could be seen as a milestone in Nintendo's game development. It was the first Zelda game to receive the "T for Teen" rating, with the ESRB citing "fantasy violence and animated blood" as the reason for the new rating. But why stop there? We already know a new Zelda game is coming (it's been confirmed to include Wii MotionPlus), so why not push it a little farther: a Zelda game rated "M for Mature"?

Nintendo has been repeatedly criticized for not catering to their hardcore audience, and while they have revealed an impressive line-up of games that fit this requirement at this year's E3 (which included the aforementioned Zelda game), this could be a perfect opprotunity for Nintendo to step up to the plate with a truly gory Zelda game.

Link's weapons are famously his Master Sword and bow (the former oddly missing in a recently released image of him), which would easily translate into a game heavy on blood. Sure, there are problems with the idea; potential backlash at Nintendo for straying from being "family-friendly", less of an audience able to buy the game, but could the benefits outweight these risks? Possibly.

Link, seen without his iconic Master Sword

A quick glance at sales figures for the three warring consoles - Wii, PS3, and Xbox 360 - will show that the Wii is dominating, hands-down. But a closer look suggests that the Wii isn't winning anything - in fact, it's not even competing. Games like Wii Play and Wii Fit destroy all competition, even first-party Nintendo franchises such as Super Mario Galaxy.

Which is exactly why an M Rated Zelda would work perfectly with the Wii's upcoming strategy to catch the hardcore gamer. Some could call such violence in the classic series "gratuitious", but would it not be more realistic? As graphics increase exponentially each generation, it may be time to re-tool this classic franchise for the upcoming years.

In other Wii news, many fans are pushing for a price cut for the Wii, despite it still being the cheapest console available. With the recent announcement of the PS3 and Xbox 360 dropping their prices to $299, it's the perfect time for Nintendo to do the same, only at a lower price: $199. Coupled with the release of games such as Super Mario Galaxy 2 and Metroid: Other M, it could strongly increase sales of the Wii and it's games.

Image credit: computerbild.de (here), GCN (here).

Review: District 9

In a surprising twist, District 9 turned out to be the biggest hit of the summer. While it didn't have an enormous budget, the brilliant marketing campaign crafted by the studio definitely stirred up a lot of interest for the movie. With large posters deeming certain areas in movie theaters and the San Diego Comic-Con "Restricted For Humans Only".

The movie's set-up isn't what you might expect from a story of aliens landing on Earth - it is in a documentary style, with the beginning of the movie having an assortment of people explain the events of

the past 28 years, when the aliens' mothership first landed on Earth. For three months, the ship hovered over Johannesburg, South Africa, until world governments dug into it and found over a million malnourished aliens, which were set up in "District 9" - a camp for the so-called "prawns" run by MNU (Multi-National United) which quickly became a slum.

However, the people of Johannesburg begin riots with the aliens, causing intervention from MNU. A plan to evict all 1.8 million prawns to "District 10", a similar camp 240 kilometres from the original, is set up, with main character Wikus van de Merwe leading the project. Him and a team of MNU agents go door-to-door, having the prawns "sign" an eviction notice.

While I won't divulge all of the plot details, I can tell you that the development team did a great job in making Wikus an interesting character despite being around the prawns - which were very interesting in their own right. It was easy to develop a sense of pity for the aliens, as they were forcefully evicted from their "homes" without an understanding of what was happening.

The treatment of the prawns by the entire human race serves as a metaphor of the treatment of African Americans during the Civil Rights movement, and the treatment of any group targeted by the world. Amazingly, the movie is heart-wrenching, and the humans' cruelty of the aliens exemplifies this.

And despite the somewhat small budget, the graphics were amazing. Closer to the end of the movie, we see plenty of firefights, with lots of interesting alien technology. While this does get rid of the "documentary" feel, it seems almost appropriate. If a sequel were to be made, it would certainly not be in documentary style.

Speaking of the sequel - before entering the movie, I had already heard people talking of a potential sequel. I dismissed it, because it seemed like the premise of the movie could not constitute a series, and also because most fans will ask for a sequel any time a movie is good, regardless of whether it could carry it. But after seeing the movie myself, I can certainly say that a sequel is not only possible, but probable.

SPOILER WARNING - - - At the end of the movie, it is revealed that Christopher Johnson, the MNU-given name of the protagonist alien, will be returning to his home planet for help before rescuing all of the aliens in District 9. This revelation occurs when he sees the horrific experiments MNU has performed on his race - this leads support to the idea the Christopher could return, but with an army of his brethren, and start a war on humanity. Looking at the alien technology seen in the movie, it seems they could easily win.

And where would that leave Wikus? At the end of the movie, he was seen fully transformed into a prawn, and is likely unable to change back to a human. Would he be a major character? Would any human be a protagonist? No matter the case, a "District 10" (a name idea for a sequel) would be much different from the original - the documentary style would have to be ditched to make room for a focus on sci-fi action. - - -

Critics have been raving about this film, specifically saying it is the best movie of the summer. I agree wholeheartedly; rarely do we see a film of this quality. If you haven't seen this yet, make the plans - this is the movie everyone will be talking about. 8.5/10

Image credit: Why So Blu? (here), The Freire Project (here).

What Happened To 'Spider-Man'?

It has been confirmed that the Spider-Man series will be continuing with a Spider-Man 4, Spider-Man 5, and Spider-Man 6. But so far, all we know about the movie is that Sam Raimi is directing, and Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst are returning as Peter Parker/Spider-Man and Mary Jane Watson, respectively.

This is shocking because this is so basic. The "threequel" in the series was released over two years ago, and all the information we have is the most basic of all. No villians have been confirmed, though rumors strongly hint toward The Lizard and/or Carnage, and the rest of the minor characters (such as J. Jonah Jameson) haven't even been confirmed for the film.

Currently, the movie has a set release date of 2011, which is, in my opinion, laughable. Without a script, villain, or even cast beyond two people, there is no way a movie with such a large amount of special effects will be complete by 2011. If progress continues the way it

has been, they won't even start production by then.

I used to be very interested in the development of the fourth Spider-Man movie, enough that I actually started writing a script of my own. I never completed it, though it contains some basic ideas fans are asking for: bring back the entire cast, or at least as much of it as possible, have Dylan Baker (who plays Dr. Connors) transform into The Lizard, and cast someone as Carnage. But who would fit that role?

My opinion: Ryan Reynolds. He's definitely funny enough to play Carnage, and his role as Deadpool proved he could make a foray into the superhero world - in f

act, he has expressed great interest in the genre, and has even been cast in the upcoming Green Lantern as the titular character.

Meanwhile, fans have been picking their own would-be Carnages, and one actor that appears more than most is Robert Knepper, whose film history includes movies such as Transporter 3 and Hitman. While he isn't my first choice, there is no doubt that he could fit the role, and would likely be my second choice.

But enough speculation. Right now, we need some cold, hard facts about the upcoming movie. We need villains confirmed, the cast signed back on, and an actual script. Unfortunately, if these trends continue, Spider-Man 4 might get stuck in development hell - which could mean the end of Spider-Man's film career for some time.

Image credit: SonyPictures (here), Flixster (here).

Big Changes

I've been planning some major changes to electric overdrive for awhile now, and these changes are finally coming to light. Soon, posting here will cease, and all old posts will be moved to a new blog, which will be hosted on Wordpress. I won't be telling you the name of the new blog just yet, but within days, it will be up and running. This blog will remain as an archive to the blog's "earlier days".

Gamescom 2009: PS3 Slim Unveiled

Everybody already knew that the PS3 Slim was coming out - fans were just waiting for Sony to officially reveal the thing. Fortunately, they did just that at this year's Gamescom in Germany, and it looks quite impressive. The price will be set at a meager $299, and will be released September 1, 2009.

The side-by-side comparison of the original and the Slim is astounding. With this new price and new size, the sales of the console could definitely soar - I am even considering getting a PS3 Slim of my own.

In other Sony news, the PSP and PSPgo will be getting a sort of App store. Basically a smaller version of the PlayStation Network (PSN), "PSP Minis" will allow downloads on both models of the PSP, though it will certainly be more useful on the PSPgo, which lacks a UMD Drive. No prices have been released, though it is likely most downloads will be around $10 or less.

Image credit: Kotaku (here and here).