I fully expected this film by M. Night Shyamalan to be an interesting one, but I was sorely disappointed. When I saw the trailer, I was intrigued. However, after actually seeing the film, the plot was merely a hodge-podge of poorly conceived plot twists.

The conclusion of the film was an utter disappointment. While regular movies from M. Night are usually concluded with some absurd twist (that is usually pretty weak, with the exception of The Sixth Sense, which was interesting), this film appeared to be moving towards a conclusion…but than the budget ran low so they threw up the credits.

The pacing of the movie was horrible, and the only interesting character was the extremely lengthy cameo of M. Night Shyamalan himself. The plot had a great deal of potential, but M. Night seemed to avoid the fantasy element of his “bed-time story”, and simply focus on the human characters. This was sorely disappointing. There were a lot of dangling plot elements too.

In the end, the movie sucked. Sorry M. Night. You let me down. Again.

According to Tycho over at Penny-Arcade, there is a documentary supporting the anti-game camp on the horizon known as Moral Kombat. I cannot seem to find the release date of the actual film in theatres. Apparently, it was once scheduled for a 2005 release, which obviously did not happen. However, with the trailer having appeared on YouTube and a renewed interest from gaming media outlets, it appears that the release is approaching (again).

On the Apple website, it says that the documentaries director, Spencer Halpin, is attempting to take a somewhat impartial look at the gaming industry. The film supposedly details the creation of video games within the industry, and then the positive and negative products of video games themselves.

Despite all of this, the trailer makes it seem to be a very heavy-handed attack against the video game industry. Partway through the trailer, there is a video snippet of the opening gondola scene from Myst IV: Revelations. Several bullet holes appear overtop of the gondola window, making it appear that you are shot at.

For those of you unfamiliar with the Myst series, it is an adventure/puzzle game that involves an unnamed character journeying through various fantasy worlds solving puzzles to - traditionally - restore the former status of the family of Atrus – the creator of many of these worlds. There is no violence whatsoever. You cannot kill people in the game, and rarely are you killed.

Frankly, I question that clips inclusion in the trailer, and it immediately makes me suspect the worst about all games being painted with the same blood-red brush.

Nevertheless, I will be compelled to see it on principle if it is ever released in Canada. It is shot and produced in HD, which makes me assume that they would strive for a wide-release. However, they may just ignore their own production values and aim for a limited release. It is uncertain. I may have to pick it up on DVD, or track down a pirated copy…

I wonder if it will even be pirated. It seems like a conflict of interest, as the hacker community and the gamer community are so closely intertwined (although still quite seperate) and what harms one does not bode well for the other.

Still, this documentary is something to keep an eye on.

So…do just that.

My aunt on my father’s side, who is a truck-driver, is currently hauling the equipment for a concert tour of Snoop Dog.

Just thought that was interesting.

I’ve completed Prince of Persia: Two Thrones. I must say, the ending was much more fulfilling than I thought it would be, but it was also less fulfilling because the Prince never truly got his commuppance in the manner I would have liked. That is to say, the Prince was never agonizingly slaughtered by some sort of super Dahaka or ripped apart by a paradoxical creation of his.

However, Ubisofts creation of what is surely the first cyclic trilogy is certainly a feat to behold. All in all, Two Thrones was a solid game that unified Sands of Time and Warrior Within into an excellent trilogy.

Two Thrones was like seeing Matrix Revolutions after Matrix Reloaded. You still didn’t like Reloaded as much as the first movie, but you understood why it had exist - if merely as a conduit to achieve an excellent ending in the third.

The other thing I need to say is that my final marks are all in. Here are the results:

Introductory Programming with Java CS 125 Final Mark: 87%

Algebra MATH 135 Final Mark: 75%

Calculus MATH 137 Final Mark: 63%

Sex and Gender Studies PHIL 202 Final Mark: 93% (thus showing that arts courses can be a cakewalk if you play your cards right)

Introduction to Psychology PSYCH 120R Final Mark: 85% (thus proving that the key to success is not attending a single lecture after the first week :P - thank you Professor Foxall, for freeing up my Tuesdays and Thursdays).

GPA: 80.6

BOOYAH!

All of this information means that I will be the proud owner of a Nintendo Wii on the 16th of this month…a single day after the beginning of my co-op job.

Now watch…

With the job, girlfriend, and two online courses I have to complete (PD1 and PD2), I probably wont have the free time to enjoy the new system. Until I return to school for eight months…where I will have less time than ever…

Two games can be crossed off the list.

We Love Katamari is completed. I’ve unlocked and completed all of the missions, and I’ve managed to roll up - into a Katamari - the Prince, 39 of his cousins, his mother (Queen of All Cosmos), and his father (King of All Cosmos). All the missions are unlocked, and the final mission (to roll up the sun with the planets you’ve made) has been easily accomplished. Largest katamari diameter is about 3607m and change.

Furthermore, it will both delight and surprise many of you to know that I just beat Warrior Within, after playing it for 12 hours solid and staying up for most of the night. In fact, all of the night.

I find it interesting. I started playing the game on the 29th, at the exact time I stopped playing it on the same day, exactly a year ago. Interesting. But save files don’t lie.

In regards to Warrior Within, I detest the game. It was so unbearable that I am reluctant to even try Two Thrones. It has such a terrible story, and is buggy beyond belief, that I cannot understand how Ubisoft is still making games.

While playing, I tried to get to the Mechanical Tower, which apparently had failed to load. So, when I stepped out of the Central Hall, the Prince fell dramatically for 2 minutes before dying…somehow. In the past, I’ve had my character turn into the Sand Wraith early. I’ve had my character get stuck in walls. I’ve been unable to proceed because enemies were stuck in walls. Etc. Etc.

However, all of the bugs in the game paid off at the end. I got the Water Sword (necessary for best ending) and prepared to fight the Dahaka. The first two times, I failed. The third time, I fought and fought to the point where Kaileena blasts him off of the cliff, and you hit him on the ledge. Due to a glitch, it stopped registering his health bar, and therefore, it never triggered the moment where he rises from the cliff edge and comes back fighting. As such, I sat there pummeling him in the face until he died. :P

Boo yah! The glitches worked out in the end.

By the way, if you haven’t played Warrior Within, you probably shouldn’t have bothered reading it. If you intended to play it, the preceding information was a spoiler.

Hurray for me!

I’m part way there.

With all the power of my being, I am stepping out into that dark abyss and challenging the world.

It is time.

I haven’t played video games in four months. And now, the holidays are here. My co-op job doesn’t start until January 15th. My Wii will not be given to me until January 16th at the earliest.

So, here is the challenge.

I am going to try to beat, and complete to the best of my ability, every single game that has gone unattended for these many months. That’s right. Any game that was left partially unbeaten, or hardly touched, will now succumb to my awesome gamer powers. All in preparation for…the Wii.

Here is the list of the games that will fall in the next few weeks:

Gamecube Prince of Persia: Warrior Within Prince of Persia: Two Thrones Pikmin 2

Nintendo DS Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow Meteos Metroid Prime Hunters New Super Mario Bros. Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin

Gameboy Advance Super Mario World Yoshi’s Island Tales of Phantasia The Legend of Zelda: A Link To The Past

Playstation Final Fantasy V and VI

Playstation 2 We Love Katamari

You may try to convince me that it cannot be done. But so help me…all of these games will be completed and off of my plate before the arrival of the Wii.

Frequent readers will remember my sidebar contained a list of what I was reading, and playing. Well, no more!

Now, it will be redesigned as the training tracker, which will detail which games I have left to complete.

Wish my luck folks. This will be intense.