About Me: Writer, artist and musician. Also retired from the demoscene. Concerned primarily with technology and education. Oh yeah, and good games.

A voluntary selection from a school assignment = no gaming.

I decided that cutting myself off from Facebook wasn't enough, because I frankly am not a fan of the viral media dependent social network. That should tell you I'm not a fan of social networks in general. But, that isn't true; at times I rather like Twitter, and Patreon doesn't count, it's a business network.

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...works as a puzzle game but not as a celebrity manager?

The crux of YouTuber Life's strengths lie in the mini-game puzzler that has you piecing together symbols within numerical constraints. Not that the emotional indicators make any sense. How is a critical review always negative, and a constructive one always thoughtful?

Clearly the game is based on the ideals construct, in which completing any task automatically results in more subscribers and views, until you have to amass a million subscribers and join a network. Then videos can sometimes cost you subscribers.

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...but I'm still hungry.

"Standard fare" was my parting thought after watching DC, and Zack Snyder's latest cinematic outing in the shapely form of armor clad, whip wielding Wonder Woman. Certainly it was good, but Wonder Woman has never held my interest. Why? She's boring.

I get the whole routine of her being beautiful, though in order to fight like that with her body tone she would require supernatural strength. She wasn't exactly showing the muscle tone, if you get me. As I understand it this is quite the feminist parade, but I didn't see it. That is to say, that's not what they were aiming to achieve.

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...but Zeboyd Games has a contender.

Cosmic Star Heroine is good. Really good. It's also fast. The pace is more action film than traditional RPG. Where I got the idea it's a Chrono Trigger imitator, I'm not sure, though it does do that. There are no combat scene transitions: Everything happens on the same screen.

So far, Zeboyd is combating player boredom more than anything else. There hasn't been much time to let the frenetic pace of events sink in, and that's not a good thing. To be expected from the creator of Cthulu Saves the World, the script is bright and witty, self depreciating but deliberate.

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There was never a chance it was going to work.

There were eight people in the theater when my Dad and I went to see Ghost in the Shell’s live action adaptation. For some reason nearly every showing is in 3D, which doesn’t actually hurt this slow burning production. I know – slow burning action movie, right? GITS has a ponderous, ruminating pace that allows for instances of intense cyborg combat and deep introspection. The Major, aka Makoto Kusanagi isn’t a deep feeling sort; but is troubled by a past she is at odds with.

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...unless you take a chance on Stand Alone Complex.

There's no question that Ghost in the Shell was chock full of shock about the question of individuality amid the proliferation of digital culture. What becomes of us when our memories can be edited, overwritten, or even replaced?

The original motion picture doesn't answer those questions. It merely poses them, and that's not nearly interesting enough to sustain the franchise. It was a great start, though. If you want to get to know more about the world the Major sprang from, track down the two full seasons of Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex.

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...on the homefront.

So I finally took in the marvelous visual adventure that is Moana. I know I'm not alone in my continued amazement at the way Lin-Manuel Miranda strings together rhymes. At my age the events are much like an ad-lib, and there aren't any real surprises to be had, but that does not dilute the delight to be had at its rich, tactile visuals.

Disney-Pixar's mastery of water is exceptional in this film, and presentation of the myriad of oceanic wonders is truly gorgeous. Just when you think they can't push visuals any further, they find a way to pump more detail in. It stands to reason that they won awards for visual effects, and Lin-Manuel was a shoe-in for another Academy Award.

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