Games
How to resolve AdBlock issue? 
47 Ronin, 23 Barnestormings.
On the Table
Cracked LCD this week is all about Ikusa, WotC’s update of Shogun. It’s old fashioned and really should have been updated- particularly with Conquest of Nerath right next to it in the company’s catalog. This is a dinosaur of a game, a “classic” design that really should be put out to pasture with the other Gamesmaster games. Great in 1986? Definitely. Great when I was 11-12 years old? Absolutely. Influential even today? Beyond a shadow of a doubt. But I can’t for the life of me understand why anyone would want to play this over the much better options that are available in this class today.
At WorthPoint this week, I did a little piece on some of the big-dollar Star Wars games. They’re very collectible and value-minded over there, so I thought wheeling out Queen’s Gambit and some of the others might be impressive. Plus the DVDs came out last week so it’s topical.
On the Consoles
Gears of War 3 review is up at NoHS. Oh, that campaign. Good thing the multiplayer options are fantastic.
Battlefield 3 beta is…Battlefield, alright. It’s glitchy as hell, I probably won’t bother with it again until the actual release.
FIFA 12 is here, but I have the PS3 edition. I figured I should get _something_ for the console since it won’t see much action until Uncharted 3.
Waiting on a Forza 4 review copy, super excited about that…it sucks that I’m going out of town on a business trip next week and won’t get to dig into it until Friday.
On the Phone
Not jack shit. I haven’t played a single IOS game all week. I started to play a game of iAdmiral since I haven’t seen all the new updates, but I just lost interest.
On the Screen
Troll Hunter, that Norwegian “found footage” horror picture turned up on Netflix Streaming so I took a break from Doctor Who to watch it. It was OK, but mostly disappointing. I love the concept- the storybook trolls and all of the fun ‘natural history’ of them that the hunter in the film describes- but the whole found footage thing is so worn out at this point. So many minutes wasted on out-of-the-car shots of the Norwegian wilderness and pointless filler between the good parts.
And there are some really good parts, like a troll encounter with night vision goggles where the troll blends in with the trees or a strangely scary part with these small trolls in a cave. I liked the hunter character and the storyline, but the faux documentary thing is finished as far as I’m concerned. Besides, Cannibal Holocaust can never be topped in this genre- there is nothing as transgressive or _real_ as that film was. Don’t ever watch it, I’m warning you.
As for Who, the big winners this week were the episode with Shakespeare (love the classic witches and the Back to the Future reference) and The Silent Library/Forest of the Dead. What an awesome concept, with the Vashtu Nerada or whatever and the “hard drive”. Great two-parter. I also watched the entire run-up to Rose Tyler’s departure. Doomsday was fun, but it was so over-the-top with Cybermen and Daleks running amuck. The goodbye was tasteful and actually kind of moving though.
I do not like Donna at all. Martha is cool though.
On Spotify
It’s a new Barnestorming feature- a Spotify playlist!
This week, it’s what I’ve dubbed “The New Goth” and it’s a bunch of those Witch House bands I was talking about last week along with some other
examples of how there is kind of this new goth thing going on that is reclaiming the genre from all those horrid European synth-sleaze strip club rock vampire bands and the post-Marilyn Manson Hot Topic set. These are bands that look back to everything from Joy Division to early Death in June to “positive punk” like Play Dead as well as more traditional post-punk and industrial. It’s all more aggressive, angular, and experimental for the most part, much less Rocky Horror Picture Show. Not very glammy or LA deathrocky at all.
The link is good for Spotify listeners, but here’s the tracklist if you care to investigate through another source.
White Ring- Roses
Salem- Frost
Entertainment- Flesh
Creep- Days
Blessure Grave- Mirror
Soft Kill- From this Point On
Cold Cave- Underworld USA
F8stercare- Low
Pictureplane- Goth Star
oOoOO- Seaww
//Tense//- Turn it Off
Modern Witch- Desire
Crystal Castles featuring Robert Smith- Not in Love
Poni Hoax- Budapest
Mater Suspiria Vision- Ritualzz of the Crack Witches
Zola Jesus- Night
Enjoy!
