So Long Blockbuster...

Sometimes I can measure the success of various things - such as television shows, movies and rental chains - by my interest in me. That is to say: if I lose interest in it, then all of society has lost interest in it. Perhaps that's a bit self-centered and absorbed. Either way you shake it, my interest in Blockbuster started it's decline about six years ago, and I'm going to make the leap and say this is around the time that Blockbuster began it's decline into irrelevance. It's also around the time Netflix was picking up in business.

Of course, Netflix with it's mail order business was not available in Canada, however, Zip was. I tried it out, but when people began stealing DVDs out of my mailbox and my account was frozen/investigated - I lost interest. This is rare case where the rest of society disagreed with me, but I knew the service just wasn't for me.  In this case I was ahead of the curve: I knew digital media and distribution thereof was the future. My physical movie purchases declined rapidly. In 2005 they stopped altogether: the announcement and release of HD-DVD and Bluray nailed it. At that point I sold off the vast majority of my collection in order to begin the high definition indulgence. Unfortunately we still had a ways to go. I digress though, let's focus on Blockbuster again.

My first memory of Blockbuster was in the early 90s, when it replaced the Major Video me and my family had frequented for years. Nothing much changed from Major, just different colours. Around the same time we got into Rogers Video, which had gnarly deals on classic films. Blockbuster would be relegated to the new release wall, and some video games - Microplay across the street couldn't be beat for prices and classic games. Blockbuster was also home of video game competitions and a healthy dose of used titles available for purchase. It just did the job, and it did it well.

Throughout the years Blockbuster would become more expensive, but we didn't have much choice: they basically drove other video rental places out of business. My friends and I - during university - would frequent Blockbuster all the time for movie and game rentals, and very rarely purchases (it was incredibly overpriced). It was always a stop in our outings, but the frequency at which we used the store diminished. When I moved back to Kingston Blockbuster all but ceased to be in the rotation. We had other, more convenient and less expensive options to explore. That, and we just didn't need to rent anymore.

From 2005 onwards Blockbuster would become a joke: in Canada, they stopped charging late fees. This was great, as I could rent a game, spend a month or so on it and return it when I was done. This is how playing the Call of Duty series was for me. They charged a restocking fee if you were incredibly late, but the fee was a joke, seriously. Then digital distribution took over very quickly, and as of last year, Netflix offered it's online variant in Canada. I hadn't used my Blockbuster card in ages, and now I'm not even sure where it went. For the cost of a single new release rental, you could get access (through Netflix) to hundreds of films (although their relevance is questionable) and television shows (again, poor shows). If you watch a movie or two on Netflix, it's considered "worth it" and you move on. You don't even miss new releases that much, especially if you frequent the movie theatre and have seen them all beforehand.

Over the past year the chain has been in the news, as they close down stores in the US and file for protection. We didn't really feel it in Canada until fairly recently, then all of a sudden, a couple of weeks ago, the announcement that all stores would be closing. A bit sad, sure (for the employees) but everyone knew why. They just didn't innovate or keep with the times. It was a slow roll into oblivion, but once it got rolling it rolled hard and fast. I went to the local stores to see if they were having closeout sales. Not yet. A week later they did. I arrived in the middle of the afternoon and found a lineup outside. The busiest the store has ever been, I'm sure. I waited, and when I was granted access I wanted to leave right away. 25% off just about everything, and not a thing I had an interest in buying. Another week would pass and they upped the deal to 40% off, which made things interesting. I ended up buying a few used games, but no movies. Another few days pass and I receive an e-mail saying it's 50% off, then the next day 70% off. As I drive by the stores today, the lights are out. Cleared out and empty. Demure brick and mortar stores that will lay empty for a time. New stores will move in and we'll describe their location to people as "the place Blockbuster used to be."

It was never really my favourite chain, or rental store. There have always been better ones, but it had its place. I'm sure, one day while cleaning out a random drawer, my Blockbuster card will show up. I'll pick it up fondly and be reminded of the good old days, while I look onwards to the future. So long, Blockbuster, it was a decent run.

Mortal Kombat

It's no secret I've been heavily into gaming my entire life, and continue to be without shame. I embrace new games and appreciate the older ones. I feel like I grew up with the modern gaming industry; that is to say, my first console was the Atari 2600, then the NES and so on and so forth through all the iterations. I have clear memories of all of these, and experience with a huge number of games for these systems. But I grew up in parallel to the "growing up" of the industry. What I mean there is that every generation of console and games has been aimed directly at me (well, my demographic). The NES was a kids system, and so was I. When the SNES and Genesis came out, we were all entering the double digits and our teens. When Mortal Kombat was coming out I was eleven years old. The ensuing years would be a battle for maturing gamers, and some games like Mortal Kombat were using blood and violence as weapons.

They drew the line in their arcade titles, and both Nintendo and Sega took a side. The SNES (my favourite) would be technically superior but was lacking in blood, whereas the Genesis was a bit faster and most of the blood was intact. The Mortal Kombat II port would blur the line a bit more, as Nintendo gave in a bit. At the same time Night Trap ensured we ushered in a solid voluntary ratings system for games that's still around today. The MK series definitely had it's part in the ratings system as it upset parents all over. I don't think my parents knew what was going on, or they recognized that I was mature enough to understand the difference between video game violence and the real deal. Either way, I don't think the blood in MK really affected me one way or another: I just really enjoyed following the news in the industry.

So as we matured - or at least, grew older - the games were being marketed to older crowds and we were there to receive them. I wasn't completely impervious: I played MK in the arcade, and rented the titles when they were released for home. I just didn't get what the big deal was about: the stop-motion photographs you were playing were slow and clunky to me; the moves were awkward and the combat was uninspired. I tried, even buying MK3 for the PC (of all platforms) but was disappointed by every title. My favourite (perhaps because it was most memorable for me) was MKII, but I never did own it.

However, the Mortal Kombat series always had a place in my own and my friends' hearts. When 1995 rolled around and the movie came out, there was no doubt: we were going. By this time I had moved back to Kingston; my best friend at the time was coming up for a few days to visit, conveniently timed with the release of the movie. We would walk over to the theatre, throw down our allowance and be taken in awe. Right from the beginning of the movie you are blasted with the insane soundtrack, a soundtrack that I would immediately buy and would see more play than I care to mention. There would be many times that I'm sure the neighbours would hear the Mortal Kombat yell, followed by a thumping bass, and roll their eyes. But we were young, impressionable young men. The electronica soundtrack was crucial in opening my eyes to bands and artists that produced music that reminded me of quality 8-bit tunes from the NES.

Watching the movie again last night, and I was warped back to the mid-nineties and memories of rocking out to some of the wacky tunes on that soundtrack. I was also reminded of sitting in the theatre and being excited about it all: this was a video game movie done right. It didn't try and get too complicated: a simple story of warriors gathering together for a tournament, then systematically fighting their way from battle to battle. The foes keep getting tougher, and more interesting, and the action never really slows down.

I couldn't tell you the last time I saw this movie; for all I know it was fourteen or fifteen years ago. But the one thing that glares out at you is the CG. I really wish they didn't use it. It must have been groundbreaking at the time, but it hasn't aged well whatsoever. In fact it was quite terrible. So terrible I got a real kick out of it now: this movie was actually pretty damn entertaining. Is it safe to say it's reached a cult status? Apparently this movie was at the top of the box office for three full weeks upon release - perhaps a testament to how terrible other movies were at the time, but still pretty impressive anyway. For a moment, at least, I was transported back to being fourteen years old again, watching this movie in the theatre. I was in awe of the special effects, the girls and the fighting back then, and now, I can appreciate it on a whole new level.

Entourage: Series Finale

Many years ago I blasted through the first three season of Entourage. It was an addiction, I'm sure, but the series was really good. And it stayed good for quite some time; perhaps in the seventh season things took a bit of a stumble. And then I was suddenly watching the final season, and another sudden I'm done watching the last episode. I sit back and wonder what happened, where did it all go? Why were there only eight episodes in the final season? The show is practically an afterthought (but then there is all that talk about an Entourage movie).

Lately I've been finding myself watching the series finale of a few different shows I've been in tune with for quite some time. Entourage was always the go-to one for a quick (half hour) show that offered a glimpse into a surreal Hollywood of celebrities and general insanity. More importantly it was a glimpse into friendship: the entourage itself consisted of four guys who couldnt' be any closer. They share everything and depend on one another, but also thrive off one another. Fighting happens but they always rebound; the friendships are beyond a level at which feelings can be much of a concern.

But I wanted to comment on the finale itself. I'm happy with it. It's a pretty happy ending that didn't need to wrap things up because that's not how the show is. In fact it ends just as any other season: a delicate balancing act between offering more intrigue and leaving doors open, leaving the audience satisfied to a degree that the show could never come back and we know things are O.K. Well, perhaps not the last season with Vince ending the season being caught with drugs, but that's why I say the last season was a bit of a low point for the series. Essentially, the show doesn't leave you with cliffhangers. The show ends with you wanting much more, as it hits a stride that ends abruptly.

You could argue - I suppose - that things were wrapped up too easily. Especially in regards to E and Sloan's relationship. Ari's marriage is perhaps the only thing that has had a proper arc throughout the series. Everyone comes out a winner and when the credits rolled, I was happy (the most important thing).

Celebrity Encounter

Society has always had a rage for celebrities and the obviousness is so high that I don't even need to talk about it: you simply know what's going on and by extension, what I'm hinting at. You probably agree with me. Are you confused? Certainly, but you should know that I have never felt that craze for celebrities. I've never sought out autographs or stalked their houses in a balaclava. OK, that's a lie: when I was a kid I was so obsessed over the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, that I begged my parents for anything with their imagery on it; I begged my parents to take me to their ice show, and in my only victory, had my parents drop me off at the mall to get their autographs. That session would seal up the celebrity crush factor in my soul forever.

Imagine hundreds of seven to fourteen year olds clamoring around some poor guy in a Donatello suit, screaming for autographs. Those images you see on television where the all the teenage girls are clamoring for people like Justin Bieber? That's nothing; this, this was something else. My friend and I ran from turtle to turtle, trying to get an autograph. In my mind, I succeeded but once or twice, giving up quickly afterwards. To add insult to injury, we only had scraps of paper: take one piece of letter paper, tear it up into four pieces and that's what we were throwing in Raph's face. It's like we weren't even prepared for it, but then again, I don't think the organizers of the event were either. It was a clamor, nothing organized, and in the end on the drive on, I knew it didn't matter: they were just dudes making minimum wage in Turtle costumes.

Further testimony to my unwillingness to care about meeting celebrities would come at the Fan Expo. Year after year there would be dozens of them there - this time organized - that I would walk by without even thinking about. There they were: I didn't even want a photo.

"Hey, there's Lando Calrissian."

"Yup, there he is."

My friend and I continue to walk on, barely trying to get a picture and agreeing that paying $20 for Billy Dee Williams' autograph is not worth the five minute wait in line or worse yet, the awkward conversation that would most assuredly take place. Just a few years previous to this, the same friend and I were drinking on a patio in downtown Kingston; out walks Dan Aykroyd (and his burly entourage). What is the response? My friend decides to yell at him a bit - I don't recall what exactly but I believe it was related to his weight - and Dan doesn't blink an eye. Good for him, but the situation could have been better: everyone had a few drinks and Dan is a regular guest in the Kingston scene. I'm sure he's a great guy, but he wasn't getting any respect that night.

But I digress: I wanted to discuss my encounter with James Cromwell this past weekend. Cromwell, unlike Aykroyd, is an actor that I can respect more so than Aykroyd (even though he was in Ghostbusters). With such great movies like L.A. Confidential and his multiple turnouts in the Star Trek series (among others) he has my respect. He was also the last one I would expect to see in North Bay, eating at the table behind me. By some random chance I agreed to go out to lunch with my sister; my niece typically dictates where we eat but today she would give in and we would go where my sister wanted to. We enter the restaurant and I'm in a dizzy as my niece runs around: I don't notice other people there. There were very few people there anyway.

Halfway through the meal my sister leans over and tells me that somebody famous is sitting behind me. Obviously I can't wretch my body around to see, and I didn't really care to either. Another patron is walking by, and makes a fool of herself: she doesn't know his name, only that he is an actor that she has seen a while back. He confirms, and she goes about her day. It bothers my sister that she can't remember his name, so I'm instructed to go to the washroom and upon returning, take a look at this actor. I do so, but the washroom puts me on a terrible angle to see who this is, but with Cromwell you don't need an angle. I exit the washroom and from thirty feet away and seeing only a profile of his face, it is plain as day who it is.

"Cool" I say to myself, but I don't feel the excitement that some would. What is he doing here? Do I go say something? That's like asking if I want to make a fool of myself, and invariably the answer is going to be no. I'm pretty shy anyway, so we pay the bill and as I pull my sweater on I twist and turn to catch a few more glimpses. I can confirm that he is quite tall, even sitting down. We leave the restaurant and I immediately make a Facebook status update indicating The Event. I was a bit disappointed when not many people commented on it - although I understand many would not know who he is, and many more would not be reading my status updates anyway.

The randomness of seeing this big star here is not lost on me, and I realized the best thing that I should have done was to ask for a photo with him. But I can walk away satisfied with the encounter as is. As my sister points out, we were so close, sitting back to back, that if we both leaned back a bit and threw our heads in laughter around the same time, we would have bonked together. I feel almost silly laughing at the idea and thinking how great it would be had that happened, but such is the age of living with celebrities. I guess the vile act of meeting the Ninja Turtles when I was nine years old has not completely sullied or excluded me from the celebrity run-in excitement. Perhaps in the future I'll seek them out and acquire an autograph or two.

Alan Wake

There was quite a bit of hype to Alan Wake in the months before release; it was the type of hype that I was barely paying attention to but yet, was the forefront of my gaming conscience. It would be like trying to watch a movie with a giant pillar of glowing blue light coming from your closet: you want to ignore it, and you can ignore it, but curiosity catches up quickly and you have no choice but to throw open the doors. In this case I only opened the doors a crack, and understood at once that I was staring at a different kind of gaming beast. This beast, I knew at that time, would be mine in due time - not upon release, of course - and I would eventually be playing it. Weird how that works, as I barely knew what the game was, how it played or why anyone cared. But they did care, and I picked up on the aura: when the game hit $20 before it should have, I snatched it up, put it in it's place in the collection (its place being the first slot, thanks to alphabetization) and there it sat, for many months.

It sat, calling, for quite some time. It's impossible to determine how much exactly or even approximately. We could be talking a year or more; we could be talking a few months. It's like the title has been there forever yet just arrived - a warning I should have realized regarding how creepy the game is to play. Sure, I was told; my friend had been playing it, and knowing me more than I now myself, informed me that I would be too scared to play it (alone, at least). He would be right, of course: I had a hard time playing Doom 3 back in the day, and I couldn't even make it through the demo of Condemned 2. Alan Wake would be different though. Since I have a bit of extra time during the day, I decided to go for it. I needed a different title to play than Fable III, and this would be just the ticket. 

The weather outside was warm, and more importantly, sunny. This should help with my fears, right? I put the game disc in and let the 360 drive absorb it. Then it happens: the un-Godly whirring noise of a disc being spun to velocity that is trademarked by the Microsoft system. The last time I heard a system make this sort of noise I was playing Project Gotham Racing 3, over five years ago. This problem was supposed to be fixed, right? Apparently my new-ish box is not immune. Quickly exiting the title screen, I was back upon the dashboard and chose the option to install the game, a function typically reserved for reducing load times but in this instance, would also be used to deafen the turbine that was going off in my living room. Unfortunately it takes about a half hour to install a game, and during that process the drive is going at full tilt. I left the room, and upon coming back and seeing the mission accomplished, I turned everything off and occupied my mind with something else. The spark had faded, and I found myself loading up a television show and my laptop: the show as background noise and Reddit as the source of concentration for the next hour.

A week later and I'm able to start playing the game again. This is record time; see, the last time I turned a game off like that was Halo 3, and it took me two whole years to return to it. It happened with Ocarina of Time more than a decade ago, which resulted in a year long hiatus and me restarting from the beginning. Alan Wake would not defeat me like that. It seemed like the gauntlet was thrown down - I'm not sure who did the throwing, but it was there - and I was ready to take up the challenge. The only rule, so far, is that I play while the sun is out. And how fitting it turns out the light is to me, as it is important to the title character himself. As he wields his flashlight, narrowing its beam to weaken enemies, then quickly running to a bright spot where he can recoup his sanity - or at least, my own. After completing the first episode, I fear something else though. I really enjoy the title, and I'm not sure I can not play at night, during prime gaming hours With the sun setting so early it would be unfair to myself - and to Alan - if I were to not piece together more of the mystery.

Wish me luck.

The Last Airbender

OK, so this movie did a gigantic belly flop into the pool of Hollywood; so big in fact perhaps its belly burst open and the talented Shyamalan was ejected into a nearby cornfield where he will most likely stay banished for quite some time. Honestly, I hope the guy recovers and produces some more memorable stuff, because I like all of it. Perhaps he can focus on something low-key.

Netflix (Canada) is carrying this movie, which tells you something about the quality right there. My friend watched it and reported only good things, which seems to go against the grain of every single person on Earth. With a couple of hours to spare, I loaded the movie up and was expecting a rush of garbage delivered optically. And you know what happens when you expect the worst: you get the best. OK, not the best - far from it - but the thought/sentence needed to be completed that way. What I'm trying to say is this movie is decent.

You get bending. I love the idea of "bending." Four nations who can bend their element at will: earth, fire, water and air. As the title dictates this is about the last airbender (I guess they were all wiped out by the wily fire nation). He also happens to be the Avatar, who is a reincarnation of a being who can control all four elements. Basically, he rocks it hard. Unfortunately for some, this iteration of the Avatar only knows his native element, and needs help with the others, but that's besides the point.

It's just fun to watch: characters move in manner's I'm not familiar and it looks graceful, and these moves are what's controlling the elements. But I'm more excited seeing the ground erupt, blocking a giant fireball. Or when the water benders trap people in ice. In fact the least exciting bending is the title character himself, who  can manipulate air and really only Force Pushes people around. Granted, that seems to be the best and most unstoppable ability, but when he learns how to bend other elements the game gets really interesting. He takes some simple water bending and amps it up: why play with a bucket of water when you can just move the entire ocean? He oversteps his teachers and we get our Neo moment when his eyes and arrow-thing on his forehead start glowing. I need to see more.

This movie is based on a popular (Japanese) cartoon series (was it something else before? Probably). I know nothing of any of it, which evidently has bolstered my appreciation for the film. Character and plot portrayals and devices that stray from the source material are completely lost on me, so I'm allowed to enjoy the movie as a self contained entity and for that, I'm thankful, but I'm also now intrigued to seek out the original series and give it a watch. I may run into a couple of scenarios in doing this:

1. I'll love the series.
2. I'll love the series and despise the movie.
3. I'll love the series and forget about the movie because that sort of thing doesn't bother me.
4. I'll hate the series and applaud Shyamalan for making a better product.

All of these will end up in disappointment, of course. In the end I'll elect for option five: never watch the series and be disappointed that they'll never make a sequel to this film.

YouTube Channel

Apparently everyone has a YouTube channel? Here's mine:

http://www.youtube.com/user/TracerBullitt

Perhaps I should start posting links to some of my favourite videos. If you check out the channel it will list any videos I have "favourited" but also the ones that I have "liked" which is apparently two different actions.

Tiny Tower

There was this moment when I breached the doors of a 7-11 and saw a truly horrific site: Farmville themed cups and memorabilia. Not only that, but I believe they carried Farmville (and related games) cards - these cards that you can buy for real money, which translates into in-game money that you can use to presumably buy more useless things. I've never played the game so I can't judge too harshly. It is amazing the empire that has been built out of these casual games.

The iOS platform has not helped the cause here: games priced at 99 cents or even nothing, with in-game devices built to take your hard earned dollars and keep you playing well beyond when reason tells you to stop. Indeed, these games are designed to never stop and to keep you coming back. They follow a specific formula that is unbreakable and quite frankly, it' scary.

My friend introduced me to a game on the iOS called Tiny Tower. I'm on the lookout every so often for games for my iPhone because there just aren't very many that I find appealing. I spend most of my iPhone time on Reddit, and the occasional Angry Birds session. So I do a search for Tiny Tower in the App Store and discover that it costs nothing. This is not a good start. I download the game and start "playing" although you have to use that term loosely. I had no idea what was going on; you play a few rounds in tutorial mode, which is basically you stocking and building a floor, among a few other things. They throw you into the thick of it and I was lost. But, after some investigation and random clicking, things work out and I'm well on my way to building a grand tower.

Then I see it. I see how people get addicted to these casual games. I see the structure they put into place that keeps pulling you back in. You build a floor and decide what type of business should move in (including apartments that can house five "bitizens"). That place takes a while to create - every new floor takes longer and longer (I think it's taking about 15 hours to build one now and I'm at floor 30). That business opens, and requires you to stock product in there. In order to stock the floor, you need somebody to work there. And you need to build residential apartments for those people to live in. So people move in, then you can choose where they work.

Each bitizen has different interests and depending on where you put them, will perform better at their job (which equates to the cost of stocking the floor) and if it's their dream job, you get twice as much stock for the same price. When an item is in stock it starts selling, which is your primary income, which you use to build more floors and in turn, more business. It's a never ending cycle of building and stocking.

The horrible thing is, it takes no time at all. I can open the program and stock all the floors in 20 seconds, start the construction of another floor and be on my way. Place a few employees and we're laughing. Again, the problem is the cycle never stops: I don't believe there is a limit to the size of your tower. At this point in the "game" you can build a floor a day, with as little as five minutes invested. But you invest so much more, because you want to keep floors stocked: you are constantly checking their levels and pressing those buttons.

And it's all about waiting: you wait for floors to be built, stock to be filled and items to sell. You wait for bitizens to move in as you deliver them via elevator to various floors. And here's the rub: if you get impatient, you can use "Tower Bux" to speed everything up. You get Tower Bux slowly by finding people whenever requested, and sometimes your bitizens tip you. But you can use real money to buy Tower Bux in bulk, allowing you to quickly build your tower as you see fit. And that's where the microtransactions come into play and the developers make their money. The app is free but the gameplay is not. Well, being a patient individual I haven't sunk a cent into it, but I could see how I would. I've put a few hours into the game over the past week and it would only be kind for me to give a little. Plus, it helps my tower.

In the end, I'm addicted. I've now been taken into the Farmville cult without actually playing Farmville but one of its clones instead. I don't feel great about it, but let's be honest, I don't feel bad either. It's pretty harmless - so far.