AI is taking Jobs

 

Good evening, and welcome to tonight's editorial segment. I'm John Doe of Illuminated television and here is my  topic for discussion tonight is the impact of artificial intelligence on the traditional roles of scriptwriters in Hollywood.

The rapid advancement of AI technology has brought both benefits and challenges to various industries, and the entertainment sector is no exception.

Hollywood has always been the creative hub of the film and television world, where somewhat talented script writers have given life to captivating stories that have captured our hearts for generations.

But now, with the rise of AI-generated content, there's a growing concern that these creative minds might be facing the risk of being replaced by machines.

It's a thought-provoking dilemma. On one hand, AI is making scriptwriting more efficient, generating content at an unprecedented speed and potentially reducing production costs.

AI algorithms can analyze vast amounts of data, including successful scripts and audience preferences, to produce content tailored to market demands.

However, many argue that the magic of Hollywood lies in the unique perspectives, emotions, and experiences of human writers. AI-generated scripts may lack that personal touch that connects with audiences on a deeper level.

Indeed. There's an artistic element to storytelling that AI might not fully grasp.

And let's not forget the potential impact on employment in the industry. As AI technology evolves, it could lead to job displacement for traditional scriptwriters, which could have wider implications for the workforce. We spoke with the industry expert Adrian Woodward to get their insights on this issue.

[Cut to Interview Clip]

Adrian here. AI is a powerful tool, and there's no denying its contributions to Hollywood's creative process. However, the human element is irreplaceable. Writers bring a unique voice and perspective that AI cannot replicate. While an artificial intelligence can be a helpful assistant, I don't think it will replace scriptwriters entirely. The creative process is complex and often requires human emotions and experiences to connect with audiences.

So, it seems there's a consensus that AI can complement the work of scriptwriters but not entirely replace them, despite what loud Twitter users will have you believe. 

That's right. The real challenge lies in finding the right balance between human creativity and artificial assistance. The industry also needs to address the ethical considerations as well. Such as who owns the rights to content created by AI? How do we ensure originality and prevent plagiarism? These are important questions that need to be answered.

The future of scriptwriting in Hollywood will depend on how well they adapt to this evolving landscape.

And let's not forget, advancements in technology have historically led to new job opportunities in unexpected areas.

 As AI becomes more prevalent, it could create a demand for experts who can leverage AI tools effectively, or even inspire new forms of storytelling.

So, while the concerns are valid, we must also consider the potential for positive change.

In the end, the key will be to embrace AI as a powerful tool that can enhance creativity, while also preserving the artistry and passion that have defined Hollywood for generations.

It's a fascinating and complex topic that will continue to shape the future of entertainment.

Thank you and that concludes tonight's editorial. Thank you for joining us.

Stay tuned for more updates and analysis on AI's impact on various industries.

And now the weather.

Like follow and subscribe Goodnight.

About Norwegian humor

 Jokes are highly subjective and more often than not, country specific and very hard to translate into another language. Especially those that translate Japanese media. While I do enjoy the nonsensical nature of their comedy at times, I am here to talk about Norwegian specific humor, which really is Scandinavia centric for the most part. Not that I know much about humor in Iceland, or Finland, but I digress.

Norway has a long a torrid history of unions, monarchs and unfavorable alliances with Sweden and Denmark, out neighboring monarchies. In essence, Norway has not been a very independent country after the invention of gunpowder. Regardless, I am fairly certain these jokes are being told on the other side of the border as well. 

Let us start off with the classics. Jokes about the how inept, or dumb Sweden is. 

“How do you get a one-armed Swedish person down from a flagpole?
You wave.”

“Do you know what sits in a corner and gets smaller and smaller?”
“A Swedish man licking a cheese grater.”

Yes, this variation usually takes the shape of questions and can be questionable at best. For obvious reasons I will not bring up racist jokes. Anyhow the other more inclusive kind is based around a Norwegian, someone from Denmark and a Swedish man doing something and the two other countries are the butt of the joke.

There once was a Swedish, Danish, and Norwegian person going down into a potato cellar.
First came the one from Sweden and took the lords name in vain when he failed to open the door.
Then god said. “You will not enter the gates of heaven because of your swearing.
Then came the gent from Denmark and did the exact same thing and got the same response.
Eventually the bloke from Norway gave the door a go to no success.
The almighty said yet again. “You will not enter heaven since you swore.”
The Norwegian man replied. “I am not going up to heaven, I’m trying to go down into the potato cellar.”

Historically and folklore speaking, three has always been a bit magical. Something that has made little or no sense to me, outside of it being a practical number. A type of joke that seems to be very foreign to people over in America is the all the children’s jokes, which is really just silly wordplays and jokes.
“All the children went see the flag, except Rag, he was plowing a hag.”
The structure is always the same, but the action and the names are interchangeable, and most of them are very bad.

Wares from other lands does get ragged on as well every now and then. Such as the car brand Known as a LADA, which usually is translated into jalopy elsewhere. Essentially an old, rusty, and worn out Russian automobile.

“How do you get a Lada from 1 to 100 in less than two seconds?”
“You drop it off a cliff.”

“How do you get rid of a Lada?”
“Use rust removal.”

Naturally, there is a fair selection of blonde jokes, due to a perceived notion of color coding makes people act in a certain way.
“Why are the back of a blondies head flat?”
“The toilet seat hits them every time they go to drink.”
These ones can be mildly amusing, but are usually very, very dumb and repetitive. Rude they may be, but ultimately benign and not worth fuzzing over. 

A plethora of simple and silly jokes exist as well, but I’m convinced that those are very universal.
“Who’s muddy footprints are these?”
“I have no idea, they keep following me.”

Earlier example stems from the highly religious nature of Scandinavia and takes some potshots at religion.

“Where are you going my good man?” Asked the priest.
“To the toilet.” Was the reply.
“Let god be with you then.”
“No thanks, I walk alone.”

A priest found a dead hog by the wayside and called the police and got a playful response.
“I though you took care of the dead?”
“Sure, but we always call the next of kin first.”

Lastly, there is a plethora of sex jokes and raunchy ones.
The farmer caught the hired hand in bed with his daughter and knocked him out cold. Once the boy woke up he found is penis stuck in a vice, with the farmer looming over him ominously with a sharp knife.
“Have mercy, do not cut it off.”
“Do not worry son. I’ll just put the knife here and go outside and light the barn on fire.”

Coincidentally I have a video here where I pester some Americans with sketchy Norwegian humor for about 2 hours.

https://rumble.com/v1gorq3-an-hour-of-terrible-norwegian-jokes-prattling-podcast.html

Njål Signing out

Sandman on Netflix is not bad.

 Mister sandman, bring me a dream, and Netflix actually did just that. Morpheus of the endless have finally hit the silver screen and it is not a bad show. Which comes as a surprise in this day and age, when you consider how boring Hollywood is. Like all adaptations minor changes had to be made, but sandman is a fairly melodramatic down to earth story. As grounded to earth an anthromophication of dreams can be, he does visit hell after all and his sister is Death. What I am getting at is that pretty much all the action on the screen is character interaction driven and over the top action scenes are few and far between. If you look away from people turning into pulp. A change however that some people will be all up in the gills about is how many characters have been switched around. Constantine as an example is now a woman, instead of a chain-smoking Irish bloke. Does not bother me one bit though. For one simple reason really, I was entertained and some scenes really tugged on the heart strings. I now know for a fact that I am not a heartless robot.

Now there are some negatives, there always is. One is the outfit on Lucifer, combined with the filter and some game looking wings, just looks bad aesthetically. Though that is my inner designer and cosplay enthusiast speaking. Instead of making the devil look impressive and otherworldly, they make Satan look like a power ranger villain.

Consider this part spoiler filled.

Sandman seems to really be about an immortal being removed from reality, trying to figure out feelings and what to do with his infinite existence. His existential crisis and story starts with him being captured by occult fascinated British nobles looking to bring the dead back, by summoning death. They do not succeed and Dreams tools get taken anyway, along with his freedom. Which leads into many small stories about the people possessing his tools and reality becoming just a bit more miserable because he is not doing his duty. That is the essential flow of the series, we follow Morpheus through many small stories that have him interact with all manner of beings, various times, not to mention places. Needless to say, it is a story that takes its time and is not for the impatient people out there. Which surprised me to be honest, because in recent years I have gotten less patient with time wasting media and bad adaptations.

Hollywood be boring

 Opinion Hollywood is boring

Hello you wonderful people, my name is njål and I like some good entertainment. Now that is one thing the American entertainment industry is failing at these days. Yes, I dare say that Hollywood is boring, bland and a bit like eating oats without any added flavor. Sure I can eat it, but it has no tangible taste worth mentioning. The lack of color alone make the very products that are produced unappealing. Would it hurt them to be a bit more vibrant and actually use the while palette? Somehow even a vibrant green jungle is brown and bland. The lack of saturation itself is bad enough, but something that I can tolerate. However, when they start adapting various franchises and do it badly, that is where I drop out, or use the content to make cheap entertainment, while complaining about the quality. Either way, it will work out in my favor in the end. Anyhow, let's dig up some examples.

 HALO the horrible show about master cheeks, that annoying teenager and the macguffin. Springs to mind, not only does it ignore the games, not only does it look like dirt on a canvas, it fails to entertain me. Just like that piss poor excuse for a zombie survival horror know as resident evil. A show that is grudgingly dull to watch, even at an increased speed. Sure the actors does a serviceable job, the story itself does neither enthral, not entice me. Unlike the first movie, despite being a bit wonky.

The list of bad adaptations made in the land of the spread eagle is impressively disappointing. No wonder I enjoy anime and flicks like RRR, Bollywood is just more entertaining.

That is all Really, until next time, be seeing you.

Blueberry season

 I'm in Norway and there is a saying here. Are you completely on a beerytrip?

A hard to translate phrase that means you are lost. Which is not always a bad thing mind you. I do believe the expression comes from  the idea that when you are in the middle of nowhere, you are lost, and you know this because delicious berries grow in the wild.

In Scandinavia there are several kinds to be found throughout the summer and in the autumn. 

My favorite of the wild ones are blueberries, these delicious blue spheres are abundant where it is wet and sparsely populated with trees. 

Then there is the lovely mulberries, these black made from tiny balls stuck together grows from some long reaching thorny plants very late autumn.

Red Raspberries are fairly similar to the entry above, only red and a bit more sour. These can be cultivated and grow wild and free. The plants are more than a meter tall and will most likely continue to expand every year. There are at least three kinds. Some long ones that climb a lot, yellow ones and the more spherical ones. Which all taste different.

Wild strawberries are very tasty as well. Even if they are incredibly tiny compared to cultivated ones bought in stores.

I quite enjoy strawberries though, and the plant itself spreads like weed if given the chance. As long as bees, and bumblebees work on those flowers all spring and early summer, the harvest will be fairly bountiful.

These all organic and natural goodies can be turned into a lot of delicious food and be stored in the fridge.

Jam is a true and tested recipe. Same van be said for lemonade, pie, or in a bowl with vanilla sauce.

Many options, all of them tasty, unless you pick salt instead of sugar. Something I will not do again.

Njål #Zaceron signing out

Evil architecture

 My name is njål and welcome one and all.

Evil architecture has a long and sordid past and place in my heart, for both good and bad. Be it the original prince of Persia, Tomb raider, Resident Evil, or any other video game setting. I will not talk about anti homeless this d time around so worry not about having to Ollie that magic bum.

The noble adventurer caught by the evil vizier and dumped into the dungeons below the palace, now has to escape an absolutely insane labyrinth. One filled with ancient deadly death traps, creepy spooky skeletons, and a couple of clearly lost palace guards out for blood. 

Lara Croft is also living in a completely bonkers world that might just be caught up in the same sinister machinations. Though she is deliberately seeking out these elaborate death traps, they are not simply relegated to odd relics of the past. Even modern architecture suffers from other cruel machinations of a sinister shadow cabal.

Anyone familiar with the demented locations every Resident Evil protagonist have to slog through. Will know that there is something in the drinking water and I am not talking about a zombie virus. Because all of these worlds could be one and the same and are all made by someone absolutely insane. Not Spain in the fourth game took the architecture up to eleven and broke the knob clean off.

 I do believe that in this case the freemasons actually exist as an ever present secret society of cruel architects. People that have from time immemorial shaped the land around us. Who else would spend so much time making the Spencer mansion such a hellhole to travel though, designing traps that never stop, and crazy puzzles. The kind that takes strength and insane acrobatics to traverse. 

That a secret society is behind the scenes and shaping the land around us is indeed nothing but a silly conspiracy, that one fool with a phone can actually ruin. To me the very idea had some merits and is the perfect antagonist, or plot for any kind of setting. Picture this if you will. The hero has gone off the deep end, because the jewel key to the bathroom was hidden behind a one eyed tiger statue. Said figurine can only be accessed through an air duct that must be broken open with a rusty spork. Due to several such series of events the protagonist is now seeking out the source of his misery. The rabbit hole leads to a series of escalating events and some quirky characters scheming against the brick and mortar council. Just something to think about and consider.

Njål signing out #zaceron

Halo episode one rambling review.

 A gaggle of ratty teenagers goes into the dark dreary desert they live in, to get high, despite being told not to do such a thing. Then they spot evil religious alien. Signal flaring the camp of useless ragtag freedom fighters, only to watch the elites kill them all. Then to have the Spartans come to clean up the alien invaders. Who's more concerned with killing useless humans, despite being madsacred by the demon. Who uses about the same kind of caliber rounds the poorly disguised aka 47 uses. Needless to say, normal squishy human guns does no damage to shields, but master chef bullets do. Why he doesn't grab the plasma guns and deplete enemy shields is anyone's guess. The silver lining is that this sequence looks like Halo, complete with shield recharge sounds, first person moments and the elite laugh. With reckless disregard for anyone but his orders, the chief walks away with his squad, leaving the girl and several hundred dead behind. Because chasing down the enemy ship is more important. This is where things go downhill faster than a chipmunk on speed in a gerbil ball. The dark dry cave the junkies found contains a mysterious prothean beacon that undo decades of brainwashing. An alien is watching, ready to sucker punch the government tool. Instead it runs away and survives the squad of three highly trained super soldiers, turns invisible, and knocks over the bloody survivor who followed after them. Then proceed to flee away in a flying craft. We then switch to exposition, a lot of pointless prattling. One with some sketchy scientist that records everything and the evil maniacal government stooges planning to murder the girl with the bad haircut. The also drain the air out of the skip they conveniently control. The magic alien mcguffin have him humanity back and now he wants to help the teenager instead. Oh and a long necked covenant leader has adapted a human female only to give her a horrible collar costume and chastise her for reading human smut.

For some odd reason the two other people in master chumps party made it back before him on a separate ship, this makes no sense logistically at all. He refuse to murder the civilian, takes off his helmet and then proceed to get shot out of the air onece the auto pilot is shot to hell. But before several hundred maybes can breach the door. Matter mcguffin activates the artifact which restores the ship and disables everything else in the base. Nothing screams bad writing like a good old deus ex machina.

This all screams of paint by numbers, Chekhov's checklist and a reckless disregard for the source material. Hollywood is incapable of adapting it seems.

Njål signing out

Spillhuset i Bergen

I en smal Bergensgate kalt Veiten 3, i nærheten av den Nasjonale Scene. Et meget stort teater i sentrum, Der ligger det gamle Gestapo huset. Man går inn en fin tredør med noen markante lamper, og opp et par trapper til tredje etasje, og der finner man en inngang til et lokale med liv, litt leven og lys. 

Dette er Spillhuset, et nyåpnet hus dedikert til mange typer underholdning, alt fra tradisjonelle brettspill, til konsoll, samt en mengde LAN tilgjengelig datamaskiner. 

Lokalet er delt opp i mange tematisk rom. Et er dedikert til fortid, et skal bli utsmykket til nåtid, og et blir tildelt fremtid, så mer tematisk utsmykking er forventet. 

I hoved salen er en rustikk bar installert, en som kommer komplett med kafe, te, og en catmaid, samt en ganske okei scene. Så det er kanskje muligheter for at cosplay interesserte tenåringer slår seg ned i et rom også. 

Dagen da jeg var innom, ble jeg vel mottatt i døren, og fikk en omvisnings runde.

I alle rom var det liv. Spesielt i rommet med datamaskiner. Plassen tildelt konsoller kommer med en masse saccosekker og et teppe der man må gå uten sko. Stedet er yndig til å spille Super Smash Bros. Noen satt også å puslet med fargerike perler. Skulle man holde på med miniatyr modeller er det nok av bordplass til det, kom over noen som ble introdusert til et nytt spill på vegne av en organisasjon kalt Bubba. Ellers er jo mulig å bare henge på stedet og snakke med forskjellige folk.

Sånn ellers er det en stor haug med brettspill som jeg har, og har ikke hørt om. Lokale er oppe fra 16 til 20 bortimot hver dag, faktiske pånings tider finner man på hjemmesiden dies uanset. Stedet er godt tilgjengelig for rullestolbrukere og har en heis hele veien opp de tre etasjene det er snakk om, og det er nok også mulig å leie stedet for å arrangere et passende arrangement. Til slutt må jeg jo nevene at steded har gratis inngang.

Hilsen Njål

https://goo.gl/maps/UdLnDps49oCkkc8R8

https://www.spillhus.no

Naruto took spirals too far

Puns and wordplays are fun and I dare say so. A memorable character name with some sort of theme is that as well. However it is possible to take it a tad too far. One series that goes absolutely overboard with the meaning convention is Naruto, the titular main character of the series. He sports an orange jumpsuit and bright blonde hair, yet he is supposed to be a sneaky ninja. However this is not an anime review, just a rant. His full name is Naruto Uzumaki. The first name is taken from a spiral shaped ramen topping called narutomaki. This noodle broth is also his favorite food. The last name means spiral, which could also be a vortex, or a maelstrom. On his forehead he wears a protector with an iron plate, engraved with a stylized leaf with a spiral in it. There is more to the thematic madness though, because he eventually learns a technique that revolves around using energy to make a spiraling ball. Which leaves a similar shaped indentation in his victims. The rasengan roughly translates into strong whirlwind, naturally his main element is wind. 

Spin me around like a record baby, the very concept of the character spiraled out of control, see you next rant

Njål signing out

Solheim Chapel

Religion sure made some big, lavish, and very ornate buildings. Norway has a plethora of churches all over the place. From small local gathering halls, a fairly famous cathedral, and a lot of ugly modern monstrosities. Architects adore concrete far too much for my liking. Anyhow, the other day I visited this marvelous old stone building surrounded by a sloped cemetery here in Bergen.

The old chapel is practically ancient, yet well kept. Despite my misgivings about fanatic fools, there is just so much to see and notice on this old lump of stone. 

The structure itself is built on an elevated platform with stairs on both sides and several arches in the middle. The arches themselves are covered with old and sturdy metal doors that have weathered a lot it seems. Inside said entrypoint there are rows of dusty shelves used to store burial urns. 

There is nothing there now and the sign is clearly lying about visiting hours. I crank that up to it being an old sign.  Like all traditional grave sites, there is a tarnished and wobbly fence around the lot to keep spirits of the dead inside and to provide some solitude. The architect went into painful detail to make the building symmetrical.

Information indicates the chapel was built in 1920 by Sigurd Lunde. A very active same prolific fellow in the Bergen area during the 1900. He sure implemented some nice round arches into the construction, making the church both traditional looking, while being fairly minimalistic.

Njål signing out

Masters of the Universe is all about Teela and Spoilers

 I am a sucker for good animation and I love the stories told and watch them unfold. Even if a lot of them are very cringy and have sketchy transitions. Some say it is for kids, and to those I say pox upon you. Animation is just a different medium of storytelling, just like books, games, comics and whatever else we can get our grubby mitts on. He- Man is no different. It is an amusing show that plays fast and loose with the rules of what the main protagonist is capable of achieving. It seems mostly related to throwing rocks and punching things hard. The animation was simple and clearly based on a limited budget and those weird rules american television imposed upon shows. Characters rarely died, suffered any fatal wounds and pretty much every episode was a standalone story that never went anywhere. Just like kids playing with the toys the show intended to sell.

Skeletor attacks the castle Greyskull in his latest plot to become a master of the universe. By tricking He-Man into stabbing the source of magic and opening up the conduit by impaling Skeltor. Then a brawl for the power of magic ensues and He-Man absorbs the power with his sword, which splits in half as he himself reverts to Adam and is turned into black smear on the castle floor. Skeletor vanishes as well and Teela is turned into a bit of a bellend and Man at Arms is punted out of the castle and Teela quits. Now magic is dying and if magic goes, the universe ends.
First we have to turn the heroine into a ruthless mercenary with a fairly pleasant and likable companion that brings a bit of levity to it all.

Eventually Evil-Lyn join in on the action, because magic is her thing and because she is evil, and evil is always looking for more power. 

Teela is turned into a snarky asskicking asshole, I suppose it is an improvement from what little I have seen of the original show. It was never televised in Norway as far as I can tell, probably for the best, localized dubs tend to be of inferior quality. A bit like nails on chalkboard, plust it often deprives children of the joys of being exposed to another language. Anyhow Teela has turned into a generic fanfiction stereotype. Moody, broody, with a tough exterior that kicks ass, is snarky as heck and quite unlikable. Sure the secret of Adam being He-Man was kept from her, but apparently the betrayal turned her sour. Why he kept the secret though is just due to bad writing in the original I dare say. Anyhow this type of character is so common these days it is getting stale like milk. Oh and they killed He-Man in the first episode to make the story all about her finding herself and becoming a strong female hero. To make the story even more generic, they killed off Orko, because that is edgy, right? From the mouth of the writer no one liked the character in the first place.

Man at Arms just kicks ass and is a caring father and at least twenty years older than before.

Cringer is just being a coward and is mostly ignored, which is for the best. I have no idea why these shows insisted on a wacky animals sidekick with a speech impediment. 

Evil-Lyn shows signs of becoming good, until Skeltor returns. Now if the writer keeps this up, I expect her to eventually backstab Skeletor and claim the power for herself. Because the age of a bulky purple man with a skull for a head is problematic. Female empowerment I suppose. Oh and Adam returned from the afterlife, only to get penetrated from behind by Skeletor's phallic spear.

Aside from killing off characters and making the story into one long continuity that is intended to put a coherent end to the Masters of the Universe, or is it a new beginning? I honestly can not tell. I have to give the animation praise though it is absolutely gorgeous and the action is top notch. The minor villain turning people into cyborgs is fairly interesting. The body horror potential itself is just fantastic. The scenery is also breathtaking and I hope the animation studio was paid handsomely for their superb work. All in all I was entertained and the show is not bad, but the main character leaves a lot to be desired.

Njål #Zaceron Signing out

Back of the head love tap

 Tropes are good, tropes are bad, but one trope that really grates on my nerves is one that is as old as humanity itself. For some unfathomable reason heroes always have to be knocked out and captured. If there is action it is virtually guaranteed to happen. It is a very convenient way to put the hero at the place of the plot required to progress the story. In stories such pesky things as physics and logic take a back seat to reality. I know this fact well, especially since I’m an author myself. In stories getting a good knock on the back of the head is always enough to put someone in a well timed coma. Yes according to human biology and the sturdiness of the human skull, getting hit in the back of the head might in fact be lethal. The good old blackjack used to give someone a good knock on the noggin can kill a human, or at least cause irreparable damage and bleeding wounds, the kind that requires stitches. Essentially there is always a chance that any sort of way to make a human fall unconscious will have a fatal outcome. We are all remarkably fragile after all. This also ties into the old cliche of the damsel in distress, with a chance of a villainous dialogue once the character wakes up, or a conveniently slow death trap to escape. You have seen it, I have seen it and quite frankly in my opinion it is getting very old. I mean seriously I grew up on this crap and have been guilty of doing it myself. There are two comics I grew up on that is especially guilty of this. One is Conan the Barbarian, he is way too often knocked out at the end of a story as the perky female of the story walks away with the loot. The other series is that of Tintin. The story of a perky adventurer and his white dog, allegedly he is a journalist, but I’ve yet to see him write an article. Unlike the dynamic duo of Spirou and Fantasio. The reason for this rant is that I recently watched Resident Evil on Netflix and this trite and slock plot point happened towards the end. Also sorry for spoilers of the most cliche franchise ever. are you in Bergen at the right time and love comics? Visit the Raptus comic expo this year.

http://raptus.no

Njål Signing out #zaceron

Army Men - Plastic, War, Murder and Fun?

 Hi my name is Niall #zaceron

Army men is a very weird franchise that is perfect for making a game series about. Which is exactly what 3do did for better, or worse. The concept is stupidly simple. Green american plastic soldiers fight tan soldiers that look identical, sometimes grey ones and blue shows up as well. The series starts off with animated war times propaganda videos, before throwing the player into a pre rendered world of plastic men murdering each other. Just like children does in a sandbox. Eventually a portal is opened up to the real world and toys are brought into the mix. Because giant laser beam firing teddy bears is the natural enemy of toy soldiers after all. 

The thing most people recall is that one level that takes place in a kitchen, where the soldiers can melt into molten goo on a frying pan. Flamethrowers also do this job really well, it is not a war crime if there is no Geneva convention.

Losing usually plays a defeat video, where the soldier is peeling potatoes and looking depressed, or other maniacal downers. Remember to peel your meal!

The Tan army is led by a mustache twirling evil man named Plastro, an evil toy that is an amalgamation of various despot stereotypes.

The two first games are fun but seriously flawed. Essentially the camera is fixed, but the player can roll, crouch and go prone, which is very frustrating. Eventually they condensed the experience into army men 3d, a third person shooter on the PlayStation. Which works well enough, is competently made and fun, despite the amount of junk information and obviously cut content. Seriously, who thought it would be a good idea to spawn pickup crates out of bounds?  The biggest issue I personally have with the series in general are the numbers of escort missions. The only reason I could complete anything in army men 3d was being able to park the VIP in a corner, then clear out the map.

Eventually 3do churned out more games in the series which all suffer from various levels of quality. Such as the fairly fun and frantic army men air attack. Where the player is a helicopter pilot picking up things and dodging incoming enemy fire. The last boss on the other hand was just a chore and I said no more of this.

Sarges heroes that did an attempt at making them all look like action movie heroes and act like stereotypes. It worked fairly well and many people have found memories of said games.

If their attempt at telling a decent story worked, or not is purely subjective however, I will give them an A for effort. 

However it was quite clear that the model quality began to notably drop a lot. The overall polish went down the drain along with the graphics and game play. For some reason they decided it was a good idea to make a on rail shooter, starring a super soldier made from DNA from heroes. It is a rather rubbish game where I have to run in circles to avoid enemy fire, while aiming roughly in the right direction of an enemy hoping to hit them. The RTS game was apparently just fine, only ever tried a demo of it.

Music is the worst and most disappointing aspect of the whole series, if they’re not using classic music loops, they’re mangling war film themes from decades past, or it is just some random thirty second music drop. A stark contrast to the fairly decent sound effects that serves their purpose. 

It is quite clear that at some point it all became an uninspired attempt at milking the brand until the company eventually went under. The concept of non descript plastic people waging war is not a bad one and really makes modelling simple, since every model just need a shiny plastic texture. The one thing 3d has always emulated really well. Njål Signing out

I Was Reincarnated as the 7th Prince, so I Will Perfect My Magic as I Please - review....

Hi, my name is Njål #zaceron.

I do love me some good entertainment, asian or otherwise. In this case I am taking a bit closer look a manga with a very long and overly descriptive title  Tensei Shitara Dai Nana Ouji Dattanode, Kimamani Majutsu O Kiwamemasu, which roughly translates into. I Was Reincarnated as the 7th Prince, so I Will Perfect My Magic as I Please. Which is exactly what the munchkin of an overpowered protagonist does after getting reborn as royalty. As in all stories of this very videogame like nature, it has all the usual bells and whistles. Such as the main lead dying brutally in the first page. He was an underleveled pitiful time to practice magic. After all, only a spoiled rich noble has the time to study magic, let alone practice it. The title summarize the plot hook of the story after all.

Thus far the male lead has kicked the arse of everything he has encountered and used his prodigious magic skills to own the heck out of every encounter. Needless to say, to read this story for the plot is practically pointless, since it is filled to the brim with action. Infact everything and everyone in his increasing harem is a powerhouse of attractive female murder machines in attractive outfits. Whom all lust after the young boy, surprisingly enough it has nothing to do with his status as an affluent prince, I can only assume that is a bonus. The main draw of the manga is the really dynamic artwork, which makes the intense action scenes really pop out. Yes I simply enjoy this series for the action and the monster designs.

The characters are so powerful there really is no noticeable stakes at play. However it means that it just stays true to the title. It is indeed a story about a peasant reincarnated as a prince, that practices magic, subjugates demons, while attracting attractive action girls, and rip reality a new orifice. I can not complain about the translation either, it is competently done and due to the dialogue, it avoids the usual trappings of spamming names over, and over again. I do love strong female characters, magic, monsters and good art, so I can not complain about much, aside from the overly long, complicated and descriptive title. Seriously, I thought the idea behind a title was to keep it short, sweet and snazzy. Then again who am I to questions something that works. Oh and it is probably not safe for work and will gleefully put the women in erotic poses and situations and the main character is disturbingly feminine looking.

Signing out

Brigador is a blast

 Hi, I'm  njål #zaceron and I love giant robots, destruction and explosions. Brigador cover all of this and more. On a huge space colony, great leader has died and nature abhors empty spaces. So as a Brigador my job is to commandeer heavily armed vehicles, causing mayhem, while working for a shady gang that wants control. Revolution and invasion requires me to break a bunch of eggs to make a marvellous omelette. Everything in front of me on the battlefield is one explosion away from becoming debris. Yes everything can be smashed, crushed and blown up. It is very rewarding to boot, since everything is worth money. Currency that is used to unlock weapons, mecha and lore. Yes there is a story in Brigador, but there is a lot of it. However very little shows up on the briefing screen, so unless I actually look it up on another menu, I'm left guessing. 

The camera is set from an isometric angle and the vehicle uses tank controls. Which can be what makes or breaks the experience for most players. Mostly due to aiming and navigating. However it is easy to get around with a bit of presidency. Mecha comes in all shapes and sizes. From small frames, hardly bigger than the squishy men running around, to sturdy tanks, everyone's favourite flavor of chicken walker and hover vehicles. They all operate a bit differently and brings special abilities to the table. Each comes equipped with two ammo using weapons as well. Which can be restocked from destroyed enemies and dispenser towers, that ironically enough is a bonus objective to detonate as well.

Essentially every map is a sprawling city filled with small squishy humans and various mechanical enemies out for blood. Yes, I dare say that this is pure arcade action goodness to the core. It is hard to argue with fun after all. 

Outside of the main campaign there is an arcade mode where there is a ridiculous amount of things to unlock. It is also where the loadout is fully customizable and more fun weapons can be bought from the money gained when completing a mission.

The whole experience of Brigador is set to a wonderful retro style synth soundtrack. The only real drawback to the whole experience is how most missions boils down to destruction and navigating through the scenery. Given the price point and the polish the experience brings to the table, I have little ground to complain.

Tomb Raider 2013 is a forgettable game

Tomb raider is a very interesting series, one that has lived a long life costing on puzzles and the busty female lead Lara Croft. An alledged archeologist, which spend most of her time trashing temples, tombs and whatever else she happens to visit. Tomb Raider 2013 rebooted the franchise with a more down to earth looking Lara. However instead of unrealistic body anatomy and big boobs, they cranked up the sadism level to over 9000. However designed the every elegaorate and lavish action pieces kept comming up with new ways to hurt the her badly. Honestly I am not impressed with these action pieces at all. They're more tedious than anything and the amount of punishment I have to endure is just uncomfortable. The game suffer from a serious case of trying to be a Hollywood blockbuster. One that outstayed its welcome.

Tomb Raider is a contrived slog to play through and I can't suspend my disbelief, because of the silly action set pieces. There are only so many times I can be impressed by running through a burning building that is collapsing around me. Just like Uncharted, they go on for way too long. When comparing this to Romb Raider 3, or 4, something is clearly missing from the later instalments. Originally the series has some action and a lot of odd enemies to kill, but they were far and few between. The main challenge and enjoyment came from exploring the map and finding the way through elaborate puzzles and devilish platforming. However Tomb Raider 2013 just threw most of that out the window andmade the story more coherent. Somehow it is just as stupid as ever and absolutely bonkers. Filled to the brim with all manner of plot contrivances and cutscene incompetence. I also find pretty much the whole game forgettable. 

However the game looks gorgeous and a lot of care went into the design. Marred by the very remarkable music and a bit boring setting. One would assume that an ancient kingdom full of ruins from various ages would be more interesting, yet it is not. The obsessive use of quicktime events does not help me to enjoy it one bit. You see, I decided to play through it on stream over at my twitch channel, to compare it to the playstation titles. So far I find the playstation games better, despite how tough and rough they are. In this case it is not due to nostalgia, since I never owned any of the titles and have only seen bits and pieces of them. So the designers has this obsessive need to have me mash a button to operate a crank, or to pull something and that is just a pain since I can't toggle on an autofire function.

All of these big publisher titles are starting to become too similar to each other. Uncharted, Shadow of Mordor,  Assassins Creed and many other sandbox series where I can climb like a monkey on color coded surfaces. Automatically latching on to the surface when close enough is a treat, compared to the very rigid and precise Tomb Raider 4 system, even if it look very clumsy and extremely floaty. When lara sort of flails and floats onto an edge it gets a bit weird when she is magnetically attached to the surface. They sure put a lot of effort into the numerous brutal ways Lara can and will die. A bit too well animated. It is a bit gruesome to see her impaled through the skull, struggling to pull herself free, then expire a second later

I know at least one thing though, the world of Tomb Raider is an insane one filled with crazy people, people that can survive almost anything, and somehow can climb everywhere. Not to mention the elaborate deathtrap that somehow shows up all over the place. No matter where in their world I go, there is a man made murder contraption left by an ancient civilization. Which does not exist in our world. However this did not deter me from designing a workable rolling boulder trap which is triggered by opening a door. Anyhow, It's not at all clear how some of the bad guys get around. Many probably climb and crawl the same way Lara does, but it's not clear, and some seem to appear in places that would be impossible. The biggest offender is the scavenger at the very start of the game. He doesn't seem to be taking the same path through the caverns as Lara at all, yet spawns behind me as I crawl through a small space. Yeah, this game is very mediocre and a disappointment.

Njål signing #Zaceron

Profanity and world bulding

 All humans swear, all of us has an array of naughty words that exclaims discontent, pain and such. For example here in norway, my home country, christianity is the origin of pretty much all the swear words. Hence the name, I swear upon god, jesus and the holy ghost, or the devil to varying degrees of intensity. Words for naughty bits are also used as profanity, but for now let's look at the religious angle and how it will eventually tie into the topic of world building. Context is important after all.

Like I just mentioned, my vocabulary in Norwegian is built upon judeo Christian figures, I mainly use those when angry, or irritated. When I accidentally stub my toe into a table leg,  my response is usually "faen". Which is just another name for the devil living down below according to unreliable sources. Regardless, it is more or less the Scandinavian equivalent of shouting the dreaded F word, because bad words apparently makes people bad. "Think of the children." Is the usual argument, that or you're going to burn in hell.

A fellow I grew up with swore like a drunk sailor, one without a notable vocabulary, or creativity. He would quite often shout "faen i helvete faens fitte." Roughly it translates to "satan in hell, devils female reproductive system." I'm fairly certain he turned out alright. 

Essentially old folks from generations past have a very constrained relationship with these words and strive to avoid uttering them, or use less crass versions. I guess it is considered rude and unclothed to swear, which is probably the origin of the widespread bleeping of these words in televised media. Even youtube strikes down monetization when a video uses bad words too often and too early.

Anyhow, we have words like the Devil, satan, hell, anything that has to do with the devil and his home. We also take the lord name in vain. Technically we're not, because god is a title, not a name. Jesus is a very common word to shout when surprised.

Naturally this all ties into religion and our world, however in a world not unlike our own, or in a different reality there is no Chrisianity. If one of the biggest religions known to us is absent, swearing would, and should take another direction. Many authors are kinda unaware of this and just uses hell, because of familiarity, regardless if it makes sense, or not. The same holds true for various idioms and phrases. Seriously a lot of common phrases only make sense on our earth, some not even then.

Judge Dredd is one of these series that put a lot of effort into making the universe have its own vocabulary. Good God, holy Christ, Jesus jumped up Christ on a pogostick just does not hold up. Let alone putting the cart before the horse in a world with no equines. Though referring to a person being damned, and burn in hell does carry quite a bit of familiarity and does not require an ounce of brain power to use. Just like dropping the f bomb to be edgy as heck.

Essentially what I am getting at is this. A world without Jews and Christ needs profanity that fits the setting, and that all humans swears, some just more than other.

Njål #zaceron

Signing out