Sunday, August 2, 2009

Wii Sports Resort

I just finished playing the new Wii Sports Resort at a friend’s house and I thought I would write a quick review. This game is the best thing to come along for the Wii since the Balance Board. The game incorporates 11 new events, as well as the bowling game that exists on the original Wii Sports. However, it is not only the new games that make Wii Sports Resort a success. The key factor is the inclusion of the Wii Motion Plus sensor. http://www.nintendo.com/wii/what/accessories/wiimotionplus

This new add-on plugs directly into the bottom of a standard Wii remote. The Motion Plus adds an extra level of precision to the Wii remote by incorporating a gyroscope and other sensors to make it more precise. This means there is no more sitting on the couch flicking your wrist to get high scores. With the Motion Sensor, you actually have to make each motion correctly.

The game itself is very well done. At the beginning you take your Mii out the side of an airplane and skydive over the island that is the Wii Sports Resort. Upon landing you are presented with a plethora of games to choose from including, but not limited to, wakeboarding, fencing, archery, ping pong, Frisbee, cycling, golf, basketball, canoeing and air sports. If this isn’t enough to peak your interest, each game has several different mini games inside it that are sure to keep you coming back for more. I was only able to spend about two hours with the game, but I’m already hooked. $50 with the Motion Plus included seems like a steal, considering how much fun this game is for friends and family of all ages.

Best Comic Book Movies Ever Made

Today I am going to evaluate a film list made on www.filmjunk.com. The list consists of what the author believes to be the ten best comic book movies to ever hit the big screen. Here is the list:

10) Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
9) X-Men 2
8) Sin City
7) Hellboy
6) The Crow
5) Danger: Diabolik
4) Batman: The Movie
3) Superman: The Movie
2) Batman
1) Spider-Man 2

I have to say that overall the list is pretty solid toward the top, but falls off at the end. Let me state now that I have never seen Danger: Diabolik or Batman: The Movie, so I will be leaving those out of my evaluation. Some titles surprised me. I definitely have to give the author kudos for putting The Crow on his list. I didn’t even know that was originally a comic book.

As I scrolled down to the apparent number one comic book movie of all time I was quite disappointed. Spider-Man 2? I feel like the sequel to Spider-Man was not even the best of the trilogy, let alone the best comic book movie of all time. In fact, I think that Spider-Man 2 is probably the worst of the three. All action sequences aside, the story was weak and the villain was so gutless that Spider-man ends up talking him out of his plan at the end of the movie. Despite my opinion, I know that whether or not we enjoy films like these depends a lot on the time and setting in which we originally saw them. For example, I too loved the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie as a child, but many comments on filmjunk.com had negative things to say about it. Even at this age I still think it rocks. Perhaps I am blinded by my childhood infatuation with giant, crime fighting turtles. Biased or not I made a personalized list, and here is what I came up with.

10) The Dark Knight
9) Spider-Man
8) Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
7) Blade
6) The Crow
5) Batman
4) Ironman
3) 300
2) Sin City
1) X-Men 2

As you can see, I added five films that the author of the original list did not have. The two biggest additions are 300 and Ironman. Both of these films were incredible on the big screen. It is particularly interesting that Ironman didn’t even make the list. The overall popularity of the comic book, as well as the commercial success of the film makes it a shoe in.

For those of you reading this I am curious how you feel about my list. I would love some feedback, so write a comment and let me know if my list seems accurate, and if you would make any suggestions. Also let me know if you agree with my assessment of Spider-Man 2. Which film do you think is the best of the trilogy?