Pads & Panels

Why (500) Days of Summer is the Geekiest Film You’ve Never Seen or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Get Excited About Spider-Man

By Matt Peters

After much convincing by my friend John Castro, I finally sat down and watched the 2009 movie (500) Days of Summer. I’m not a big fan of romcoms, and I was determined to avoid yet another film that features the typical formula: the guy is a bumbling, macho fool who changes his ways thanks to a strong-willed independent woman who softens her man-hatin’ stance and eventually swoons for the still rough-around-the-edges schlub. Why would I waste my time watching that kid from 3rd Rock from the Sun fall in love with a girl with cartoonishly huge eyes?

Mark Webb directed the film who, at the time, didn’t have much feature-length directing experience under his belt. The movie feels a little like Scott Pilgrim vs. The World without all of the game and comic references in the sense that the characters are very well spoken and have depth beyond what’s immediately shown on the surface. Webb’s directing style, combined with various slapstick elements and a witty script make for a comedic experience that may surprise some viewers. He even went so far as to direct a short to accompany one throwaway line featuring the stars in a Sid & Nancy parody. (more…)

#6 Rock Band 3 (360, PS3, Wii)

Publisher: MTV Games – Developer: Harmonix

Rock Band 3 takes on critics who use the argument “just learn a real instrument” by making the game capable of teaching the players, note for note, how to play keyboard, drums, bass and guitar. Gamers who don’t want to turn their Rock Band experience into a tutorial will still enjoy the most streamlined music game made. Harmonix has added so many “no brainer” features, like allowing the band to finish a failed song anyways, song sorting/navigation, rewinding the song after a pause to avoid missed notes and more. (more…)

Title: LittleBigPlanet 2

Platform: PS3

ESRB: E

Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment

Developer: Media Molecule

Rating:

Review by: Bill Jones

How does a game developer follow up an effort that offered gamers virtually limitless gaming, in which the quantity and quality of ever-increasing community content has seemingly only been limited by the imaginations of the people creating it? That’s the question that faced Media Molecule after the release of the critically-lauded LittleBigPlanet.

On the campaign front, LittleBigPlanet provided gamers with arguably some of the best 2D platforming seen in years, with the addition of depth planes. But it was the custom creations that hooked the hardcore on LittleBigPlanet. For the creative types, the title offered console gamers the most extensive and streamlined set of creation tools ever seen. Better yet was the “Share” model of the game, which allowed gamers to easily publish these creations for others to play.

And so those simply looking to get their money’s worth had nothing to complain about with the amassing content, including developer-created packs. But with all of that content, it’s easy to ask the question – why do we need a sequel to LittleBigPlanet? What makes LittleBigPlanet 2 worthwhile? And the simple answer to that question is that the tools and possibilities have grown, as is the series fame, practically infinitely. (more…)