Star Wars: Dooku - Jedi Lost

 

As predicted by the title of the book, this story focuses on Count Dooku and how he went from being a Jedi Knight to the Count of Serenno. Jedi younglings are removed from their family when they are young to train on Coruscant. Dooku learns of his family and starts a relationship where he communicates with his sister. This is frowned upon by the Jedi Council, and he agrees to stop any communication with her. However, much later in life a conflict occurs on Serenno where his brother, who is the current count, goes rogue against his people. The Jedi Council declines to support the people of Serenno because of past dues owed to the Republic. This frustrates Dooku, who decides to leave the Jedi Council to return to Serenno to fight for his people. In the process, he murders his brother and becomes the new count of Serenno. Along the way, Dooku had experienced the dark side at various times and struggled to stay away from it. With the events that occurred on Serenno, he gave into his rage and gave in to the dark side. The book ends with him ordering his apprentice Asajj Ventress to kill his sister, who had learned of Dooku's ways with the dark side and the influence the "hooded man" had over his brother. 

The story itself was decent. It gave an interesting look-back on Dooku's past and how he became the Sith lord we saw in the prequels. There was a lot of jumping from the current to the past, which could be confusing for some. However, the biggest confusion was how the book was written. I bought the book from the Apple bookstore, anticipating that it would be a book. However, as the picture above shows, it was actually a script. The book was released in 2019 as an audiobook, with the script that I read being released in book form several months later. I didn't even know it was possible to buy a script-only version of an audio book. Not surprisingly, it did not flow quite as well as a normal book. I got the point of the plot, but it would've been better as a traditionally written book. I guess I will have to be on the lookout for this with future purchases.

The Playstation 5 Launch is Officially A Disaster

 Now that we are several months past the original launch date of the Playstation 5, and past the holidays, the fact that you cannot readily purchase a Playstation 5 is ridiculous. I wasn't going to say much about it pre-holiday, but I'm making it official now. In my opinion, this launch was a disaster. The worse launch in console history. This is a first world problem, and honestly I don't really care because I have ample amount of gaming opportunities with the PS4 and Switch. There isn't even a game on the PS5 that I want to play currently. But not being able to purchase the console if I wanted at this point in the game is just bad.

My Thoughts on Skyward Sword HD Announcement

 

When I decided to buy Breath of the Wild, I seriously considered buying a Wii U instead of a Switch for two reasons. I assumed the Wii U would be cheaper since it was an older system. I was wrong about that. In fact, it was as expensive and often times more expensive than the newer Switch. The second reason was because of the Wind Waker HD and Twilight Princess HD releases on the Wii U. As previously mentioned on this blog, Twilight Princess is one of my favorite Zelda games. I've never played Wind Waker, so the opportunity to play it for the first time was appealing. The Switch was newer and cheaper, so I went that route to play Breath of the Wild, which was the correct choice considering how awesome the Switch turned out to be. Most of the big name Wii U games have been released on the Switch, which is a bonus as well. 

I bring all of this up because of the recent announcement of Skyward Sword HD for the Switch at this week's Nintendo Direct. This year is the 35th anniversary for the Legend of Zelda series, and rumors have been rampant around what Nintendo was going to do to celebrate the anniversary. There was a big part of me that wanted a re-release of Twilight Princess HD for the Switch. With that being said, I am not surprised or disappointed by the announcement of Skyward Sword HD. It is the second most recent game in the series (for a major console) behind Breath of the Wild, and it has not been remade yet, so it makes sense for Nintendo to release this game in HD on the Switch.

Reading my original post on the game from 2012 was interesting. I had a lot of positive things to say about the game, but a few negative aspects stuck out at the time and to this day, the negatives are what I remember.  The game was applauded by critics and I think generally speaking by fans, but it wasn't without any criticism. The biggest complaints had to do with the excessive hand-holding that occurred with Fi and the motion controls. Zelda games commonly have a lot of hand-holding, which is frustrating when trying to play through the game a second time or if you are a veteran. Fi was over the top, however. She's even worse than Navi. After playing the game for the first time, I was a fan of the motion controls and thought they added to the gameplay. However, the motion controls and the lack of HD graphics are the biggest reasons why I haven't played the game again, and this is despite the fact that I have a Wii currently hooked up to one of my TVs. The HD Switch version solves both of these issues for me. 

Another debatable issue is the graphics. On the one hand, the game is beautiful. On the other hand, the enemies are quite cartoonish and subsequently do not look intimidating. It's kind of funny because in my original post, I said I wish the game was in HD and had more of an open world to explore, which is exactly what Breath of the Wild offered. I am looking forward to see how the game looks in HD and not on a CRT monitor.

The aspect of the game that sticks out in my mind the most is the revisiting of the various locations for pointless and time consuming retrieval of objects. Despite all of the positives the game had to offer, this is what I remember the most, and why this game doesn't make my Zelda podium. 

Because of the reasons listed above, I would never replay this game if it weren't being remade in HD on a modern console. I look forward to playing it again to see if my opinion of the game changes. Some games over time continue to be as good as remembered (A Link To The Past), while others are not (Grand Theft Auto: Vice City). Being the game released prior to Breath of the Wild, apparently a lot of gameplay elements for BotW were adopted from Skyward Sword (like the sailcloth), and so I look forward to examining this aspect of the game as well. In fact, I'm so excited to replay this title that I've already pre-purchased it. I'll let you know how it goes after I'm finished. In the meantime, I'm still holding my breath for Twilight Princess HD on the Switch.

Star Wars: The High Republic - Light of the Jedi

 

I never thought I'd read a Star Wars book. I assumed it would be too confusing because of the fictional names & races of people as well as fictional locations. The perfect array of circumstances changed my mind, however. First, as discussed on this site, I've been consuming large amounts of Star Wars content recently. Once I finished Rebels, my Star Wars appetite wasn't satisfied but I had run out of content. I started playing Jedi: Fallen Order again and by coincidence, The High Republic series was released in January. Perfect timing to fill the void of Star Wars content in my life. The final set of circumstances was my goal to read more in 2021. Reading books and topics I enjoy was encouraged by Sarah, and was a good idea. I just finished Light of the Jedi, and it was enjoyable. I think having increased Star Wars knowledge from watching Dave Filoni's shows helped with understanding. However, this book takes place 200 years before the events of A New Hope, and thus has all new characters with the exception of Yoda who is only mentioned a couple of times. The author did a good job of reintroducing characters, reminding you of who they are and their importance, which helped greatly. 

I'm sure plenty of plot summaries and reviews for the book exist. Briefly, the book is split into three parts. The first part involves a mysterious and tragic hyperspace accident, where a ship is destroyed at light speed, resulting in high velocity projectiles crashing towards planets. The Republic, with help of the Jedi, work to save as many people as possible by preventing the projectiles from crashing. The second part of the book introduces us to the antagonist, the pirate group the Nihil, who is responsible for the hyperspace accident. The third part of the book discusses how the Republic and the Jedi deal with the Nihil, a new enemy to the republic in the Outer Rim.

The book overall was enjoyable and I plan to continue reading books in the Star Wars saga. Unfortunately, the next book in the High Republic series doesn't come out until this summer. I will have to circle back around to it. In the meantime, I plan to read other Star Wars books in chronological order. The next book takes place right before the Clone Wars and is about Count Dooku. One of the interesting things about the Star Wars books is that they are written by multiple authors. Hopefully the next book is as enjoyable and easy to read. I look forward to continuing my Star Wars adventures, this time in book form.

Reading E-Books and Getting Rid of Physical Media: Part Two

 

To some extent, I've had a difficult time getting rid of physical media. I think it is because I grew up during society's transition from physical to digital media. Music was the first media type where I transitioned. During the MP3 revolution (sounds dramatic but that's what I'll refer to it as), I transitioned from 100s of CDs and a 100 disc changer to MP3 files. I quickly realized the convenience that was offered from abandoning physical media for music. I have been slower to adopt other forms of media, however.

Television and movies were the next type of media where I transitioned. The arrival of DVRs helped usher this for me. The convenience of selecting a show or movie from a list versus needing to find a disc to insert was such an advantage that I was able to get over any (perceived) disadvantages of not using physical media. There were two big hurdles in the way for me when it came to transitioning from physical to digital media: internet speeds and the concept of ownership.

Downloading and storing movies and video games obviously takes a lot of bandwidth and HDD space. In this day and age, this is no longer an issue. We have fiber optic at home and cloud computing has all but eliminated the need for huge amounts of personal storage. The concept of ownership was something that I struggled with, and delayed my digital transformation. I liked the idea of owning a physical representation of the media. It made me feel like it was mine. This is one of the reasons why I took so long to sign up for a music streaming service (as if I could ever own that much music...). What happens if you download something to device A and then replace it with a newer model? With physical media, this wasn't an issue as you simply just inserted the disc into the new device. Cloud computing has solved that problem, as you simply log into your account on the new device and your content is there. Additionally, physical media takes up a ton of physical space in your home. Most of this media just sits there unused. I am not the type of person who re-watches a lot of movies or re-plays a lot of games. Therefore, having all of this media sitting around taking up space doesn't make a lot of sense. With faster internet speeds and cloud computing, the cards have fallen into place in terms of transitioning to a purely digital media experience. The next media frontier: books.

I made reading more a goal of mine in 2021. Thus far I have accomplished this goal, finishing one book and nearly finishing a second. I have always thought that I should read nonfiction and books that promote education, leadership, etc. Sarah made a good point: I should just read what I want to read. Which makes a lot of sense and thus that is what I've done so far. I've never been a huge reader and have always preferred to read physical books over digital. Also, for some reason I like the idea of having a bookshelf full of books, displayed like a trophy case. Much like the previous media types, however, books take up a ton of space in your house and there is a lot of convenience involved with digital books. I decided that I would read most of my books as e-books. I like how Apple Books integrates with iOS for purchasing and so decided to use it as my e-reader of choice. So far I have enjoyed the experience and think it is the best decision moving forward. It is so easy to pick up my iPad and open the Books app and start reading. It transitions to night mode automatically at night, making it easy on the eyes. I have access to my library of books anywhere I go. When I'm ready to download a new book, it is available within seconds. I think it is the best way to go moving forward, even if my book trophy case is now virtual instead of real. Sarah makes a great point, in that the Kindle app integrates with libraries for book borrowing. If I borrow books, I will have to transition to the Kindle app. Otherwise, I've been happy with Apple's Books thus far.

Marvel Cinematic Universe: Phase 1

 

I started the Marvel Cinematic Universe with no background knowledge of the series, and thus no expectations. I knew the series was wildly popular, and was essentially looking to fill a void left once I finished the Star Wars movies and shows. I have now finished phase 1 of the MCU (Except for The Incredible Hulk, which I don't have access to. I have heard it wasn't very good, so I'm not too disappointed, but I will circle around back to it if it becomes available.), and I will say that to me the movies range from OK to pretty good. There is lots of action, somewhat shallow plots at times, look fantastic, and have big name actors. Being new to the series, I am sure that certain references fly right over my head, but that's OK. I started out watching the movies in MCU chronologic order by movie release, but it was recommended by Sarah and a buddy of mine who is a big MCU fan, to watch in order of real-world movie release. This is the better idea, as characters are introduced in a logical order. I plan to release a post for each phase of the MCU, highlighting my favorite parts of each movie. Below are my thoughts on phase 1.

 The Iron Man movies are my favorite movies from phase 1. This is solely because of Tony Stark, who is a totally awesome character despite being completely unrelatable. His liking of technology is appealing, as is his celebrity lifestyle and Malibu home. If I could be anyone in the MCU, it would be Tony Stark. Naturally, I like his choice of cars too, driving the fantastic Audi R8 (and I heard later he drives an e-tron GT). Movie-wise, I thought Iron Man was pretty good. I enjoyed the introduction to Tony, as he is imprisoned in a military take-over and uses previously developed but rough around the edges technology to create the first generation Iron Man suit. While it was predictable that an employee from his company would turn out to be his biggest enemy, it was entertaining none the less as the antagonist was played by none other than Jeff Bridges.  No matter how hard I try, I cannot separate Jeff from the Dude character, and he was being very un-Dude in this movie. I didn't think Iron Man 2 was quite as good, but remained decent, mostly because of Tony's character. I also enjoyed Jon Favreau's appearances in the movies. 

Overall I enjoyed Thor. It is probably my third favorite movie in phase 1. I liked the mix of sci-fi worlds and people mixing with mortals on Earth.  I knew nothing about the character beyond the basics (big guy with a hammer). I was interested to find out his character is actually from Norse mythology. I would've assumed he was a Marvel character otherwise. I actually wasn't aware Norse or Germanic mythology was a thing. The Greeks get all of the headlines in this topic. The movie has a fantastic cast. Chris Hemsworth is the perfect actor for Thor, and Tom Hiddleston plays a perfect smarmy villain in Loki. And who doesn't enjoy a Natalie Portman appearance? For some odd reason, I also got enjoyment out of the Gatekeeper and Bifrost scenes. They were fantastically strange. I thought the last 30 minutes of the movie were a bit rushed and over the top, but otherwise the film was enjoyable.

Captain America: The First Avenger was my second favorite movie in phase 1. To begin with, I have always enjoyed period pieces, especially from any time period in the 20th century.  I have always found the World War II era and beyond into the 1990s fascinating, and this movie taking place in this era appeals to me. As far as superhero movies go, this one has the classic government science project gone wrong plot, and the acting and scenery are fantastic. This is the first MCU movie I watched and thus far it has been one of my favorites.

Marvel's The Avengers was my least favorite movie of phase 1. For lack of a better example, the movie played like an orgy of Marvel characters, focusing heavily on them and not at all on the plot. The film looked spectacular but quite frankly was boring. The highlight of this movie for me was Scarlett Johansson's performance of Black Widow. Her character originally appeared in Iron Man 2, but was more prominently featured in The Avengers. Honestly, her character is actually a bit flat (maybe because she's Russian?), but Scarlett herself is certainly not flat. I always enjoy seeing her on screen. I also enjoyed seeing the Hulk "Hulk-out" in rage. That was fun as well. But overall this movie didn't do much for me. It was big budget Hollywood without much substance.

Fix It 'Till It's Broke

 I just want to take a brief moment to say how annoying it is that Playboy no longer has a Playmate of the Month.  The only reason I care is for nostalgia. Otherwise, it means nothing to me. But sometimes nostalgia is important. In this case, you have one of the most iconic and well known titles, the Playmate of the Month and Centerfold, the one item your brand is most well known for, just gone. Screwing around with the brand started a few years ago when they got rid of nudity for the Playmates. They have since brought that back, but now have a Playmate of the Season instead of the month. How lame.  Why mess with a formula that has worked so well?