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Holy Reboot, Batman! DC Comics Now More Accessible

Detective Comics #1 is a must read for Bat-fans

I’ve been following the DC Comics reboot with a lot of interest. I’ve always been a comic book fan but for the last several years have felt a bit left behind.  Too many conflicts in the so-called “continuity” had made it hard for even a fan to explain what was happening.  Some heroes had died and come back, others gone evil and back.  Or both, in the case of Green Lantern.

So I’m glad they’ve decided to start fresh and renumber every comic back to #1.  I know some people out there are miffed at the lost history, but I personally was getting tired of having to go to Wikipedia every time a comic referenced a mysterious super vortex first seen in issue 367. I was also getting sick of all the crises constantly afflicting the DC universe.  Seriously, they had a “Crisis on Infinite Earths,” an “Infinite Crisis” and a “Final Crisis,” and the last two happened in the span of a few years.  I don’t care about earth-shattering events; I just want to read a good story!

Swamp Thing #1: Better than you might think!

And good stories they are.  DC so far has only released about 14 of the planned 52 books labeled #1 this month, but there have already been some winners.  I’ve read five of them — Justice League, Action Comics (Superman), Detective Comics (Batman), Swamp Thing and BatgirlJustice League is a great introduction to the DC Universe and has more action than a Michael Bay picture (in a good way). If you’re looking for something a a little darker and more sophisticated, check out Detective Comics, which is a classic Joker story with a twist, or Swamp Thing, a devilish tale of  horror (environmental horror?)

Action Comics reminded me of old-school 1940s Superman, but didn’t wow me as much as the others (though I guess some might find it interesting seeing Superman in jeans and a T-shirt). But then, I’ve always been more of a Batman fan. The Batgirl book has strong writing, but feels very much like the first in a larger story arc. Oddly, it also seems to require some knowledge of the character’s past.

The thing I think is really going to boost sales at DC Comics isn’t the narrative reboot, though. It’s digital comics.

Have you heard about this yet? You can now buy digital versions of all of the new comics, the day they are released, and read them on your PC, smartphone or tablet.

This addresses two of the main reasons I stopped buying actual issues of comic books:

  1. I had to make special trips every time I wanted to go to a comic book store. The two shops I know of in Washington, DC are in Georgetown (which takes a Metro ride and a bus transfer to get to), and Union Station (which also requires a $2 Metro ride)
  2. I have very little space to store comic books.

Digital solves both of these problems.  I can buy a comic with a mouse click or a tap on my phone’s touch screen, and they’re all stored online so I don’t have to buy an entire filing cabinet.  The price per comic feels a little steep since it’s the same as what you’d pay for a print edition, but damn if it isn’t convenient.  Longtime comics fans might scoff at the idea, but I am sure it’s going to bring in a lot of people like me who were having trouble keeping up.

What do you think of the DC reboot? Does digital distribution make the difference? Please leave a comment below!

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Dialogue Depth in Video Games

Story-driven video games can be as engaging as a novel or film. But unlike those other mediums, games require some level of interaction with the player. The point of a game isn’t to watch but to participate. But achieving the right balance can be difficult.

Giving the player a choice of what to say during characters’ conversation is one of the most basic ways to involve the player. But different games handle this in different ways. A game like Final Fantasy XIII pretty much bars players from having any role in the conversation, forcing them to sit back and watch. (Arguably, even FFXIII’s gameplay forces the player to sit back and watch, but that’s for another article.)

Other games occasionally pause the conversation to give players an option of what to say. In Fallout 3, players are presented with options that are fully written sentences. In other words, you say what you see. This is an approach that has been used in countless RPGs. It’s a proven winner, but not the most interesting.  The biggest downside is that it pretty much forces players to think before every little thing they say. I hope this doesn’t sound cynical, but people don’t do that in real life.

Fallout 3: What you see is what you say

To address that weakness, Mass Effect goes for a more emotion-based approach. Like Fallout, this sci-fi RPG presents players with a choice of responses. But the replies only give a vague idea of what the protagonist will say.  If you select “You’re crazy,” Shepard (the hero) won’t say those words exactly (he has a little more tact than that), but he certainly will get the message across.

Mass Effect provides the gist of what Shepard will say

L.A. Noire takes the concept a step further, and perhaps too far.  When you are interviewing a person of interest in connection to a crime, you are always presented with the same three choices after the POI gives an answer:  You can guess he is telling the truth, you can doubt the veracity of his response, or you can accuse him of lying. This simplified approach sounds good on paper, but in practice isn’t always intuitive. What do you do, for example, when the suspect seems to be telling you only half the truth?  Sometimes selecting truth encourages the POI to tell you more.  Other people need a little threatening, and “Doubt” is the right way to get him talking.

L.A. Noire: Truth, Doubt or Lie?

Maybe it’s just because I’m a reporter, but interviewing isn’t so black and white.  When I’m talking to a source, it’s not like my only three options are to agree with her answers, tell her that I don’t believe her or outright accuse her of lying. What about asking the question again but in a different, more roundabout way? Why can’t I “doubt” an answer without accusing the person of wasting my time (a quick way to end a conversation)? Perhaps if L.A. Noire gave a little better idea of what hero cop Cole Phelps was going to say next, I might choose the right response more often. Game critic Chris Kohler seems to agree in his review for Wired.com’s Game|Life column.

If you were to ask me, the Mass Effect method to conversation is the winner. It engages players in conversation and encourages gut-level responses so that players to make choices based on their own personalities rather than what they think the game wants them to say.

Agree or disagree? Let me know what you think in the comments section!

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Kaiser Chiefs By Faded Wave

fadedwave

One of my favorite eccentric British bands, Kaiser Chiefs, have come up with a novel concept. They have just released 20 new songs and are asking fans to pick 10 of them for their new album, The Future is Medieval.  This is no election, mind you — everyone gets their own custom mix of the CD with personalized cover art to boot!  And even more mind-blowing, everyone gets to sell their custom album to the world!

To be honest, I was actually a little annoyed when I found out about all this. It was a Friday evening after a particularly long day at work. Picking ten songs from twenty, based on mere samples of the songs, seemed like a tall order. What if I left out a great song? What if that song I thought was great actually ended in three minutes of Billy Corgan screaming the letters of the alphabet?

The Future is Medieval (Faded Wave edition)

So I decided to put off making the album until Saturday morning after I’d had a good night’s rest. The result can be streamed and purchased for download at www.kaiserchiefs.com/fadedwave.

I’m happy to report that I rather like my/their album. It’s got everything — super British pop (“Problem Solved”), synthy silliness (“Heard It Break”) and even poignant balladry (“If You Will Have Me”). I think I found a great balance between the band’s fast rockers and slow grooves. But in the immortal words of LeVar Burton, don’t take my word for it.

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The Strokes Get Back Their Mojo

I’ve been trying to figure out why I haven’t loved the Strokes since their debut Is This It? It wasn’t like they sounded any less talented on their 2003 and 2006 followups.

But something was missing.

After listening to The Strokes’ excellent new album Angles five years later, I think I’ve figured it out. The Strokes got negative, man.

OK, so they weren’t exactly singing about sunshine, lollipops and rainbows on Is This It? But at least their attitude toward broken relationships and total assholes was imbued with some level of self-worth. Sure, singer Julian Casablancas was pointing out a lot of BS, but he also didn’t seem to be all too affected by it. And that was cool.

Take “Hard to Explain,” for example:

I watch the TV; forget what I’m told
Well, I am too young, and they are too old
The joke is on you, this place is a zoo
“You’re right it’s true”

But by 2006’s First Impressions of Earth, the Strokes sounded very very affected, and boy was it a bummer. Take these lyrics from “On the Other Side”:

I hate them all.
I hate them all.
I hate myself for hating them,
so I’ll drink some more.
I love them all.
I’ll drink even more.
I’ll hate them even more
than I did before.

Or how about “Ask Me Anything,” featuring a chorus in which Casablancas sings “I have nothing to say” over and over…and over….and over. And if there’s something worse than hearing the guy mutilate his vocal cords on tracks like “Fear of Sleep,” well… I don’t want to hear it.

Now here comes Angles, and I’m happy to report that the Strokes have got their mojo back. Song for song it doesn’t match the brilliance of their debut, sure, and stylistically it’s definitely different. But after a five-year absence, the Strokes actually sound happy to be making music again.

You hear it instantly on opener “Machu Picchu.” It’s a track that takes the band in a new, more reggae direction, but revives the undeniably fun Strokes arrogance that’s been missing all these years.  “Taken for a Fool” is classic Strokes, but the band shows more range than songs previous. Not every song is great — “Metabolism” could have been another mediocre cut from First Impressions — but by the end of the set I felt like I had my old friends back.

Let’s hope they’re here to stay.

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Irish Band Has Sharp Claws

For your listening pleasure, here’s the first single by Morning Claws, a new indie band from Northern Ireland. The slow-burning “Slack Magic” mixes electronic bleeps with intricate vocal harmonies and earnest lyrics. The effect is quite hypnotizing, demanding repeat listens. Fans of Postal Service take notice!

Play “Slack Magic” by Morning Claws (right click to save to PC)

New bands always have trouble with the first photo.

The band is looking for a U.S. label and hasn’t announced plans for a full release. But if they’ve got a few more tracks in them like this, I think they’ll do just fine. For more info, go to http://morningclaws.com/

 

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Adam Bender | adambenderwrites.com | watchadam.blog