We the Write stuff.

Ello All

A few months ago I saw a movie called 'Smokin' Aces'. I loved it. I rate it as one of the best action films I have ever seen. As soon as it was done, I did my usual web analysis of it and like several films before- it partly ruined the film for me. Everyone hated it. Everyone mocked it and just about no one agreed with me.

Tonight I have watched a film called Street Thief. The movie is shot documentary style and is probably one of the best documentaries you'll see. Problem is it's not a freaking documentary.

After watching the film, I was stunned. It's slick and edgy and thoroughly real, in a very very raw way. I won't say it changed how I feel about the subject matter (Film makers follow a 'professional' burglar as he stakes out, plans and steals from several different places.) I won't say it's made some huge impact on my life, but the film really is quite amazing. It's thrilling, it's entertaining, and contains one of the best scores I've heard in a while.

The end of the film makes you doubt how real, or actually just 'how' the entire film amounts to what it does.

The weird part is the widespread debate about whether or not the film is real. I'd just like to clarify, to anyone else who was as confused as me, that the film itself is NOT real. The director plays the main 'subject', the 'director' in the film is played by an actor and the only other character of note is also played by an actor.

Clearly then, the film is not real. It IS entertaining, it IS gripping, and it IS a superb new way of showing burglars and the truth about professional robbery (let's just say, George Clooney may have misled us a teensy bit.) but the fact of the matter is, no matter how great a film is and no matter how many truths it can convey, if you're pretending to be a documentary, to the point that you do not mention your actual cast in the end credits, and you depict timelines and factual indicators throughout your film, then you're just a big fat steaming stinking Blair Witch ripping liar.

I love documentaries and I love fiction. Michael Moore does documentaries to seem as entertaining as fiction. The other way around just feels scummy. (To be fair, to many people, Michael Moore is just plain scummy for his own little lies.) Frankly, I believe that if these guys, had a superior script and better actors, we would have possibly one of the best fiction films of 2006.

Instead, and this is not to put down the exceptional performance of Malik Bader as the lead character, or in fact Ken Seng's exceptional cinematography, we have a film which entertains and excites, only to let you down hard and leave you with a very sour after taste.

While this post may have moved you a long way towards disliking the film even before you've seen it, I strongly recommend you watch the film and BELIEVE it for the 1 and a half hours it plays. It really is excellent viewing, just don't fall for it the way the Bader Brothers would like you to.

Till later, Gators.

Ello All,
We don't usually do gaming posts though, I feel that's mostly an oversight more than it is some sort of policy.
So the first FIFA I ever played properly was FIFA 07. When I say properly of course I mean Manager Mode, where you play as the manager of a team for several seasons, scouting, making formations, trading, etc.
Within the football video game segment there are two main players- FIFA and Pro Evolution Soccer. FIFA is the undisputed market leader and Pro Evo is the nuanced underdog which people sort of treat like it's an acquired taste.
I've always seen it as chocolate and bitter chocolate. Everyone loves their dairy milk chocolate, but very few will incur the extra costs to stick loyally to bitter chocolate. You can't say either is better, you can only have an over bearing feeling that one is better.
I'd just like to break down what I feel are the real differences between the two, in light of the imminent releases of their latest versions.
Alright, so I'm going to break it down using four main criteria which I feel are very important to playing a football video game. I should point out though, that this involves the Manager Mode specifically. The exhibitions and tournaments are all well and good, but in my experience people spend most of their time in the Manager Mode.
I should of course point out, FIFA's exceptional developments in making the BeAPro and Live Season modes where you can play as one player and as your favorite(or not) team in the real conditions of real time.
1) Gameplay:
Now until, FIFA 09 the PES gameplay was far more realistic and far less flawed than FIFA's. Come 2008 and FIFA fixed the problem making the movement far less candy, and far harder to thrive in. Movements must be exact, headers and crosses timed perfectly and defences in perfect precision.
On this front, I'd have to say FIFA nips it because not only is it as nuanced as PES, I found that on their last versions, the FIFA gameplay required far more focus that the PES game did.
2) Transfers:
Alright, anyone who enjoys playing the matches or not, will agree that the greatest skill one requires to thrive in these games is one's activity in the transfer market.
FIFA has used the same model for years now and frankly it's quite rubbish. There are no swaps allowed, and most importantly you can very often get a completely misguided portrayal of a player from the stats they offer. PES on the other hand, allows for swaps, negotiations involve SEVERAL factors in that, Gerrard will NOT leave Liverpool just like that. In FIFA though you make one single bid and more often than not it works.
PES wins this round hands down.
3) Player treatment:
In PES, I've found, that generally players are better representations of their real life selves. PES sticks solely to a collection of stats while FIFA chooses to generalise using an 'overall' value. Fair enough, except that the players in FIFA, barring an elite few, do not perform the way they do in real life. Perhaps, it's just that they care more, perhaps it's their valuation systems, but for me PES depicts and creates 'lesser players like David Odonkor and even bigger players like Frank Lampard, far more realistically than FIFA does.

Furthermore, I find that in teams you aren't managing yourself, and are up against, the restrictive positional titles FIFA has given, tend to see important players playing unimportant roles, more often than not, nothing like the way they play in real life. Something that unless you're particularly obsessive about, you cannot rectify. It always bothers me that because Gerrard is a CAM, and liverpool's 4-4-2 involves only CMs, he does not fit in. Similarly, even Mascherano as a CDM, does not feature. Initially you relish the unfair advantage you have but after a while, it's just annoying that you cannot play against what you KNOW is Liverpool's best side in the Champions League final.
Suffice it to say, when Gerrard makes a run in PES, his movement, pace and reactions to commands are what I'd expect from the REAL Steven Gerrard.
PES with another one.
4) Details:
In PES, at the end of each season, there is a little image with the top scorer in a suit. There is then a little image with the best player in a little image. I like that. It matters to me that it matters to them.
In FIFA, I can verify the teams and players in more countries and more leagues. When I say more, I mean of course, just about all. The overwhelming number of rights accumulated is incredible and adds a depth and dimension that makes PES feel like a video game, while FIFA feels like a world.
Round 4 to FIFA.
As I said earlier, you cannot decide which is better, only which you prefer. For me PES is an amazing experience, but FIFA offers a greater longevity in that you can't get bored knowing how far down the league system goes in England. And Germany. And Spain. And Italy. And Portugal.

In my little experience with video games however, I must say it's in every player's best interests to just screw it and buy both.

For a much better review though, check these guys out.

Till later.
Sorry for the lack of posts lately. Hectic days lately. For Tejas. I'm just Lazy. And well you know Kyra posts are worth the wait. Do expect more in the near future. I'm going to capitalise on my vacation time.