Has it been a perfect ride? A ride that justifies the sales juggernaut that it has been? Yes and no. The Wii is a fun system that has escaped a large amount of criticism from the media, and it seems that anyone who does, posts a retraction statement within a few days (most recently, Sega’s marketing VP of Marketing, Scott Steinberg). This is a different time for Nintendo. They are finally back on top for the first time since the NES/SNES days, but the real question isn’t so much can they hold onto their position, as it is more are they going to make actual steps to? Currently, Nintendo is leading the way in the latest console war, but are they going to make sure to correct the mistakes that got them bumped off the Number One spot in the first place, or does history repeat itself again out of a lack of Nintendo’s pro-activity?

With Nintendo in the lead, it would be foolish for the company to simply sit back and enjoy the rewards. To fully succeed, they are they going to take this win, and keep that distance between themselves and the other competition. The Wii is a media darling right now. Third-party developers who turned up their noses at the Wii, and bet everything on the Playstation 3, are now scrambling to get something, anything on the Wii. And there’s also the fact that the Virtual Console boasts a continually expanding library that pretty much defines video gaming over the last twenty years. But in order to keep the attention of the media, developers, and most importantly, the audience, they are going to have to fix some things that are currently “broken” for the Wii’s future plans.

1.) Internet play - Since the Dreamcast, internet play has been a continually growing factor of the console gaming experience. In the last generation, Xbox and Playstation 2 ran with it and created a full online community. While the Gamecube had same potential, they only had two versions of Phantasy Star Online for online use… and nothing else for the remaining five years. With the next console line-up, Xbox 360 and the PS3 are out of the gates again while Nintendo….

Nintendo has got to get over this “fear/aversion” of online play. While they do use some of the capabilities for the Wii Shop, transferring Miis, and WiiConnect24 updates, there’s still almost no talk of online gaming down the pipeline. The new Mario Strikers and Pokemon titles hint at online play, but what about the obvious choice of Super Smash Bros. Brawl? Where are the third-party announcements? If Nintendo holds onto this archaic dogma that gamers don’t want online experiences by 2007, this is ultimately going to be the thing that finishes them off.

2.) More games, and not “ports” - There are some good games for the Wii, and the obvious “Big 3″ (Super Mario Galaxy, Metroid 3 and Super Smash Bros. Brawl), and Sega’s fan-favorite NiGHTS will provide something new and original for the system. Not to mention all the “quirky” little games that are bringing non-gamers to play a console after who knows when, or even ever.

But there’s a problem with a statement made earlier: “Third-party developers who turned up their noses at the Wii, and bet everything on the Playstation 3, are now scrambling to get something, anything on the Wii.” Wii gamers are starting to get a lot of ports from Playstation 2 and 3, as well as the 360. And Nintendo is no less guilty of this, bringing what were once Gamebube-intended titles Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess and Super Paper Mario (arguably two of the best games currently on the system) to the Wii.

The first year is always a tricky year for a gaming system, and a lot of people underestimated the Wii. But sales numbers talk, and the developers are being forced to take the system seriously now. But the amount of ports for the system is slightly maddening. Even the best looking of the ports (Resident Evil 4 or Lego Star Wars), while simply great games… are “great games” coming out yet again. It’s a popular criticism to say how woefully underpowered the Wii is in the graphics department when compared to the PS3 and Xbox 360, it’s also hard to judge the system’s visual potential when all that’s currently been available have been ports of last generation’s games and games that were originally intended for Gamecube. While the next batch of games will undoubtedly take further advantage of the Wii… they need to hurry up and start making appearances.

3.) Wii Channel updates - This is another untapped area of Wii potential. As an older gamer, I actually find use out of the news and weather channels, but the usefulness will undoubtedly be lost on kids who just want to play video games and nothing else. The Wii Shop Channel has practical use for purchasing new content, The Photo Channel may be fun to select enthusiasts, and the Mii Channel does have some in-game applications. However, the “Everybody Votes Channel” is little more than a silly time-waster. Nintendo had a perfect opportunity to achieve what few marketing campaigns could ever dream of achieving: Get in complete touch with its audience, and find out exactly what they want to see for new games, content, and overall customer satisfaction. Instead, Channel Users can find out if the world would rather ride a camel or an elephant for an extended period of time. Other than the most hardcore of stat junkies, the practicality of the application is minimal. Nintendo’s been hinting at a “Mii Popularity Channel” as well, which sounds equally as uninspiring.

There have long been rumors of a Demo Channel, where gamers can check out upcoming titles for the Wii and DS. There’s also been talk of a Original Game Content Channel, where new games could be downloaded in the same manner as the Virtual Console. Catering to the non-gamer has been extremely successful for Nintendo thus far, but forgetting the hardcore gamer or even the long-term dedicated fanbase is going to prove costly and dangerous in the long run. Nintendo needs to release more channels related to game content. A Nintendo Power Channel seems obvious, where Users can get video gaming news in the same manner as world news. An Arcade Channel could deliver arcade-perfect versions of games to the system. A Music Channel could be fun, where CD/MP3 playback would be allowed, and perhaps have a light show in sync with the music. Game systems in the early ’90’s did this, so why not now? It’s still a “fluff” channel and would still appeal to a more broad audience. Introducing more character creation options in the Mii Channel would also be welcome.

4.) Treat the Virtual Console more seriously - Nintendo sits on a goldmine right now with thousands of potential games that could be available for the audience. Three of the most loved Nintendo consoles from the past, as well as two of their biggest competitors: Genesis and TurboGrafx-16. The Neo Geo system library is rumored to debut this Summer. So why does Nintendo trickle out games the way it does?

The disbursement of games is random and unorganized at best. Currently, the available library is overflowing with space-shooters, the Sports and RPG libraries are virtually dry, as is the Nintendo 64 library, and gamers have no idea what is coming out any given week. Nintendo may squeeze out four games one week, then only one game the next. Only Hudson and Sega give any real courtesy to the consumer by providing a “Coming Soon” list on their respective websites or revealing it to the press. Nintendo remains mum, with no seeming thought put into how they release games. The treatment is inexcusable, and the United States is by far the most behind in terms of receiving content in comparison to the other countries. Other countries will get games weeks or months in advance in comparison to the U.S. - And there’s equally no excuse as to why Nintendo drags their feet to release games from the Metroid series, or cult-favorites Earthbound or Super Mario RPG. Nintendo could release 20 “AAA” titles in one month’s time, and still have hundreds upon hundreds of high quality games to release over the next few years. The only real concern would be running out of storage space on Nintendo’s internal memory.

A lot of the problems could be rectified by a simple “Coming Soon” list on par with what Sega and Hudson already do. Nintendo would never treat a game like Metroid Prime 3 with such an “I don’t know” attitude and give it a random release date, so why should any of these classic games get treated any less? Even if Nintendo were at potential risk of running out of games, would long-time gaming fans not be excited over the prospect of Atari 2600, Game Boy or Sega CD releases? There’s also Jaguar, Intellivision, Colecovision, Vectrx, Odyssey, Commedore 64 and Apple II possibilities to tap. Even with more realistic prospects like the Atari 2600/Game Boy/Sega CD releases, there’s a few hundred more games to tap for potential, and no one’s going to be able to download them all in one sitting.

The Wii could stand to become a pure “gamer’s system”, with the potential to download every relevant game ever released from the last 30 years. The casual gamer would eat up a chance to play Pitfall! in a heartbeat.

5.) Enhance game “realism” with the WiiConnect24 - As stated above, the Weather Channel is not going to “wow” a 12-year old kid wanting to play the next Zelda game. Would that attitude change if the game’s world were to reflect the real world’s weather patterns? Or what if there were spooky ghost and pumpkins on Halloween, or snow and brightly colored lights on Christmas? The prospect of accurate regional weather would be a sports game fan’s dream come true.

6.) Release a keyboard - Sending notes, putting in credit card info. for a Wii Shop purchase, and especially internet use would greatly benefit from a wireless keyboard that plugs into a Wiimote, or even independently controlled. This is an accessory that should have debuted already.

While it would be easy to nitpick certain other aspects of the system, the biggest issue remains as to what Nintendo’s next move will be. Are they going to sit on their laurels and be content while the other systems catch up and possibly surpass them, or is the company going to make sure to keep considerable distance from their competition by continuing to release new and improving content on a regular basis? The Wii looks to correct one of the mistakes that the Nintendo 64 and Gamecube had by actually bringing a stronger library of 3rd party support back to their system, but if the popularity of the other systems surpass the Wii this time around, it’s back to losing their regained and newfound support.

Nintendo’s approach to console gaming is risky this time around, but to date, has been greatly successful. While Nintendo maintains some of the best gaming franchises the industry has even seen, is it going to be able to not repeat the mistakes of its past that bumped it from an untouchable industry leader into a second or third place? At this point, only Nintendo will hold that answer.

Regardless, the newest and final story arc of the third season takes a little bit of a history lesson to fully understand and appreciate. And given that this episode contains a MAJOR spoiler, culminating the “mystery” story arc that has run throughout the season, this review is going to be approached in a more delicate manner as to not spoil the fun for those who haven’t seen it, as well as for those outside the United Kingdom.

The story begins with a pit-stop for the TARDIS (the Doctor’s time machine), and an unexpected intervention from one of the Doctor’s former companions, Captain Jack Harkness. When we last saw Jack (outside of the current Doctor Who spin-off Torchwood), he was left stranded on a space station after being killed, then brought back to life, during a Dalek invasion. The Ninth Doctor and his companion Rose left his fate uncertain, but obviously he was able to pull through.

Why this is important is explained more through Torchwood as well as throughout the episode. In short, the Doctor had his reasons for leaving Jack behind, and there’s a bit of abandoned resentment from Jack somewhat resembling that of a spurned lover (which for the omnisexual Jack Harkness, isn’t that much of a stretch, if one-sided on his part).

Still, it touches on the revised series referencing past characters and events instead of simply eschewing them for the next adventure, and Harkness’ likable personality makes him a welcome re-addition to the cast.

In this story, the TARDIS takes the crew to the end of the universe, to a time that humans are trying to escape a world overrun by savage mutant humanoids. Of course, the Doctor steps in to help the people achieve their goal, but his mere presence forces the memories of a seemingly benign professor to surface, and things go very, very wrong.

As a stand-alone story, it provides a somewhat intriguing tale that hints to something much larger. If you’ve followed the show from the first series, however, this is a plotline that one realizes has been brewing throughout nearly two seasons. As a long-time Doctor Who fan, the show takes yet another level of depth as the weight of how bad things have just gotten for the Doctor suddenly comes to full light.

After three seasons, I have been incredibly impressed by the writing of the show. Moments and stories that seemed to be stand-alone events now take full relevance in the final moments of this particular episode. The revised Doctor Who is a completely different spin on the original incarnation of the show, yet manages to pay full homage to the events and characters of this forty-plus year old franchise. As this is the first part of a three-part story, it can only get more harrowing for the Doctor, and given the show’s two previous seasons, and the overall quality of the current third, this will undoubtedly make for quite the harrowing ride.

When I first caught wind of Delirium coming to San Diego in May of this year, I immediately purchased tickets as soon as they became available. This was to be my first non-Vegas performance, meaning I wouldn’t have to make the weekend drive, as well as not seeing the show housed in a theater exclusively designed for the performance. Delirium was playing at the iPayOne Center off of Sports Arena, a venue that houses various entertainment events, including sports and music concerts.

As with many of the other shows, Delirium presents a storyline that is open to interpretation through the various musical and acrobatic performances. The story centers on a man named Bill, who is trapped in a society where interaction is based largely on television and computers and personal contact seems infrequent. In fact, Bill is carried around most of the performance by means of a bubble that he floats him to different lands, and sometimes immerses him until he begins to evolve through his experiences.

Where Delirium differs from other Cirque shows is that it is more of concert and stage show, unlike the “theater in the round” design of other touring shows. The music, being one of more standout aspects of a Cirque performance is more high energy, highlighting several musical interpretations of the other shows such as Alegria, O, and La Nouba.

What is notable about this show’s particular soundtrack is the fact that it uses English lyrics. Cirque du Soleil shows usually adopt a form of gibberish for their speaking and singing parts (called “Cirquish”), which sounds like a mixture of several languages, but is unique to the individual shows. The music is a wonderful addition, resembling anything from World Music, New Age, and Rock, to even dance beats that wouldn’t sound out of place in a club. Unlike other shows, the musicians and singers take center stage alongside the acrobatics, and participate along with the story.

Visuals are also an important factor in these productions, and as with the music and presentation, there are some distinct changes with this show.

Positioned on either side of the stage are huge projection screens which serve two purposes: Build onto the main action of the center stage, and provide a better view for those who are not seated front and center. During the performance I attended, I was closer to one of the sides, but did not feel like I was missing the action, or that I was just watching a Cirque performance on a giant projection screen. The special effects and projection techniques used throughout the performance were impressive, and at many times, felt like one was taking part in a dream while fully awake. I found myself impressed with the level of creativity the show used to make all three “stages” a full, yet separate part of the show.

As with any Cirque show, the real “wow” factor is found in the performers themselves. Brought together from locations around the world, the best acrobats, dancers, trapeze artists, tumblers and even clowns come together to showcase how diverse the human body really is. With any Cirque du Soleil show, the performers balance, twist and contort their bodies in ways that don’t seem physically possible, but are done with such style and elegance that it’s simply jaw-dropping. Delirium does not disappoint. As I have watched these various productions both live and on DVD, I do notice that some similar acts do carry over from one production to another, but given that this is the first Cirque experience for many people in the audience, many will never notice. And for those more seasoned in watching the shows, the fact becomes irrelevant. It’s still just as amazing seeing it for the first time, or many times over.

Delirium is a wonderful experience for enthusiasts and newcomers alike. Cirque du Soleil attempts something new with a more concert styled performance, but still retains its unique style and attitude. Unlike most of the touring shows, which stay in a city for a few weeks, Delirium came to San Diego and was gone in a weekend’s time. For those who missed out, it’s worth doing a little research to find when the closest performance will be near your area again.

Built in 1888, the Victorian-style Hotel is set just on the beach to overlook the waves and horizon of the Pacific Ocean. The hotel was originally designed to cater to the well-to-do, and attracted quite a notable legacy of guests. L. Frank Baum was said to have written “The Wizard of Oz” during his stays, and the Hotel del was the setting for Marilyn Monroe’s screwball comedy “Some Like It Hot”. For those who enjoy the prospect of a potential experience into the unknown, the ghost of Kate Morgan is said to haunt one of the rooms, waiting for her husband who never arrived.

While built as a premiere resort, it is not uncommon to see non-hotel visitors or local residents spend an afternoon on the beach, or sipping coffee and listening to piano music in one of the lobbies. The hotel also provides several quality restaurants and a shopping promenade, which features clothing, jewelry, toys and souvenirs.

For those wanting to fully pamper themselves during their stay, the hotel offers a spa for massages, facials and body restoration, or for the more athletic, surfing or tennis.

The Hotel del Coronado is designed for that oft-needed quiet and restful getaway, offering an unforgettable experience with its beachfront atmosphere and classic-styled architecture. Visiting the hotel is almost like stepping back through time to a simpler age, and is ideal for those wanting to slow things down for a relaxing change of pace.

Voted “Best Mexican Restaurant” for 2005 and 2006, it’s easy to see how the restaurant earned the title. Once settled, the diner is served an endless supply of fresh chips and salsa, and the opportunity to try one hundred and ten various forms of tequila, some gourmet types that range well into the $125 a shot category. For those that are a little less daring, quality margaritas can still be had at lower prices, and drinkers can get recommendations by the restaurant’s resident “Tequila Ambassador”. Once comfortable, guests can sit back and enjoy the game with the Cantina’s television, or be serenaded by one of the mariachi guitarists.

The meals themselves are varied and tasty, ranging from standard Mexican fare with chicken beef, or seafood, but there are also monthly recommended specials which offer monthly and holiday themed foods served in the restaurant’s distinctive style. For those looking for fresh ingredients and large portions, a serious diner will not walk away from the meal disappointed.

Once the meal is complete, desert becomes a whole other adventure. Many Mexican deserts, such as flan, can be found on the menu, or those wanting something less traditional can try Old Town Candy and Ice Cream, which serves up several cool treats, classic-style candies and homemade fudge.

With a menu full of traditional favorites, a fully stocked bar, and a few culinary surprise treats, Café Coyote provides an excellent dining experience that doesn’t wear heavily on the wallet.

Located adjacent to the Horton Grand Hotel, there’s a certain feeling that pervades the senses when walking into the gallery. Visitors are greeted by soft, dreamlike music that accentuates the surreal paintings inside, and look to be the result of an imagined production of Cirque du Soleil if it were directed by Tim Burton. Accompanying these images is the curator and Tim’s wife, Amy Cantor. Amy greets each guest with elegance and a warm smile that evokes a sense of familiarity, even if it’s the first time in visiting.

Tim himself is something of an enigma. He rarely makes appearances on the gallery floor, allowing Amy to be the spokesperson for his work, and answer questions on his behalf. Instead, he spends each night working on his creations well into the next morning. Whenever he is spotted, however, Tim is gracious enough to share insights behind the influences of his work, or sign a copy of his art book.

Originally from San Francisco, Tim and his wife moved to San Diego in the early 2000’s to open the Ashby Gallery downtown, where it has maintained success, and continual updates of works throughout the year. Semi-annual art shows are held at the gallery to showcase his continual evolution in artistic style.

It is not uncommon for a random painting to catch the eye of the person walking by the gallery window, and once drawn inside, it is just as simple to become a fan of Tim’s work. There are elements found in the paintings that can speak to the dreamer in each of us, and once awakened, can become an unforgettable experience.

To elaborate a little more, the first game made its mark by adding scenes that you wanted to play, but never could in other games, and just the fact that it made the Prequel Trilogy an actual interesting place to explore. The sequel takes this mold and simply adds on to it, not taking away any of the elements that made the first game so appealing. With this game, players get a stronger storyline (based on the original, unaltered DVD releases that coincided on the same day - in other words, Han shoots Greedo first, and the Ewok “Yub Yub” music returns), a fun character creation, new vehicles to build and ride in, and the humorous takes on familiar scenarios. I personally enjoyed the first game quite a bit. This one is even better.

Without a doubt, one of the coolest features of this game is that it allows you to export all of your characters from the first game to give players 100+ characters to play with in “Free Play”. Anakin and Luke Skywalker? Check. Mace Windu and Lando Calrissian? Yes. Boba and Jango Fett? It’s possible. Wicket the Ewok and Jar Jar Binks? Well, if that’s your thing…. Players also get the opportunity to create their own Lego hero avatar, whether it’s a character from the Expanded Universe of stories, or even the chance to put themselves into the game. There are a lot of character pieces to work with.

Vehicle modes are greatly improved. In the regular levels, characters can jump in and out of vehicles at will, allowing for new areas to be explored, and it’s simply fun to tool around Tatooine in a Landspeeder. The vehicle-exclusive levels are no longer on rails, which allows for greater exploration of the levels. Some of the key scenes and battles genuinely are exciting, especially to see how they will be handled in humorous toy form.

And there is more than a fair share of things to explore. New areas that are completely off-limits unless you have the correct character class with you, and some of the areas are surprisingly huge. The items found increase the depth of the game, so there is actually a lot of incentive to keep earning and buying items to open up more and more areas of the game.

Graphics are pure Star Wars…. albeit more silly and playful. But they animate well, are accurate representations of the levels and worlds, and it’s admittedly very cool to have your entire party of heroes working together as a team to complete tasks as they did in the movie.

Sound is… pure Star Wars. You know what to expect with the John Williams score and the lightsaber hums. It’s hard to rate a Star Wars game in this category because you know exactly what’s supposed to be there, and it is.

The humor in this game should also be noted. It provides a lot of funny moments without being overly silly in its presentation. It tells the classic scenes from the trilogy… with just a slight humorous twist. And some scenes made me genuinely laugh.

The game also has a small share of problems that slightly dampen the fun, stemming largely from AI and camera issues. The team member AI for the heroes seems much more “stupid” in this game. One of the more impressive aspects of the first game is that the AI controlled characters would have your back during a firefight. In this game, there’s a lot of wondering if their shots do any damage at all, or they just stand there and do nothing. The first game handled this much better in execution.

There is also talk of a new feature called “adaptive difficulty”, which is supposed to ramp up in challenge based on the player’s skill level. The only thing I saw what might for this supposed feature are the waves upon waves of endless Stormtroopers that fill up the screen in some levels and blow your characters to pieces repeatedly until you somehow manage to be fast enough to accomplish the task at hand. To add to the so called “challenge”, this task must be completed before the puzzle resets itself. If this is the developer’s idea of more responsive AI, it’s cheap and not well thought out. Not to mention very frustrating.

Also frustrating is the two-player camera. The camera needs to better adjust its perspective if the characters get too far away each other. There is nothing worse than the camera pulling a character towards a cliff trying to compensate for the distance, only to push them over the edge and lose precious Lego pieces.

Despite its quirks, Lego Star Wars II is a virtual romp through a very big toy box. It’s a fun experience playing with all of the little action figures in and out of vehicles, and it’s like revisiting a part of childhood again. That said, it does provide enough challenge that doesn’t make it a “kid’s game”, which I’ve grown to think of as a derogatory term used for those games dumped on a system at the end of the console’s life cycle.

The best way to describe this is as an “all ages game”. It’s fun as a single player experience, and can be enjoyed with two players as long as both play as a team. I looked forward to this sequel all year, and I am glad to say that I was not disappointed. It captures a lot of the excitement and appeal of the original films, and proves to be a worthy companion piece to the first game.

A very fun and humorous title. Recommended.

There is a certain rush of fond nostalgia similar to the overall feel of Konami’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles games. A feeling much better captured than the more recent TMNT games released for the last generation of systems.

The graphics are well done with bright, recognizable and detailed sprites for all the Turtles, each with their own distinct animations for attacks. The cut-scenes are pulled from the recent movie, and while they don’t match the gameplay’s look, they don’t feel out of place, either. In beat ‘em up games such as this, a player is guaranteed to face endless sets of generic bad guys, and while plentiful here, they at least are well-detailed generic bad guys, with good animation.

The music is also well done. Kind of generic hard-hitting rock music sets the tone for gameplay. Nothing outstanding, but appropriate for the action, and reminiscent of the old Turtles games, with plenty of good grunts, “oofs”, and fighting sound effects abound.

The game itself controls like a dream, providing fast, responsive gameplay. Players don’t feel like they pulled off a move only to not have it register on screen. The Turtles are given the basic attack/jump button combos, but can pull off a few special moves and charges. The framerate is also smooth and easy, with no choppy animation here.

As far as updates to the classic formula, players can strengthen the Turtles to make them better fighters by purchasing power-ups and equipment in a free-roaming hub. April, Casey Jones and Splinter each offer you various challenges of skill. There’s a “trophy room” that gives you awards if you meet certain requirements. The level backgrounds are quite interactive and allow for some destruction. You can find and use weapons along the way. There are even attacks where you can call in your brothers for some temporary extra help, and surprise! They’re actually helpful and competent, removing an annoying bad guy too many, or dropping a pizza your way. The game also offers battery save. It’s all good stuff that doesn’t clutter the main focus of pounding endless villains.

Basically, this game is the old arcade games. Same vibe. Same feel. Same reasons you liked them, but with all these little added bonuses that actually feel useful and work.

If there were criticisms to be leveled at the game, the co-op feature of arcade games is sorely missing here. This is strictly a one-player game. If Ubisoft had somehow found a way to implement that as a feature, this game would have quite possibly been the greatest Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles game ever created. No exaggeration.

You also get the “flaws” of the arcade gameplay in this version. A lot of semi-unintelligent, relentless bad guys who have fairly easy patterns to exploit make up a majority of the encounters players will face.

The overall challenge, however, is fairly forgiving. If a player loses all their lives, they start over from the beginning level. If power-ups are bought in between levels, the next level must be completed in order to keep them. A little frustrating, but bearable.

At this stage in the life cycle of Game Boy Advance, with the DS reigning supreme, this is the phase where we are supposed to get mediocre kids titles, and budget games from publishers that we’ve never heard of. It’s the death knell of any game system, and you stop expecting “good” games because everyone’s moved on to the next big thing.

Don’t let this game slip you by. Even if you no longer have your GBA, it will work on your DS just fine.

The online sites were calling all the other version of the new TMNT game average at best, but were going crazy over the GBA version. So I decided to check it out, and it turned out to be well worth it.

Someone at Ubisoft clearly loved the old arcade games, more than the Konami programmers who worked on the later TMNT games for the last-gen systems. The update feels fresh, even though the gameplay is easy enough to remember and pick up. It doesn’t break new ground. It just refines it. And there is a genuine sense of cheery nostalgia playing through this title. Players can find a lot of replayability by doing some of the levels over to unlock more awards or earn more money.

In the last two years, I’ve seen some great “updates” on classic games. Mega Man: Powered Up. New Super Mario Bros., Ultimate Ghosts ‘N’ Goblins…. And they’ve all been on portable game systems. Add TMNT to the list. It keeps what you love about the original game, and just gives it a bit of modern flourish.

If this is the last new Game Boy Advance game you get, then your purchase was a good choice.

Highly recommended.

I was very excited about seeing the black costume and Venom, my personal favorite moments from the comics. Spider-Man 3 was enjoyable entertainment, and broke the “curse” of “Part 3″ destroying a good comic movie series (Batman, Superman, X-Men). This “Part 3″, however, didn’t overthrow Spider-Man 2 as the best of the series. It could have, but some liberties taken with the film ultimately cost it.

The story arcs for villains Sandman, Harry Osborn (I loathe the name “New Goblin”) and Venom were VERY accurate to their comic counterparts. If some of it seemed a little coincidental or contrived, in honesty, that’s how the stories progressed over the years, especially for Harry and Venom. They took a few liberties with Sandman, but the saving grace is that they keep to the trend of not making the “bad guys” one-dimensional villains.

This film dealt with a LOT of plot threads. Venom should have been saved for a fourth film, as once he is “created”, he becomes underused, which is a shame for a major villain in the Spider-Man mythos. Truthfully, the film could have worked with or without Venom, who felt like an afterthought or “fan service”. However, with 18,000 story lines running rampant in the movie, they somehow manage to keep it all together and pull it through to the end, while tying up the entire plot. That feat alone is impressive, so kudos to the Raimi’s writing talents.

Still, these multiple storylines ended up being costly to the overall character development, as it seemed that the only character that went anywhere by the end and actually moved forward was Harry Osborn. Peter and Mary Jane just didn’t seem to end up anywhere new or different by the film’s end, leaving them somewhat ambiguous. The same goes for Gwen Stacy. Another iconic character in the comics, but her status remains unknown. J.K. Simmons’ role as J. Jonah Jameson and Bruce Campbell in his “Where’s Waldo: Spider-Man Movie Edition” appearances in the film are once again comedy gold.

The real problem of the film lies in the black costume. The comic’s concept holds true in the movies, but the added aspect the story gives it also introduces elements in the film that I thought was the worst moment of not only this film, but out of all three films as a whole.

For some reason, the film felt the need for Peter to comb over his hair “emo” style whenever he suited up in the black costume: The “emo” thing as a whole is irksome, but the movie makes it clear this is some conscious and deliberate decision on Peter’s part. It’s irritating that they would do this, however indirect the reference may have been. And all I could see was “Emo Spider-Man”. Leave the fad sub-cultures out of films, please. Not just this film, but any film. It’s silly to allow a comb over show that this is “angry” Peter, as though the audience couldn’t figure it out, and pop culture references such as these only end up dating the film.

The second aspect of the film again related to the black costume. Again, in every variation of the comic, the costume isn’t supposed to magnify emotions of the wearer. And when they gave that behavioral description in the dialogue, another comic-based film popped into my mind. And sure enough, Peter becomes a disco dancing, crotch thrusting show-off that that seemed to be a direct reference to Jim Carrey’s The Mask. If Peter has suddenly cried out “Sssssmokin’”, I wouldn’t have been surprised. In fact, I was just waiting for him to say it and get it over with. The scene certainly went on long enough, and outwore its welcome. This is the first and only moment of all three films that made me shake my head with disbelief and disappointment.

The final contention point was like the second film, Spider-Man remained unmasked at any given opportunity. I’m sure this was due to making sure Tobey Maguire got some “face” time, but Spider-Man (until recently) had a secret identity. It felt like he’d whip the mask off for no necessary reason at any given time. One starts to question why he even used a mask at all after a while.

Another criticism is the “New Goblin”. I never liked the original Green Goblin costume as it was far too “Power Rangers” for its own good, and the biggest deviant of all the character’s looks. New Goblin gives Harry an “Extreme Snowboarder with an anger management problem” look that honestly, he could have called himself anything, and the audience would have never made the “Goblin” connection.

Despite some issues, Spider-Man 3 was a very good film. Not a great film, but it was a good closure to the unresolved plot threads of the first two films. And overall, the characters and their motivations remained intact. As a trilogy, the films hold up very well. Thankfully, the story didn’t veer off in some alternate direction that seemed inconsistent with the first two films and left one scratching their head in confusion.

That said, as much of a Spider-Man enthusiast as I am, I hope they don’t push any farther with the series (though I’m sure they will). There are a lot of stories and villains they can cover, so the lack of source material is in no danger of being used up, but for the first time, I began to see the rough edges start to wear around the series. After the mess made with X-Men 3 (putting a real chink in the armor of that series), it’s best to bow out now, and keep the dignity intact of this series. As I said, the movie held up, but it became apparent that it’s not going to always be so lucky in the future.

A little bit about me: My name is Guy Chapman. I’ve worked in the entertainment industry for the last twelve years in the fields of video gaming and film. Yes, they are serious jobs that actually pay for your time there. =)

I enjoy the creative process, and still keep myself close to the industries that gave me my start. But part of that process was promotion. And one has to be a good writer to remain noticed and talked about. Whether it was the corporate structure, the marketing and promotions experience, the press releases, or writing my own resume or scripts, I’ve written a wide variety of document types.

A lot of businesses lose sight of the individual and their needs. So many times, a customer gets lumped into a schedule, and become less of a person, and more of a project. In my experience, whenever someone takes the time to address my individual needs and makes the time to help me achieve my own goals, I remember that, and it earns my business. For those who choose to employ my services, my goal is to earn your continued business by treating your requests as unique, even for something as simple as proofreading a letter. When I handle your assignment, that time is devoted exclusively for you, and I’ll keep working until you’re satisfied.

I’ll write more as time goes by, but I wanted to say “hello” to my readers and clients, give a little bit of my background, and let you know where I’m coming from on my work ideals.