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	<title>Cinematic Arias &#187; The Lord of the Rings</title>
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	<description>Hollywood native goes &#34;Hollywood&#34;</description>
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		<title>Wasting My Life with PS3 Demos</title>
		<link>http://ariasfilms.com/blog/2010/01/28/wasting-my-life-with-ps3-demos/</link>
		<comments>http://ariasfilms.com/blog/2010/01/28/wasting-my-life-with-ps3-demos/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 28 Jan 2010 16:35:01 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Tony</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Off-Topic]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Anna Torv]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Army of Two: The 40th Day]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Bayonetta]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Castlevania]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Chow Yun Fat]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Conan]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dead Space]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Flower]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[God of War 3]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Heat]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Heavenly Sword]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[InFAMOUS]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Iron Man]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[John Woo]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Kane & Lynch: Dead Men]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Kill Bill]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Left 4 Dead]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mirror's Edge]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Parkour]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[PS3]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Red Faction: Guerrilla]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Stranglehold]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The Bourne Conspiracy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The Last Guy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The Lord of the Rings]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The Simpsons]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Trine]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Turok]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Video Games]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Wanted: Weapons of Fate]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Watchmen: The End is Nigh]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Wet]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Zombie Apocalypse]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://ariasfilms.com/blog/?p=2077</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I didn&#8217;t quite make a deal with the devil but I did get a PS3 (it came free with another major purchase) so it&#8217;s kinda like I let a devil child into my home and he won&#8217;t stop wasting my time. What&#8217;s worse, my buddy Pat warned me that I could spend years playing all [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I didn&#8217;t quite make a deal with <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devil" target="_blank">the devil</a> but I did get a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ps3" target="_blank">PS3</a> (it came free with another major purchase) so it&#8217;s kinda like I let a devil child into my home and he won&#8217;t stop wasting my time.</p>
<p>What&#8217;s worse, <a href="http://www.insertcoyne.com/" target="_blank">my buddy Pat</a> warned me that I could spend years playing all the free downloadable demos from the <a href="http://www.us.playstation.com/psn/store/about" target="_blank">Sony PlayStation Store</a>.  All I heard was &#8220;free downloadable demos.&#8221;</p>
<p>Argh! There goes my productivity.  Now that I&#8217;ve downloaded a ton of demos allow me to share my abbreviated reviews.</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bayonetta" target="_blank">Bayonetta</a> &#8211; Um, this game is too&#8230; it isn&#8217;t for me.  Plus I find it disturbing that you&#8217;re playing a gun-toting, uber-stacked version of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tina_fey" target="_blank">Tina Fey</a> that, when she performs certain combo moves, has all her clothes fly off.  Very disturbing</li>
<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lord_of_The_Rings_Conquest" target="_blank">The Lord of the Rings: Conquest</a> &#8211; I now understand why <a href="http://www.wired.com/gaming/gamingreviews/multimedia/2008/07/gallery_worst_movie_games" target="_blank">gamers complain about video games based on movies</a>.  This was <em>so</em> not fun.  More than that, it was just awful.  Terrible.</li>
<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Simpsons_Game" target="_blank">The Simpsons Game</a> &#8211; I think I can say the same thing about TV shows made into video games.  It should have been more fun to play <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homer_simpson" target="_blank">Homer</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bart_simpson" target="_blank">Bart</a> but instead it was cumbersome.  Plus it was difficult to figure out the level objective.</li>
<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WET_%28video_game%29" target="_blank">Wet</a> &#8211; Think <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kill_bill" target="_blank">KILL BILL</a> the video game.  Yeah, I know, not very inventive but I kinda liked it.  It might just be worth buying&#8230; if it were on sale.</li>
<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_Space_%28video_game%29" target="_blank">Dead Space: Dismemberment</a> &#8211; Not a particularly fun demo and after a couple of minutes I felt queasy.  Just too gruesome for me.</li>
<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_last_guy" target="_blank">The Last Guy</a> &#8211; I tried this indie game based on a recommendation and while I kinda like some of the style and humor, it&#8217;s something I&#8217;d play for 5 minutes and then never play again.</li>
<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conan_%282007_video_game%29" target="_blank">Conan</a> &#8211; It&#8217;s okay but if I could play the version where I&#8217;m <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conan_O%27Brien" target="_blank">a skinny, red-haired host</a> battling the evil forces of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leno" target="_blank">Mr. Big Chin</a>, now that&#8217;d be cool.</li>
<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stranglehold_%28video_game%29" target="_blank">Stranglehold</a> &#8211; I am the target audience for this.  <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chow_Yun_Fat" target="_blank">Chow Yun Fat</a> in a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_woo" target="_blank">John Woo</a> movie that I can play?  This should be f**king awesome.  Unfortunately, the demo loses sound halfway through and crashes.  Boo!  Still, I might rent this game (yes, I love <a href="http://www.cinematical.com/2009/12/06/john-woo-interview/" target="_blank">John Woo</a> that much and you should too.  He&#8217;s easily <a href="http://ariasfilms.com/blog/2007/08/19/films-filmmakers-love/" target="_blank">one of the coolest action directors</a> around.).</li>
<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_Man_%28video_game%29" target="_blank">Iron Man</a> &#8211; Did I say that the Lord of the Rings game was the worst?  Well, it is, but this places a close second.</li>
<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trine_%28video_game%29" target="_blank">Trine</a> &#8211; I heard good things about this 3D <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Side-scrolling_video_game" target="_blank">side scroller</a> and they&#8217;re mostly right on.  This pseudo-puzzle-game-meets-<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castlevania" target="_blank">Castlevania</a> is fun.  I wasn&#8217;t addicted but I&#8217;d consider buying it for a discounted price.</li>
<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Ludlum%27s_The_Bourne_Conspiracy" target="_blank">The Bourne Conspiracy</a> &#8211; You know what, I liked the simple brutality of this game.  I&#8217;d buy it at a heavy discount.</li>
<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turok_%282008_video_game%29" target="_blank">Turok</a> &#8211; I know folk loved <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turok:_Dinosaur_Hunter" target="_blank">the original</a> but this incarnation is boring.  How can killing dinosaurs be this tiresome?  What a shame.</li>
<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Faction:_Guerrilla" target="_blank">Red Faction: Guerrilla</a> &#8211; I know some people love this game but it just didn&#8217;t appeal to me.  It has a great premise and setting but after trying the first level and dying minutes later I wasn&#8217;t compelled to pick up the controller again.</li>
<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mirror_edge" target="_blank">Mirror&#8217;s Edge</a> &#8211; This game gets big points for being a cool, different kinda game.  I know, some of you are sick of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parkour" target="_blank">Parkour</a> but by moving the action into a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First-person_shooter" target="_blank">FPS</a> framework this game amps up the thrills.  Absolutely worth a look</li>
<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infamous_%28video_game%29" target="_blank">InFamous</a> &#8211; All signs point to this being a great game.  My only complaint was that I got killed so often that I grew frustrated with the game but maybe that&#8217;s just me.  I haven&#8217;t owned a system since <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NES" target="_blank">the original NES</a> so I&#8217;m a terrible player.</li>
<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kane_%26_Lynch:_Dead_Men" target="_blank">Kane &amp; Lynch: Dead Men</a> &#8211; If <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heat_%281995_film%29" target="_blank">HEAT</a> were a video game, this would be it.  Worth checking out, if only as a rental (I could see this getting monotonous).</li>
<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heavenly_sword" target="_blank">Heavenly Sword</a> &#8211; A decent <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hack_and_slash" target="_blank">hack &#8216;n slash</a> (I&#8217;m not a huge fan of games with 200 combo moves, which this has, probably because I&#8217;m a terrible gamer; see above) but I do love <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_Torv" target="_blank">Anna Torv</a>.  Therefore, I won&#8217;t outright dismiss this game.</li>
<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zombie_Apocalypse_%28video_game%29" target="_blank">Zombie Apocalypse</a> &#8211; This only makes me wish <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Left_4_dead" target="_blank">Left 4 Dead</a> was available on the <a href="http://www.us.playstation.com/PS3" target="_blank">PS3</a>.</li>
<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watchmen:_The_End_Is_Nigh" target="_blank">Watchmen: The End is Nigh</a> &#8211; Oh man, yet another awful game&#8230; and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watchmen_%28film%29" target="_blank">movie</a>&#8230; but I love that <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watchmen" target="_blank">comic</a>.  Seriously, this game is just dumb.  No art.</li>
<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wanted_weapons_of_fate" target="_blank">Wanted: Weapons of Fate</a> &#8211; What at first seems like the perfect comic/movie to port into a game gets butchered by lame controls and weak gameplay (hey, I almost sound like a real gamer).</li>
<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/God_of_War_3" target="_blank">God of War 3</a> &#8211; Now this is a crazy, bloody hack &#8216;n slash I could get into!</li>
</ul>
<p>Phew, thank goodness I got that out of my system.  Wait, not yet.  I have one more demo to play but I got one problem.  I really want to try the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Army_of_Two:_The_40th_Day" target="_blank">Army of Two: The 40th Day</a> demo but I need someone to play with me.  Want to play online?  Hit me up.Want  to come over?  Just say when.</p>
<p>And I conclude this post with a trailer for a game that affected me emotionally.  I&#8230; just <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJam5Auwj1E&amp;feature=fvw" target="_blank">watch it</a> first.</p>
<p><object classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" width="480" height="295" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /><param name="src" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/nJam5Auwj1E&amp;hl=en_US&amp;fs=1&amp;rel=0" /><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="480" height="295" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/nJam5Auwj1E&amp;hl=en_US&amp;fs=1&amp;rel=0" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></p>
<p>I don&#8217;t know why that fusion of imagery and song hit me so hard but&#8230; ah, I know why.  It&#8217;s been a hard few months and I&#8217;m particularly sensitive these days.  I know, it&#8217;s kinda the anti-game, or <a href="http://www.ifc.com/news/2009/07/the-sandbox-flower.php" target="_blank">game as art</a>, but it looks like I&#8217;m gonna have to download it.</p>
<p>ANYWAY, what other games should I be checking out?</p>
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