EA's DLC

Have you ever heard an argument and felt like you knew you should take a side, but you couldn't? That's where I'm at right now. There is a growing trend among game developers to attempt to kill, or at least stifle, the booming used game industry using free downloadable content with the purchase of an unused game. Anyone who purchases a used copy will have to pay $10 extra to access the same features.

Now, I am not exactly against this. This is still a business and these companies do deserve to make some money. This is a reasonable solution, all in all. It allows gamers to get games second hand and save a bit of money initially, and then pay the extra when they can afford it if they so choose. Despite the arguments back and forth from all parties involved, I think that if we examine this like rational people, it's a good plan.

Which is why I am so amazingly dumbfounded as to why EA Sports felt they had to mess it up.

Starting in June with the release of Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11, EA Sports will be implementing it new "Online Pass" program. The program will do pretty much everything that regular "Day One DLC" does, but with a catch: You won't be able to play online without one. Let me be frank: This is a very bad idea.

Regular DLC plans never limited a player's ability to actually play the game, but that is exactly what this new program will do for some games. It's 2010 and the days of only playing offline and alone are long gone. Online gaming is at an all time high and there are even some games, I'm looking at you Modern Warfare 2, that have little in the way of offline, single player value. I can understand what EA Sports is trying to do here, but this isn't the way. XBOX Live users already pay a fee to get online. They do no need to pay another just to play the game.

Thankfully this is only happening at one company so far, and one whose games I've never been a fan of, but I am concerned with this catching on. Gamers don't hate game developers, and we don't want them to go under. As long as they are willing to work with gamers using systems like "Project Ten Dollar", then we will continue to support them. But the system EA Sports has implemented is not an example of working with us. It's working against us.

EA Sports: Most gamers play online now. And most games support online play. Don't try to take this away. I promise, it isn't going to make gamers want to pay that extra money for you. It will only make them stop buying your games.

Intro and First Review

Hello there and welcome! I started this blog as a place for me to vent, comment, review, or do whatever I see fit. I'm passionate about movies and video games, so those will most likely make up a large portion of my reviews, though I may tackle some music or books if I feel up to it. I'm sure I'll feel like sharing more information later, so for now, let's get to the good stuff.

Review: Iron Man 2

Alright, before I begin, I want us all to just take a step back and marvel (no pun intended) at what is happening here. Marvel is doing something utterly unheard of, creating an entire universe for their movies to operate in. An interconnecting universe that will eventually result in what I am hoping will be one of the coolest things ever: The Avengers Movie.

For those not in the know, the Avengers are a team of superheroes within the Marvel Comics universe that were created to handle the global threats that one hero alone wouldn't be able to manage. Though, unless I'm forgetting some, pretty much every hero Marvel has ever mad has been an Avenger at some point, there are really only a few that are usually recognized. Of these, the big three are Captain America, Iron Man, and Thor.

With two Iron Man movies now under their belt, Thor and Captain America both set to have their own films next year, not to mention that scene at the end of The Incredible Hulk that tied it to all of this, I'm getting a little excited. Unfortunately, Iron Man 2 may suffer because of this. It feels like part of a bigger picture, which it is, but as a result it doesn't ever quite work. Don't get me wrong, it's still a great time at the movies, but not even close to the original.

Iron Man was a new breed of movie, an experiment to see if Marvel could manage the ambitious project they had in mind. It worked better than anyone could ever have expected. It's sequel sadly lacks that edge. The actors all do fine and the direction is solid, but everyone seems to have settled into their roles now, leaving them with nothing to do but go through the motions. Fleshing out these characters was such a huge job in the first film that, now that it's done, there wasn't really anything new to do.

Obviously there are some people who aren't affected by this, because this is there first outing in these roles. Chief among them are Mickey Rourke as the villain Ivan Vanko, Sam Rockwell as Tony Stark's rival Justin Hammer, and Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff aka the Black Widow. All three deliver solid performances, but were given criminally little screen time. The upside is, at least one of them will be back in the next movie. And honestly, how can more of this ever be a bad thing.

All of that said, I still had a great time at this movie. I love seeing Robert Downey Jr. in the role he was born to play, and I can't really complain about the movie itself. It all works pretty well and is pulled off effortlessly. Hopefully in the next one we'll get some character development or interesting plot twists to challenge these actors. They all have their roles down, now they need something to do with them.

Final Word: Go see this, if only to keep up with what's going on in the "Bigger Picture". Just don't be surprised if you feel like this is only making way for something much more grand. It is.