Riz Raves

Double Dragon - Jay Review

2010-10-12T22:02:00.004+11:00

By: Jay Murphy

Well it’s the second video game movie ever made, will it learn from Super Mario Bros. mistakes? Will a few well known actors save it from the same fate as its predecessor? Read on to find out.
Double Dragon is about Brothers Jimmy and Billy Lee who after having there guardian killed go on a quest to find the missing half of the Double Dragon medallion. Along the way the brothers encounter gangs, chicks with whips, mutants and demons.
I want to start by saying two things, 1. Double Dragon is a heck of a lot better than Super Mario, 2. The movie is definitely aimed at kids. This movie has a heck of a lot more in common with its video game counterpart then Mario did and the action is a lot better but sadly sense one of the actors knows martial arts and the other doesn’t, the action is very mish mashed.
One second you will have Mark Dacascos spinning a broom handle with great skill then the next you have Scott Wolf spilling gumballs on the floor to make a bad guy slip and fall Looney Toons style. In this inconsistency that takes away from the entertainment the fight scenes would have provided. Which is a shame because the rest of the movie is very childish. The jokes are not really funny and the sight gags aren’t very good either.
As for the likeness to the game that’s where the movie excels. Both Lee brothers, Alyssa Milano’s character Marian, Lash, the Chinese twins or chins and Abobo are all in the game however some of the roles are changed as is some of the back story In the game Marian is the girl who gets punched in the stomach and kidnapped, in the movie she is the leader of the power core and a decent fighter. Here is some caparison shots.

Billy, Jimmy and Marian posing for a group shot

Marian getting kidnapped at the beginning of the game.

Not much to go on for a live action costume and a lot of women were upset when the game first came out so they made her sexy while being strong and independent. A change I don’t mind at all. Billy and Jimmy as you can see form the above shot are dressed in blue and red most of the movie. Towards the end they get shiny homo erotic gis pictured below.

The villains also look very close to their game counter parts-

A drawing of Linda Lash from the game/Live action Lash and the Chins.

And my personal favorite

Game Bo Abobo/And movie Abobo.

The other changes are minor. In the game it’s a gang ridden post apocalyptic New York in the movie its Las Angels now dubbed New Angels. And in the game the Brothers are heirs to a unique fighting style in the movie it’s the medallion. The main problem the movie suffers from is lack of martial arts choreography. Marc does his best but if the movie had a Yuen Woo Ping behind it may have been a lot better.
Robert Patrick delivers as Koga Shuko with lines like “Abobo I think of you like a son. And like a son I can always have another.” He’s full of the 80’s cartoon villain cheese that makes us love characters like Cobra Commander and Skeletor.
The acting wasn’t really bad but the writing I wholly believe was aimed at children with sight gags like screaming while staring directly at the camera and cheesy one liners like after Billy pins one of the Chins hair in a suitcase saying “what a head case” . One thing I did like in the movie was the way all the gangs had different themes like in The Warriors.
How would I do it? Well like I said previously I would have focused more on quality fight scenes. I didn’t mind the medallion story line but I would have had them have to use the powers more than they did in this movie. Also I would have established that Marian was Billy’s girl friend at the beginning of the movie and had her kidnapped like in the game.
Overall for nostalgic value the movie is worth watching every now and then. The acting isn’t terrible and the fights are entertaining enough to enjoy. With all that said let’s move on to the scores.
Overall the movies gets 4 out of 10 Dragons. Enjoyable if watched only once in awhile.
Acting gets 4 out of 10. Nothing to horrible but nothing that brings you to tears.
Plot gets 6 out of 10. I already explained the changes and they are minor enough to make no difference. And the original game has very little plot anyway.
Content gets 6 out of 10. All the major enemy types are present as well as the main characters wearing outfits close to their game counterparts.
Well that concludes my second review. Again I hoped you enjoyed it and please feel free to leave comments below or email me. Next up is Street Fighter Followed by a Mortal Kombat double review.

Have a Question for Jay? email him here!
Jay@RizRaveReviews.com

Super Mario Bros, The Movie - Jay Reviews

2010-09-11T18:27:00.007+10:00

Written By Jason Murphy

Thanks for joining me for my first review as part of Bored Shitless. Today we will be taking a look at the first video game movie ever made Super Mario Bros. The year is 1993 videogames are quickly becoming main stream and a Super Mario movie is coming out in May what more could a kid ask for. Was this first venture into live action video game adaptation movies any good? Read on to find out.

Super Mario Bros. is about Mario and Luigi who travel to another dimension to help overthrow a tyrannical dictator and rescue the princess Daisy. Along the way they run into Goombas, Cops and King Koopa himself.

Ok let’s just start by saying this was not a very good movie. It is such a departure from anything having to do with the game. First and foremost while they refer to themselves as brothers and act like brothers Mario and Luigi are technically father and son. During a double date Luigi states that Mario adopted him and raised him. That aside there is numerous other things wrong with the story.

The Mushroom Kingdom is an alternate dimension which I do not mind it actually makes since but here’s the kicker, it is populated by super evolved dinosaurs that after 65million years of evolution have human forms. So instead of the turtle dragon thing from the games we get Denis Hopper as King Koopa. Also instead of being bright and cheery its dark and un down like a bad part of New York.

Above are the King Koopa from the movie and Bowser from the game. Big difference I say. Now while most of the main characters are present in the movie most do not resemble there game counter parts.

Live action Mario and Luigi/Video game Mario and Luigi

Live action Daisy/video game Daisy

Live action Iggy and Spike Koopa video game Iggy Koopa. Spike does not have a video game counterpart.

Live action Goomba/Video game Goomba

Live action Big Bertha/And the giant red fish here is the video game Big Bertha.

Live action Toad/Video game Toad

Now Mario and Luigi once they get there classic game outfits look decent enough except for the fact that Luigi is played by a Hispanic. Now I’m not racist and I love John Leguizamo as an actor but these are two of the most famous Italians ever. So like changing how they are related changing the race is silly. There are a few more things from the game that make it in. There are jump boots whose cartridges resemble bullet bills, and the boots themselves are a reference to Mario’s jumping abilities. There are fire ball launching guns that represent the fire flowers and at one point Mario uses a mushroom as a shield which may be a reference to the power mushroom from the game.

Luigi picks up a Bob-Omb which is an enemy from the game. The fact that the king is fungus and reverts to normal form once Koopa is defeated is a reference to Super Mario Bros. 3 where each king has a different form and is turned back to normal once the boss for that world is defeated. Also at the beginning of the movie we get the classic Mario music and the De-evolution guns are actually the super scope accessory for the SNES. Yoshi makes an appearance but instead of being a smiling green dinosaur you can ride he is a tiny raptor but he does retain his long tongue.
Horrible plot and lack of similarity to the game aside the acting is actually not that bad, it is the writing that I have a problem with. The jokes are not funny, the banter is annoying and the great actors in this movie are wasted on the crappy writing. The Directing is mediocre, nothing special and just ads to the films demise.

The fact that they used Daisy instead of Peach upsets me a bit. At the time of release Daisy had only been on the game boy Mario games and the games have always been about Mario saving Peach not Luigi saving Daisy. This coupled with the complete departure from the bright and beautiful worlds we get in the games is very upsetting.

How would I do it? I would have gone in an Alice in wonderland type direction. Two plumbers get hired to fix some underground pipes, they discover a giant pipe, not just the human size ones from the games but like big enough to drive a Buick into. They fall in and get transported to the Mushroom Kingdom. While there the brothers make friends with Princess Peach and the rest of the royal family. Later Peach gets kidnapped by Bowser or Koopa’s minions (as his name had not been recognized as Bowser at this point). The Brothers then agree to go out to try and save Peach.

The enemies would be as they are in the game and being so small I would have Mario dispatch most of them by stepping on them possible hitting some of them with random radishes in reference to Mario 2. Eating the fire flower would give Mario and Luigi the ability to conjure and shoot fireballs out of their hands. The mushrooms would make them stronger and more durable not bigger like in the game.

Overall the movie fails horribly as both a video game movie and an action adventure movie. All the changes will turn fans of the games off and the incoherent plot and horrible plot will turn normal movie goers off as well.

Overall the movie gets 2 out of 10 Fire Flowers. As I said above writing is bad and lack of familiar locals and characters ruins it.

Acting gets 4 out of 10. It was a decent effort but the writing hindered the actor’s natural ability.
Plot gets 2 out of 10. No Mario game not even Mario RPG has anything to do with what happens in this movie.

Content gets 2 out of 10. Some familiar names and weapons that resemble items from the game are here but besides that there is nothing more for fans.

Well that concludes my first review for Bored Shitless I hope you enjoyed reading it and I’m always open to constructive criticism so leave your comments below. Next up we take a look at Double Dragon.

Got any Questions for Jay?
Send him an email, or leave him a comment Below!

Welcome Jay Murphy!

2010-09-10T13:08:00.004+10:00

Written By Jason Murphy

Hello Riz Raves fan’s. My name is Jason I don’t have a net handle just yet so Jason or Jay is just fine. I do not have a video camera so all my contributions for now will be text articles. My main focus will be on movie reviews however I will only be reviewing live action video game adaptations. I will start with the first, Super Mario Bros. The difference between my reviews and a normal movie review is that while a normal movie review focuses on acting and directing ECT. My reviews will focus on how the movie stacks up to the game

The review format will go Introduction, Plot Summary, Review, How I would do it and then the scores. The introduction will simply be what movie I’m reviewing and maybe a small tidbit of info. The Plot Summary will be no longer then a paragraph. The meat of the review will contain spoilers as these are mostly old movies. I will do as much research as possible before reviewing the movie including playing the source game if possible.

The how I would do it section will be one or two paragraphs on what direction I think the movie should have gone or if I would not change anything. The scores will be in these categories. Overall, the score the movie gets as a whole. Acting, how well the actors portrayed the characters they are supposed to be. The plot, how closely the movie resembled a plot from the game or games or at the very least how close in spirit it is to the game. Content, how much stuff from the games are in the movie whether its characters, weapons, outfits, special moves ECT.

In addition to the reviews I will have top ten lists and possible joint reviews with Riz later down the line. I should (no promises) have my first review out sometime tomorrow and I hope you look forward to reading it as much as I enjoy writing it.

The Expendables - Movie Review

2010-09-06T18:39:00.004+10:00

Tuesday 7/09/2010 Video.

Scott Pilgrim Vs The World - Movie Review

2010-09-02T23:44:00.005+10:00

Thursday 2/09/2010 Video.

Goldeneye Wii, just another lame excuse?

2010-08-19T23:54:00.007+10:00

So as everybody that humps Nintendo's leg knows, they are re-imagining the masterpiece of the N64. I guess you could call it the gran'daddy of all shoot'em-ups. Goldeneye 007. The Classic, The Original, and still the best. BUT, would re-releasing it on the Wii be calling it a lame excuse? O-M-G RIZ!? WHY WOULD YOU SAY THAT!? Well third person me, here's why I believe they are ruining the concept of a true masterpiece here, just to flog a dead horse and call it brand spankin' new! (*cough* bullshit).

So as many know Activision have taken it upon themselves to redesign the "RAREWARE/RARE" classic and give it "new life". Now here's where the problems lie, Goldeneye N64 was designed for the ultimate shoot'em up experience to ever grace a console, giving it that Home feel and Arcade persona that gamers loved. You didn't have to go to an Arcade and spend your hard earned dollars on it there, you could play this awesome game from home, it was also designed to re-capture that dying/declining audience that the Bond Movie series was actually losing. Did the game succeed? What a stupid question third person me... It was an instant hit, if you had an N64 you had to have Goldeneye, or you were a LOSER, with a capital 'L'.

Saying that, this game WAS specifically designed FOR THE NINTENDO SIXTY-FOUR, NOT for a current-Gen Console! To say that, "oh we're making a new Goldeneye for the Wii, and we're just going to add a couple new feaures, GET EXCITED" is enough for me to barf on my Wii. With Wii's declining fangasms as of late and many people switching on their PS3's and XBOX360's, what makes Nintendo think that dusting off the Goldeneye brand will pull the "hardcore of hardcore" fans back, by flogging a dead horse?

Now here's where I call this a lame excuse for the Nintendo side of things, in relation to Bond and Activision. Nintendo and Microsoft had been talking about this whole remake deal for a very long time, since the launch of the Wii to be exact. Both companies wanted Goldeneye "of some sorts" on their consoles. But let's face facts here 'Ninty', Microsoft and RARE are the people in partners, you lost your chance. But hey Microsoft, you ain't in the clear, look at what you did to Banjo-Kazooie... Terrible. Anyway, point is here, if Nintendo wanted it so bad, maybe they should have kept their "eye's on the prize" which was their moneymaker of the future "RARE", I mean, how could Nintendo let those guys slip away like that? They revolutionised 3D graphics for gaming, Look at the DKC series (praying to GOD that Retro Studio's don't F***-Up DKC Returns), They were revolutionary for their time.. and Nintendo just let them go bye-bye? in the immortal words of Tim Allen... EEEAUUUGGGHHAAA?. (Yes that's the spelling of the Tim "The tool man" Taylor grunt).
Geez, I went off topic again, where was I? oh yeah, lame excuse, that's right.. So it was damn obvious that Activision had a Bond Game in the works while the 23rd film of the Bond series was at work, so was the 23rd Game. And if your abit slow on your Bond gaming and what-not, the game is NOT Goldeneye Wii, it's actually called Blood Stone, and the game actually looks quite phenomenal. Great graphics, gameplay looks sensational, and they even have the real actors playing their voices in the game too!
Sweet as Bro!

So it was obvious that Reggie Fils-Aime had a cry, called a bored meeti -- oops I meant BOARD meeting .. my mistake *cough*, and said "I WANT BOND TOO! *CRIES*", so Activision must have been like.. "FUCK!" and had to start developing a "Shitty" graphics version of their Blood Stone Game, and had turned around to Nintendo and said, "look, we ain't going to dumb down these graphics just for your shitty white box, called a 'console' *giggle*, so what do you want us to do?", Nintendo with obvious thought would have gone straight to the money maker, Goldeneye. Now I don't really know the backstory behind this, But apparently there was some legalities that needed to be sorted with Nintendo and RARE to be able to distribute the new Goldeneye game on the Wii, apparently Nintendo do not own all the rights to the old Goldeneye Game, and recreating and distributing something that's not originally yours in the first place is obviously not all that legal in the first place. So, from hear-say, there was a money deal between Nintendo and RARE, which means that RARE will deservingly get some "Cha-Ching" out of this whole thing. Pretty sweet deal ey?

Now with that said, It's obvious that Nintendo's Console couldn't hold up to the "PHENOMINAL COSMIC POWAH" of the PS3/XBOX360, to place Blood Stone on their console, something that confuses me though is that, they are going to distrubute Blood Stone to the "DS", .... huh.. weird. You'd think that they would distribute a Goldeneye DS, which would have actually been pretty sweet. Eh, Nintendo and their major Cock-ups, anyways... There's my opinion on this whole deal, and I think that Nintendo need to get their head out of their ass and start on their Nex-Gen Console already, just to catch up on a console that was released before theirs were. I'm of course referring to the XBOX360. (...and to the PS3 too.. even though it was released later, would actually be kinda 'cute' to see Nintendo's attempt to match Sony and Microsoft... HA-YEAH-RIGHT!).

Riz Out!

Taking Back Wednesday - Riz and Jason Review X-Men

2010-08-11T03:39:00.003+10:00

ADD THE GUYS ON FACEBOOK! CLICK HERE!
AND VISIT THEIR WEBSITE! CLICK HERE!

Toy Story 3 Vs. The Hannah Montana/Transformers Generation Share

2010-06-18T14:52:00.007+10:00

Originally Posted on Facebook, January 21st, 2010.

So, About a month away, I turn 21, and i'm all amped up and excited to be going to see a children's film that expected to be released in Early June. We are still 5 Months away from the Release of Toy Story 3, yet i'm really excited to see the final product that Pixar will throw at us. Pixar, Never, NEVER, disappoint... okay there was "Cars", but that's beside the point.

What i'm trying to say is, what 21 Year old get's this excited about a release of a children's movie?
It has been nearly 16 Years since the release of Toy Story, and I remember going to see it as a kid, I was 5 Years Old, My Sister was 2, still in her pram, sucking on a dummy and my Mum took us both to go see Toy Story.... Twice (once with just Mum and Once with Mum and Dad). It was THAT good, and still is. I mean, it was astonishing for it's time, one of the first ever fully 3D Rendered movies to hit the silver screens around the world, it was so big here it lasted 4 months in cinemas and took over 2 years to release on VHS, (remember those days? when it took AAAGES to get movies onto VHS?), anyway, you can't be telling me that i'm the only 18-27 year old that is not looking forward to this. My Cousin, he is 26 this year, he owns the ORIGINAL, VHS Cassette, and to this day i still see it sitting in his Video Cabinet, why would you ever want to give it away?

Toy Story was apart of upbringing of any kid that grew-up in the Late 80's, 90's.
They were innocent times back then with children's movies, you didn't hear as many adulterated jokes back then as these days, I mean Shrek, is considered a kids movie, yet some of those jokes are obviously directed to adults, and most of the time, kids don't know what they're on about, I mean, I didn't even get the "Layers, Lairs" joke at first. But now there is also, what I like to call the "Hannah Montana/Transformers Generation", where it's nothing but, Bubble-Gum Lollipop Music, and Pre-teens acting as adults in their movies, and Optimus Prime and Megan Fox and how hot she is (I Mean yeah she's hot, but it's still a children's demo their attracting here), Nothing is innocent about the children's genre in anything anymore, it's totally become adulterated and it wouldn't make sense to most kids these days. It's just bright flashy lights and the "WOW" factor, No effort.
Transformers is a top notch film, it's a great flick no doubt, I enjoyed it, but as a children's film, HA no.
And Hannah Montana, or Miley Cyrus, in no way is she a role model for any children, all the crap she has done, and been exposed to in recent memory, she should be ashamed to be even involved in the circuit of the children's industry, She in no way should be involved with Disney or anything involving a camera ever again. Thank god that Shitheap of a show is ending next year, so I won't have to listen to my little cousin telling me how great Hannah Montana is, so the back of my mind doesn't have to keep saying, "Miley Cyrus... The little Fuckin' Tart".

No doubt here though is that Pixar are taking a big risk here, developing what has been off the screens for now 11 Years, with Toy Story 2 being the last of the series in '99. My Little cousin, the one I Mentioned before, was born in '99, she was born the year the Sequel was made. She turned 11 today, (Damn i knew I forgot to call someone), and she does not even know what Toy Story is, because it hasn't been talked about in the past years. But now with it coming back, it's obviously going to be hard to get the kids to watch a SEQUEL to a film that they have never watched in their life, yet never being born for the 2nd Film.

Now With Toy Story 1 & 2 being re-released into cinemas in 3D, it's the perfect opportunity for people who grew up with the film, and for the people who grew up with the film and HAVE kids too, to get re-acquainted with these 2 masterpieces to get ready for the 3rd installment, which I see will be what everyone has been waiting for, for years now, the Grand Finale, to a Grand Trilogy. Only Question is, How will todays "Hannah Montana/Transformers" Generation react?, But in all honesty, who gives a shit right? I think it's more about us as now Adults getting closure on our "Kiddy Years" and now moving on, and Toy Story 3 definitely seals that fate for me, it gives myself and my Gen that closure, the way I Look at it, Toy Story wasn't just a film, it became a way of telling, if you still had that "Kid" inside of you.
Obviously I still do. And I can't wait for him to come back out, one more time for this Movie.

It's Going to be Gold.

Riz Out.

Mortal Kombat 9 Trailer!

2010-06-11T03:38:00.006+10:00

Well, It wasn't even 20 Minutes when I posted my article on my thoughts on MK: Rebirth, where I essentially was stating in the article that I wanted MY OLD SCHOOL MK BACK!
God had to be have listening and said, "OK" *BOOM* and all of a sudden, the MK9 Trailer hits cyberspace not even 20 minutes later.. and is it just made of awesome or what!?

Check it out!

Check out my thoughts on MK: Rebirth too guys! CLICK HERE!

Thought's On Mortal Kombat: Rebirth

2010-06-11T01:14:00.003+10:00

WARNING: ANGRY RANT ALERT!

So, being an AVID Mortal Kombat fan, I was so proud of the first two films. They were simply amazing! The Story, the characters, the adaption of the Video Game, the screenplay, all of it, it was just astounding, until I turned 12. That's when I noticed that, well, they sucked. Big Time.

Now, I've been following the development of the supposed Sequel/Prequel, whatever you want to call it, of the new Mortal Kombat: "Devastation" Movie, which production has been on hold since, 2004. The only devastation here is that the movie has yet again been shelved, why? we get no answer really. And let's face it, the actors that were in the original movies are now, how do I put this delicately, OLD!? I mean Come one, Linden Ashby, yes he was an awesome yet cheesy Johnny Cage in the Original, but he was 35 years old then, a man in his prime. Now!? He's Half a century old! So to all these haters out there, GET REAL ALREADY! This is something REAL MK Fans have been dreaming of, a reality based Mortal Kombat Movie! I Mean let's face it, when you were young, playing the games, did you ever really sit there and read the stories of how these characters got to be in the tournament, if so, Readings for NERDS! just kidding, but I was never into that, I was more into the fact that I was playing a violent, bloody and gory Video Game, something that was new to me, considering all I ever played was Super Mario Games. Hell MK is a traditional household Game in my family, and not just in my immediate family either.

And I tell you something now, I HATE THE NEW MORTAL KOMBAT GAMES, I hate 'em, I hate 'em, I HATE 'EM! They are what the old school MK fans despise. It was like Ed Boon walked into an office of Tekken Producers, saw what they were doing, took the "Street Fighter" Stylings of "Unique Fighting Controls" and just swamped it all in my favourite characters! I HATE PLAYING WITH SCORPION NOW... AND HE'S MY FAVOURITE CHARACTER! Now I'm not dissin' Karate or Kung Fu or Taekwondo (Yes that's how you spell Taekwondo), they're great sports. But I loved Mortal Kombat for the sheer realism in street fighting, gory action that it originally was. It was so simple, yet so affective that we used to play "Trilogy" for hours, hell we still do, and I own the new games, yet I still play the old school ones more than I do the new ones. These new games present a "fantasy" presence which turns me off the series, and I just don't want to know about it.
Outworld, Inworld, Upworld, Downworld... I DON'T CARE! I JUST WANT TO PUNCH HIS GUTS IN, AND RIP HIS HEAD OFF! Hell with the recent DC Crossover Game, they might as well had Scorpion make a cameo appearance in The Dark Knight! "WHY DO YOU WANT TO KILL ME!?" .... "GET THE FUCK OVER HERE!"

Now I say, HEY WARNER BROS., YEAH YOU TWO! Why Don't you sit down, and watch the original shit-storms, that were considered...ugh... Movies.. and think about what Video Game series you have invested in, maybe considering this movie, would actually help you guys in the long run, with boosting morale with Mortal Kombat Video Games, 'cos let's face it, they aren't getting any better. I mean, yeah, fine, it was directed by Kevin Tancharoen, the guy who directed that Flop of a remake, "Fame". But he's proved here, that being a hardcore MK Fan, that he has the same vision that pretty much 89.9% of the Old School MK Fans did too, of the original movies, and he basically did, what everyone expected out of the other two, Make a good movie! Those 7 Minutes and 49 seconds, I would Watch repeatedly, for the Entirety of the two original Films Running time combined! (201 Minutes, for anyone counting). Yet still, you get these fucking HARDCORE Fanboys, commenting on this video saying, "OHHH THIS IS CRAP! BARAKA HAS NO HAIR! OH HE'S NOT BLACK! OHHHH OHH..." ...OHH SHUT. THE. FUCK. UP!
Seriously, Can't ever make these fucking video game, hardcore, fanboys happy.
I believe that if Kevin Tanc... Kevin T. ever got the chance to direct this movie, you would all sit there, with your popcorn, your big ass coke, sat there for 100 Minutes, shut the fuck up, walk out the cinema, and you'd STILL be fuckin' crying to your mum. FUCK!

... ok calming down now....

The point is here that, this man right here, did something spectacular, he sparked interest in Mortal Kombat Fans around the world, and I tell ya, 24 hours ago, I could have given 2 shits of a chocolate milkshake whatever Mortal Kombat was doing then. Now, I'm hoping that WB gives this film a chance, because not only was this Mortal Kombat short film "The Rebirth" of MK, it was the rebirth of alot of hope for alot of MK Fans out there, that are hoping that MK can turn around from whatever shit their working on at the moment, stand back, look at it for two seconds, and say... "damn... that WAS CRAP!? WHAT WERE WE DOING!?", and turn it around for hopefuls like myself, and many others who agree with me, that MK is currently a piece of steaming crap, that usually rots in my video game closet of untouched, dusty video games.

So all in all, fingers crossed for Kevin T. and the other guys that worked on This Short Film. MAAAAAJOR Kudos.

- Riz Out.

P.S.
If I was to complain about something of the short film it would have been one MIIIINORRR detail, where was the "MORTAAAALLL KOMBAAAAHHH" Scream? ... eh that's nothing huge to me... but I did a quick mock-up of the end with the scream anyway, just to see what it would sound like with it.

P.P.S.
I kinda knew that they used some stock footage of Johnny Cage actor, Matt Mullins.
'Cos let's face it, not many short films that have under 2 days to shoot, would go to major broadcasting studios and film fake segments just to use video footage and waste their presenters "valuable" Time... so I found this video that is in the short film at "3:02" above and at "1:16" Below.

An Open Note to Dan Rizzo

2010-06-10T02:33:00.008+10:00

So one of my loyal subscribers, @edanny311, wrote me an open letter on Facebook, and asked me "why so much hostility?" over certain Youtubers. This was based off a tweet I had made earlier in the day about Youtube Partners that exploit their opportunity of being Partners and present nothing but crap to us.

First I have to say, Thank you so much dude, this I consider my first ever Fan-mail letter that doesn't ask me "WHAT HAPPAIND TO UZE AND CHANNAEL LAWLZOMEZ!?".

Open note to Dan Rizzo

Wednesday at 23:35 AEST

So, Dan Rizzo Why so much hostility toward YouTubers? They earn an income doing what they love. And many times, their vlog channels aren't even their main channel. Youtubers like Phillip DeFranco worked their way to where they are. I respect PDF. Not a fan of his Vlog really. But I like the main show.

NOW I do feel that they are exploiting the system by getting their new channels partnered IMMEDIATLY after they join, and earning extra income through multiple channels, with videos every day. One example of this is Jonny Paula, who acquired the JON channel through contacting YT and saying "hey, this channel hasn't been logged into for years, can I have it and can you partner it?" Now, don't get me wrong, I enjoy Jonny Paula and his entire production team, Ideo, but that wasn't really fair.

NOW Someone like Shane Dawson I have NO love for. He has, what, 4 channels now? And he gained popularity instantly? He's not even entertaining! Others like CharlesTrippy and his wife Alli, who just make HOME VIDEOS AND MAKE MONEY?! I disagree with that. Shaycarl, look, he was kids. While not entertaining and kind of obnoxious, people like him, and watch his videos. But if he supports his family through that, more power to him.

My Response:

Nice letter dude, okay, I see where your coming from, but some people just totally exploit the system, like for example, CharlesTrippy and Alli, (it's his fiance btw dude lol), here's an example of their vlog: they do something... then like 5 seconds later, they have to explain it in detailed context! it's like.. HELLO! I JUST SAW IT! People like Phil are very creative and i dont mind his show, funny, creative, and talented is Mr Franchina (DeFranco), although, not original, Inspired By ZeFrank, is exactly where he gets his: 1. Act, 2. Material, and 3. Name... kind of. Shaycarl, cool dude, he's essentially the true blue Vlogger, supports his family and you can tell if his family ever told him, "ok stop with these vids already!" he'd drop the camera in a flash, 'Cos that's the kind of dude he is.

Then there are people like, iJustine.... Who Cares what waterslide you went down today! Who Cares What Dance your going to do at whatever APPLE store your going to do next! Who Cares! People like MysteryGuitarMan, FreddieW, SMPFilms (when he's not too busy selling Razors), these are guys who put alot of time and effort into what they do, and it just comes out Ace. Hell dude, Last night at 2AM, I was actually going through all your videos, why? 'Cos they were actually Simple, Yet Hella Interesting to watch, especially your Dishes One, where you ask your viewers to come and wash your dishes for you, 'cos it was creative, and fresh, and something new to watch and listen to. "The Utube Usuals" as I call them now, are boring, stale, repetitive, and don't give anyone else a chance to get out there really. Youtube has become a wasteland of "You Know what you're going to get".

But I dunno that's just my view.
Cool Letter BTW dude. Thanks! You got anymore questions, you know where I am bud ;)

FOLLOW EDANNY ON TWITTER AND SUBSCRIBE TO HIS YOUTUBE!
TWITTER | YOUTUBE

Live Show From May 30, 2010

2010-05-30T22:28:00.004+10:00

Uncharted: Eye of Indra

2010-05-19T23:26:00.004+10:00

Riz's Top 10 Games of 2009 (Pt. 2, No.5 -No.1)

2010-05-17T23:53:00.015+10:00

CLICK HERE FOR PART 1

NO. 5

Tekken has always been one of my favourite series, ever since I received my first copy of Tekken 2 on the PSX, I have grown a custom to the 3D Fighting Franchise. It just threw something different out there. Sure it was an arcade game ported to PSX, but not many arcade ports have the success that Tekken has. I'll admit though, Tekken isn't my favourite fighting franchise, Mortal Kombat is. Not the Current, 3D, shotty MK, the one where they used still images of real actors in their games, which made it a little more realistic than this cartoony crap that they are putting out, if I were to compare MK Today to Tekken Today, Tekken would kick Mortal Kombat's ass Hands down, with spectacular fighting styles and great graphics, Fantastic roster of different characters with unique fighting styles, as Tekken always has been, Tekken definitely would take the cake, (or at least my slice) as the fighting franchise of NOW.
Quick Score: 7.7/10

NO. 4

Not a Fan of RPG's, never was, never will be.
But c'mon, this one was just an instant grab. "It's a Mario Game", we've all heard that one. But Yes Bowser's Inside story is definitely worth a look, from the minute I picked this up and started playing, I was hooked, it's one of those games where, you get a look into the other side, Bowser's Point of view, which is different for once, as well as Mario and Luigi's Point of view (which in this game was his stomach lol). My only problem, and this occurs alot in Mario RPG's, Way too much talking, they talk too much rubbish and you sit there chewing on your stylus, saying "GET TO THE F'N POINT ALREADY!", that would be my main issue, with any Mario RPG, and this one was no exception really. What is funny though, is it tells a funny little story on, what can happen when the heroes and the arch villian have to team up to take down an evil force, to gain control on the one thing they want, Princess Peach.... hold on... Super Paper Mario Ring a bell?
Either way this game will keep you busy for a few hours, I definitely recommend it for any Mario Fan, DS Gamer and RPG Lovers.
Quick Score: 8/10

NO. 3

EUREKA! ...okay that was cheesy, but I had to start this one off like that.
The Ace Attorney Series finally delves into the life of, one of the most beloved characters in the series, Miles Edgeworth: Perfect Prosecutor (Which is what the damn game should have been called).
This game takes on a different angle of the series, taking justice outside the courtroom and into the Streets... Wait Wait! DON'T CLOSE THE PAGE! Just listen for a sec, I'll admit this wasn't the most original idea, aka: Professor Layton, But what I think the difference is between Pr. Layton and AAI:ME, is that this game presents a much more mature look into the world of Handheld investigating (ugh, where am I coming up with this stuff), With the investigations being more than one case, which are usually fantasy cases in Pr. Layton, AAI:ME presents much more real life scenario's and plot-holes that will keep your mind boggled for hours. The series presents new features, and presents throwbacks to the old Ace Attorney Games, (Even makes reference to Phoenix and how he lost his Power as an Attorney, although we know how that happend already), Ace Attorney Fans will love this game, and People on the older side of things from the Pr. Layton Series should give it a go, it's alot of fun.
Quick Score: 8/10

NO. 2

Now I'll be honest with you here and Say that New Super Mario Bros. Wii ..... Is lucky to be 2nd in this list, Surprised? Here's Why. If Nintendo really wanted to put any effort into this game what so ever? It should have come out like this, Now the reason I say that is because, I have studied the Inner workings of NSMBWii, and i must say that, my 5 year old cousin could make this game look better with a bunch of graphic replacements (which to be honest are a bunch of PNG Files, SURPRISE!) and the Level editor which a 15 YEAR OLD KID CODED! (SURPRISE!). Okay, enough badgering the game, let's get to the reason why this is number 2. The Game bought everything that everyone wanted back to a Nex-Gen Platform, "2.5-D" Sidescrolling action that only matched the nostalgic feel of the original NES Games, with brand new implemented features, and a few old ones they introduced in the DS Counterpart. The game EXCEEDED my expectations, because the way I see it, it's just a filler until Super Mario Galaxy 2 is released, but they did do a good job on sidetracking us with -- "OOOHHHH SHINY RED BOX!" -- catch my drift here? As much as it looked good, I wasn't about to be fooled by a piece of plastic around the content which I was mainly concerned for, the gameplay, which was cool, I wouldn't say it was Awesome, but it was pretty cool, As I said, it obviously was a filler 'till SMG2 was released, just in the fact that it felt way too rushed in the end. I had beaten the Game in about 5 days, and was very disappointed with the ending to be honest, but the rest of the Game was fantastic, the New Features, mixed with the Nostalgia, which is what really drew me to this game, really kept me playing. Now you're probably Saying, "Riz if you're badgering this game so much, why is it Number 2?", quite simply put, it was better than the rest. Now I've already done a review on this game, which takes alot more of a positive side into this game. CLICK HERE if you would like to watch it.
Quick Score: 8/10 (Same as the Video)

NO. 1

Now before I begin here, I just want to say that, this Game was developed in 2009, was released in October, 2009, and technically I bought it in 2009... December 31st, 2009 at 7:43PM to be precise (looking at the receipt). I just started Playing in 2010 (January 1st, 2:00AM to be precise lol), So I'll just clear that up and continue.
UNCHARTED 2: Among Thieves, is no doubt Naughty Dog's biggest hit since Crash Bandicoot: Warped, and is no doubt in alot of PS3 Gamers minds the 2009 Game of the Year. Nathan Drake, returned much to the popular demand of the fans who loved the very first game, which was a hit with alot of Hardcore PS3 Gamers. With his new quest to find the secret of the Cintamani Stone, which was the main reason for the Voyage of Marco Polo. After finding out that Marco Polo had hidden Hints in certain plot points, Nate goes out to find the stone, with the help of two other Main characters, Harry Flynn, and Chloe Frazer, who Nate apparently had some dealings with in the past. Of couse, the plot line is full of the awesome of awesome stuff that usually makes a great adventure movie what it is, that's why I usually have my whole family watching me when I'm playing this game, 'cos it pretty much is an awesome ...Movie-Game? with Action, Explosions, Sex, (Well off screen Sex), Betrayal, the bad guys and The Heroes. But don't worry, your favourites from the predecessor return, with a Cameo from Victor "Sully" Sullivan and The Return of Elena Fisher, it also fills in the gap of what happened with these two in between the two movies-- uhh I mean Games. The Game is longer and give you alot more to play with too. Alot of the glitches have been fixed from the first one, and I haven't really seen that many in this one compared to the first game, which mainly had a couple Environment and Movie Glitches, where the movie would start and you would see a flash of purple on the screen. It also makes use of the in-game renders to give you cutscenes, which really usually in games, alot of people complain about, this one, they look so great, that sometimes you can't tell the difference whether it's a Movie file or the actual in-game render. And the Cutscenes are really compelling too. They are anything but boring. Another fix in this game which makes it heaps better than the first, is it's espionage tactics have been improved, so you can't bee seen from afar, and can sneak up on enemies from behind, without being spotted with "their eyes behind their head", which is what Drake's Fortune had alot of issues with. With that said though, I would like to see along with the espionage tactics, the ability to pick up an opponent and be able to place him somewhere, where If an enemy walks past he wouldn't be able to see an unconscious or dead body on the floor, Much like seen done in Splinter Cell. All in all, whether it be, Drake's Wittyness, the action packed adventure, or the awesome story of the game, Uncharted 2 is definitely My Number One Game of '09, and Favourite Game.
SONY PLEASE RELEASE A THIRD PLEEEEEASEEEE!
Quick Rating: 9/10 (JUST TOO F'N GOOD)

So there you have it guys, my Top Ten of 2009.
I Cross my fingers and hope that 2010 gives me alot more than 2009 did, 'cos let's face it, 2009 was just on Huge dry spell for video games.

So My Question of the Day is, what is your Top 10? or Top anything of 2009?
Leave me a Comment Below or tweet me @TheDanRizzo

- Riz Out!

CLICK HERE FOR PART 1

Riz's Top 10 Games of 2009 (Pt. 1, No.10 -No.6)

2010-05-17T15:48:00.007+10:00

Okay, let's face it.
2009 had a year of 80% Lackluster games that were released, most companies leave you high and dry until the end of the year, so when Xmas comes around, Parents are going crazy to get their kid the hottest Video Games. But, 2009 left us with nothing but 3 Major Titles (2 of them do make it to the list), one of them being pretty much a rush/filler, but coming off as an "instant classic". So, with that said, let me just warn you, I'm not a Call of Duty Fan, Never have been, Probably never will be, so don't expect to see MW2 in this list whatsoever. Let's Begin Shall We.

NO. 10

Now for everyone that follows my twitter, and that knows me personally, they know i'm an avid wrestling fan, been one for about 16 years now. And everyone that is a Wrestling Fan these days knows, that every year THQ go to work on their latest installment of their Smackdown! Franchise. Well obviously, this year was no different, as they went vastly hard to work on their latest and dare I say, Greatest installment of the Smackdown Vs RAW series ever. Smackdown Vs RAW 2010, pretty much gave us a new Experience that alot of Wrestling Fans were looking for in a Wrestling Game, The Grapples, The High Flying Attacks, the new and Improved Royal Rumble, which now I love even more, due to Signature Entrances being made for each superstar, none of the simple, Run Down to the ring London and Kendrick Style.
With the new and improved system, they introduced new blood graphics which previous games desperately needed. Each Hit and the blood trickles down the face of the Wrestler, it just looks amazing, but don't expect to see that in the next game, due to WWE going PG, you'll most likely see Doctors Running out to glue the Wrestler's Head Shut (aka no blood at all). Question is, How do you make a WWE PG Game?
Quick Score: 7.5/10

NO. 9

With the given success that WiiSport had, Wii's Motion Controls were starting to become dull, due to the fact everyone was using the "cheap way out" to play certain games that wanted you to get off your couch. Nintendo decided to show off a brand new addition that would get those arms swinging again, with the Addition of the WiiMotionPlus, Wii-er's started Getting off that couch and into the groove again... for about 5 minutes. I mean, there has only been 4 Real Games that gave been released for the WiiMotionPlus this year, but the main one being, WiiSport Resort. Much like how Nintendo Bundled it's predecessor with the Wii, they had bundled the new attachment with their New Sports Pack. Much like WiiSport, the game is alot of fun, but lacks the notion of Multiplayer if your friend, or yourself does not own a second "WMP". But I have to admit, this game is alot more fun than WiiSport, the additions of Basketball, Table Tennis (Ping Pong), Fencing, and the return of Bowling, even with One Motion Plus, this will have the family having fun for hours.
Just Share the control ;p.
Quick Score: 7/10

NO. 8

Now Golf is my guilty pleasure of sport.
Not everyone is fan, but when It's on, I watch. Now, when I purchased this game, it was actually the week of the whole Tiger Woods Scandal, and it was kind of awkward playing this game after, None the less, it is a fantastic golf game, and is probably one of the better games on the Wii. With the Intergrated WiiMotionPlus Usage in this game, Tiger Woods PGA Tour series never felt better, it has to be the best golf game out, with Pin Point Accuracy, it has, probably, the best usage of the MotionPlus to date. The Sad thing is, much like Golf it does get boring after a while, i've always found golf to be too much of a quiet sport, and this game is pretty much the same, just too quiet. Nothing keeps you pumping and saying, "Yeah let's keep going!", maybe with a lttle more enthusiastic music in the background, not too loud that it blares your tv speakers, just enough to get you concentrated and pumped and ready for your next shot, I would have played it just a little longer. It's Not that I hate the game, I just got bored of it. Great Play for about 4 weeks, but nothing really too special to comment on.
Quick Score: 7.9/10

NO. 7

I'm not a fan of gory games, but I do support the R18+ Rating to be allowed in Australia, i'm just not a fan of the genre that's all, But there was just something about MadWorld that I loved, I don't know whether it was the awesome and inventive gameplay, Greg Proops witty commentary that kept me laughing, or my sadistic mind having some fun, (jk.... but no really... I will kill you in more ways than this game :| jk :p) But I have to admit, this game really took me by surprise, I honestly did not expect alot from this title, as I was expecting another Lackluster "kill'em all", But this game really does show that besides Sonic, Sega do have something left in their Tank, and hopefully will see a sequel... please? My only complaint would be that, there should be MORE ways to kill people in this game, really there's only a few but, their oh so fun to do. That's just my sick side talking, lol.
Quick Score: 8/10

NO. 6

This is one WiiWare Game I was really Excited for, (No Pun Intended). Excite Bike World Rally bought us back to the NES Classic that was Excitebike, with Classic and Familiar gameplay. It bought back the old School Nintendo that Hardcore gamers were dying to see, and did it deliver... Ohhhhh Ye-- Kinda. It was all Sparkly and new, but the Freshness wore off real quick with this one, I mean, remakes are awesome, but there's only so much you can cope with repetitive gameplay, the only reason you put up with it, is for the nostalgic qualities that game withholds. The Freshness is the brand spankin' new Backdrops, where you may play in different countries around the world, and online Gameplay. The Cons of this game? WHERE IS MAH MULTIPLAYER!? The game has NO Multiplayer, which is kind of understandable, yet, I believe they could have found a way to work around easily. The online is pretty cool, you can race people around the world, and even acquire your friends WFC Friend Code. But that's the only way you'll be able to race your friends on this Classic Throwback. The only thing I ask if they ever make a sequel, Implement some BRAND NEW features, I mean, I love Nostalgia, but when making a new game, I want new stuff to come along with it.
Quick Score: 7.5/10

Next Part CLICK HERE

Uncharted 2: Behind The Scenes + Mocap Interview

2010-05-15T02:51:00.013+10:00

Watch in HQ

The following is an interview by MocapClub.com

Naughty Dog established itself as a leading Playstation developer with the “Crash Bandicoot” and “Jak” video game series. With the launch of their latest franchise “Uncharted”, Naughty Dog started using motion capture for their game cinematics. Both the original installment “Drake’s Fortune” as well as the sequel “Among Thieves” have been received with open arms by critics and gamers alike. The franchise has been praised for setting a new bar for the action adventure video game genre. We recently had the opportunity to talk with Josh Scherr, cinematics animation lead for the “Uncharted” series about their use of mocap in the franchise.

MC- The Uncharted franchise was the first video game series from Naughty Dog to use motion capture. What was the motivation for incorporating Mocap into your video games?

JS- Obviously the biggest change between the Uncharted series and the Jak series was that we were moving from doing cartoony characters with stylized performances to much more realistic humans. We did plenty of keyframe animation tests early in the production of the first Uncharted; what we came to realize is that doing realistic human animation via keyframing is a very difficult and time-consuming process, and something that simply wasn't feasible given our schedules and budgets. For example, during the production of Uncharted 2, the cinematics animators were expected to do 15 seconds of finished animation per week, including facial animation. A very doable goal when working on the stylized characters of the Jak series – in fact, our quotas on those games ranged from 20-30 seconds per animator per week! – but when you're dealing with realistic humans, if you don't get the animation right, it's going to take the player completely out of the experience. We all know what people look like when they move, and we all know when it looks wrong or weird. Motion capture helps us get a good starting base, especially for all those subtleties that are really difficult to keyframe, and then we build on the performance from there.

MC- How was the decision of using motion capture for the Uncharted series first received by the animation team an how do they view it know?

JS- You know that scene in every monster movie, the one where the angry mob arrives at the mad scientist's door with pitchforks and torches? It was kind of like that. All of us at Naughty Dog come from a keyframe animation background, and the thought of using mocap was anathema to us. Ultimately, creating the best possible performance within our time constraints is the goal, and mocap is a huge help, so we all got over it. All that said, we haven't abandoned keyframing entirely, as you'll see below.

MC- What is Naughty Dog's approach to motion capture?

JS- From a technical standpoint, we're similar to a lot of other productions. We use optical motion capture, we build simple sets to match our in-game environments, and we shoot video reference for the animators. What I believe sets us apart is that we strive to get the most authentic performances we possibly can on the mocap stage, so every step in our process steers us towards that goal. First of all, our cast members do both the physical performance and the vocal performance. I've seen a lot of work done where the voice actors are recorded separately from the mocap performers, so either you've got a bunch of people pantomiming to someone else's voice, or you've got a voice actor trying to match the wild gesticulations of some dude on the mocap stage. Either way, you get this huge disconnect between the performances. Another thing that sets us apart is we record the dialogue at the same time as the physical performance, right there on the mocap stage. Having the actors perform together brings a certain spontaneity to the scenes that you just don't get when you record everyone separately in a sound booth.

We don't motion capture the faces; all of the facial animation in the game is keyframed. We also don't capture the fingers on set, we just have a library of finger poses that the animators can use. Lastly, we don't bother capturing props either. I mean, if a character's carrying a gun, you're just going to constrain the gun to their hand anyway, right?
We also spend a lot of time planning for our shoot days. If you're paying a lot of money for your stage time and your actors, the last thing you want to do is have them sitting around while you figure out how to replicate your game level using two platforms and an apple box. In addition to doing rehearsals with the actors, we also do a test run for setting up the stages, so that on the day of the shoot there's minimal down time.
Once we get the data back, we spend a lot of time finessing and massaging it. First we fix the obvious stuff like weird shoulders, gunslinger arms, IK pops, and so on. We also spend a lot of time adding keyframe animation into the mix; sometimes just as a layer on top of the mocap, other times we'll pull specific poses from the mocap as a starting point then keyframe everything in between. We'll also keyframe from scratch where necessary, usually for moments that are way too dangerous or impractical to capture on the stage, such as Drake jumping for a ledge and grabbing on with one hand.

MC- What is new in regards to motion capture in Uncharted 2?

JS- The biggest change between the two games is that we now record usable dialogue on the mocap stage. During production on the first game, we recorded the dialogue on stage as well, knowing that none of it would be usable as final audio. We simply re-recorded all the dialogue in the ADR booth later, using the stage audio as a reference. For the sequel, the stage we used was soundproofed, allowing us to use over 75% of the audio straight from the mocap stage. Otherwise, everything else we did was just a refinement of what we did on the first game.

MC- The Uncharted series is known for pushing the boundaries of what the
PS3 can do. How is this exemplified in the animation of Uncharted 2?

JS- We use the game engine to generate all the cinematics – no rendering packages like Vray or mental ray are used, ever. So all the cool lighting effects, rain drops, effects animation, skin shaders, etc. are generated by the same code that drives our game. We prefer to do this as it helps us maintain a visual consistency between the cinematics and the gameplay. We have a very sophisticated animation layering system that we use for the gameplay animation. For example, instead of having to have two completely different animations stored in memory for "normal" run and "scared" run, we just take the "normal" run and blend a torso-arms-only animation on top of it to create the "scared" run. Likewise, Drake can take cover hundreds of different ways, but there's only one base "cover" pose that gets combined with a single-frame pose on top of it to create all the different variations.

MC- How much of the data that was captured ended making it to the final game?

JS- It's hard to put an exact number on it. All of the cinematics started as motion capture – it's the first step in the process – so that's 90 minutes worth right there. Then you have all of the IGCs (in-game cinematics), the scripted sequences that play during gameplay, and all of the gameplay animation. We certainly captured dozens of hours of stuff just for the cinematics alone, but only a certain amount made it into the game. For the gameplay animation, a lot of it is straight-up keyframe animation, and the stuff that started as mocap got so heavily tweaked that the original data isn't recognizable.

MC- Finding the right performers is one of the most important elements for a successful motion capture project. What where the most important things you looked for during the casting process?

JS- Well, we start with the obvious things – e.g. talent, distinctive voice, whether an actor is appropriate for the role, etcetera. But since we're looking for people who will be doing both the mocap acting and the voice, we also watch how the candidates physicalize their performance. It's also important to see how they deal with adjustments and to see if they take direction well. For the top candidates, we'll actually bring them back for a second audition and have them perform a scene with Nolan (North, who plays Drake) to make sure they have good chemistry.

MC- Did you guys used different actors for the dramatic sequences than for the action driven sections?

JS- The only time we swapped out performers was when we did stunt work. Obviously, we don't want to permanently injure our actors, so for anything even remotely dangerous, we'd bring in some stunt performers. This was mostly done for the gameplay animation, the melee fighting in particular. If there was anything that could use a stunt performer in the cinematics, 90% of the time we just did keyframe animation. Sure, we could've rigged up a bunch of wires and had people flying through the air, but that stuff ends up needing a lot of animation adjustments anyway, so why not just keyframe it?

MC- Can you talk about the software and tools used through the Naughty Dog motion capture pipeline?

JS- All of our motion capture data was solved and processed by our mocap vendor, House of Moves. Our animators work exclusively with Maya, so House of Moves sends us the data in Maya format, all FK on the arms and legs. We then transfer the data to our character rigs, which were designed to have three skeleton layers. The bottom-most layer is the game skeleton, which is what our game engine reads to translate the data into the game. We never touch that skeleton. Driving that skeleton is what we call the mocap skeleton; all the mocap data gets applied to this layer. Finally, driving that skeleton is the animation rig, which can be used as an offset rig. We've also got custom-made tools that allow us to "flatten" our offset animation – i.e. bake our offsets back onto the mocap rig – or "trace" the mocap animation. We can extract the keyframes we want from the original mocap, then detach the animation rig from the mocap skeleton and do keyframe animation. The facial animation is all joint-based and controlled by a series of sliders, one layer for the broad motions, one layer for the fine details. We can also control the individual joints on the face, but the only time we do that is for super-special-case poses, like Sully holding the cigar in his mouth.

MC- What comes next in the motion capture world for Naughty dog?

JS- On a basic level, we'll continue to refine our process and tools to get the best possible results within our limited schedules. Beyond that, nothing I can really talk about at this point, I'm afraid. :)

Vile Verses E01 - Gin Wagner

2010-05-13T00:25:00.004+10:00

Riz Live! From Monday May 10, 2010

2010-05-12T02:22:00.002+10:00

Live Show From April 18, 2010

2010-04-19T22:05:00.003+10:00

Reggie Created Level - "Creepy Quay"

2010-04-07T21:08:00.003+10:00

WILL BE AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD VERY SOON!

So this is my New Reggie Created Level, I call it "Creepy Quay" (If you don't know what a Quay is, look it up).

It Contains custom music, (Which was a pain in the butt to do, but i got it done) and i think it turned out pretty cool. Let me know what you think guys.

MUSIC USED IN THE LEVEL IS:
Super_Mario_Bros_Da_Pipes_OC_ReMix

DCT_-_Super_Mario_World_-_Haunted_Hood_Revisited.mp3

EASTER LIVE SHOW! RECORDED APRIL 4TH, 2010

2010-04-04T23:24:00.004+10:00

(PART 1)WE LOST SOUND FROM 24.00 TO 31.00 MINUTES ... DONT FRET THOUGH.

(PART 2)

Wrestlemania 26 Prediction Results/Thoughts

2010-03-29T21:51:00.036+11:00

Part One - Part Two - Part Three

Part One - Part Two - Part Three - Part Four

So, it's come and gone again. That one time of year for all Wrestling fans to have a reason to rejoice, the grandaddy of 'em all, Wrestlemania, has proved once again why it's Wrestling's Superbowl.

Now I thought that it was a great 'mania, not the best, but a great show, but there was only one sole purpose for me ordering the show this year, and that was the "Undertaker Vs. Shawn Michaels II" Match. When WWE started the Storyline back in October, with HBK Stating that he wanted a rematch at 'Mania with "The Deadman", it sold me, right there and then. The year previous, I did not purchase Wrestlemania XXV, 'cos I thought the booking was lackluster at best, and I didn't really think that 'Taker V HBK was going to be anything grand, boy was I wrong. It definitely deserves the title "Match of the Year" because Shawn and 'Taker went all out on this one. Now I've seen Many HBK/Taker encounters throughout the years, but nothing compared to what I saw at 'mania 25. They say that the younger you are, the better the match, then how come when Michaels and 'Taker met last year at 'Mania, they had outdone all their past matches, tenfold? Funny how a 43 Year old man can out do his older matches, the last time 'Taker and HBK met before "WM25", was back at the Royal Rumble of 1998, in a casket match, from when he was once 32. 'Taker was in a heated feud with HBK at the time fo the WWF Championship, while also struggling to come to terms of the re-emergence of his brother Kane. I think the thing back then was that, people and their storylines were too cluttered, not only was the Undertaker having a storyline clutter, but so was Shawn, Having to build up The newly formed DX, the Rise of Stone Cold, Montreal, The Undertaker coming for his title, Personal Demons and a Broken Back, ALL at the SAME TIME. Damn. So really, with all the clutter, there really wasnt time for them to sit back and say, "ok, this is how we're going to do it.", but sadly instead, turned into a chain of, Storyline interruptions and squash matches. Sad.

So finally, after 11 years, we were all able to sit back and watch these two, ply their craft in the ring, and it was nothing short of Magic. In all the 16 years I've been watching, I never felt so captivated watching a wrestling match before. These two set the standard of a REAL Wrestlemania Main event. Now after 'Mania 25, HBK planned to retire, he was not planning to return whatsoever. It was Triple H (Or Hunter) who talked Shawn into returning, so he could at least give a proper goodbye. I don't think it was meaning of disrespect that Shawn didn't say goodbye, I think it was that he had a fear that this day would come and didn't want to face it, and always had that "what if", factor at the back of his mind, like most Professional Wrestlers do when they retire. So the "what if" kicked in and lasted another 7 months, when Shawn returned to face Legacy at Summerslam '09. He wrestled here and there on RAW, not a whole lot, mainly doing the backstage vignette's with Hunter promoting WWEShop.com (man i'll miss those).

So December hit, Shawn was back for 4 months at that time, and the time was not involved with any storylines, (other than the tag team "throwaway" championships) and the Slammy's were upon us. And the nominee's for Match of the year were as follows:

Undertaker Vs Shawn Michaels -Wrestlemania 25
John Cena Vs Randy Orton - Breaking Point 2009
Jeff Hardy Vs Edge - Extreme Rules 2009
Team RAW Vs Team Smackdown - Bragging Rights

Take a wild guess who won that, So bringing HBK back into the limelight of things only took a split second by Shawn throwing out the rematch challenge, and for the next 3 months after, that's all the wrestling world was buzzing about, will it happen? won't it happen? of course, "the smart wrestling fans" knew it would. (And I say smart as in dirt sheet readers.) So it was mainly the waiting game, countingdown the days to see these two up the ante of last years 'Mania, and it was nothing short of perfection. Sadly, seeing Shawn go will definitley put a damper on me watching wrestling, as there's only a few reasons(wrestlers) to watch wrestling now. But with Shawn now out of the game, it puts WWE in a position to start making new stars, and stop wasting their time on recycled stories. But, I have to thank HBK, for everything he ever did in a wrestling ring, behind the scene's and for entertaining me for 12 of the 16 years I watched Wrestling(He was out for 4 years due to his back), So thank you Shawn "Michaels" Hickenbottom. Thank you so much for all you did for this business. See you at the Hall of fame Next year, Shawn.

Riz Out.

My Predictions - Results

Tag Title Match
Morrison & Truth Vs ShowMiz:
P: ShowMiz - R: ShowMiz (1)

Money In The Bank:
P: Christian - R: Jack Swagger (1)

Triple Threat:
Orton Vs DiBiase Vs Rhodes:
P: Orton - R: Orton (2)

S.E.S. Stipulation:
Mysterio Vs Punk
P: Punk - R: Mysterio (2)

World Title:
Jericho Vs Edge
P: Jericho - R: Jericho (3)

Singles:
Bret Hart Vs Mr. McMahon
P: Bret - R: Bret(4)

Singles:
Triple H Vs Sheamus
P: Triple H - R: Triple H (5)

WWE TItle:
Cena Vs Batista
P: Cena - R: Cena (6)

Streak Vs Career:
HBK Vs Undertaker
P: HBK - R: Undertaker (6)

I dont consider Diva Matches, Real matches, they are nothing more than Piss breaks to me.

Live Show From March 28, 2010

2010-03-29T15:56:00.002+11:00

Yoshi's Island - SNES Review

2010-03-14T00:41:00.001+11:00

Mighty Final Fight - NES Review

2010-03-13T23:11:00.002+11:00

Live Show From March 12, 2010

2010-03-12T12:47:00.008+11:00

Nathan Drake, The New Indiana Jones

2010-03-11T15:45:00.005+11:00

So, what can I say about Uncharted, other than, it's the best game i've played in the last 10 Years, 'bout time Naughty Dog did something decent. Ever since their sale of the "Crash Bandicoot" Series, Naughty Dog have done NOTHING. And I say that, not to in any way "Bag" Naughty Dog, it's just... come on, what can you really name other than Uncharted and Crash, that has really stood out from Naughty Dog... One word... Nothing. This is Definitely their rebirth back into Gaming. Naughty Dog had their chance with the PS2, and they Blew it, with Crash: Wrath of Cortex, terrible game, yet the sequel to the Smash hit, "Crash Bandicoot: Warped", their most successful, and best selling Crash Game (and my favourite).
So they sold their entire Crash Library to Vivendi, Which did a spectacular sequel, to the Bomb, Wrath of Cortex, Known as Crash Twinsanity, that game was awesome. Then Sierra Bought the property, and we all know how that went. I won't go on with Crash. But Uncharted, all i can say is, I think we found our answer to the 21st century's Indiana Jones. (Even though there was a Indy movie in the 21st century that totally blows, yet their making a sequel to it... WHY!?...anyway)

It was by off chance that I bought this game, and a bit of consulting by my Canadian mate, Mike "Harvey Birdman: Attorney At Law" Dodd (Yes that's your new nickname im giving you), I was thinking on the day, either Guitar Hero 5, or Uncharted, and I asked my Twitter Followers: "undecided between uncharted or guitar hero 5", and I got an immediate response from "Birdman": "are you retarded? Uncharted for sure" (delicate lol). So taking his advice was the most awesome thing I did last year, I got to experience something so great, Which was not only the Rebirth of Naughty Dog, but the birth of probably the best video game series I've experienced. If you do have a PS3, get off your butt, go to a Video Game store, and Buy The first game, it's cheap at the moment, like $30, so get it and PLAY IT.
The game is short, but oh so sweet. It's not just another straight forward game, this is more along the lines of a Cinematic Feature that you can play. and you know those "Boring, Long and dull" cutscenes you get in games? Nah, not this one, the cutscenes are the quint essential reason for playing this really, I don't know why, but they draw you in, the look, the feel, the acting of the people in these scenes in the game are so perfect, it's definitely adds raw emotion to the game. And don't worry, the cut scenes aren't 45 minutes long, they range from about 3 to 8 minutes, it has just the perfect blend of game play and movie scenes.

Not to spoil anything from the games here, but the main plots of the games are, you're Nathan Drake (Played by Nolan North), the protagonist in the Uncharted series. He is a Treasure Hunter and supposed descendant of Sir, Francis Drake. He's not your typical Treasure hunter, he is more of a personality, which is what makes him so likable. He's a mixture of, tough guy, "one liner" comic relief, and playboy, which makes him interesting to see what he'll do to get the gold and the girl. He is usually accompanied by his mentor, Victor "Sully" Sullivan, a dirty old man, who tries his luck with the younger ladies, but also owes debt's to the "wrong people" to owe anything to. On your way, you'll meet a cast of characters, good and bad, which will get you hooked for hours on these game. The plot is very similar to an Indiana Jones-like plot, but the gameplay with have your jaw jacked. Fantastic Visuals, smooth gameplay, and tonnes of action, perfect combo. Nathan Drake has become the official mascot of the PS3, (so says sony), and i couldn't agree anymore, this is one definite series that I would love to see around for a long time, with the likes of Metal Gear, It's a fantastic series, and it ain't over yet.

Riz Out.

Let's Play New Super Mario Bros. Wii

2010-03-09T21:01:00.009+11:00

Ustream LIVE SHOW Recording

2010-03-09T19:20:00.005+11:00

NOTE: IF THE VIDEO DOES NOT LOAD, THAT MEANS USTREAM ARE CURRENTLY HAVING TECHNICAL PROBLEMS, I'M LOOKING TO RECTIFY THE SITUATION VERY SOON. ALL MY STREAMS WILL BE DOWNLOADED AND UPLOADED TO BLIP.TV FROM NOW ON.

My Thought's On Rove McManus

2009-11-16T16:01:00.024+11:00

THERE are going to be alot of Aussie's at my age who are going to agree, that We grew up with John "Rove" McManus as our own David Letterman/Jay Leno, but much more cooler.

If You Don't know by now, last night Rove decided that it was time to "call it quits", and laid his variety/talk show, "ROVE (LIVE)" to rest. And to be honest, It Just was not the right time to give up something like this. As badly as his ratings fell this year, his show was still on a high with some great guests, funny skits, and an ever growing cast that kept changing to ensure, more new faces would end up on televsion, with just changing around his new cast recently after launching the 7PM Project, and also celebrating 10 Great years of Television, it is a sad sight to see the pint-sized presenter, leave our tubes for the last time.

I Still believe that it's not Rove's doing, I believe that this was Ten's doing, after they told Rove to put his "Big Boy Pants On" and change his format while they cram him into Channel 7 Studios in South Melbourne, and do a Jay Leno Format, that lead to his shows downfall and demise. After revamping the show for the first time, and then the sad death of his first wife, actress Belinda Emmet, Ten revamped it once more, to no avail, only to be put on the back end of a ratings failure at the moment, Australian Idol. Ten decided Once again, that they would revamp the show for 2010 to a "Hey Hey it's Saturday" Variety Show which was due to return in April of 2010, due to the success the two Hey Hey Reunions had earlier this year. Rove's Last show only Pulled 750,000 viewers, 50,000 less than the week previous to his last show. I think that it was a tough, yet smart decision on Rove's part to "Leave" on a high note.

Although, I do not believe this will be the last ever Rove (LIVE), I still believe there will be a public outcry for Rove to return to TV. We may see him back in 2011, due to the public demand these days of variety television. There is no doubt that Rove was to be Ten's "Prodigy" of 2010, but now, as rumours would have it, he may be joining Peter Helliar and Merrick Watts, on Triple M.

Weird thing too is that he has not made one tweet on his twitter account all day.
(@Rove1974)

Either way, I'm going to miss Rove on TV. I Just hope Rove is sleeping on this decision, 'cos this could break his career if he decides to never come back.

Oh Well.
Thanks Rove.

-Riz Out.

New Super Mario Bros. Wii Review

2009-11-16T15:00:00.008+11:00

RATE COMMENT SUBSCRIBE

Been a while since i've been here!

2009-11-16T15:00:00.002+11:00

Well... it has surely been a while since i've used this... but i think now with a few more subscribers since i last used this... (approx. 608 more) i think it's time to pick it up... and give you other thoughts on games, TV, movies and stuff. So Expect to see much more stuff here too guys...

World of Goo - Review

2009-02-01T22:09:00.000+11:00

Aussie Critic - Crocodile Dundee

2008-09-02T23:06:00.005+10:00

Super Smash Bros. Brawl - Review

2008-09-01T21:40:00.000+10:00

Mario And Sonic Olympics - Review

2008-08-20T21:58:00.003+10:00

Bourne Conspiracy - Review

2008-08-08T21:54:00.002+10:00

Uncharted 2: Behind The Scenes HQ

2008-05-15T14:44:00.002+10:00

Back To Main Article

Channel Awesome One Year Anniversary

2008-04-01T23:00:00.004+11:00

Riz: Quote of the Day #6

2008-03-23T17:50:00.001+11:00

"Happy Easter!,... Original Ey?"

But serously, Happy Easter to All.. have a safe one, and remember Don't Drink And Drive!

Riz: Quote of the Day #5

2008-03-22T01:05:00.002+11:00

"Dickheads are my bread and Butter"

P.S. Sorry I've missed the past 2 days.. I'll Make up for it with a Double quote of the day ASAP.

Luigi's Mansion Trailer

2008-03-21T00:51:00.005+11:00

YouTube Description - A Little Something to wet your appetite.. Full Review Should Be Up Next week after Easter.

P.S. Look Below For Other Upcoming Games. -Riz

Luigi's Mansion Review, Toy Story Scrapped.. for Now, Future Shows.

2008-03-20T14:51:00.004+11:00

Hey, I Just wanted give you guys a quick update today before the long weekend begins.. I'll be working hard this long weekend to get my second Review Completed, Luigi's Mansion for the Nintendo Gamecube.. this one should exceed the expectations that SVR08 had.. this one should be much funnier and more interesting to watch.. as seeing my pilot episode, i saw my flaws and are working them out now.. i'm also going to try to get new equipment to film with.

Also, I posted yesterday, that i filmed a Toy Story SNES Review.. i've scrapped that filming.. just because of the way it turned out.. i just didnt like the way it turned out.. so i'll be working on an actual review for the game sometime in the future, and not it just being a "Quickie" review.

Anyway here's a List of Future Installments i have planned for the Show:
Luigi's Mansion | Nintendo Gamecube (Next Week)
Super Smash Bros | Wii
Bully 'Scholarship Edition' | Wii
Toy Story | SNES
Super Mario Bros Series | NES/SNES
Super Mario Galaxy | Wii
LoZ 'Twilight Princess' | Wii
Contra | NES
Mortal Kombat Series | SNES
And that's just a taste of what's to come..
I Hope you'll all 'tube' in.

Anyways, Take Care Peeps. ;)
-Riz

Toy Story Quick Episode Coming

2008-03-19T17:31:00.003+11:00

Hey Peeps, I Just finished filming a "quickie" episode that will be coming soon, 'Toy Story for the SNES'....., but not before i finish off thmy next Review Luigi's Mansion for the GCN.. I'm not sure if it will be on here after Luigi's mansion but we will see, Let the RAGE begin! >:-(|

Riz: Quote of the Day #4

2008-03-18T14:42:00.001+11:00

"eeb (ēb, ĕb)

(interj.) The noise made by a bee flying backwards, possibly to get into a tight parking space."

Riz: Quote of the Day #3

2008-03-17T17:27:00.004+11:00

"Would you like to Increase the Size of your Penis?.... Well, Pulling it isn't Going to help!"

F*CKING SPAMMERS!

2008-03-17T16:04:00.007+11:00

For F*ck Sake!, (Translated: Dear Readers,)

I wake up this morning feeling that, my bowel's had loosened to my lower back.. but that's another story, For F*ck Sake, I Just logged on to my MSN about 5 Minutes ago to only find.. How many New Messages?.. not 1...NOT 2....... Not 3....Hundred.. but 457 NEW MESSAGES!.. WELL AIN'T I THE POPULAR ONE!... so I Dive into the cesspool of BULLSHIT & SPAM that is my Inbox, only to find.. well.. BULLSHIT AND SPAM!.. I mean.. COME ON!.. there can't be that many bloody chainletters in the whole F*cking world going around at once!

**MICROCRAP: WELCOME TO THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF SPAM** [_][X]

Sign In: [_______________]
Password: [_______________]
SPAM THE SHIT OUT OF ONE PERSON!: [__________________]

Who In their Right F*cking mind would be that damn bored, ........ah i know...... meh dosen't phase me, Or Does it? *eyebrow rais..... OF COURSE IT F*CKING PHASES ME! what a load of horse shit!

"You've got mail"

Would you like to increase your Penis Size by Ten Inches?

Yeh no F*cking Problem.. SO I CAN F*CKING TURKEY SLAP YA FROM WHERE I'M SITTING YA BASTARD!...

Pass this on to 20 other people to continue this chain... OR YOU'R HOPES AND DREAMS WILL BE SHATTERED AT MIDNIGHT TONIGHT! :| (horror music plays in back of mind)

...... Get... The... F*ck... of it!.... [*] DELETE!

Would you like to increase your Penis Size by Ten Inches?

Wait a second didnt i just delete you?

Far out, what in the blue hell is going on with technology these days!... SPAM BLOCKERS MY ARSE!..

argh, anyway thought i'd vent it off in the Blog today..

Oh, B.T.W. I WONT BE starting a V-Log anytime Soon.. It's Just too much go throw through VIdeo game reviews and V-Blogs.. i gotta manage the Video gmae reviews for school although would have loved to do the V-Blogs.. Times-Ticking away on everyday and that time is needed on preparing these reviews, anyways peeps.

Ciao! ;)

Riz: Quote of the Day #2

2008-03-16T19:50:00.003+11:00

"Grab the universe by the globes... or it'll come back to kick yours."

Riz: Quote of the Day #1

2008-03-15T15:51:00.001+11:00

"Riz is Gay" is not an insult.. it's more of an arse pimple. ;)

Riz's Rave Reviews - Smackdown Vs Raw 2008 Wii

2008-03-15T01:25:00.000+11:00

Youtube Description - This is the Pilot Episode, It's not supposed to be as funny as expected 'cos the first plan for these videos were to be just reviews, but since i've got plans for my reviews to express how i really feel about these games.. trust me, I've got bigger and better plans ahead on my other reviews so stick around!

Yep Yep!.. A New Game Reviewer.. Good God haven't we had enough!

2008-03-15T01:08:00.000+11:00

Yiieeep yep, I know what your all thinking.. Another AVGN/Irate Gamer Rip-off... well.. to be honest... haha, yeah, I am.. and you know what?.. I Could care less.. Quite honestly if it werent for those guys i wouldn't be influenced to get up off my lazy arse and jump start my life.. as i've always had the ambition to either get into the Video Game industry or my main aim.. Video & Arts Production. So before the Haters get on your High Horses and start your Bullsh*t.. i want to thank James Rolfe and Chris Bores for helping me realise what I want to do.. Entertain and have fun.. I thank the people who enjoy my videos.. and for the haters.. You know the song "People Equal Shit" (Richard Cheese Rendition)?, well let's just say that song reminds me of you.