Week of 5/18/2008

My Fat Ass



So Wii Fit comes out today and I'm still predicting that this is going to be the highest selling game of 2008, even beating out GTAIV. While it may not put up the first week numbers of GTAIV, this thing is going to have some serious fucking legs, and I suspect it will be, for a while, just as scarce as the actual Wii it plays on.

I understand why some people, mostly considered "core gamers", aren't interested in Wii Fit. And if you're one of them, that's totally cool. Not everything is for everyone. But I continue to be surprised by how many of the people who fall into this group are almost violently opposed to the very idea of Wii Fit. Now I could make the easy "gamers + exercise = hilarity" joke, but I think it's more than just the typical gamer's aversion towards anything resembling physical activity. I've heard people go so far as to refer to this game as "the death of gaming". Really? Seriously? So I guess the assumption there is that once developers see how well the game sells, every developer is going to be jumping on the bandwagon.

I can support that theory only to a certain extent. I mean, if the Wii and DS have shown us anything, it's that there are a select group of publishers who revel in the quick cash-in. I mean, how many Dogz, Catz, Kittenz, Horsez, etc. do we really need to cash in on the Nintendogs fad? And do we really need a half dozen more cooking games?

However, that doesn't take away from the fact that we are a community of reactionaries. The sky is continually falling upon us and we're constantly panicking about the next great outrage to our precious little hobby. Epic's not going to cancel Gears of War 3 and start developing some spin-off aerobics game where you destroy Locust by getting into yoga positions.

A few days ago, someone told me that he felt Wii Fit was "just...too...different." I didn't know him well enough to dig into why he felt that way, or what that statement even means. How can anything, gaming or otherwise, be "too different"? If we didn't have games that tested the boundaries, we'd still be sitting around playing Pong. And it appears to me that the same people who criticize Nintendo for "rehashing" their franchises over and over again, are the people who consider Wii Fit to be "too different". It's an odd logic to witness.

Personally, I'm incredibly anxious to play this game. Not because I think it's going to wipe away my love handles or turn me into a yoga expert, but because I for one actually enjoy trying new things; things that are "different". I have no intention of starting a daily workout routine and no hopes that this is the invention that will all of a sudden convince me that exercise is fun, inspiring runs around the lake and 10k bike rides. I simply like trying new things. Hell, the game looks fun. Remember fun?



I'm ashamed to admit that I was completely convinced that Romero's latest movie, Diary of the Dead was going to suck. Land of the Dead, while not as bad as many claim, wasn't a very good movie, and is certainly the least of his films. So while the Romero/zombie fanatic in me dictated that I pick up the DVD and watch it the day of its release, I didn't have high hopes. And for the first ten-to-fifteen minutes it seemed my worst fears were about to come true. The opening zombie scene was a bit stilted; the acting and dialog forced and corny. Then there was the film set scene with the annoying college kids and their mummy movie. It was not going well. But as I got deeper into the film, and as the zombie attack began in earnest, Romero created an engrossing tale about how a group of people deal when the world is turned on its end.

There are some incredibly effective scenes in this movie; friends having to kill friends, strangers having no regard for fellow survivors, what happens when family members turn, etc., etc. The movie almost captures the same indie vibe of the original Night of the Living Dead, as it's essentially a "reboot" of the zombie franchise filmed with unknown actors on a shoestring budget. My only gripe is that at an hour and a half it's just too short. Certain areas could have been explored in greater depth, but seemed to be trimmed down. One of the things I love about Dawn is that it's fucking long and you don't feel like anything was missing when it's over.

But as a zombie nut who's seen dozens of horrible zombie flicks, I can easily recommend this one as one of the better movies out there. Check it out.

John