Why I Can't Stand COD and Halo

First of all, let me say this I used to love these games. Halo was THE reason I bought an original Xbox, and Halo 2 is the reason I bought Xbox Live. I grew up playing Duke Nukem and Doom on my computer. Not to mention that when deciding which next-gen (now current obviously) console to go with, Halo 3 is what pushed the 360 over the edge for me. And I also always liked COD 1-4. They were all so fun at the time. But let's be fair here; of all these games, the latest came out when I was barely 16. I'm 21 and I'd like to think I've grown since then. I'm not as easily manipulated into squandering 60 bucks for slightly improved graphics. Nor am I quite as entertained by running into a house, shooting 5 guys, running out, shooting 5 guys, running down the road, shooting 5 guys, riding in a jeep for 5 minutes, shooting 5 guys, and that's it. Oh, some poorly-written war movie cliches thrown in between. To be quite honest, I'm far past boredom with these games. It's to the point where I would literally rather sit and do nothing. And Halo, while a little more purely fun, has also more than overstayed its welcome. But personal opinion (though fact-based) aside, these are not my biggest gripes with these kinds of games. There is one concern that far overshadows everything else.

These are killing the video game industry! I know that sounds extreme, but think about it for a second. What were the biggest-selling games of the PS2/Xbox/Gamecube generation? Grand Theft Auto, Gran Turismo, Metal Gear Solid, Final Fantasy, Kingdom Hearts, God of War, Jak and Daxter, Halo, Sonic Adventure, Splinter Cell, Fable, Knights of the Old Republic, Super Smash Bros. Melee, Super Mario Sunshine, Wind Waker. How many of those are first-person shooters? ONE. Look at that variety. It's... it's beautiful, man. Now let's look at this generation, by system. Xbox 360: Kinect Adventures, Black Ops, Modern Warfare 3, Modern Warfare 2, Halo 3, Skyrim, Gears of War, Gears 2, GTA 4, COD: MW. PS3: Gran Turismo V, God of War III, MW2, Uncharted, Black Ops, MGS4, MotoStorm, LittleBigPlanet, Resistance, Killzone 2. Wii (refuse to count gimmicks) Donkey Kong Country Returns, Animal Crossing: City Folk, Super Paper Mario, Epic Mickey, Kirby's Epic Yarn, and Metroid Prime 3: Corruption. You see what I'm getting at? he PS3 offers a little more variety, and you could argue the Wii is very anti-FPS but both of those systems still fall into the habit of taking one or two franchises and hammering them down our throats as opposed to being creative. Besides, once the "ooh!" of the Wiimote subsided, the FPS systems started dominating. Personally, I think the DS is the best system of this generation, but that's a different article. (SPOILER ALERT!!)

I think these statistics are a very bad sign, hence the entire paragraph dedicated to them. We used to have Metal Gear, Kingdom Hearts, God of Warm Jak and Daxter, Splinter Cell, KOTOR, Mario Sunshine (a new kind of Mario), Windwaker, Smash Bros. Now we have rehashed Mario, war shooters, post-apocalyptic shooters, and almost everything that isn't that is feeding off of past-generation success. Like God of War III, MGS4, Metroid Prime 3, Gran Turismo V, and Uncharted basically being a AAA version of Tomb Raider. Where's the creativity? It's there, but it's scarce and no one wants to market it if you can't shoot something through a red dot sight. Where's Alan Wake, Enslaved, Gun, Earth Defense Force 2017, Tales of Symphonia, Dragon Blade: Wrath of Fire, Endless Ocean, Zack and Wiki, Blue Dragon, Muramasa, The Club, I could go on. The point is, while less in number, there are still many great games that I believe would be much more known and loved if not for COD and Halo destroying the non-FPS market.

Call of Duty is the Michael Bay of video games. Taking everything gamers (not people that call themselves gamers and list every COD as their favorite games) love and turning it into the same indistinguishable shlock. All we get now is gray and brown FPS games, and everything in space (including turtles) in movies. I for one will NOT be buying any next generation console until they've proven they can offer some damnshitassfuckingballspiss variety! You all should too. As long as you all keep eating this shit up, it will never change. Every game will be COD or space marines, and we'll never have a unique experience again. In games, in movies, in music, in books, anywhere. Stop it!

Why Disney Buying Lucasfilms Isn't That Bad

       

          For those of you that have no internet access, no television, no magazine subscriptions, no newspapers, and no associates with any of the aforementioned, here's the short version. Disney Corporation purchased Lucasfilms from, wait for it, George Lucas, and announced that they will be beginning work on a new Star Wars trilogy, beginning with the release of Episode VII scheduled for some point in 2015. A lot of people, understandably so, seem to think that this is basically a deathblow to the Star Wars series. I personally, don't think it's all that bad, and in fact, think there's a chance that it can even be a good thing for the property as a whole.

          First of all, I am a huge Star Wars fan, before I'm accused otherwise. Though I am admittedly also a huge fan of Disney. They haven't made a whole lot of amazing shit recently, but overall they've created some of the most memorable films in history. I realize most of those were animated movies, but it's not like Disney has never made a live-action flick before. Just look at Treasure Island, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, the Davy Crockett Films, Old Yeller (Old fucking Yeller!), The Three Musketeers, Homeward Bound, Remember the Titans, the Narnia movies, and one of my favorites, John Carter, which is also an over-the-top Sci-Fi movie. Point is, Disney knows how to make anything great, they may not always give it their all, but when they do, they can make anything look good. Who's to say they won't do the same with Star Wars? And since when do we think Lucas was doing so much good with the series lately?

          So many people were crying out, praying someone, anyone, could take the franchise away from George Lucas. Now that it's happened, it's a travesty and Star Wars is going to be destroyed. Why? Why is it so bad? Disney has a reputation of quality film-making like few others, and anyone who thinks that most of their great films are mainly child-oriented is clearly ignorant. I'm one of the few people that actually enjoyed every single one of the prequels (though obviously they don't hold a candle to the original trilogy), but even I think if someone was to work on new movies, it couldn't be Lucas. What's more, guess what Disney did three years ago? They bought Marvel! How's Marvel doing? Marvel's great, some would argue they're experiencing a renaissance of sorts. So many classic series' gaining new life and some great offshoots such as the Avengers vs. X-Men series. So who's to say a company that's used to movie properties is going to fuck up a movie property after doing so well with comic books? They know who to hire, and why they need to be hired.

          Also, let's say Disney keeps making all of these Kingdom Hearts/Avengers vs. X-Men collaborations. Who's to say we wouldn't see Darth Vader and Sephiroth go head to head, or Boba Fett vs. Deadpool (holy shit, I just came)? There is so much they can do with Star Wars, and no company has the resources that Disney does. It's clearly not obvious that it will be good, but if anyone has the flexibility to take a new trilogy to its greatest heights, it's Disney. I do have one idea that would guarantee greatness for these new movies. Who here has played Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic? Greatest story ever told in the Star Wars universe, yep, even better than the original trilogy. The two co-founders of Bioware, Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuck recently left Bioware less than two months ago. If Disney could find a way to get those two 

to head this new project, I think the new trilogy would have the potential to easily compete with Episodes IV, V and VI. But I guess we'll see in three years or so where exactly Star Wars goes.

Thanks for reading. Comment below and/or follow/tweet me @SycoMantis1991 with your opinion or anything you'd like to see me cover in future blog posts. Or just to see me be a dipshit.