Monday, November 30, 2009

Express Checkout: Ugly Betty, Twilight, Persona 3

- I was rather pleased to see Ugly Betty take some really good swings at Scientology over the past couple of episodes. It wasn't doing it bare handed either... it was swinging a golf club. I applaud them for doing so. I hope more shows take on that challenge and go after them in more and more pointed ways.

- Well, horror of horrors... apparently there is a Twilight television series in the works starring he-who-must-be-bathed, Robert Pattison. OK, I'd root for Jay Leno against that (if his show lasts until next year that is). If this goes through, it is going to be a long few years for pop culture.

- I've been playing an RPG as of late (Persona 3: FES), and I have to say I've been impressed not only by the story and character development but by something that is so seemingly random, but something which seems so ubiquitous in gaming that an exception is worth noting. In a lot of games, the attire that is given to female characters is, how shall I put this delicately, unrealistic to say the least. The game takes place in a modern Japanese setting, and in this case, I can actually believe that the characters involved would dress that way as part of the narrative. It seems almost refreshingly conservative for the most part (because yes, there is a piece of armor which is almost like a Leia bikini, so there is some fan service in there too, along with a few other bits I've heard about). As a sidenote, if it continues to be the quality narrative it has been for the first quarter, it would be a title that would be worthy of my top 25 PS2 games list.

4 comments:

Mayren said...

yay! and I agree 100% at Ugly Betty. i've been happier with the season lately. Still feels like it's winding down but everything has it's season.

Twilight TV series sounds . well. bad actually. I'm one of those who likes the books alot but the movies are atrocious. Robert especially.

Persona 3... you mentioned that one before and i see you are still playing. Interesting. I need to find out if it plays on a P2. :(

Kristyn said...

I am going to have to watch Ugly Betty! Everyone seems to love it so much.

I can't say anything about the Twilight tv show being planned because, well, that's probably something I would actually give a try. I'm so pathetic, but I love vampires. Then again, I hate Stephanie Meyer and her rip-off vamps. So conflicted. :P

Semaj said...

Twilight TV: Which one sounds worst, a Twilight TV show or a 2012 TV series. Sadly, they're both being developed. They'll probably have to pay Robert Pattison a lot of money because he I get the feeling he isn't that thrilled with being in the franchise.

I've heard nothing but good things about the Persona series. I've been very impressed with what I saw. Have you tried any of the Front Mission games yet?

MC said...

Mayren: I think UB has been picking up as of late too. And re: Persona... let's just say the music may be the weak part because I know that is going to eventually drive me insane. But I don't know if this helps, but they released a version for the PSP recently.

Kristyn: Re: Twilight. I mentioned in a chatroom last night that the only time I've been interested in vampires in the recent past has been when a black dude was killing them in great numbers.

Semaj: For the amount of money the films are making, he is probably undercompensated.

And I like a lot of the touches in Persona... I like knowing when there is going to be a boss battle for instance, so you can really prepare (and you can save before you do so), and the fact that it sort of plays fair with you, because in theory, anything an enemy does to you, you can conceivably do to an enemy... which means that there is actual strategy in the battles. And I actually care about the characters.

Even though I've been doing well in it so far, I can tell that there is going to be a point where it gets tricky.

I picked up a copy of FM 4, but I haven't gotten around to playing it, because I have a huge backlog to get through.