Archive for the ‘Lists’ Category

21 Dec

Best of 2012: Top 10 Movie Characters

Posted by vagrantesque in Best of 2012, Lists, Movies. Tagged: , , , , .

YouLoveIt

The movies of 2012 brought with them an avalanche of memorable characters, whose exploits stuck in our minds for a range of reasons. Some made us laugh, some made us cringe, some made us quiver and some just made us want to stand up and applaud. For my second Vagrant Rant Best of 2012 list, I present my top ten favourite movie characters of the year.

The characters on this list need not be brand new creations; fresh interpretations of other material, recurring players in a series and even depictions of real-life people were all fair game when I was putting it together. Regardless of what other people may have been saying about them, I have not included any characters from movies I did not see in 2012. So, sadly, those amazing Boxing Day Australian releases (The Hobbit, Wreck-It Ralph, Les Miserables) are out of the picture.

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VR BEST OF 2012 DISCLAIMER
This list represents my opinion only. I am not asserting any kind of superiority or self-importance by presenting it as I have. My opinion is not fact. If you actually agree with me 100%, that’s scary. You have been warned, fanboys.
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10. Sid – The Descendants

The Descendants, released at the very beginning of 2012 here in Australia, is a truly heartfelt triumph on many levels, but its many facets would not come together quite so effectively without the comic relief provided by the female lead’s dimwitted boyfriend, Sid. Nick Krause’s performance lends the role just the right combination of idiocy and believability, with a hint of something poignant thrown in. This ensures that, despite the film’s many character interaction highlights, you just aren’t likely to forget his exchange with those two seniors. Not at all.

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20 Dec

Best of 2012: Top 10 Game Cases

Posted by vagrantesque in Best of 2012, Games, Lists. Tagged: , , , , , , , .

YouLoveIt

Time to kick off my ambitious goal of presenting ten top tens of entertainment media in 2012. This is going to require an unprecedented time management effort, but hey, hopefully I’ve grown enough this year to meet the requirements. First up, something I’ve always paid perhaps a little too much attention to: videogame cases.

We live in an age where games are available as full digital downloads more readily than ever, but physical production is still plenty relevant. When you look at a game on a store shelf, a lot of things go through your mind, whether consciously or (more likely) subconsciously. Is the cover eye-catching? Does it stand out from its brethren? Does it give you an adequate idea of what the game will have you doing? Does it do something other than feature a man looking straight at you while striking a badass pose? All these things and more churned around in my mind before I could spit out this list of my top ten favourite game cases of 2012.

But the list doesn’t just take into account what the front cover of a game looks like; I’ve also considered the back, the spine and, where applicable, even the inside of the case. All facets of physical presentation have been accounted for. Yeah, I’m definitely a cool guy.

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VR BEST OF 2012 DISCLAIMER
This list represents my opinion only. I am not asserting any kind of superiority or self-importance by presenting it as I have. My opinion is not fact. If you actually agree with me 100%, that’s scary. You have been warned, fanboys.
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10. Assassin’s Creed III

Case_Assassin's

When compared to the cover art of the first four Assassin’s Creed games, one thing immediately stands out about the front of the ACIII case. Connor, the newest member of the Brotherhood of Assassins to be introduced to series fans, isn’t simply standing in an ominous pose with a hood over his head. No, he’s actually doing something, and something rather violent at that. That redcoat he has in his very capable grasp is not going to be breathing for much longer, or so the implication stands. The motion-blurred battlefield depicted in the background, complete with prototype American flag, adds to the kinetic excitement of the image, suggesting a history-rich experience well worth playing through.

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10 Dec

Behind, Pt 2

Posted by vagrantesque in Games, Lists. Tagged: , , .

With last Saturday marking the last decent-sized game release of the year (Paper Mario), it’s about time to reflect on how misguidedly optimistic I was at the start of 2012 for game releases.

2012 has been an awesome year for video games, and even if it you are of the belief that it fell short of 2011 in terms of overall quality, it’s hard to argue that we’ve been treated to some fantastic titles. And a fair few delays.

So, just like I did with movies a few weeks back, I’m going to look back at that list I posted back in February, wherein I rolled out a list of my top ten most anticipated games of the year, without the knowledge that half of them wouldn’t hit in 2012 at all:

Continue reading →

20 Jun

The Other Ones

Posted by vagrantesque in Games, Lists. Tagged: , , .

This is the second of my two E3 articles for the year. Then on to some more reviews!

The press conferences of the Electronic Entertainment Expo are usually the most hyped part of the show, and for good reason, but they’re only half the story. The show floor invariably reveals a few uncelebrated diamonds in the rough every year and E3 2012 was no different. A great many games that were absent from the five press conferences showed up on the floor and tried their best to impress.

Here are five of my favourite non-conference games from this year’s show, in no particular order:
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Project P-100
Completely absent from any of the Nintendo press conferences, this incredibly quirky trans-genre… thing looks surprisingly fun to play on the Wii U. Best described as a cross between Pikmin and a drawing-based superhero game, it came as no surprise to me that the sheer hectic pace of the cartoony action was engineered by none other than Platinum Games, developers of the excellent MadWorld, Bayonetta and Vanquish. Bring it. Continue reading →

18 Jun

Conference Call

Posted by vagrantesque in Games, Lists. Tagged: , , , , , , .

My internet connection has been giving me real problems of late, which has made this piece a little later than I would have wanted. Alas.

That magic week in worldwide gaming news has already come and gone for another year. The Electronic Entertainment Expo, or E3 for the affectionate/professional/lazy, delivered less surprises than in past years, but there was still plenty to talk about. The aftermath has been dissected a million ways already. Chief among the topics of conversation, as always, were the five big press conferences. Here I throw in my 2c on them by ranking them in terms of how strong I thought they were, from least to most.

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10 Jun

What a Wonderful Month

Posted by vagrantesque in Lists, Misc.

Oh June, how you treat me and drain my sleep!

Oh the hidden goodness you contain!

There is a reason why I haven’t had a full night’s sleep since the start of winter. Between scouring for news coming out of the annual Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles and watching Euro 2012 in the early hours of the morning, rest has plummeted ever  lower on my list of priorities. Even though E3 is done and dusted for another year, there still remain plenty of reasons why June 2012 will keep bringing the goods. Here are just five of them: Continue reading →

17 May

Ten Cubed is…

Posted by vagrantesque in Gamecube, Games, Lists. Tagged: , , , , .

In some ways it’s hard to believe this day has come. Today is May 17th and that means it is exactly ten years since the launch of the Nintendo Gamecube in Australia.

On May 17th, 2002, ten years ago to the day, my school had a Staff Development Day, so we didn’t have to go to class. It was clearly put on so the teachers could all go grab themselves a shiny new Nintendo Gamecube.

Featuring one of the most comfortable controllers ever designed.

That day represented the first time I had ever purchased a video game console with my own hard-saved pocket money. That little black box was also the first console I had ever taken home on launch day. Its graphical power, quite impressive at the time, blew me away after years playing Nintendo 64 games, but more importantly the Gamecube provided just as many wonderful gaming memories as its predecessor. Its handle and small size meant it never stayed in one place for too long, making temporary homes at friends’ places, where the good times rolled on.

What follows is a list of my top ten favourite Nintendo Gamecube games of all time. Continue reading →

26 Apr

First World Problems

Posted by vagrantesque in Games, Lists.

This is serious business, people.

The life of someone who finds enjoyment in so many things, meaningless or otherwise, is both a blessing and a curse. On the one hand, it’s hard to get bored, ever. On the other, it’s so easy to get distracted by shiny new things when they come along that perfectly good forms of entertainment are often left in the cold after a laughably short amount of time. Sometimes it doesn’t even matter how “good” the product is; something in our capitalist-educated minds compels us to desire what is fresh. As time goes on and the “pile of shame” grows, it gets steadily harder to find the time to get to the things we leave at the bottom.

This can be a problem for just about anyone (though, let’s be honest, a fairly insignificant one in the scheme of things), but when you’re like me and you place value in your ability to form a complete and educated opinion on every material product you experience, it can get a tad frustrating.

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4 Apr

64-Bit Memories…

Posted by vagrantesque in Games, Lists, N64. Tagged: , .

It has recently come to my attention that last month marked the 15th anniversary of the Nintendo 64’s release in Australia. Shame on me for letting that go unmarked. Here’s something to try and make up for that error.

On Christmas Day, 1999, a year and a half after migrating to the sunburnt country from South Africa, I received my first home gaming console. My life would never be the same again.

Under a generous amount of wrapping paper, the Nintendo 64 greeted me in a glorious swirl of black, grey and “atomic purple“. As a wide-eyed child I had sampled some of what the console had to offer at friend’s houses, but this one was mine. Plugging it into the largest CRT television in the house and then pushing that oversized switch on the console’s curved shell resulted in a singular moment of awe that seemed impossible to match. I had my ticket to the school playground war of words; I was lodged firmly in Nintendo’s corner.

The limited edition pack I received on December 25, 1999. Words cannot express the nostalgia.

The next three years, long as they seemed to a pre-pubescent boy, were filled to the brim with some of my fondest gaming memories ever. This is the list of my top eleven favourite Nintendo 64 games of all time.

Continue reading →

24 Feb

Ahead

Posted by vagrantesque in Games, Lists, Movies. Tagged: , , .

I looove lists. Especially top fives/tens. You’ll be seeing a few of them here on Vagrant Rant, starting here. Enjoy : )

Unless the end of the world comes on time according to the Mayan calendar, it is going to be an incredible year for entertainment media. There is just so much to look forward to. I won’t bore you with the album releases I am most looking forward to this year, but here are my top ten most anticipated movies and games of (the rest of) 2012!

MOVIES

10. Looper (Info)
Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Bruce Willis play the same character, but one is trying to kill the other. Sound intriguing? I certainly think so.

9. Snow White and the Huntsman (Trailer)
An epic reimagining of the classic fairytale with more violence and more Chris Hemsworth/Charlize Theron. Looks awesome.

8. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (Trailer)
I’m not the world’s biggest Lord of the Rings fan but I actually read The Hobbit, so I’m keen to see how it turns out as a film.

7. The Amazing Spider-Man (Trailer)
Hopefully director Marc Webb can deliver a version of Spider-Man that has its own unique identity. The trailers suggest he will.

6. John Carter (Trailer)
The 100 year-old inspiration for the likes of Star Wars and Avatar finally looks like getting a worthy movie adaptation. Continue reading →

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