22 Oct

50 up!

Posted by vagrantesque in Misc. Tagged: .

And how late is this post, right?

This is my 50th post on Vagrant Rant! Joy!

New to Vagrant Rant? You might want to have a look at my review score breakdown, or my general thoughts on reviewing.

If you like reading movie reviews, go here.

Into videogames? Check these out.

Like your music albums over-analysed? Give this a click.

If lists of things excite you, have a gander at these babies.

Otherwise, feel free to digest my opinions on the three new game consoles released this year, one of the most unfairly maligned games of all time or one of the greatest websites known to man.

And of course, if you like what you see, why not enter your email address in that box on the right and get new posts sent to your inbox? Eh?

To 50 more!

*adjusts monacle*

20 Sep

Album Review: North – Matchbox Twenty

Posted by vagrantesque in Music. Tagged: , , , , , , .

I’ve waited a long time for this one… It came out on the last day of August.

-◊-◊-◊-◊-
Released: August 2012
Label: Atlantic
Genre: Rock
 -◊-◊-◊-◊-

Finally...

Their first album cover showing their whole faces

.
TRACK LISTING

1. Parade
2. She’s So Mean
3. Overjoyed
4. Put Your Hands Up
5. Our Song
6. I Will
7. English Town
8. How Long
9. Radio
10. The Way
11. Like Sugar
12. Sleeping at the Wheel
13. I Believe in Everything (Deluxe edition only)
14. Straight For This Life (Deluxe edition only)
15. Waiting on a Train (Deluxe edition only)

A decade. That’s how long it has been since my one-time favourite band last released a full album. That album, 2002’s More Than You Think You Are, happens to rank firmly amongst my all-time top five. The band’s two prior works, released during the height of their popularity, certainly aren’t too shabby either. 2007’s singles compilation Exile on Mainstream packed six new tracks, and lead singer Rob Thomas has released two solo albums in the last ten years, but a full band release is certainly something of an event to Matchbox Twenty fans like myself.

The thing is, a lot changes in ten years. The pop and rock music landscapes are very different now from what they were all that time ago, when great tracks like Disease, Unwell and Bright Lights were able to get extended airplay on mainstream radio stations. So in 2012 Matchbox Twenty face the same question all other ageing bands have to eventually confront: how to stay true to what made them who they are while mixing things up enough to keep them “relevant”. With one glaring exception, they have achieved a more than admirable balance that positions North as a very worthy addition to Matchbox Twenty’s discography.

Continue reading

19 Sep

Game Review: Sleeping Dogs

Posted by vagrantesque in Games, Xbox 360. Tagged: , , , .

Well we are now mere hours away from the Australian launch of Borderlands 2, which I can reasonably expect to try to take up as much of my free time as it can. So I rushed to finish this surprising gem to get it out of the way. I finished it yesterday, about a month after its August 16 release.

-◊-◊-◊-◊-
Platform: PS3, Xbox 360, PC
Developer: United Front
Rating: MA15+
-◊-◊-◊-◊-

Violence!

Just let them lie.

.
Been to Hong Kong?

.
The last time I was there I was seven years old. Just about the only memories I have of it are a lot of glaring lights and a bout of food poisoning, but now, after playing Sleeping Dogs, I can say that my feelings towards it are a bit more favourable. I’ll be honest; I only picked the game up out of sheer curiosity, but it ended up keeping me away from my beloved portable consoles for the better part of a month, and that says something.

Continue reading

13 Sep

What I Think of the Wii U

Posted by vagrantesque in Console, Games, Wii U. Tagged: , , , , .

I’ve been asked this question too many times to count in recent months, but since there just wasn’t enough information on the console before today, I could never consider any answer truly reasonable. Well, Nintendo’s simultaneous American/European broadcast has just wrapped up and now most of that information gap has been filled, so I thought I’d commit my knee-jerk reaction here.
I’m not going to cover all of the freshly announced news because that isn’t what Vagrant Rant is about, but I will lay down my opinions as always. It’s just past 1am in the morning and I can’t promise this will be terribly coherent. It’ll probably be my “rantiest” post yet.

This colour is apparently now considered “premium”.

Well here we are, closer than we’ve ever been to the latest Nintendo home console, knowing more information than we ever have. As a gamer who once devoted a sizeable chunk of his childhood to the revered Japanese corporation, I have always expected big things from Nintendo, and I certainly am not alone. Of course, recent years have not provided the greatest signs that Nintendo is looking out for fans such as myself. Though I have some amazing memories of playing the Nintendo 64 and Gamecube, the Wii just didn’t provide quite as many great gaming moments. They were there, for sure, but they were so spaced out due to the company’s newfound focus on the casual market that the console left a bit of a sour taste in many a fan’s mouth. 2008 and 2009 were so infamously dry of Nintendo quality that I barely played any games in the former and branched out to Xbox 360 and PS3 in the latter.

I may be an all-console owner and lover of shiny new things now, but part of me still wants to return to the days where all I needed was one console to provide for my gaming needs. Now, that just flat-out isn’t going to happen, because I doubt the Xbox 360 is going to suddenly stop its stranglehold on a superior online experience, as much as I doubt that the PS3 will stop coming out with brilliant exclusive titles. But it sure would be nice to have a reason to think about which console to turn on during my free time and have a Nintendo product as a legitimate option. That’s all I ask for.

So, is what I’ve seen enough to convince me to buy a Wii U on launch day (November 30th in Aus)?

Continue reading

5 Sep

Movie Review: The Expendables 2

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

I hadn’t seen either Expendables movie two nights ago, but now I’ve seen them both. It’s certainly quite a lot to take in over 48 hours. The Expendables 2 came out in Australia last Thursday.

-◊-◊-◊-◊-
Starring: Sylvester Stallone, Chuck Norris, Arnold Schwarzenegger
Director: Simon West (Con Air, The Mechanic)
Rating: MA15+
-◊-◊-◊-◊-

Wow. No matter how you look at it, the fact that The Expendables 2 is even a movie at all is pretty cool. Sylvester Stallone, who directed the first movie, deserves some fairly raucous applause for bringing together all those action heroes the first time around, crafting a rather enjoyable, if openly cheesy, movie in which to fit them. But his achievement as producer of the sequel is arguably greater. The Expendables 2 streamlines the action formula from the first film, cutting out the unnecessary and packing in more of the ridiculous. The result is a movie that knows just how stupid it looks and runs with this self-awareness in a startlingly effective way. Continue reading

31 Aug

V V V V V

Posted by vagrantesque in Misc.

Now that Vagrant Rant is about half a year old, this might be as good a time as any to break down all those fancy coloured ‘V‘s you can find around Vagrant Rant.
In other words, just what does each review rating mean?
Find out now.

-◊-◊-◊-◊-

Continue reading

30 Aug

Game Review: New Super Mario Bros 2

Posted by vagrantesque in 3DS, Games. Tagged: , , , , .

The latest adventure of everyone’s favourite plumber has arrived just in time for the 3DS XL’s launch. It unleashed its gold-fever madness on Australia on the 18th of August.

-◊-◊-◊-◊-
Platform: 3DS
Developer: Nintendo
Rating: G
-◊-◊-◊-◊-

Still golden!

My favourite video game cover of the year so far.

.
So. Many. Coins.
.

So very, very many coins. Just, coins, everywhere.

Continue reading

30 Aug

Larger Than Life – 3DS XL Review

Posted by vagrantesque in 3DS, Console, Games. Tagged: , , , , , .

New console number two out of three for the year!

After a relatively short build-up, Nintendo’s new 3DS XL was released in Australia last Thursday. It retails for $250, which is technically the same RRP as the regular 3DS (although many retailers sell the original model for less). That was the first pleasant surprise it provided me with. The second was how good it felt to hold and play. The third was how good its stereoscopic 3D looked. The fourth was how easily I could recommend it, to anyone, as a system superior to its smaller cousin in almost every way.

Yes, that's a Pokemon sticker.

It’s just a nice-looking piece of tech, really.

Continue reading

16 Aug

Many Weeks of Wallet Erosion

Posted by vagrantesque in Games.

..And what an incredible Olympic Games London 2012 turned out to be. Bravo, Poms.

Barely time to take a breath and the big gaming release season has already kicked off!

Starting from today, which saw the launch of Sleeping Dogs and Darksiders II, you can count on at least one big game coming out every week until just before Christmas. It is once again a great time to be a gamer.

New Super Mario Bros 2 launches on 3DS this Saturday, then the 3DS XL console hits our shores next week alongside Transformers: Fall of Cybertron. Guild Wars 2 and Madden 12 arrive the week after, which takes us into September and towards Tekken Tag Tournament 2, F1 2012, LittleBigPlanet Vita, World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria, FIFA 13 and most importantly Borderlands 2!

Then October rolls along, which means first Resident Evil 6, then Dishonored and Pokemon Black/White Version 2, followed by Forza Horizon and then the gigantic release of Assassin’s Creed 3 alongside Assassin’s Creed Liberation. November turns things up to eleven with two absolute monsters in Halo 4 and Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, as well as Hitman Absolution, Paper Mario: Sticker Starand Farcry 3.

All of which fails to mention that we’ll be treated to a brand new console, in the form of Nintendo’s Wii U, sometime between late November and mid December.

Phew.

I need to go play some games.

1 Aug

Nup. Not happening.

Posted by vagrantesque in Misc. Tagged: , , .

When it comes to how I’ve been spending my free time this week, there is one thing that has been running five rings around everything else.

…

Not the world’s best logo, while we’re on the topic.

I’ll be honest. I wasn’t expecting to be so involved in these Olympic Games. But after a truly superb opening ceremony directed by Danny Boyle of Slumdog Millionaire and 127 Hours fame (there’s a movie tie-in for you), almost every sport I’ve watched this time around has been incredibly exciting at the finish. I haven’t touched a video game since the tournament began. So I probably won’t be publishing too many posts for the next little while.

Normal service should resume shortly.

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »