Grab-bag Post #1

This post is going to be a random collection of easily digestible opinions and ideas that might not be fully formed, but most contains thoughts that don't have enough substance to warrant its own post. 

"Impossible Mode"

I'm not a fan of games that include some kind of extremely difficult mode. Two examples that jump to mind are Hollow Knight's steel soul mode, and Shovel Knight's trophy of finishing the game without falling into a hole. I know, I know, I should just "git gud." But the thing that bugs me is that it's like they don't realize I have a backlog of games a mile long. I like 100%-ing games, and when I see those kinds of modes/trophies I just lose interest because in order to do it I would have to dedicate all of my gaming time to this one game for months on end and it just doesn't seem worth it. Maybe if I was a kid who only had 3 games or was somehow stranded on an island with only 1 game to play, then sure.

"Console Generations"

I've remarked that assigning consoles to "generations" post-hoc is somewhat arbitrary, just like how we label different eras of comic books (Golden Age, Silver Age, etc.). But I kinda do like the idea for organizational purposes. But what would be really nice is if the major console manufacturers got together and had a gentlemen's agreement to only release a new console every 7 years (and all within a few months of each other) with a minor hardware revision somewhere in year 4 (like the New 3DS or X-Box One X). That would make it easier to classify generations but it would also let programmers/designers fully flesh out the capabilities of each machine and get the most out of the hardware before we move onto bigger/better. Look at how much better games like Batman: Return of the Joker looked on the NES compared to something like CluClu Land, or compare DKC and Star Fox to Super Mario World. I realize the major drawbacks are that if someone produces a flop they have to sit on it for 6 years before fixing their mistake (see Wii U to Switch lessons) and that it would have completely eliminated Sega's hardware strategy in the 90's. But it's a nice thought to have just so I can more easily label things and put them in their proper boxes. 

Star Wars Transmission Errors

One thing I've heard about culture is that it's passed on from one generation to the next, and over time some things stick while other things evolve, and still others are pruned off. But as part of that, I see a lot of parents transmit their hobbies or love of a particular thing to their kids, like sport team affiliation. I've certainly done that in the case of video games and superheroes to my kids to a certain extent. But what's interesting to me is how I was able to get Avery on board with Star Wars when he was young but Logan has very little interest. And I think I can point to the Sequel Trilogy (and Disney's acquisition of LFL in general) as the culprit. Before the dark times, I would watch the various movies regularly, but not so much once the ST came out. Avery was also young during the post PT/Clone Wars times when there were a lot of good Star Wars things coming out. I also think to a certain extent that I've not been wanting to pass it on as much, now that I know the ending sucks (similar to how I won't recommend someone start watching Game of Thrones because the ending is so awful). 

Using up all the good stuff

I feel like there needs to be years of comics to tell a coherent story and for some editing/retconning to make it good before it graduates to a movie. Comics being the visual medium that it is, it necessarily follows that one issue can't be the source plot/dialogue for a whole movie, or even an episode of a TV show. It takes several issues to tell a story arc, and not all story arcs are created equally. When you take a property like the X-Men, for example, there are decades of stories from which to draw inspiration to either create a somewhat original patchwork story (like the first movie) or major stories that were particularly well done (like how God Loves, Man Kills was adapted into X2 or Days of Future Past was adapted into, well, Days of Future Past). But it seems to me that Hollywood doesn't share these concerns with keeping the product pure and of high quality. Adapting more recent things like the Kamala Kahn Ms. Marvel seems premature because we don't have the benefit of hindsight to see if it made a lasting impact on the franchise. In addition, seeing more recent comic stories being the focal points of movies/shows feels like they’re rushing things and will soon run out of source material - just like Game of Thrones when it surpassed GRRM’s books or how The Walking Dead caught up to the comic plot. It's safer to use an animated series as test waters to see how well a particular story works before sending it to the big screen. Also, in their rush to get their newer, more woke characters which only entered the comics as early as 6 years ago, Marvel Studios is skipping past stories that sold hundreds of thousands of copies in order to adapt stories that sell just thousands of copies. 

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