Batman!

I must admit I have never been a big Batman fan, I didn't grow up watching any of the animated shows or the live action series from the mid sixties. However I did watch Batman Begins and read the story arc War Games and thought they were both interesting. As you can probably tell I am not going to claim that I love Batman and always have, I have to state that until recently I held no regard to Batman in movie form or in comic books. There are many reasons for this as high as people seem to hold the Adam West TV show it always seemed to add a stigma to reading Batman comics or even watching the movies.

The first time I picked up a Batman comic book it was the final part to A Death In The Family the story arc on which Jason Todd is killed by The Joker. Now I was reading this years after its original release and the art seemed to copy that of the camp TV series and I was instantly put off, for a story which is supposed to be powerful and depressing for the Caped Crusader the art reflected a care free and happy tone.

Then I read War Games which I thought was much better yet as I wasn't a regular reader of any DC comic I quickly got lost in the amount of characters and back story they had either way I loved War Games. It put to bed my thoughts of the 1960's TV show.

Recently I read Mark Millar's Nemesis and really quite enjoyed it, it reflected the anti-Batman. The story is about a rich man who has access to all these coll gadgets, cars and weapons much like The Dark Knight but instead of using them for good he uses them purely to kill police officers. At this time my friend had just started reading Batman graphic novels and was raving about the story arc where Bane breaks Bruce Wayne's back and it got me curious so I decided to do a little research and purchase some of the more classic Batman titles those being...

Batman: Arkham Asylum, Year One, Hush, The Killing Joke, The Long Halloween and The Return Of Bruce Wayne... the latter purchased purely because I wanted to know what the hell happens. So first off I have to say that I thought these stories were amazing however The Return Of Bruce Wayne and The Long Halloween are collecting dust on my shelf so I must read them soon. Year One which I had read parts of previously was my favourite as it was simple and it shown Batman as a vulnerable figure who needed to capture the streets of Gotham City rather then not lose control like he does in the modern comics. Hush which is more modern left a little to be wanted but it was superb in the way it kept the mystery alive and Arkham Asylum was by far my favourite, it was so dark and let you see Batman at a different level. It made you question Bruce Wayne's sanity and let you see what life could be like for the inmates of Gotham's Arkham Asylum.

So has my opinion of Batman changed... yes and no, I liked the classic stories and thought all of them had something different to offer yet I still need to read more. Yet I expect a fun journey as I take a ride through the past of The Dark Knight.

Online Gaming: The Gears Debacle.

The state of online gaming really angers me, if it's not tea bagging on Halo it's taunting on Gears Of War the fact is games used to be more fun when people used to play in the same room. I am a huge fan of the Gears Of War series and am ranked around 1390 in the world at one of the game modes yet I play out of boredom. Sure it's fun at the start but now I seem to play it more out of comfort rather than enjoyment, the online community leaves something to be desired.

In the game you can chainsaw through your opponent and it's quite visually impressive but heaven forbid you actually do it! You will be plagued with messages from opposing players about being a noob because everyone else uses a shotgun. Use the shotgun on someone and then you will be buried in messages about being the Host. Truth is this game is broken when it comes to online modes. There is lag and a massive host advantage and this is despite six..SIX title updates. The truth is the demand for dedicated servers was so strong that they had to do it. Gears Of War 2's main problem is the community I know it's a mature rated game but I don't believe I should be called all the names under the sun because I used a cool looking move. Gears 3 will no doubt pander more to the COD audience then the hardcore Gears crowd therefore I see most of the worst offenders who play this game to be frustrated and angered by the fact that it will be more casual, I am all for this approach I think online games sould be about fun and not just to try and upset people. I play Halo: Reach and it's community is much more friendly as is Call Of Dutys.

I long for the days when I used to sit on a couch and play Mario Kart and Mortal Kombat, when I could write down Pay Per Views and play them with my brother on WWE Smackdown. Truth is I feel some fun has been lost with online gaming or maybe it's just the fact that Gears Of War is more like an addiction and to be honest I think it's time to give it up.

Nintendo Wii 2: The Second Chance

So last week I decided to bite the bullet and purchase a Nintendo Wii for the second time. I traded in my last one as it was making weird and my Brother wanted to take it back (it was shared). Well now I have my own and I must say I am pretty impressed, the game I picked up were Wii Sports, Metroid Prime 3:Corruption, Super Mario Glaxy 2 and No More Heroes (£2.97! BARGAIN). My girlfriend later picked me up a copy of Legend Of Zelda Twilight Princess.

Now I must say I have a HD:TV and like most people I want the best picture quality possible, well Gamestation sold me a component cable for £3 it was the official Nintendo one and I was rather surprised to see it being sold on amazon for about £20 so I got home looked at the component cable and basically just threw it aside... until the picture sucked so I used it and WOW it really does make a difference he picture quality for Mario Galaxy 2 was amazing nearly 360 quality. That is obviously because of the kind of colours they use for the game, Corruption and Twilight Princess both look pretty bad.

I was rather surprised how Twilight Princess has aged, the first time I got it, it was simple and easy to play and I thought now it would feel at least a little dated but despite its graphical shortcomings it plays beautifully and it made me stray from Galaxy 2 I will hopefully review both when I finish completing them.

Initial impressions are good so far. I 100% completed Galaxy 1 and now Galaxy 2 looks even better and tougher as well which is a good thing and I played Twilight Princess before bu only up until the sand dungeon so now I plan to finish it in preparation for Skyward Sword. I greatly anticipate my next few weeks with these AAA titles two of which could be classed as the greatest of this generation.55555555