Skate: A Review

Hello there, welcome to my Skate review. Let me start out by saying, I was skeptical about the goodness of this game and was pretty loyal to the Tony Hawk franchise, playing games such as Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2, 3, 4 and American Wasteland. I thought, well I'm done with skateboarding games. I already have the ones I need. I was wrong. Skate has a superb "flick it" control scheme, fairly good graphics and fun and interesting missions. Missions can be anything from playing S.K.A.T.E to competing in contests, to photos, to video challenges. Also, a plus- Skate is open world. The world may not be super big, but it has plenty of bowls, rails and other things that are fun to skate on. Now, let's talk about the controls. This game takes advantage of both analog sticks on the controller and the triggers too. All the tricks are based on flicking up then down quickly in different patterns. The game lasts a good 30 hours too, plus multiplayer and freeskate where you get to show of your moves as some of the pros and characters you meet in the story. I prefer the open world non-linear style, preferred to the level based idea that the Pro Skater games had. Also the flick it controls seem more fluid than the button mashing controls found in the Pro Skater games. I like the roster of pros on Pro Skater a bit better, but the create a skater is more fleshed out in Skate. You can rock decks, shoes, trucks, wheels and clothing from real skate companies and end up choosing your own sponsor during the campaign. Now, I know I'm jumping around a lot, but the map... It is divided into four zones – The Suburbs, The Res, Old Town and Downtown. Different types of challenges become present as you progress through the zones.

I give this game an 8.7 out of 10. 

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Third Wheel

Hello there, welcome to my review of the Newest Diary of a Wimpy Kid Book. I know that I'm getting a bit old for these, but nonetheless they deal with issues that are present in my life. This specific installment deals with the time leading up to the school's Valentine's Day dance. It deals with getting a date and going to the actual dance. Now from my experience, middle school dances SUCK! Mine was held at 3:30 (right after school) and it was a cafeteria   full of sweaty apes and a fog machine. The awesome Katy Perry and Justin Bieber were playing through the sound system. A doorknob could of done a better DJ job. Anyway, Greg an inconsiderate antihero who manipulates his not so sharp, but friendly friend Rowley needs to find a date (which was kind of unrealistic. At my dance no one had a date. They just showed up.) Once he does find a date things go horribly wrong. So, if anyone is in middle school and hasn't been to a dance, do not go to one. They are awful. So I think that the new Diary of a Wimpy Kid book: The Third Wheel was pretty good.

Why I Strongly Dislike Common Sense Media

Hello there, and welcome to me ranting about Common Sense Media. The reason I didn't use the word "hate" is because Common Sense Media isn't all bad, but I'll go into that later.

First, I want to address that if Common Sense Media had its way, I an 11 year old kid wouldn't be able to do 80% of these reviews. Apparently James Bond, Batman, Shadow of the Colossus, most superheroes and things that aren't complete garbage are not O.K for 11 year olds. This soviet idea of media restraining is stupid. I know they aren't enforcing it, but there are poor children missing out on the fruits of being a kid, playing bloody games, watching good movies, etc., because their parents will believe anything they read on common sense media.

Now for the not so cynical side, Common Sense Media does provide a basic idea for when you should let children watch movies, listen to music, etc., but it should not be closely followed.

Now I don't think that's fair- 16. I saw that movie and enjoyed it! What do you think? Leave a comment saying if you think 16 is a fair age for the appropriate-ness of this movie.

Skyfall: A review

Hello there, this is a review of Skyfall, the newest installment in the Bond Franchise. I know I skipped a bunch of movies, but I just saw it and felt like sharing my opinion. Well, this is my first Daniel Craig, Bond flick and I don't know if it is like this in all the other Craig movies, but I think fans of Connery, Lazenby, Moore and Dalton won't recognize it as a James Bond Movie. This was a great action movie with a great villain, a solid plot and great action and chase sequences, but the question is...is it a Bond Movie? Well, I know what your saying, "It says 007 right there, it must be a bond movie" I mean in the sense. The campiness of jumping over a river while karate chopping dudes with guns that you see with the Roger Moore movies is removed (which might not be a bad thing) and replaced with psychological dialogues. The Blofeld-esque villain is still there, but he's more believable. Instead of russians it's terrorists, but it's still pretty much the same. This episode in the James Bond series has some deep undertones below its rocky surface that help add to the atmosphere of the movie. 

Now let's put all that aside and let me say I HATE THE NEW Q. Desmond Llewelyn did a great job playing the joke cracking, clever, gadget ridden Q and after his death replaced by the clever joke cracking, gadget ridden R, played by John Cleese of Monty Python. If you take all that out and replace it with some screechy twenty-something you get New Q. Bond says it himself," really a radio and a gun, it sure's not christmas." There are no, I mean no! awesome gadgets at all! Just a gun and a radio. True they do come in handy, it's not fun. Although you have to give props to EON for including the Aston Martin DB5 from the Connery days. I think this was a great movie, just not a great Bond movie, if you catch my drift.