#might redo my joker design too

[onebadnoodle]

revised my batman design a bit

[lycanthrope6221]

Sucide Squad: Kill the Justice League

Character Rant

Hi there here’s my thoughts on all the current operatives in Sucide Squad: Kill the Justice League. I’ll probably do another one of these for the Joker when he releases next month

Disclaimer, I’m a artist not a writer I suck I at writing and I really just wanted to get my thoughts down and put them out there also I’m writing this a after playing the game last night and my memory isn’t 100% I might have missed some things but oh well.

Spoilers!!! mostly just for gameplay I don’t really bring up the story.

Tw: Guns and violence

Harley Quinn:

Character-Loving her dialogue right now. Her voice fits well(duh it’s Tara strong), she has funny dialogue and unhinged dialogue she doesn’t feel forced or anything. I’m happy she’s moved on from the Joker and is trying to live her best life despite the bomb planted into her skull.

Movement- I’m going to be completely honest and say I think I might need to redo the tutorial for the bat grapple gun. All I do is fall…. Beside that it’s fun to swing around and grapple to building my brain keeps defaulting to Spider-Man 2 controls lol.

Combat- I know you can equip any weapon for any character but I’m just sticking to the type of gun they started with so my Harley’s only getting SMG’s and revolvers. I like beating aliens to a bloody pulp with Harley’s bat and I love revolvers in games like there so much fun to use.

Deadshot:

Character- So far it looks like Floyd is basically the voice of reason for the team. He has prior experience to mercenary work and it shows in the way he communicates with Waller i think this is a nice detail. He brings up his daughter sometimes and I really hope he gets to see her preferably not in alien invaded metropolis.

Movement- at first I struggled with the jet pack but after a couple stressful missions I finally got used to it. I don’t really have much to say about it, it’s a jetpack. Blast off woo hoo.

Combat- My Deadshot currently has a a sniper rifle and assault rifle. I’m so happy that the sniper rifles in this game aren’t heavy snipers and don’t take 10 years to reload cause I would be so so dead. I just got my first notorious weapon and it’s Black Mask sniper rifle and the floating back skulls were a jump-scare at first but honestly it gives the gun character.

Captain Boomerang-

Character- As a Tim drake fan I apologize for what I’m about to say. He’s slowly becoming harder and harder to hate. The voice actor and writers are just doing to good of a job also shot out to the animators whoever did facial animations for this game deserves double pay. He’s a dick and he sucks but in a funny way. Like ok Boomer rang why would you put a bomb into a child’s head? Yes that child is an omega level Metahuman but still! I would push him down a flight of stairs but I would also throw him down a granola bar.

Movement- When I first saw the trailer I thought this was “just revived from darkest night and now I have powers” Boomerang but no its some speed force copy cat gauntlet I think this was a good decision. I don’t hate his traversal it’s honestly pretty fun to throw boomerangs and go fast. Gotta go fast…

Combat- I love Boomerangs melee attack I love smacking people with a boomerang. I have a sniper rifle and a shotgun equipped. Shotguns are so much fun in this and doing the quick time thingys is really fun with them 10/10 shotgun lover 4lifers.

King Shark:

Character: King shark is such a neat humanoid shark. At first I thought he was just MCU Drax the destroyer in a different font but even though they both share a lot of tropes King Sharks love for learning reminds me more of Strong from fallout. I really like his design too, we don’t see a lot of 3d humanoid sharks out there and they nailed it.

Movement: King Shark uses his claws and glowing shark powers to jump high and run fast. I can’t really tell but I think he may be the fastest character. It might just be how easy he is to use but I don’t really notice any limitations like the others/its not screaming in my face like with dead shots jetpack over heating or Harley’s bat drone having a cool down. It’s also very cool to run around as a giant shark jumping off builds and plowing through crowds of aliens.

Combat- My King Shark is currently equipped with a heavy machine gun and a shotgun. The heavy gun is fine and kinda fun to use it pairs really well with his melee. King sharks melee attack is his 2 daggers that can cut through people and launch them into the sky so you can riddle them with bullets. That’s my favorite combo and you can do that with every character but King Sharks just seems cooler.

[hollowsart]

I have a lot of things I need to work on and finish:

Acedia/Beck kiss | 35%

Acedia/Beck comic panel redraw redraw | 25%

Moosterio/Mysteriape comic page | 15%

Acedia villain variants | 25%

Moosterio variants (shh this is a surprise) | 10%

Joker & Batman redesign/design update | 30%

Acedia/Mysterio cuddle (idk if I'll finish this sketch) | 50%

Black Cat redesign (might redo like 55% tbh) | 75%

% = how "finished" it is btw

I'm honestly criminally lacking in Doc Ock stuff. I gotta get some comic panels to redraw, or get SOME form of ideas to draw, too. I miss my little guy and I really need to draw him more jksdsdfhjksd WHY CAN'T I THINK OF ANYTHING THO?

[plushmaxx]

going to post my unfinished sewing projects as a means to force myself to finish them!

I was inspired by @/ imolivak on instagram and adorable little guys as well as other plushie creators to make my own!!!

This was the first actual attempt using whatever i had at that moment. I was originally going to use the purple and blue buut I didn't have matching blue thread SO THEN i was going to do greeen and purple but that was too joker-y for my tastes so now I've settled on purple and yellow.

I have next to no experience with embroidery so i was convinced i could do tiny flowers on this little guy which NO I CANNOT!!! so i did little top surgery scars which I might redo cos I found a nicer pink thread. I might change the colours of the face too cos the vibes aren't right... not sure what I'm gonna do on the back other than the tail maybe a flower not sure.

This design on the left was the first design with picked out fabrics and everything that I completely FORGOT ABOUT >:( !!! i love this one so cute not and I have all the stuff I should of made that one first but i forgor

The lil guy on the right is the first actually finished one that I made as a tester on the sewing machine just to make sure i was capable of all the turning which i am ^^ gave him a little face and arms he did not initially have cos i felt bad

Now I'm making him a little bed which is the unfinished part of that photo. I've made the mattress and my dad helped me out by wood burning out the frame pieces thx father for that now I just need to finish the mini pillow and start the mini quilt :D

I started making this snorlax plush to motivate me to get back into sewing which worked until i had to make it for someone at work then i felt too under pressure but now it's for my twin so i care less now >:) slow and unsteady progress on that one ＞︿＜.

These 2 I made before all the others out of scraps as like a little practice. Mushroom was so annoying and now I hate gathering fabric :D thanks mushroom ￣へ￣ the random little is falling apart but i love him sm i showed him to like everyone in my family :D

[annakie]

An Annotated Mass Effect Playthrough, Part Six

Wherein we get out into space and explore a bit, and complete our crew.

And post a lot of gifs, because screenshots were lost.

List of Posts: 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

So I use the NVidia Control Panel app to take screenshots and videos.  Since it’s already running and it takes good shots it seems dumb to not use it.

I ended up being super busy this week and didn’t play much, just got through like, talking to Kaidan after the big speech on the bridge more or less for the entire week, and through Therum.  I updated my drivers a day or two ago.  And then I didn’t notice that for whatever reason, yesterday when I went to play for a few hours, NVidia decided to record videos just fine, but not take screenshots.  I probably actually mashed the button several hundred times.... but all I got were videos.

Most of it wasn’t a great loss, it was a lot of talking to the crew, and a few planetary missions which... so I’m going to have to go back and redo some of it later for screenshots.

But I thought... hey, for posting on tumblr, I’ll just make it a shorter update and make a few gifs and most this a mostly-gif post!  That’ll be fun!

...and then I spent several hours making almost 80 gifs, including a lot of what I also had screenshots for but thought making gifs would be more fun.  

I mean I was watching the last few eps of the newest season of Great British Bake Off on Netflix, and a few other shows this morning so it wasn’t just gif time... but yeah I made a lot.  So I might split this into two posts now because... that’s a lot of gifs. This post will still have a lot of screenshots, too.  So here we go!

There are so many things to love about this moment.  It’s such a great like, re-launch of the game... Bioware telling us “Okay, now you know the plot, you know all the major players, you know a lot about our world (galaxy) and how it works and who lives here, now, it’s time for you to go out on your own.”

First, it starts with being able to vent a little to Joker, which is a nice touch.  Shepard might feel guilty about taking the ship over from Anderson, but Joker also assures us here, a great preview of the way he’s tasked with helping Shepard keep it together in ME3.

I love seeing Shepard’s words affect the crew.  The swelling music, the same as the “you’re a Spectre now!!” music just underscores the journey, and what’s to come.

I used to always miss this scene by not picking the right speech option, and would be mad Kaidan was left out of this montage.  My fault!

This moment is so beautiful and epic.

...and here we go.

ALOT, btw, makes the galaxy map so pretty.  Sharper and clearer and more colorful.  

We all usually just head to Liara’s Dig Site first, right?  Unless you’re doing one of those “Pick up Liara last just to see what happens” playthroughs?  I did that once. It felt weird.  And sad, when you tell her “oops I killed your mom and I’m not sorry.”  Seems like she shouldn’t have gotten over that so quickly, but well, that’s game design.  The entire plot just doesn’t feel the same and more flimsy without Liara around from the start.

I usually do Therum --> Feros --> Noveria --> Virmire.

Well okay, first a stop at Edolus, since, you know, it’s on the way.

What a LOVELY day, nothing could possibly go wrong on this barren world. I feel like they gave us a pretty easy-to-get-around-on world to start out with.

I honestly love driving around in the mako 90% of the time?  Once you’re used to the controls, it’s not that hard to get most places you want to go.  Though I admit the Nomad in Andromeda is a big upgrade.  I kinda miss it in ME2 and ME3, though I only do what driving is necessary in Overlord and skip Firewalker like, half the time.

First, let’s check out the map...

I’m pretty sure I didn’t realize you could mark your destination on the map and it’d put a handy arrow on your radar until I started playing on PC.  Before then I was checking the map every 5 seconds making SURE I was going the right way.  *facepalm*  

Generally my scanning strategy on the planet is... just go to the things on the map, but do go to ALL the things on the map.  If I see something along the way, stop and get it.  I don’t go way out of my way to look for unmarked stuff.  Usually the UNC missions can be completed doing that + complete planet / asteroid scanning.

Oh hey here’s a guy, let’s just grab what we can off him...

UGH.  MINIGAMES.

Like I get that the minigame is a stand in for “looking for clues, are you successful in finding anything useful?” or whatever but it’s still just the worst.  A minigame is fun occasionally, making it as a gate to something like looting a body is stupid.  I guess I have to forgo actually putting points into things that keep Kaidan alive at the early levels so he can help me... loot bodies.  Cool.  Great.

Since I’m cheating in credits, all weapons and armor get medigelled almost immediately so that I don’t have to do the minigame later on when they get harder, like, ever.

The ME2 minigames at least make a little more sense than this moving puzzler thing.  That’s at least an attempt to look like some kind of code hacking or rewiring/reprogramming.  This thing is just... silly.

ME2 has a disable minigames mod... so there will be no talk of minigames from here on out.  They don’t exist after the easy minigames early on in ME1.

So I ... somehow managed to not get video or screenshots of you know the ICONIC THRESHER MAW attack on Edolus?  So please enjoy this gif I made of it back in 2013 instead.

It’s such a great fakeout and moment.  Like “Oh man how easy my goal is like right in front of me!  That’s great, so easy!” then OH HELL NO, FUCK YOU, GIANT WORM!!

These gifs are from another planet later on, but they’ll do.

My normal MO with Maws is to get out of the way, far enough that they can’t appear too close to or especially under me, but close enough that they do still show up, then stay stationary and jump over the goo while shooting at it.

YOU’RE FACING THE OTHER WAY HOW DID YOU SPIT AT ME?!

This is fine.  EVERYTHING IS FINE. We’re just A LITTLE ON FIRE.  Our shields are at full...

Oh hell, Kaidan slap some medigel on it, please.

Even though we don’t know who Cerberus is yet, FUCK YOU CERBERUS. I always bring the VS to any Cerberus mission because THEY WERE RIGHT NOT TO JOIN YOU IN CERBERUS.  Let’s keep a FUCK YOU CERBERUS count going to remember all the horrible shit we SAW Cerberus do in ME1 to remind ourselves why Ashley or Kaidan is the only SANE ONE for going “No, sorry, I’m not joining you in Cerberus.”

Deep breath

OK, let’s go get Liara.

Wrex comes with us to Therum.

Dear Lord, Therum is gorgeous.

This is real nice just a pleasant day on this thresher maw-less planet and great scenery, we’ll find that asari scientist in no ti--- WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?

Have I mentioned how everything is fine lately?

Well it’s time for how I deal with most of the geth while in the Mako...

Armatures are worth five points each!

Rocket troopers are only two points, but I got a lot of them!

Stopping and fighting in the Mako takes way too long.  Push on through all the way til we’re stopped.

Hm, this is the one I should push, right?

*crickets*

Fine.

Just... real pretty.

I love this part of Therum right here.  A really great, scary fight that feels so dangerous, but winnable.  Great level design, too.

Then this happens.

Does everyone’s hair do that in this cutscene, or just mine, or this hairstyle?

Also, ME3 has a mod now that lets chracters use their correct weapons in cutscenes, my eternal devotion to the modder who could do that in ME1.  None of these characters use assault rifles in-game!!

I’m fairly certain I have played and replayed this fight more than any other in ME1.  AKA RUN FOR COVER OH SHIT AVOID THE BOMBS AND LASERS FLYING AT YOU AT ONCE PLEASE DON’T DIE COMPANIONS PLEASE KILL SOMETHING I CAN’T DO THIS ON MY OWN AHHHHH!!! 

This time around, I died my first time, actually did really well the second time, and decided to go back and record the fight for gifs and... won, barely.  The gifs would not be good.  Wrex and Kaidan didn’t last long. 

Anyway, It’s a great cutscene, but hoo boy I wish it were skippable.

Okay but what were these ruins *for*.  Also, real lucky that they had the boss fight way up here instead of down where Liara was.

Speaking of Liara...

Hello Doctor T’soni!

I have a lot of questions like... how long have you been in that bubble?  How are you sustaining it that long?  How long has it been since you’ve eaten?  If I didn’t come get you until after Virmire, would you have been holding that bubble up for the weeks in between then and now?  

Ah well, you’re here now, and I suppose I’m going to owe you my life later so... welcome to the team.

You gotta admit that’s one badass entrance, though uh, if the forcefield is still up, where did he come from?  Doesn’t matter.  Wrex, let’s kill us one of your brethren (sorry.)

I’ll just *assume* that Liara is too tired from holding up her stasis bubble she was in to actually be USEFUL.

I love the chaos of running the fuck out of there.

Texture popping is still an issue even with a decent computer and texture packs, but at least it’s quick now.

Also I really feel the loss of this conference room in the future games.  The awkward oval table never quite feels the same.  But also, uh, this is a lot of room taken up in this small ship for eight chairs and a holoprojector.  You gotta think there’s more uses for this space than just that.

But yeah, I love these check-ins, it’s a chance for everyone to get together and really hash out what’s going on, as well as reinforcing the plot to the players in a more natural way.  Having Liara this early will let us understand the Protheans better at an earlier stage, even if it turns out she’s wrong about some stuff (though at the time this was written, she was right for all everyone knew.)

Wrex and Garrus don’t talk much here, probably because you can make it through the game without one of them.  I did a “didn’t recruit Garrus” playthrough in ME2 once.  They change like one or two lines then Garrus goes back to talking about Old Times.  So like you CAN, but you really shouldn’t not recruit Garrus, because Bioware didn’t do a great job changing anything aside from your initial greeting during the Omega Archangel mission.

Not recruiting Wrex, though.  Wow that’ll have consequences later on.

OK!  So the gang’s all here, and this post is already very long.  Next time: Let’s go talk to everyone for awhile, and do a few more sidequests because we can’t go back to the Citadel til our persuasion is high enough to grind Mikhailovich’s arguments into the dust!

[is6621]

How Films Have Been Impacted by Social Media – Daniel Wholey

I’m a huge film fan; I wake up in the morning and my morning news consists of the latest updates on the Spider-Man deal between Disney and Sony and the bidding wars that happened earlier this year. In fact, I haven’t gone a single day the past few months without seeing at least a few images of Joaquin Phoenix as the Joker on Instagram. It’s obvious to me that social media has played a huge role in creating attention for the latest films, and after our class discussion this week on social media posts gaining massive attention, I started thinking about how exactly this online attention has been affecting studios. In this blog, I’m going to discuss two of the latest major impacts social media has had on studios.

Creepy Sonic the Hedgehog

The advancements in animation has provided considerable benefits for many films, but it didn’t do too much justice for Sonic. When the first official trailer for Sonic the Hedgehog came out last April, fans were anything but happy.  Fans thought he looked too human-like and definitely not like the character they grew up with. Some went as far as to say that he even resembled “ET with fur.”

Director of the film, Jeff Fowler, responded on Twitter soon after the backlash stating that “The message is loud and clear… you aren’t happy with the design & you want changes. It’s going to happen.” The film’s release date was delayed by three months and Sonic 2.0 looks substantially better according to the fans.

This decision not only brought substantial costs in terms of redoing the CGI, the changes also forced Paramount to adjust its marketing. They had to redo posters and cutouts, some of which were already in theaters. It was a huge effort on Paramount’s end, but at the end of the day, the message was “loud and clear” on social media; fans demanded a change. Thanks to social media, fans were able to directly communicate with the director and have a huge impact on the production and marketing of the film within a very short amount of time. Such a feat could definitely not be accomplished before the advent of social media, and this new relationship between the audience and film producers amazes me.

Spider-Man: Far From the MCU

During the summer, Marvel fans were faced with some very startling news; Spider-Man would not be in any Marvel movies anymore do to a disagreement between Sony and Disney. Fans were furious. Far From Home, the latest Spider-Man movie, passed $1 billion in box office earnings; it was a huge hit for marvel fans. When the news reached the internet, fans protested. Hashtags such as #SaveSpidey and #SaveSpiderMan flooded Twitter and Instagram feeds. In fact, even Jeremy Renner, one of the main actors in the hit Marvel films, protested through social media.

Furthermore, three days after the news broke out, three fans made a Facebook page titled “Storm Sony And Bring Spider-Man Home to the MCU.” 7,371 people indicated on the page that they would be willing to dress up in Spider-Man costumes on October 19th to peacefully protest at both Sony’s offices in New York and in Culver City, California. It was unfortunately cancelled, but all this activity on social media motivated Tom Holland to have a meeting with Disney’s CEO Bob Iger and Sony’s film chairman Tom Rothman to urge them to reconsider negotiating. As a result, on September 27th, the two major studios reached a deal; they decided to continue the Marvel Spider-Man series through a third movie. Fans and actors were satisfied once again.

Conclusion

72% of social media users write online comments about films they see, according­ to a poll conducted by the consulting firm Penn Schoen & Berland and The Hollywood Reporter. The poll also found that a third of social media users had seen a movie in a theater­ because of something they had seen or read on a social network. But nowadays, social media is not just creating hype for films; in a way, social media is helping direct films. Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook are all having a say in major Hollywood decisions. Directors, actors, and audience members are communicating through social media platforms to direct the course of a film. I love films, and I love the idea of fans being able to have a voice in the movie-making process. It might cost the studios a substantial amount of time and money, but as long as I don’t have to see Toby Maguire’s uncomfortable cry or awkward dancing, I’m pretty satisfied.

Sources

https://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2013/03/12/movies-depend-social-media-support-for-staying-power-box-office/mDRqLV2AaS1xqmLdFV1N5O/story.html

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/12/movies/sonic-the-hedgehog-redesign-trailer.html

https://www.springfieldnewssun.com/entertainment/fans-complain-about-new-movie-director-vows-listen-change-sonic-the-hedgehog/CYrRcnRbgths6MS3c8p1CL/

https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/news/sonic-hedgehog-trailer-redesign-delay-release-date-a9199611.html

https://ftw.usatoday.com/2019/08/sony-marvel-spider-man-will-no-longer-be-a-part-of-the-mcu

https://ftw.usatoday.com/2019/08/sony-marvel-spider-man-will-no-longer-be-a-part-of-the-mcu

[tumblunni]

MMMMMMore monster rancher! The chronicles of Jade being AMAZING AND GREAT and me HOPING SHE NEVER DIES!

* i’m so happy my baby is finally succeeding at battles aaaaa im so sorry you had such a bad start, jade! thanks for putting up with me!

* I just got a random event about the AGIMA president mr not-a-toupee offering Zest a job as a monster battle official. But he refused cos ‘ugh, Aroma cant handle the ranch without me’ Like.. dude... she is LITERALLY the only one doing work around here. She’s the one being my assistant character while you sit there just being a grumpy gus to everyone who ever loves you! >_< I take back what i said about you having a cute nerd character design! i hope he eventually does take the job, yknow? it sucks that he’s sacrificing his own career out of a sense of overprotectiveness to his sister. And that he’s so emotionally stunted that he cant even explain it properly to her without coming off like an absolute asshole. I think taking this job would probably be a very enriching experience for him! And I’m doing my best to teach Aroma how to be a good monster rancher, so I’m sure she’ll be fine. I’d actually love if she cameo’d in a later game or something as a secret super boss, like how Holly did in MR2!

* AWW YEAH JADE!! I love how after so long of struggling to even get one hit in, she’s suddenly able to stop struggling! i buffed her up so much so she could deal one hit KOs with that one move, and now she’s able to more reliably do one move, its really paying off. She even one hit KO’d another golem! O_O

* Jade managed to beat the B-Rank cup!!! I didnt think we’d even have enough time to get this far!! Oh phew, this means she can become a tutor when she retires. I just have to make sure to keep an eye on her and register for the tutor thing when it looks like her time is running out. Hell, I might even be able to beat the last few ranks and finish the whole game with my first monster! Jade is just that amazing!!!! Please stay forever, Jade!!!

* We just got invited to the three continent meet! I wonder if this means there will be cameos from Colt and Holly again? And we also got an invitation match to unlock more rare monsters and stuff! EVERYBODY IS EXCITED TO MEET JADE

* ilu jade

* sweet gentle rock child

* a casual cameo from Glados

* Jade reached the end of her time right after winning the Rank S tournement :) Thank you Jade... I love you lots, okay?

* However it seems like the GBA games have actually removed monster death, or at least softened it. Instead of getting a death scene, you just get a ‘your monster has reached its limit, it should go into retirement’. And then you can actually continue playing, you just get 0 points from training now and are stuck with the stats you achieved previously. I dunno if this means I can continue entering tournements with her, though? I might just let her rest every week til another tournement appears, and find out. But I’d feel guilty making her do tournements now, but still I know I couldnt beat the three continent meet if i had to raise a new monster now. It was really bad timing!! If possible, Jade, could you hang on long enough to meet Colt and Holly? You don’t have to win, even! I just want you to meet the nice assistants from the previous games, cos I’m so proud of you. GOD DAMN WHY DO I ALWAYS GET SO ATTATCHED TO MY MONSTERS

* YEAH, YOU CAN Man, thats kinda... completely broken??? I mean, I guess the idea is that cos you cant raise your stats higher you wont be able to progress anyway. But most of the time when i play, my monster never even gets a chance to reach its limit in the tournement. Dying before having the chance to play S-rank is usually my ultimate doom. i think if Jade can just keep on existing forever then i could eventually get lucky and beat all the tourneys, even without getting maxed out attack stat. SHES JUST SO AWESOME, YKNOW?? but it would be cruel to keep her working beyond her limit, even if the game lets me do it, it would just feel mean. I’m just gonna keep her here til the three continent meet. And I feel guilty enough even doing that... And i mean.. it would be kinda lame if I beat the game on the first try! This way I can raise another monster to aim for those final two ranks! And JAde can sit in the background of the tutor screen and smile :) I WILL MAKE YOU PROUD, MY CHILLLLLLLDDD

* Daww, shopkeeper Crow has a crush on the league receptionist! She was looking for cold medicine and he was really nice and helped her find the right medicine for free, and generally everyone was like ‘wtf where did mr grumpy go’ I hope there’s more random events with Crow, I wanna know more about him!

* A funny random event of Aroma suddenly NOT BICKERING WITH ZEST *dun dun dunnn* Right after Crow giving away free merchandise! Zest must think the world is coming to an end XD It was hilarious, but also I’m a bit grumpy at not-a-toupee man cos apparantly he told Aroma nobody would ever want to marry her unless she acted more submissive. Wtf dude, stfu with your stupid gender roles! Also.. like.. Aroma isnt even a tomboy character?? This is the first Ive even heard of her being ‘not ladylike’! She dresses eight times more femininely than every other assistant in the series, and I mean she doesnt act rough and tumble or hate cute things or anything?? Is she JUST supposed to be the ‘tomboy’ because she’s very self confident and doesnt take her brother’s bullshit? Am i supposed to be sympathising with mr jerk brother??? Funny event, but makes me think way too much about wtf the writers were thinking about this poor character... LITERALLY HER ONLY FLAW IS THAT HER CHARACTER DESIGN IS LAZY LEAVE HER ALONE HER PERSONALITY IS BEST SHE’S MY CHILD EVERYONE IS MY CHILD

* also its weird how inconsistant the translation is? There’s a lot of flaws and 90% of it is really flat and emotionless literal translation. But then this one event suddenly actually managed to keep good humour and wordplay! And her dialogue being overly formal WAS ACTUALLY A JOKE, when half of the game is usually that way! And they actually got text formatting right! THEY MADE A JOKE ABOUT TEXT FORMATTING!! I wish I’d taken a video of it, holy shit. Congratulations whoever translated these three paragraphs!

* Still waiting for the three continent match to show up... I’m worried now that maybe it doesnt appear if your monster is retirement age? So I’m waiting for nothing? In the meanwhile, Jade won two invitation matches to unlock monsters. the codes to get Zan and Joker are 98%SPEED and I forgot the code for Joker. But it seems you can redo the matches to get the codes again.

* JADE GAVE ME A PRESENT I FEEL BLESSED AAAAA I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT IT MEANS THOUGH LOOK AT THIS WEIRD COMPLICATED ITEM LOOK AT HOW SMART SHE IS FOR MAKING IT MY BABBBBYYYYYY

[oldschoolgameshowguy-blog]

TJW = WTF?

A CBS Classic is Revived But Changes Nearly Everything (And Not In A Good Way)

“From Hollywood…it’s the game where knowledge is king and Lady Luck is queen...”

Sadly, the “knowledge” is largely gone from TBS’s revival of “The Joker’s Wild”, a classic CBS game show that rewarded actual book knowledge with cash and prizes of up to $25,000. Entertainer Snoop Dogg brought back a new version of this Jack Barry vehicle in October of 2017 and for those who remember and loved the original, this one is a huge disappointment. First, though, let me comment on the few plusses the show has.

It’s worth watching the show - once - to see the beautiful new set. Barry would have been proud (even envious). The designers created a stage that’s colorful, lively and engaging. You even hear slot machine sounds like you’d hear in a real casino. The 1990 revival had its own technology-driven machine – three TV monitors where the category wheels would “spin” but they weren’t terribly exciting to watch. At least with modern technology, the new Joker machine is something truly impressive.

Sadly, that’s where the list of positives end for me. There’s so many things about the new version of the show that I disliked upon viewing the premiere. The audience. The questions. The changed flow of play. And most certainly the host. If you’re a fan of Snoop Dogg, you’ll probably hate everything I’m about to say and dismiss me as a “hater”. Fine. But if you don’t know Snoop, you may agree with me. 

Snoop’s persona – at least on the show – is that of a drug-friendly casino operator party guy with a streetwise sense of humor. That, of course, is nothing like Jack Barry or, really, any other quiz show emcee of any of the classics. Even Gene Rayburn of legendary “Match Game” fame was wild and wacky without seeming stoned. And I don’t find Snoop’s manner appealing – in the context of a quiz show. As a music performer, not being all there can add to an artist’s charisma. But not for leading a vehicle like this. (Michael Strahan of ABC’s “The $100,000 Pyramid” would have been a finer choice to helm this revival. Frankly, I can think of at least a dozen other people I’d rather had been at the helm of the new “Joker”.)

Snoop is supposed to be the main draw for the show - but with the original, it wasn't about the host. It was about the game, at least for the viewers. Jack Barry was an affable host, like many emcees of the day, but he wasn’t playing a version of himself, and a seedy one at that. He was actually trying to clean up his image, having been implicated in The Quiz Show Scandals of the 1950’s. He needed to be squeaky clean. Luckily, it worked.

A good game show host - to me - knows how to set up tension and the big moments. Snoop seems too high - or high acting - to be tense about anything. It’s all about laughs, money, and that “big-ass” slot machine. If you’re watching a game, as a viewer, you don’t want to be going, “What just happened?”

Snoop has famously said “The Joker’s Wild” was one of his favorite shows growing up, and that he used to watch it with his grandmother. Why was it a favorite? Was it the big money? The set? It looks like that the oversized slot machine what fascinated him because I don’t get the impression it was the intellect displayed by the contestants. I don’t think Snoop would have done so well as a contestant on the CBS original.

The new version of the game is not a general knowledge quiz – at least, as you’d see on “Jeopardy!” with Alex Trebek. (I wish there were more examples of knowledge game shows on American TV but they’ve all but disappeared – American TV producers presume that the average viewer doesn’t find book smarts entertaining. When I was growing up, viewers had more selections – among the better of them, “The Who, What or Where Game” and “College Bowl”. Even shows like “Gambit” or “Hollywood Squares” had questions where viewers could learn something factual.)

On the new version of “Joker” questions are more about streetwise subjects or comedic themes. The category names are too silly to recount here, but I was reminded of the equally frivolous names chosen for categories on the 2000 “Pyramid” revival with Donny Osmond (which I was glad to see bite the dust). Sometimes it’s possible to be too cutesy.

Even the 1990 version with Pat Finn, disappointing as that was, had quiz questions about real topics – they were given as definitions, where the player had to define the person, place or thing Finn read off his cards. The message Snoop’s “Joker” sends is that there's zero value in knowing school subjects or facts. With who made it into the White House in 2016, this show is suitable for a “post-fact” era.

New “Joker” isn’t even the same game structurally. Designed to fit within a single-half hour, with no carry-over champions (even the current incarnation of Family Feud with Steve Harvey lets families stay five days to win a new SUV), this version of “Joker” is a contest to see who can amass the most money during game play, not whether they can reach a particular amount. That dramatically changes the game. There are fewer moments for natural tension. A wrong answer to a question can’t be picked up by an opponent for credit, as in the original version. There is no “final spin” rule if a player reaches the winning amount before players have had an equal number of spins. And a three-Joker spin is lame, as it only counts for $500 towards a daily total. There is no Joker’s Jackpot, no five-game big payoff, and no sizzle associated with getting Jokers anymore, no matter how much the audience joins in with “Joker! Joker!! Joker!!!!”

Speaking of the audience (and the players), in scanning with my eyes, I didn’t see anyone present over the age of 30.  Just a soundstage full of twenty-somethings. Snoop is probably the oldest person on that stage. The original “Joker” wasn’t so narrow in its appeal, and that might have been part of the reason it was a classic – you could see students, fathers, mothers, teachers, artists, young adults, older adults, everyone. It seems that Snoop’s version of the show basically says, “If you ain’t a club kid, or you don’t dig me, you too old.” I think lots of college students across the country who tune in “Jeopardy!” daily would disagree. (I was also non-plussed by the standing ovation at the beginning of the show – I remember when standing ovations had to be earned.)

If you ran the original CBS version of “Joker” now, it wouldn't connect with Snoop’s target audience on the TBS version, because that target audience doesn't value book knowledge – at least not in this arena. Get outta here, nerds – you’re not wanted here.

I am also not a fan of “lovely assistants” unless they “work.” It seems that these days, a female assistant (it’s always gotta be a female) is comely and attractive but doesn’t necessarily have much in the way of personality. Catch 21’s Nikki was pretty but bland also. The last show with a “lovely assistant” I could handle was “Wheel of Fortune” - Vanna White may be long in the tooth, but she has depth and seems more real. On the original CBS version, Jack handled the entire show, solo – and even the 1990 revival with Pat Finn was a single-star affair.

How could this version of “Joker” ever have been green-lighted for production? Simple - times have changed. Broadcasters and production companies are greedier than ever, and ever eager to push the envelope to get a new generation of viewers, and the eyeballs advertisers covet. I suppose some of that is to be expected, but taste seems to have been lost with it. And it borders on sacrilege to take an old brand and put something else entirely with it - it’s just wrong.

“The Joker’s Wild” was never intended to be a comedy game show. There have been other game shows that were expressly designed as humor vehicles - “Make Me Laugh”, “The Hollywood Squares”, “The Gong Show”, “Match Game”, “Every Second Counts”, “Can You Top This?” - but taking a venerated quiz and turning it into a comedy vehicle isn't a good idea. If I had my way, this show would have been called something else.

Another part of the problem is that the industry itself has changed since the 1970s - indeed, the concept of entertainment is more than TV and radio - and producers, accountants and suits are greedier than ever, wanting a guaranteed success. Most folk under 30 now have TV, streaming music, social media, gaming consoles, and dating/hookup apps to entertain themselves. And so TV has to have bigger and bigger spectacles to push the envelope – witness, a game show with open drug references (“420”).

And then you have what I could call “new generation” producers – folks whose interest is in leaving their own mark on a classic genre rather than respecting what made the genre work – it’s all about them. I have seen revivals come and go in recent years, but they never stay. They all have to be edgy. They all have to be “explicit”. They all have to be bawdy. I dare one game show packager out there to bring back a classic (I’m thinking “The Big Showdown” from ABC) without retooling every g’damned thing from top to bottom for an exclusive 18 to 24 aged demographic. If I had the independent wealth and connections, I’d do it myself but...here I sit, typing a blog instead.

Richard Kline’s company tried to redo “Joker” in 1990 by changing nearly everything and it was a flop – only after several months in did they try to retool the game with classic “Joker” rules, but it was too late then. However, having seen this new “Joker”, that ‘90 version is no longer the worst.

TBS is a cable channel so they can show offerings like this. I just cannot imagine CBS running this - except as a gag. If Snoop’s “Joker” gains traction, look for an SNL parody one of these coming weekends.

If you wanted to have a game show in a night club - and all that implies - you'd get Snoop’s reboot of “The Joker’s Wild”. With the exception of the beautiful new set, there is little that a fan of the original CBS “Joker” will enjoy. “Jeopardy!” or quiz show fans can rightfully wince. And TBS? Nice gimmick, guys, but you better promote the hell out of this show to your millennial “base” to make it a commercial success.

Meantime, I will stick to reruns of the classic CBS show on You Tube.

GRADE: F

[angstandhappiness]

NEAT

revised my batman design a bit