A Star Wars Video Game Retrospective – Episode 3: “Jedi Arena” (1983)

It’s been a while since I wrote one of these. There’s been a number of reasons for that. Firstly, I got the impression that nobody cared, in fact I saw my views noticeably dip right as I posted the previous two parts. Second, these early games were far less interesting to talk about than I had originally hoped. There simply wasn’t the content there to piece anything together that amounted to anything more than “this is an old game”.

But I’d be damned if let myself be deterred by minor inconveniences like popularity and my own desire to write about them… But fear not because this game and the one that comes after ended up being surprisingly more interesting games to talk about…

Continue reading “A Star Wars Video Game Retrospective – Episode 3: “Jedi Arena” (1983)” →

Wooderon Movies of the Year 2018: Best Surprise

It’s difficult to be surprised when you’ve become risk adverse with how you spend your time. Like I spoke about before I started my game of the year lists, my approach to consuming media has changed. I value my time more than I used to, and while movies aren’t quite the same time investment that video games are, the same rule has applied to them in 2018, maybe even more so.

I still found myself surprised by a few of the movies I saw, and pleasantly so. Which is always a good thing. But really, the most surprising thing about all of this was that I had low expectations for a Star Wars movie at all. I hope it isn’t a sign of the mass push back against the franchise isn’t having an effect on me… nah.

Continue reading “Wooderon Movies of the Year 2018: Best Surprise” →

Rogue One: Star Wars should Lean into its Stories

Recently I went back an watched Rogue One, the first of the Star Wars Stories movies. And after much thought and soul searching, I think it might be my favourite of the modern Star Wars movies. It feels like the one movie of the franchise that understands why the series was fleshed out as much as it was in what was once known as the expanded universe.

In my mind there are two kinds of “hardcore” Star Wars fan. There are the people like me who have spent the last few decades of their lives buying terribly written novels, collecting comic books and playing all of the games, simply enjoying spending time in the world and getting an increasingly complex sense of this fascinating setting.

Continue reading “Rogue One: Star Wars should Lean into its Stories” →