Must Watch: "Tether"

This afternoon I stumbled upon an awesome video on YouTube entitled: "Tether".  Which is an emerging web series.  According to another video by made the creators of "Tether", this is the second shot at this particular series.  And I have to say, I think they nailed it.  For a web series, it looks to have a lot of promise.

The guys behind "Tether" call themselves CorridorDigital.  And judging by this retake on "Tether" (the original version is called "Tether: First Snow" which is also in YouTube as well); these guys will go far.  The new version simply titled: "Tether" is very mysterious.  As the movie starts up we meet a group of what appears to be some form of resistance fighters taking money from a family I guess to support their efforts.  Efforts of what is yet to be seen.  As the movie build's it's action we see a couple of guys dragging a body into the back of a truck which turns out to be one of these fighter's comrades.  Yet, we don't actually see what happened to him, the fighters apprehend one of the suspects.  During this encounter they see something fall from the and land in the far distance.  As the smoke settles there is a visible cable-like object stretching from the ground through the cloud cover.  Eventually we even see something that looks similar to a ship (or think a "space elevator") slide down this "tether".

The mystery builds as we meet what looks like a sick woman, she heeds a warning just before several people get killed by an alien that brings to mind a character from the Halo series.  Yet, it's still awesome.  The ending is even cool.  And one of the things that jumped out at me was the noticeable quality of the film.  Sure, it's only 12 minutes long.  Yet, it was funded directly out of these guy's pockets.  And still they achieved a very high quality film. Which is often unusual against lower budget projects.

All in all, I would definitely watch this if it were to achieve some form of broadcasting across a tv network.  And if any other episodes are made, I will definitely tune it.  Be sure to watch the old version of "Tether" too!

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Netflix Shares and User Base Drops

Since we're on the topic of big brand companies going crazy, we might as well chat about Netflix.  Remember a few months ago when they announced the changes to their service pricing?  And remember a lot of people got pretty upset about the matter.  Then after their current customer's were already rocked by the pricing change; they almost immediately announced that they would be moving their DVD Rental Service from under the Netflix brand to the new Qwikster brand name.  Which seemed kind of crazy, but at least they were still supporting the DVD Rental customers.

And yes, a bunch of customer's got equally upset about the name change to Qwikster as well.  This change meant that both your DVD Rental queue and your Instant Streaming queue would be in two different locations and not associated with each other.  The only thing Netflix was looking to add to Qwikster were game rentals for game consoles (like the Gamefly rental service).

Very shortly after revealing the Qwikster brand, Netflix decided to scrap it's plans to even start up Qwikster in the first place claiming they have listened to their customers.  So for Netflix the last several months have been pretty busy with them running in circles and getting nothing accomplished.

And nothing screams 'We have no clue what we are doing.  But we're doing it like a boss' to your customers than to publicly change your business plan so many times and only end up back where you were to start with and leaving your customer's just as empty handed for all the trouble.  And by the way things look, hopefully they learned their lesson.

It was reported earlier this week that Netflix has lost something in the neighborhood of 800,000 subscribers.  I don't care who you are or what your business is.  But 800,000 subscribers is a metric crap-ton of former customers (and lost business).  And due to the all of the fiasco and canceled accounts their stock prices dropped around 37% on Monday alone.  This isn't good Netflix.

So what does it look like going forward?  Netflix has already announced new content would be making it's way to the service over the coming months.  And a bunch has already been added with them scoring deals with the AMC and CW networks.  So as a current user/customer, I certainly hope they continue to add more content.  Especially since their streaming content is still nowhere as large or full as their DVD offerings.  Maybe with time that will change.  And for their sakes, they need to remember lessons learned from the last couple of months when it comes to them looking to mix things up.

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Star Legends Chrome Store

A while back I did a review of an awesome MMO for Android and iOS devices.  The app reviewed was that of 'Star Legends: The BlackStar Chronicles' link.  It is an awesome game and it's free in the Android Market.

It was announced this past week that this game will be making it's way to the Chrome App Store.  Meaning, if you run Google's Chrome Web Browser; then you're in for a treat.  This is a great game for the casual gamer.  And yet it is still an MMO.  As MMO titles typically have the stigma that they have the ability to take over your life.  All the while, if you are one who likes to completely get sucked into a game, you'll find hours of fun to be had in Star Legends.

So what is such a big deal with this game hitting the Chrome App Store?  Easily put, the game allows cross platform play.  Meaning you can play against people using mobile devices running the game (Android or iOS) as well as other gamer's using the Chrome App version.  This in itself is a huge step and if successful maybe other mobile developers will start thinking along the same lines as SpaceTime Studios.

And this is what you can look forward to:


To read how the app played via my review, visit:Star Legends Review

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Batman Arkham City's Official Launch Trailer!

If there is one game that has been highly anticipated, than this has to be it.  Batman Arkham City is due for release in just a few days.  And it looks like this title will definitely trump it's already awesome precursor: Batman: Arkham Asylum.  In the first game from the Arkham series gamer's were treated to a version of 'game Batman' that we had never seen before.  Rocksteady managed to blend the detective Batman with the action Batman almost to perfection.  And it made for an outstanding game.

With Batman Arkham City, it seems as though old enemies are even making a cameo.  In the trailer we see not only Joker, Penguin, Mr. Freeze, and Hugo Strange.  But we also see appearances by Poison Ivy and Bane.  And in one scene of the trailer we even see what looks like Batman fighting alongside Bane?!  Overall, this game looks absolutely insane!  And I already have a bunch of questions, like how did Bane survive getting thrown into the bay under the Batmobile in Arkham Asylum?  How did the Joker survive his mutation, even though he looks like crap?  And better yet, how will Batman get out of this one?

Honestly, when I heard the premise for this game I almost shuddered.  And I am guilty of thinking, 'Well it was good while it lasted...' when thinking of how awesome the first game was.  I mean, the thought of a big portion of Gotham being turned into a giant prison run by inmates just didn't seem to strike the right cords with me.  However, now that we can see some of it in action.  It looks awesome!  If you haven't seen the official launch trailer yet, take a gander:

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Google+ Games: Do You Play?

Honestly, I've been a little behind in my exploration of Google+ the last few weeks.  This afternoon I had some time to kill and noticed a button on Google+ I hadn't previously noticed.  And when clicking it, I found it threw me right into their 'Games' section.

Looks like they have definitely gotten the clue from Facebook that people want to play games.  I have played around with some of the games on Facebook and I haven't found anything there that warrants special attention from me.  If I have a little downtime I may play a round or two of Tetris on Facebook.  But that's about it.  And I have yet to start getting any of the spammy game requests from people in my Circles on Google+.  Which tells me that the people I'm following aren't playing that many games either.

Did Google jump into the social game sector a little late?  Maybe, after all I have noticed a huge drop in Farmville Requests from my Facebook Friends.  And I know many people who no longer play Farmville because they felt burned out.  Doing something in your free time should never give you that 'burned out' feeling.  After all, that's why it's called free time.  So do you think games will help populate Google+?

Their offerings are somewhat slim right now.  With the following games being offered up:

Personally, Google will need to bring in more games/talent to catch anyone's eye for this to become a reason for people to spend more time on Google+.  However, this is just the starter games being offered there are more games on the horizon.

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Tablets Owners Do Play Games!

If you own a tablet, do you also play games on it?  My answer is definitely yes!  Why would you carry around a device with an awesome display, and plenty of horse power to play games.  And then not play them?  That sounds crazy to me!  And with mobile gaming becoming more competent as weeks go on; making them attractive to more than just the casual puzzle gamer.  Why not?

Well, apparently a study was conducted for the month of September that concluded that 23% of U.S. tablet owner's played at least one game every day on their tablet during the month.  This equates to two-thirds of tablet owner's enjoying mobile gaming goodness.  Other popular activities enjoyed via tablets inlcude: listening to music, YouTube, streamed online content (like TV shows), and of course using their tablets as e-readers.  Whether it be magazines or ebooks.

What does this tell us?  The numbers seem to suggest that more and more people are using tablets.  No surprise there.  But one thing comes to my mind when we see these kind of studies.  If tablet use is becoming so prevalent; then how come we don't see people at Starbucks and at the Mall sitting around messing with their tablets?  Around my area I see plenty of people sitting around playing on their smartphones.  But not so many tablets.  I, for one would rather sit at home and jam away at a game, rather than actually play it on the go.  Mostly because out in public there is some much going on I find it hard to concentrate fully on tasks like games and reading lengthy articles.  Just not my cup of tea.  But sitting on the couch with my feet kicked up...That's game time around my house.

For more info on the exact study and statistics visit: http://8b08ac42.tinylinks.co

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The Avengers Official Trailer!

So today Marvel decided to throw the world a bone and let us see what we've been building up the last couple of summer's to see; a first look at none other than: The Avengers!  In what equates to nearly a 2 minute trailer we get a great trailer for the upcoming flick.  In it you will see the team of superheroes in all their glory.  From Captain America, Iron Man, HawkEye, Black Widow, Thor, and of course Mr. Nick Fury.  And we finally get to see some shots of Banner transforming into The Hulk!  We also get a few shots of Loki; but still nothing concerning the Skrulls.  And Marvel hasn't confirmed the Skrull's involvement in the movie either; it's purely been speculation as to whether or not this flick will show us Loki's alliance with the Skrulls.

We also get a few quick glimpses of some strife within the group with Tony Stark antagonizing Steve Rogers and even shots of a fight sequence between Thor and Captain America.  The common denominator: Captain America doesn't get along with others, I guess??  Anyways, the flick looks awesome and I absolutely can't wait to see it.  For those who haven't seen the trailer yet, enjoy!

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