Marvel vs DC: Box Office Numbers and Total "Scores" so far.

It's no secret that DC has fallen behind in the film industry in the last 15 years, and although it used to pump out more Superman films of old and what not, the last 15 years are enough to place it a distant second far behind Marvel. But how far behind is it really?

Well, I done the busy work for you all and crunched the numbers up to put them all in one place, keeping things nice and tidy. Lets see how much ground DC has to cover to reach its competition.

Starting from the year 2000 to now (July 2014), just under 15 years, we can easily see the difference between the two leading franchises of comics.

Windows 8 and 8.1. Should One Recommend It and Why?

So, is Windows 8 and 8.1 an

operating system worth
recommending?

The Short answer? Yes!

Why Recommend It?

"Why would they?" one would wonder. But I wonder, why not? Let's start there, the reasons why one shouldn't recommend Windows 8.

DOOM 2014 - QuakeCon Reveals New Classic Mechanics.

DOOM 2014 (previously named DOOM 4 and of late simply known as DOOM alone) is finally here...

Well not exactly, it's some corners away at least. Nonetheless sooner than we had hoped, since Doom 4 seemed for a long time a dead project that was sluggishly finding its way to late 2015 if that. When the teaser came out, I was excited to say the least but didn't heed much to expectations with regards to seeing it any time soon.

The teaser surely took me by surprise, news on development on the new Doom were till now elusive and covered in a haze of mystery and smoke. With the project scrapped and rebooted at least once that we know of, and id software making statements of the likes "we will reveal information on the game when we have something to reveal..." all hope of getting it any time soon seemed futile. Of course we also had the occasional "it is going to be great" comments and the tease of what it "might" include or be like. But all we could do is push back release dates in our minds and make empty speculations of what it might be like or when it would arrive.

Until now.

Doom is indeed closer than we think, and from the sounds of it, is shaping up into a great experience created around fun and plenty fan service unless I am mistaken. Fingers crossed, but the horizons look good with the latest reveals and sooner that we had hoped.

Fanboys! And the Michael Bay Hate Wagon

Fanboys will be Fanboys...

What's with this Michael Bay hate wagon? It's years already. Is it going to ever stop?

First off, I am not a Michael Bay fan boy. I am neither trying to stick up for him, excuse him, or whatever else one may think of. I am simply tired of seeing his films (and him along with them) being attacked for no other reason other than fandom rage. And let's face it, that is exactly the only thing it is.

Before Transformers, there wasn't really much hate to go around. But then a Transformer film is made and every geek, nerd or anyone else that either greatly or mildly enjoyed Transformers as a child found a chance to complain about and hate like no tomorrow on the film and the creative party as well. "He is ruining childhood memories".

Didn't that phrase get old already with George Lucas?

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2014 - Splinter, Shredder, and Ninja "Blings"

Saw the 3rd trailer to this TMNT "reboot" (it is a reboot isn't it? I'm guessing so) some days ago when it came out... and I couldn't be more hyped to see this than I already am. You should be too, and I'm going to help you find out why.

Being only a trailer there is usually not much to go on due to either the small amount of content that is shown or purposefully edited plot ambiguity, but in this case there is much that can be said indeed.

First of all, you need to be some form of TMNT fan in one way or another to appreciate some details, some more than others I guess (like Ralphs depiction in all posters, always facing in an opposite direction to the rest of them even when all that is shown is simply their hands and weapons).

(Check out the trailer bellow to get in touch with the points I am making if you have not already seen it)

Video Games: A Form of Art and Entertainment for the Future

Video Games are a form of Art

Well as the title itself says, Video Games are a form of Art.

"Games" is a title given and used far too lightly nowadays with some still clinging on to the impression that it means "child's' play" and other outdated notions that should have been left in the past by now.

We Gamers are not children with no responsibilities, neither people that have nothing else to do in their lives, neither individuals with no interests other than having fun and playing. Some cling to these notions and try to force gamers to believe that video games are for children and not for grown ups. Naturally they are prompting gamers to grow "out" of them eventually. Such beliefs couldn't be more wrong and couldn't be based on falser assumptions if they tried.

Believe it or not, there are indeed many people that still think like this. An arrogant and pretentious mindset knows no limits after all. Such people try to force their belief systems on others, judging harshly with some pretty ridiculous notions that can even lead to discrimination and cause more harm than good. Instead of understanding that they are of a different mindset and that each person has a right to chose which ideals and qualities they will warm up to in this world, these people that do not agree to gaming in the form it truly is find it fitting to try and make others that do not agree with them change by force and discrimination. Such childish behaviour.

Gamers and what are the defenders of this entire form of entertainment will have you know it is no less a child's game than half if not all the activities in our lives that we all partake in for entertainment. Like going to the cinemas, or playing cards, playing pool, bowling, and so much more. Pretty hypocritical to rule out what one does not understand or like as being childish when all these activities are of the same form.

It is 2014 and the time for such misinformed notions to come to an end is overdue.

To put it simply, Video Gaming is 1st and above all a form of Art and 2nd a form of Entertainment. The two intertwine and become ultimately one.

It's time everyone started to respect it as such, and further respect gaming as much as any and all other forms of entertainment and art out there. The same way films, books, paintings, music and other forms are here to express the inner worlds of creators so that they can be shared with hundreds of others, thousands or even millions, games are here with the same purpose and were established with this idea and need in mind. They simply just take things up a notch by comparison, making the experiences interactive and thus being the only difference with the other forms. At this point it is pointless to argue over the differences and further define each form to a specific target market alone (like that of children) as each form is and should be unique in its own way and is more than capable of being directed to any target market out there and of any age.

Art and entertainment takes any form it needs or requires itself to take, it is free of any boundaries and templates, and that is why it is both an artistic expression as well as entertaining.

>>Scionia Update: Site Update and Completion

Glad to announce that the Archives Menu for the site of Scionia, along with other changes, have been completed into what should be the final and completed layout for scioniacomic.com.

The Archive Menu serves as a lore index, as within it will be logged all the details of the story as they are revealed along with some extra back-stories that cannot be completely explained within the comic itself without ruining the immersion. Updates to the Archive Menu will occur as the story is revealed and they are divided into categories to make navigation simpler and easier.

Serving as the insight and collection of lore to Scionia aimed at both fans and newcomers, the Archives will also in the future include spoilers which will be of course pointed out as such to ensure the experience is not ruined for anyone.

New changes to the site itself include the complete chapter navigation for all 16 chapters, to be filled in time with the story itself, new loaders to make the site as real-time as possible and ensure that long loading times do not become a problem, and lastly new artwork released including the Crusader and teaser character artworks.

Chapter 2 is well into its production now.

Content delays are common and to be expected as the project remains unfunded and on a minimum budget, making it understandably a hard task to keep up with and thus creating larger delays than intended for obvious reasons.

Having that said, I'm looking forward and trying my best to keep on working on this project as it is also an enjoyable ride and a personal milestone of my own that is with time accomplished. Here is to hoping the journey is as fun and in the end as rewarding to all as it is to me and to future endeavours being accomplished along with hopes of different working conditions to allow for more time to be spent on Scionia.

Thank you all for the support.

Graphics in Video Games, Will Always Be Important!

-"Someone that believes graphics are important should go and watch an anime or something, they are not real gamers"

-"I don't care about the graphics if the gameplay sucks"

-"Graphics are not important, it's the gameplay that counts"

-"Wish they would cut back on paying so much attention to graphics and make better gameplay"

-"Who cares about the lack in graphics? It has great gameplay."

Those few quotes, among many others, are some of the common phrases the "real" gamers of our time use to the extent that now people even write articles to defend such a notion... Being, that graphics are not important.

Funny story, I was going over this whole concept again not more than one day ago, and today I wake up to read a related article including opinions and comments enforcing the idea that graphics are indeed not important and further more, stating that they actually are not important "any more" in the industry in general and not just for their liking. I wonder at such perspectives from such gamers and turn to question what wonderful book or insight of facts gave away this notion for articles and comments of the like to exist?

>> Scionia Update: Archives Menu

Nothing to be seen yet within the site itself at the moment, just glad to announce that the graphics for the Archives Menu are designed and they are now being implemented into the site for the next update.

Work on Chapter 2 continues with hopes (somewhat unlikely) it is complete for uploading along side the Archives Menu and The Crusader Artwork. Completion for the upload to the Timelapse video for the Crusader is also on its way along with a small side-project video still in it's "scripting phase" with purpose of including an all around and general look at digital painting in the form of a tutorial.

As seen in the official Facebook Page for Scionia and my personal DeviantArt for now, this is the final version of a new character to be introduced in the coming chapters. The Crusader.

Getting ready for possibly one of the last overhauls including changes and additions (Chapter Idle Menus, Navigation Buttons, Chapter/Art Loader Priorities and of course the Archives) for the completed experience to the site for the WebComic as well as better efficiency and loading times for medium and slower connections. The foundation from which everything should be then ready to allow for focus being put into the Chapters and the Artworks themselves alone for each update.

Stay tuned.

X REBIRTH - 1st Impressions Game Review

X-Universe fans have been patiently waiting a long time now for the release to the next chapter of Egosofts' sandbox space simulator. X-Rebirth has been in development for 7 years, and it is now finally here.

The most obvious questions are: Does it deliver? Is it worthy of the X-Universe franchise? And does the new addition cater to the fans as well?

At most, it does. Although a little early on its release, with having an array of bugs experienced in the game from many users, X Rebirth should not disappoint neither the fans of the franchise nor the newcomers. It caters to both depth and functionality, keeps true to the franchise in almost every way, and adds changes that make it easier to pick up as well as easier to enjoy in the long run without ditching that depth of the past. Egosoft have gone into delivering these elements for their new X title in one of the most well-balanced and complete approaches that a single player sandbox space simulator has ever seen till now. (minus the bugs)

From Crysis to Crysis 3

Trilogy/Quadroligy Review and Comparisson

Just finished Crysis 3 a small while back and have been meaning to get to a review for it...
So we're doing that now. Talking about, reviewing and comparing all the titles in the Crysis trilogy. Four titles actually for those that include Warhead as a separate title rather than an expansion-ish stand alone addition. Crysis has been after all as a franchise giving us top end experiences and pushing technology along with first person shooter standards for almost 6 years now (end of 2007 - 2013) and deserves it's own thorough look. And as we do it here, we get as thorough as it gets before it becomes a quantum theory molecular level kind of thorough.

Crysis has not gone unnoticed one bit in the gaming industry. Either by haters, or fans, and from both ends of the gaming spectrum including PC's and Consoles, at least one of the Crysis titles has been subject for a lot of back and forth debating for most gamers if not all gamers of our time.

I being no different and having now completed the trilogy, am ready to dig deep inside the Crysis titles and meet the heart that beats beneath it all face to face.

Back Again - Another Summer Vacation Gone...

Here we are once more, back from summer vacation, batteries re-stocked, energy refilled and ready to take on the rest of 2013 head on.

Hope 2013's summer vacation was an eventful and relaxing one for all. Hopefully the remainder of the year will be as eventful if not more.

With return from the holidays I took the liberty of taking some snips from work in progress as a sneak peek for Scionia, Chapter 2: Ellania, showcasing my new steps in venturing to create new characters, re-visiting the look and style of the City of Light, designing the bikes of the future and bringing the new and perhaps slightly updated look to the comic.

Apart from work being done on the chapter itself and the continuation of the adventure as seen in the sneak peeks, development for the new Archives Menu is also in progress for it's addition to the site soon enough.

On other news non-relevant to Scionia, my blog The Digital Creative Front now has it's own facebook page which will also archive previous articles and posts from the blog. In the meantime, after noticing a realtively hard to follow more-than-few articls in here, I will be also eventually editing older articles for easier and more pleasant reading (such changes will include titles for starters).

Click here for the DCF facebook page itself.

Here's to wishing everyone a great Autumn-Winter and a very productive closing 2013.