Sep 18, 4:03 pm
It was a historic day for UK gamers last Friday ... yes, the opening night of Dead or Alive in cinemas!
It is widely acknowledged that it takes a skilled team of scriptwriters, directors, producers and actors to create film masterpiece. What isn’t widely acknowledged, is that a masterpiece doesn’t have to be good. Far too much time, money and enthusiasm is given to ‘credible’ films. They’re everywhere! At the BAFTAs, the Oscars, the Cannes Film Festival - they’re even peeping out of the recommended section in your local Blockbuster.
And yet, some of the finest films I have ever seen have been utterly, utterly crap. Not mildly crap, or slightly crap - oh no. We’re talking the crème de la crème. Funded on budgets that run into pence, written by fools and performed by those with less charisma than Paul Heaton, these are films that take the word ‘bad’ and drag it down to a whole new level of beautiful.
Where would we be without the Showgirls of this world? The Speed 2‘s (Sandra Bullock should’ve won a “special” Oscar)? Mariah Carey’s wonderful Glitter? And you can say what you like about Britney Spear’s music, but without her we’d never have been given the gift of Crossroads. Wonderful films that have touched our lives in ways that could never be reached by these so-called ‘epics.’ It’s tough to be great, but it’s damn near impossible to be universally mocked, ridiculed and insulted.
Video game films have always done very well for themselves in this regard. Street Fighter with a Hawaiian E. Honda? Fantastic! Super Mario Bros starring Bob Hoskins? A touch of genius!
Sadly, 98% of cinemas in central London don’t seem to think Dead or Alive is even worth showing, so I spent my Friday night wandering around in vain trying to find it. Will my lack of success deter me? Nope. Has my enthusiasm for seeing that girl from Neighbours dance around in a push-up bra been dampened? Never! I implore that you get out there and demand your local cinema make allowances for it. It could be the greatest film you ever see!
Although, I suppose one must comment on the other announcement of last Friday: the UK price and release date of the Nintendo Wii. One hundred and seventy-nine quid, and December 8th in case you were under a rock.
Now, I’m not going to lie. I think I speak for many people that I hoped we’d see one hundred and fifty. And when you add the price of an extra wand and nunchuck to that (there are two ii’s in Wii, after all), we’re talking over two hundred smackers. Suddenly that cheap and cheerful alternative is looking like a fairly hefty purchase.
Is it the first time the UK pays a higher price than the rest of the world? Nope. Does it annoy me? Yes. Will I still be buying one? Of course. Despite my misgivings and disappointment, I still think the Wii will be worth it. It has a sizeable line-up of quality titles (let’s face it, that’s a lot more than PS3 has right now), it’s being released at the right time, and, well, it’s Nintendo. I admire them for attempting to do something different. I only hope that they continue to provide plentiful software support after its release - not just in Japan and the States - and that we’ll be seeing some innovation and originality behind that (granted, rather nifty) little white wand. 2007 will be a very interesting time for gaming indeed.
Anyway, I’m off. I hear my local Asda’s selling Catwoman for three quid – bargain!
