Go Johnny go go go go..

Fantastic news for Natal enthusiasts still holding out for the verdict as to whether what we saw at E3 was real or dressed up fantasy. Impressions coming out of E3 have been very positive, but it still feels very much a believe it when I see it kind of experience. The cautious optimism however is gradually being replaced by downright frenzied excitement with the word that Johnny Chung Lee is part of the development team. You may recall Johnny Lee is the genius behind various Wii remote related applications, that pushed the boundaries of what technology could be made to do in the home. We all probably thought Nintendo would snap him up, but they have, it appears, been caught napping, and it's Microsoft who have made a very very wise decision.

Of Natal, on his blog Lee says "The human tracking algorithms that the teams have developed are well ahead of the state of the art in computer vision in this domain. The sophistication and performance of the algorithms rival or exceed anything that I've seen in academic research, never mind a consumer product". Strong praise indeed, and to have it come from the most recognised academic developer of home made motion tracking, bodes very well for Natal's credibility.

Lee is working on "making sure this can transition from the E3 stage to your living room", so I just got a whole lot more excited for how we'll be playing games in a few years time. As Lee says, "We would all love to one day have our own personal holodeck. This is a pretty measurable step in that direction." Blimey! Do want.

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Horror Corner - Martyrs

I went into French Horror film Martyrs scared. I foolishly looked at an early preview, and was disturbed by what I had read. Ultra violent. Nightmarish. Sickening. And apparently not with the intention of merely grossing you out, but supported by a wholly more intellectual and meaningful raison d’etre. Turns out I needn’t have been too worried. While it is unarguably bold, disturbing, shocking and at times pretty hard to watch, once past it's obvious horrific charms it turns out the central conceit it pins its eventual resolution on is in fact the hardest part to stomach. Getting there though means embarking on an exceptionally well crafted and grisly journey, and if the film is anything, it is above all surprising, so should you wish to maximise the impact of such surprises and avoid some small, early spoilers, I suggest you certainly don't continue reading..

In a run down part of town, a young girl staggers screaming into the street and runs for her life, she has it seems been cruelly tortured. A grainy newsreel picks up the story; the discovery of the slaughterhouse where she was imprisoned, the clues as to her ordeal, and the inability of the police to locate her tormentors. The girl, Lucie, is put into care, and again we are shown grainy footage of her distrustful life there, and the emerging careful friendship between her and another girl, Anna. Lucie is clearly disturbed by her traumatic experience, and we quickly see that she is prone to self harm, although she claims that she's not responsible for the wounds. Weight is given to the claim, when she is attacked in the night by a screeching, wild haired figure, that does a grand job of putting the willies up you. So far so normal, everything’s in the traditional horror mould.

Skip forward 15 years. Oh yes, don’t read this bit if you don’t want a nasty surprise ruined. 15 years later, a lovely French family sit at breakfast chatting away when the doorbell rings, and without so much as a bonjour, in bursts Lucie with a shotgun and blows them all away. I make light of it, because I am still shaking with the shock of this sequence. Truly masterful, this I did not see coming. She systematically, and with great difficulty and remorse, takes out the four of them, kids and all, in an apparent bid for revenge for her childhood imprisonment and torture. But how can this suburban family possibly be responsible for the horrors that has left Lucie so scarred? Well, they're dead now, so we better watch where this goes..

The thing about revenge movies, is that the act of vengeance is usually the climax of the film. Here it happens in the first 20 minutes, and I was guilty of fretting about where it was going to go next, when I should have just rolled with it and trusted that a satisfying story was going to come my way, which it did. A wholly unpredictable and far reaching story, that intertwines several horror traditions and dumps the bloody mess in the viewer’s lap.

Mylène Jampanoï’s Lucie is continually tormented by the nightmarish, hideous figure of a dead girl, who Grudge-like, twists and contorts around the place, brutally attacking her at every opportunity in eye wateringly graphic scenes of razor blade abuse. Morjana Alaoui is the doting childhood friend Anna who goes out of her way to protect Lucie from herself and others, and sets about helping her with the fallout of her gun spree, which via some twists you almost certainly didn't see coming takes her on a personal journey that is as horrific as it is thought provoking. The film certainly stays with you, and not just because of the grisly depicitons of violence.

The cast are fairly exceptional; both of our “heroines” turn in consistently amazing performance throughout what must have been an extremely demanding gig. The supporting cast are all excellent, providing menace, pity, and stark realism in just the right measures. Special kudos goes to Isabelle Chasse, billed as "the creature" for giving me nightmares all week. The effects, this is a horror film after all, are superbly executed. The violence is hyper real and very difficult to watch. The makeup effects are disturbing and at times upsetting, even when bordering on the fantastical.

The film is boldly brilliant, and very much unlike obvious candidates for comparison like Saw or Hostel. This is not such a movie, because here the violence truly isn't designed to simply tickle your voyeuristic fancy. The true motive for the cruelty and torment on display is revealed in the final act, and while the premise itself is a little far-fetched and a touch Gallic in its conviction, the realisation that a higher purpose has been at work causes some much bigger horizons for what it’s all been about to open up. Alas, so do a few inconsistencies and questions where the ethos doesn’t quite mesh with some of the extraordinary horrors we’ve seen along the way, and it’s here and in the very final revelatory scenes that it stumbles.

It's bound to be a Marmite movie - loved and reviled in equal measure, for many will see nothing more than the torture porn of its contemporaries, and it contains scenes of such intensity, that even horror lovers may find it a bit beyond the pale - it's certainly not for the faint-hearted. But ultimately this is, while at times shocking, a thoroughly fearless and above all, modern horror movie that speaks volumes about director Pascal Laugier, who despite no longer being attached to the upcoming Hellraiser remake, is certainly a figure to watch in horror.

Treehouse rating

4/5

Disturbingly good

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E3 Update: Modern Warfare 2

Did someone mention Modern Warfare 2? Oh right it was me. We've seen the trailers, but now feast your eyes on the glorious gameplay footage, fresh from the stage at E3. Looks like they've stuck to the winning formula and delivered the trademark, and presumably patented "awesomeness" that was the mantra of COD4. The vid demonstrates some nicely paced tension/action, all played out in the glorious Ice fields of Hoth, and a Return of the Jedi speeder chase thrown in for good measure. Although that could be For your eyes only too.

Also nice to see the return of the SAS, those cheeky cockney muppets, although hardly surprising, being as they are the finest military outfit in the world. It would seem you, the silly-named "Roach" are now under the tutelage of er, yourself, being Captain "Soap" Mactavish as played by you in the first game, when you also had a silly name. How Zen. Between the pair of them, there's some serious havoc on display here, and this is just a taster. Must keep an eye out for the multiplayer beta. Roll on November.

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E3 Update: Project Natal

Sadly, Treehouse budgets preclude us from jetting to E3 to cover press conferences in person, so we have to make do with live video feeds and reading smart alecy girls' typed updates. Microsoft were first up this year, and have dropped a couple of bombshells. In amid the Beatles, more Halo, game play footage of Modern Warfare 2 and Metal Gear Solid coming to Xbox, was a fairly extraordinary piece on the motion capture camera everyone's been poo pooing. This was clearly the crown jewels in the display, as Steven Spielberg and Peter Molyneux were wheeled out to wax lyrical about it, and some bloke named Kudo (Tsunoda- lead designer) who couldnt resist taking a few pops at Nintendo's lame waggle approach to inclusivity.

Project Natal (working title, for 'tis but a prototype) consists of what must be a fairly spiffy camera, capable of facial recognition, body motion capture, voice recognition, object recognition - blah blah blah, big whoop, whats new? - the presentation kicked off with a Nintendo style video of people playing various games, martial arts, racing, quiz games, all by just moving their bodies. Right, bit suspicious, although the motion capture looks impressive. Still cant be real. Oh look, they're navigating menus Minority Report style, and chatting on the video screen. Also, voice controlling movies - now that is handy, but hardly revolutionary.

Next up, after a potentially diastrous start in which Kudo's avatar spazzed around like a double jointed gymnast (lotta lights onstage huh Kudo?), an onstage demonstration of some tech demos; a block smashing game where a girl bounces around kicking punching and heading balls down a corridor. Hmm interesting; plausibility, rising.. Next a painting game where the guy paints a landscape with elephant. Not too interesting in itself (but clearly fun) but it's here I noticed how closely the movements were being replicated; as the guy just stood talking to the audience, the avatar onscreen mimicked precisely. Full body motion capture, with real subtlety of movement. Ooh.

Next up, Molyneux, and the part of the demo that puts this in the almost creepy folder. Lionhead have had Natal for a couple of months, and have come up with an AI boy, Milo, that the player can interact with. Using the facial and voice recognition, the creepy kid looks at the demonstrator's face, reacts with emotion to what she says while having a seemingly proper conversation, "throws" objects to her, is passed a drawing. Er, really, its a bit creepy. She then plays with the water in the river Milo lives by, her reflection shimmerring realistically in the surface as she sloshes the water about. That sir, is pretty freaking amazing.

Whether or not this will turn out to be what it appears to be, we'll know in the next few days as fortunate journos with their deep deep pockets get to try it out, and lord knows, we can't trust Peter "ZOMG" Molyneux. If it turns out to not be a fancy pants eye toy, and does do what it suggests though, well, I'm not one for hyperbole, but it could literally change the entire world forever. Or just be a ton of fun. One of those.

Image courtesy of (pinched from) Kotaku

Check after the break for some early videos.

The cheesy "product vision". Hmmm, really?




And Milo. Imagine Fallout 3 with NPCs with this tech.

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Review: Drag Me to Hell

Sam Raimi has been responsible for at least two of my favourite films, namely Evil Dead 2 and The Quick and the Dead. Lately though he has slipped into what might kindly be called Hollywood hackery with the risible Spiderman series, which I dont care what you say, are all pretty shoddy, the latest instalment of which was an absolute stinker. He has now however, with Drag me to Hell, seen a return to the genre that made his name, and happily, a return to the glorious stature of his early work with all the thrills, spills and gross out moments that go with the territory.

Christine Brown (Alison Lohman) is the sweet natured loan arranger, whose one act to demonstrate she is capable of making the tough decisions to her fickle boss and secure herself the assistant manager position, finds herself on the wrong end of a gypsy curse when she refuses the extension of a mortgage payment for the sinister Mrs Ganush. We should hope there is no lesson to be learned from Raimi’s cautionary tale, for what follows is 90 minutes of torture for the poor Lohman as she is hounded and brutalised by both the vengeful Ganush and the goat-demon set upon her for this heinous crime, all delivered in Raimi’s former trademark gross out, slapstick style. On realising the curse upon her she is given three days to try to get rid of it before she is taken to Hell to writhe in torment for all eternity, a task which she takes to with much gusto but not a great deal of success, despite the assistance of an unfortunate kitty. Raimi doesn’t muck about – considering the opening scene shows a previous victim of the same demon, a young boy who is violently dragged into the fiery pit within the first 5 minutes, it’s clear there’s no low to which Raimi wont stoop for our perverse laughs.

The plot is daft and 2 dimensional but this is a script written for pure thrills. Lohman’s rival for the promotion is unashamedly obnoxious. The boyfriend is simperingly besotted. The creepy Ganush is outrageously over the top. And yet they all perform their jobs perfectly to propel Lohman along her unenviable path. Scenes are orchestrated to wring the strongest possible squirms of embarrassment and horror from the audience as Lohman’s demonic stalking swings from the creepy to the gross and often to the downright hilarious, the dinner scene with the boyfriends snooty parents and some eyeball cake is a belter, and Raimi doesn’t miss an opportunity to scare our pants off with the big screams at any given moment. The horror slips into outright loony tunes in some places, even going as far as to drop an anvil on an old lady’s head, complete with trademark flying eyeballs.

Performances are all excellent – Lohman herself does an admirable job as she’s put through this ghost ride of grossness in a way probably only Bruce Campbell can really appreciate. Dileep Rao is also worth a mention as the spiritualist who diagnoses her situation and gives his help, brilliantly deadpanning “well, I think that’s enough for today” after the most drawn out and dramatic of scares. The whole thing zips along merrily and has no fat on it whatsoever, culminating in a satisfying macabre finale.

It’s an excellent return to form, full of laugh out loud moments and cheap screams – see it at the cinema- this is an experience best shared with lots of jumpy, screaming people. Short and sweet, this is mile a minute film making that only Raimi has ever got right. It’s just a shame he will still be returning to his Spiderman chair, as this nasty schlock corner is clearly where his heart, and his talents, lie.

Tree house rating

4/5

Drag me to the cinema

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PSP-Go Details Leaked

From a leaked edition of June’s online magazine Quore available via the PSN, a video takes us through the new PSP-Go. Featuring a slide screen, the PSP-Go is not apparently meant to replace the PSP-3000 – it’s an additional SKU.

Specifications
43% lighter than the PSP-3000
3.8” screen
16GB flash memory
Bluetooth support
All digital content (no UMD Drive)
Memory stick micro for increased memory space
Games to be downloaded directly from PSN Store
Emphasis on games (Gran Turismo/Little Big Planet/Jak and Daxter and all new Metal Gear Solid to be available)
Movies/TV shows to rent and/or buy
Works with remote play with the PS3

Looks sweet!

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Let the battle commence

Earlier this month Sony announced a new and totally free on-demand music video-streaming service for the PS3 called ‘Vidzone’. It offers users unlimited streaming of music videos from a library of content to watch from their PS3 or have streamed to their PSP via remote play. Personally speaking, in addition to the service being free, its main selling point over YouTube (also available via the PS3) is the higher quality of its videos and sound. I’m a great fan of YouTube but, I must admit, the quality of the video and sound can leave a lot to be desired – even the alleged ‘HD’ videos. Sony state that Vidzone is "backed by several Major record labels as well as thousands of Independent labels" which is great news. Coupled with PlayTV where you can watch, pause and record free-to-air digital television, Vidzone further expands the wonderful entertainment possibilities of PS3. I’m already beginning to buy more Blu-rays and the list of games being released this year alone is making my wallet quiver in fear.

Not to be outdone, Microsoft has just announced a deal with SKY that will see live football, TV and film content brought to the Xbox 360 for a fee. Sky's channels will be available on the Xbox 360 later this year but they won’t free and as yet no specific content or pricing details have been announced.

Both the PS3 and Xbox 360 deals are good for the consumer in providing us with greater choice. The battle for our eyes, ears and money is being fought in the living room. What will we watch? How will we watch it? These are debates likely to endure for sometime but, regardless of whether you prefer a PS3 or Xbox there is no denying that these are exciting times for us.

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Team ICO’s Project Trico HD Trailer

Team ICO's next project should be introduced at E3 and this teaser trailer is utterly jaw dropping. I seem to be stuck in perpetual jaw dropping mode these days with every new video for new PS3 games being released seemingly more desirable than the next. Shadow of Colossus was painfully good - Munial bought a PS2 just for it. And now Team ICO are back. For the PS3 alone. Many more videos should be made available over E3. What makes me ache for this game is that we're being told that this is early footage *sigh* ... I simply can't wait.

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Buka pintu!

The world economy may be going down the pan, jobs maybe scarce and unemployment high, house prices may be low but high quality games are coming to a PS3 near you throughout 2009. Oh yes sexy mama! It is a good time to be a gamer. Larger than life, in your face HD on a 1080p flat screen TV and the love of a sweet girl by your side (ok, maybe not the latter). This is Living (I finally get it)! This blog is not to gloat (calm down Munial), it’s just a heads up at what is fast becoming a day one purchase for me. Watch the video, revel in the detail, the comedy, the action, the drama of it all. Then realise that this game is going to be multi-player too … awesome. Just amazing. Awww heck, I think I need to change my undies. Again.

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Book Review: A Wild Sheep Chase

A wild Sheep Chase is a novel written by Haruki Murakami and was published way back in 1982 by Harvill Press. I’ve been meaning to read a Murakami for some time now. His reputation is the stuff of legend – everyone who has ever read one tells me how amazing his writing is. Of course, this means that my expectations were very high and I’m happy to report that I was not disappointed. My main difficulty in writing this review has been trying to make sure I do justice to a book with that revolves around “A mission to find a sheep with a star on its back; not a lost sheep but a sheep with a will of its own.”

I have never known an author to go so seamlessly from ‘serious’ to ‘surreal’ and back again and make it seem so utterly normal. Murakami’s power over language is nothing short of amazing. Murakami said that A Wild Sheep Chase was "The first book where I could feel a kind of sensation, the joy of telling a story.” That sensation and joy he felt in writing the book translates well through to a reader pouring through its pages. A Wild Sheep Chase feels like a deep, meaningful work full of beautifully scripted metaphors that cover the religious, moral, political and of course the personal. It is very much about an ordinary man, mediocre in every sense of the word, sent on an extraordinary (and very surreal) quest to find a very special sheep.

On completing the book I felt I had been a part of something special – something profound but, I can’t tell you quite what the story means. I’ve asked the people who recommended the book and they all, without exception, looked at me with a slight blank expression. Words it seemed, escaped them. So, I’m left with a book which left me satisfied, that made me think hard about a variety of things in my own life, that I thoroughly enjoyed and felt a connection to and yet, I can’t quite tell you why. The words are so lyrical, so beautiful and so utterly satisfying it almost doesn’t matter. Go and read it. If you can work it out, drop me an email!

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