Blog @ Polity.ca

Since things are a bit quiet on the home front, except for this lady suing consumer electronics giants, I've decided to do a short and quick review of the movie Jumpers.

With a current rating of 5.6/10 for almost 20 thousand votes, it seems that not everyone thought the movie was a sack of crap. Or maybe they were just voting it for the amazing special effects. The movie about a boy who finds out he can teleport to places stars Hayden Christensen, Samuel L. Jackson, and Rachel Bilson. First off, the special effects are simply state of the art, it's not every movie you see a city bus teleported to a desert out of the thin air. Unfortunately, that is pretty much the only good thing about the movie.

Hayden Christensen reprises his role as the Jedi gone wrong from Star Wars, specifically his lack of acting skills, and Samuel L. Jackson has wasted his considerable talent on a lackluster film. Rachel Bilson graces the screen with her presence, having mainly been on TV shows such as the O.C and appearances on the show Chuck. There is a feeling of discordance within the movie, and I don't mean that in a good way. The events seem haphazardly thrown together with no real sense of flow, and the ending is particularly bad. I won't spoil it, but needless to say, it was quite unfulfilling.

There is a hasty explanation for the basis of the movie of why the Paladins have been so hell-bent on chasing after the 'Jumpers', and the only redeeming factor is the interesting camera angles on exotic locations such as the top of a desert mesa, and the coliseum. Having read all three novels that Jumpers is supposedly based on, the writing wasn't stellar by any means, but definitely enjoyable. Unfortunately the same can't be said for the movie.

So my advice? Watch it on big screen cinemas if it's still showing purely to enjoy the stellar special effects, and close your mind off to the ridiculous storyline and crappy acting on the part of Hayden Christensen and you'll leave moderately satisfied. Otherwise, rent it out on DVD, or god forbid, download it using P2P services.

Reviews

Is it only companies like Nintendo who are willing to innovate in this day and age? Not only in areas of entertainment and gaming, but ease of use and productivity. When Nintendo introduced the Nintendo DS and later the DS Lite consoles, it gained much acclaim for its innovative solutions to gameplay, namely the touchpad screen. Suddenly, vast opportunities for never seen before games opened up for developers, and we have seen some come to fruition, Trauma Center, Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, and the WarioWare series to name a few. Gamers were able to interact with their games at a much greater level, through tapping on screen for delicate surgeries, and blowing into the microphone to move objects.

Then the Wii came out, and innovation was at the forefront again. The Wiimote's motion sensing capabilities gave way to even more quirky games. Is it really so hard for other companies, Microsoft Studios, EA, or Sony, I'm looking at you, to think outside of the box? Judging by the vast amount of sales Nintendo has accumulated, it is a clear signs that gamers are looking for, and amenable to something different. Something that doesn't rely on the latest eye candy, and powerful processors, Sony and Microsoft, I'm looking at your next generation consoles. Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't class myself as a Nintendo fanboy, I own a Sony PSP, Nintendo DS Lite, and a laptop for my main gaming purposes, but it is easy to see that innovation wins.

We come to the matter of games for Personal Digital Assistants such as touchscreen-enabled Pocket PCs, and even smartphones. For PDAs, development companies should take advantage of the fact that there is a touch screen available, and lean to more DS-like games. Instead, most games make use of it in the most rudimentary ways, with menu navigation, and in the case of Bejeweled, an easier way to select your jewels. Most games ask you to map device buttons, and for the rest of the game, you use the hardware buttons to control the game!

One shining example of a game for touchscreen personal devices is iPhysics, a drawing game that applies conventional physics to figures drawn on screen, guaranteed hours of fun. iPhysics is a homebrew game no less, meaning it was coded by enthusiasts themselves instead of a game development company! The iPhone platform that made it capable was produced by Apple, a company known for innovation.

Also, most smartphones nowadays come with both touchscreens and microphones. Why not innovate by creating a game that takes advantage of them both? Imagine using the microphone for all sorts of mini-games on your phone, WareWare-like. However, there may be technical limitations, as some smartphone manufacturers have blocked off access to microphones to third party applications other then the Phone. One reason for this is that they are keen to maintain the carrier's monopoly over services such as Voicemail. Enabling microphone access would make it easier for individuals to code their own voicemail application into the phone, resulting in less revenue for the carriers. There are some exception as seen by Skype for Windows Mobile which utilizes a wi-fi connection and the speakerphone to allow users to make VoIP calls as if they were at a PC.

A more recent example is the release of the iPhone SDK by Apple. They have imposed several restrictions, namely, not allowing background processes, and VoIP operation over a carrier Data connection such as 3G or EDGE, once again safekeeping corporate interests.

So, companies, if you are reading this, remember to keep your eyes open and think beyond the box. Utilize devices to their full potential in order to provide a memorable gaming experience for your customers.

Technology

One of the most original, funny, and charming shows on Canadian broadcast television has been canceled by CBC. It's a wonderful show that appeals to the teenage and early adult demographics, and is crammed full of pop culture we can all relate to. You can check out some links at savejpod.ca and CanDevs on the show. There is also a Facebook group here.

Please show your support, and together we can bring a great show back!

Some further recommended links:

THE PETITION

Another Petition

Save jPod Digg link

The Save jPod Petition Digg Link

Digg.com is an extremely powerful tool for getting the word out. The more diggs we get, the more exposure we have, and the more power we get!

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