Skyward Fire

It was more than a year ago when Sony made it’s acquisition move over the UK-based company Evolution Studios that had the World Rally Championship franchise for the PS2 under it’s belt. It was the first Motorstorm game in the summer of 07, that pushed Sony to go ahead with the deal in hopes of establishing another (off-road) racing genre for it’s current generation console. Motorstorm, in itself, was a very attractive product, and it’s sequel is no less. You can check out the trailer here.

The game impresses on first run, and all the tracks look amazing and are dangerously addictive, with an opportunity to take up more than one route. The game has 16 tracks with 4 different lighting options, and every combination is of an awe-striking diverse design. They left no stone unturned when it came to perfecting the flaws present in the previous game, including major improvements within the vehicle classes.

Pacific Rift Boxart by radoxist

Some of the texture work, the lighting, the motion blur and the water & other dynamic natural elements are just too good. The intensity of geometry & physics within the game has been magnified with some astounding detailing. The sunlight is a subsequent improvement to the lighting, and it’s just as satisfying as the game itself. The track deformation sequences are sophisticated too. The frame rate is more stable than the prequel, and Evolution deserves due credit for that. Technically, the game is more sound than Pure. The vegetation’s interaction & animation deserves plus points too. You don’t have to install the game, but during load times which don’t span to much time, a whole lot of media is cached on the hard disk.

Compared to Motorstorm, it’s easier to choose & play from amongst so many new events. Though the core game play remains the name, not that I was expecting the slightest change. The offline split screen feature was also a stimuli for many gamers that went on to become a purchase decision factor. The multiplayer component allows you to pick a server from over five regions. Unlocking trophies for various achievement eventually unlocks some amazing extras. Somehow, voice chat seems like the gamers’ kryptonite, and there’s scope of improvement there. Since I noticed no lag issues during continuous multiplayer game play, I doubt the weak voice chat had anything to do with my connection. Also, the lack of static pointers is a bit disappointing. Though an update of the game is in the works, which is to supposedly fix issued related to backing up saved data and other stuff about which more information can be found out here.

A major add-on that is crucial in many races, is the brand new Sixaxis tilt. It’s very helpful when it comes to balancing your vehicle and cushioning the jumps without actually having to break the speed. While handling the quad bikes though, switching to analogue sticks is highly recommended. Getting hold of the various controller techniques might take some time initially to understand and get habituated to, but once you’re through that part, they come off as a breeze. The same goes for the various tracks which might seem a little extensive, but once you get the idea of the geography after some exploration, it all comes down as easy. The 5.1 surround support with artists like Death From Above 1979 & David Bowie is fascinating. These artists have hardly been previously featured in various racing games, thus adding to the beauty of Motorstorm: Pacific Rift.

There’s news on a PSP port of the game, and a sequel, which there’s no reason to doubt, since this is a franchise with a lot of room for improvement and there’s a whole lot to be worked upon.

Skyward Rating – 8/10

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It was earlier this year when I had the opportunity to watch Danny Boyle’s Slumdog Millionaire, and it impressed me to the core. This has got to be one of the best films I’ve seen in the last couple of years or so. The movie is about a boy from a Mumbai slum who goes on and wins the game show ‘Who Wants To Be A Millionaire’, and in between, he unfurls the truth of his enigmatic journey from his boyhood to where he stands now. Everything about the movie is very touching, from the story, AR Rehman’s exemplary music, the wonderful acting by all the children and the actors, the cinematography, and the way the story is told. The movie has left a mark on everyone who has seen it. The movie eventually went on to be critically acclaimed by names like the LA Times, USA Today, New York Post and so on, and was loved all across the world, literally. Slumdog Millionaire went to win numerous awards, and currently stands with 4 Golden Globe victories, 11 BAFTA Awards nominations, and 10 Academy Awards (Oscars) nominations. The movie now stands at #34 on IMDb’s Top 250 list, and has been generating profits on the box office consistently.

Trailer of Slumdog Millionaire

In India, the movie was released in theatres on the 23rd of January 2009, and it brought along a whole lot of controversy, with statement popping up from even the Bollywood legend Amitabh Bachchan. On his blog, Amitabh Bachchan went on to criticize Slumdog Millionaire saying it was wrong to depict and bank profits on the slums of Mumbai, the plight of the nation, poverty, and the slum dwellers. And he isn’t the only one. A whole lot of Indians who’ve seen this movie think it was very wrong of Danny Boyle and his crew to exploit what’s wrong with this nation. Danny Boyle has been headlined as someone with the stereotypical viewpoint of the West, adding the description of the fact that everyone in the Western world thinks India is a third world country with many poor people and the lifestyle that has been depicted in the movie very precisely. The so called ‘social workers’ and NGOs at many towns and cities have filed Public Interest Litigations (which, in India, are hardly ever in any interest of the public) in various courts citing various reasons why this movie offends them and the sentiments of many others.

What a steaming pile of bullshit?! Period. Truth is, reality happens to be a bitch, and if it bites, it hurts.

Of all, such narrow-mindedness was never expected out of someone of Amitabh Bachchan’s stature, who happens to have a global access to the rest of the world when it comes to promoting Indian cinema on a massive platform. And in a book release function at the Indian city of Jaipur, he went on to say that it wasn’t his statements where he criticized Slumdog Millionaire, but those of the people who blog for him. He also said that Indian Cinema isn’t needy of international recognition and can do without the Oscars. Any one in their right mind can point out the clear stink of jealousy in the tone of Amitabh Bachchan who hasn’t had a nomination in the Academy Awards yet. So, in spite of all the recognition and the respect this man has got from the International Cinema, he just disregarded the Oscars and said they were irrelevant. The point to note here is, this is the man who runs around Europe and Asia trying to promote Indian Cinema through IIFA Awards (which happens to be a mock of the Academy Awards themselves). How does he think that is possible if he is just going to shut out the Academy Awards, which happen to be the industry’s most prestigious recognition ever. In my opinion, it’s the old age taking toll on the man, and he obviously isn’t to blame for his degrading capacity to think, use his mind, and say stuff like that. I’m no fan of his, and I keep at bay from all the tasteless and unoriginal movies that Indian Cinema produces (obviously, there are rare exceptions) and has been producing for an awful long time now. But I had great respect for Amitabh Bachchan always, and now, it has just all fallen apart.

Meet the Children from Slumdog Millionaire

As for the rest of the countrymen who think Slumdog Millionaire is a mistake and the so called ‘wrongful depiction’ of India’s plight is hardly anything but exploitation, well, I cant really comment on the stubborn celebrity-kiss-ass attitude that exists here. The mob mentality is something you cannot argue against and reason out. The truth is, there’s a lot wrong with India, and the rest of the world, and there is just no reason to not publically shed light on it. As far as the slums in Mumbai are considered, all the political parties, whether the ruling ones, the opposition, or the neutral ones see the slums and the slum-dwellers, and even the rest of the financially unstable population as vote bank for elections, and they never do anything about it, and they never will. Majority of Indian cinema-going crowd is naive, and feeds on a whole lot of mindless unoriginal bullshit with a lot of senseless dancing around trees. And it’s not that hard to be completely ignorant when it’s about something serious.

So there you have it. It hasn’t even been 36 hours since Slumdog Millionaire was released in India, and a dozen controversies have been created out of lack of information, lack of presence of mind, jealousy and ego. And that’s just about it. Expecting people to change and think broadly here is not justified, since that isn’t going to happen any time soon. Bottom-line is, Slumdog Millionaire is a great movie, despite of all the negative stance that a few folks have taken up. If you haven’t seen it yet, you just have to check it out.