Yesterday’s post introduced the first teaser trailer for James Cameron’s upcoming December 18th movie “Avatar”.  Let’s recap some things concerning “Avatar”. Industry experts have stated that “Avatar” is going to do for 3D film making what “The Wizard of Oz” did for color television.  Peter Jackson and Steven Spielberg visited Cameron to be introduced to the technology, and both said it is “the future of how movies will be made in Hollywood for the next 10-15 years”.  For 15 years this movies has been stewing, forming, waiting… until it finally gets to see the light of day this year now that our technology is fully capable of handling photo realistic computer simulation.

Yesterday, after the masses witnessed the teaser, Twitter burst forth with judgment on the movie:  “Sucks.”  “Meh.” “Blue people? Stupid.” “Gonna cost way too much and suck.”  On the must-see daily all-things-geek G4 television show “Attack of the Show”, they conducted a poll. “Does the teaser trailer make you want to see the movie?”  60 percent said no.  A guest film expert who’s followed the movie for 15 years was interviewed by Kevin Pereira.  Kevin asked him if the release of 15 minutes of 3D footage in Imax theaters today would give people a better indication of the movie.  His guest’s response? “Well, there was no “wow” factor in the teaser trailer- I don’t see how they can have a “wow” factor in 15 minutes of footage.”  Kevin also indicated that he was confused by what the story was about (mimicking the majority of those online who said they didn’t “get” it.)

I’m simply stunned by these notions, and that our (younger) society is so quick to negatively judge every single thing that comes down the pipe.  Frankly, you don’t even have to show anything- just the mere mention of an idea will result in the same response-  “I hear they’re making World of Warcraft into a movie.” The inevitable and immediate response? “That’ll suck.”

I simply can’t wrap my mind around what happened to the generations younger than me to create this hatred of all of our creative output as a society.  Especially when in the end, these same people who are so quick to judge will be the ones who will in fact go see the movie and then spend just as much effort proclaiming it to be the best ever. (For some, of course.)  Why exactly is everyone 35 and under brain-tuned to blurt out “that sucks” so automatically?

Conversely, why am I, at 37, always excited to hear of a new concept coming down the pipe?  World of Warcraft movie? Cool! Bring it on!  Avatar? The trailer looked awesome, and it wasn’t even in the revolutionary 3D it was designed to be seen in!  I mean, my instinct has never once been to even think “that will suck”.  And in 99.9 percent of cases, when I see the final product, it… Does. Not. Suck.

Indiana Jones IV? Didn’t suck.  Episodes 1-3 of Star Wars? Didn’t suck.  Transformers (any)? Didn’t suck.  Pirates of the Caribbean (any)? Didn’t suck.  These movies are fine, enjoyable, quality (predominately summer) popcorn flicks.  Is Indy IV the best in the series? No, of course not.  Does it “suck”? No- unless you are jaded.

Where does this jadedness come from?

I can’t put my finger on the point of pollution, exactly, though I do know the internet is involved in this mystery.  Why do I say this?  Because when leaving the theater upon the release of Star Wars Episode 1, I heard not ONE negative comment.  Conversely, I heard raves, and glowing praise, and the men’s bathroom was full of people quoting parts and talking about scenes- even laughing (favorably) about Jar-Jar Binks scenes.  Then guess what happened? Two days passed, and “THEY” on the internet began the “it sucks” campaign.  Suddenly the exact same people who had been so in love with the movie were now on board with the mass popular thought- “It sucks.” “Jar-Jar is “*gay”!” (*disgusting slang, never mine.) The invisible people behind the internet tubes had proclaimed it to suck- and these invisible people are the much younger generations- the teens to some degree-but mainly the twenty-somethings.

You see, the twenty-somethings are babies of technology.  They’ve always had amazing technology, movies, games and the like available to them their whole “adult” lives. Their idea of nostalgia were the systems that were still major steps forward in technology back in the day.  They never experienced the dawn of the technological entertainment industry.  So they are spoiled, by nature.  There is a disdain for CGI in films, because to them it’s just “fake computer people” getting in the way.

To my generation (while I technically lie in the Gen X category, I don’t fit their attitudes or mindset- I instead belong to what Prince refers to as “The New Power Generation”), those “fake computer people” are so welcome.  You see, when you compare what was possible in the 70’s and 80’s to what is comparable now, there is simply no argument that modern movies completely obliterate older ones in terms of quality.  There is something to be said for balance- for instance, I fully agree that in Indy IV, Lucas should have gone without the CGI ants and instead stuck with what made Indy so beloved- the gritty realism-  real bugs would have been not only a better choice but a tie in to “Temple of Doom”’s icky corridors of bugs.

That said, is it the fault of Spielburg and Lucas that the population is not informed enough to understand the end of the movie?  That it had nothing to do with “spaceships”?  I mean, they spelled out it was about inter dimensional beings.  This tells me that the younger generations have no knowledge concerning our current state of awareness concerning theoretical physics and the fact there are numerous dimensions, all of which likely hold life.  Space aliens? No- only to the uniformed.  Yet that’s how the jaded generations railed against the film.  Even the brilliant fridge scene- which was classic Indy- was slammed as “unrealistic”.   Hello?  When has Indy been realistic?  The scene was humorous from start to end, as well as suspenseful. But no, it’s now a running joke akin to “jump the shark”-  “nuked the fridge”.  I simply don’t follow this train of thought- or from my viewpoint, lack of thought.

If you’re an online gamer, particularly if you’ve spent hours on World of Warcraft, you know the online gaming scene- you understand the inside jokes about the genre, the guild politics… this game truly becomes a second life for many.  Of course, stereotypes abound and every female you run into is of course assumed to be a 40 year old fat guy in his mom’s basement (sorry, I only play male characters- it’s not me!)

However, online love happens- often- but a running joke is the trend of many male players instantly hitting on any female character they encounter in game.  Still- what’s a greater fantasy for so many male gamers than to date that perfect female- another gamer?

No one has a better understanding of the stereotypes and humor that lies not-so-hidden behind the surface of massively multiplayer gaming than Felicia Day, as she has proven with her award winning web series, “The Guild”.  If you have yet to watch these mini-episodes, you’re missing out on quality comedy and gaming humor with a specifically brilliant touch on how the obsession over these games impacts the lives of the players in the “real world”.  The videos are available online on iTunes (purchase and show your support!) and also on the Xbox Live videos area-  please, if you’ve missed them, go watch those first then return to this post to see the music video (you’ll get a much, much greater appreciation.)

The Guild – YouTube Channel (Subcribe- you won’t be disappointed!)

For those familiar with The Guild, you will adore their new music video directed by none other than Jed Whedon- that’s right, Joss Whedon’s brother.

So make sure you’re up to date on The Guild, then enjoy The Guild cast in their epic music video- I think I see another award on the horizon.

I only have two issues: Felicia obviously needs to read my blog on a more accurate name for “MMOs”- The lyrics should have figured a way to use “MMGS” (well, if she wants to be even more trendsetting. )

And the second issue?  Forget her Avatar-  how the heck can I date Felicia herself?!

It sucks.

What, you ask? Supposedly, every entertainment product that is released nowadays. Mind you, this is far from my own opinion- rather, this attitude seems to seep throughout our entire culture in today’s world. And this attitude is growing stronger by the day.

I can’t truly recall the last entertainment product- movie, TV show, computer game, video game or any other imaginable creative production- where I’ve heard a vast majority of consumers shower the new release with overwhelming praise. Even “The Dark Knight” started an online war of words. Obviously, you’re always going to have to ignore the 0.01 % that deliberately take the opposite side of every issue as some form of attention whoring. But setting that aside, ultimately there should be something out there that everyone agrees is great, right?

Does this just come down to personal preference? Is it that what is great to one person is terrible to another, and therefore a consensus within society is not feasible? Will there always be a large group of people standing outside the theatre after a movie saying, “That was boring. That director doesn’t know what he’s doing. They should have taken out the car chase scene and put in more of the monkey. I easily could have done it better.”

To some degree that is the case. People will always differ on entertainment, as it is art, and art is subjective. However, I submit that there is a growing trend, particularly in the younger generations- mostly the 30-and-under crowd, with exceptions (there are always exceptions)- who are adopting an attitude only best described as” jaded”.

As I roam the internet, I find source upon source of people making jaw-droppingly vicious attacks on creators of our entertainment. And yet, at the core of these arguments is nothing whatsoever but personal opinions! There are no valid facts provided to back up the reasoning of the attacks or why the entertainment products being attacked “suck” so much.

And guess what? There’s a simple reason there are no facts.

Pretend you’ve landed in an airport and are disembarking from a plane. Have you ever heard anyone on the way out verbally berating the pilot for how he flew the plane? Not complaining about a bumpy ride, or bad flight attendant service, but that he should have gone up to 30,000 feet for the first hour, then changed direction to catch the jet stream? Or, consider this: you’re in the hospital, and you pass by a group of patients standing around yelling at a brain surgeon. How could he have made that incision the way he did? Why didn’t he use a different approach to his tumor removal method? Or perhaps complaining about his choice of stitching when closing up the incision at the end of surgery?

It sounds ridiculous, no? Of course it does! Yet- have you ever heard someone tell you exactly how your local professional basketball team’s coach should have handled the substitutions for the last game? What trades absolutely must be made for the team to make the playoffs? How the team’s all-star player isn’t trying anymore, and should just drive to the hoop each time down the court, which will guarantee victory every game? Of course you’ve seen this- repeatedly, and in regards to countless topics.

If you’re a gamer, you’ve heard and used this phrase countless times. Even when it first became widespread in its usage, jokes flew with its lack of brevity. You know the name… “MMORPG”: “Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game”.

That name has to be changed.

Why? Certainly some will agree it’s a pain to say, but you can just call it an “MMO” instead, right? Unfortunately, that doesn’t reach the crux of the matter… it’s inaccurate. My first question to you is: Name one massively multiplayer game that is not online.

I’ll wait while you rack your brain. Football isn’t massively multiplayer. Golf isn’t. Baseball? No. A marathon isn’t a game. There is no game which exists offline that has thousands upon thousands of simultaneous players!

We’ve just started, and we’ve already found that part of the title isn’t necessary!

• First change to the genre name: The O’s gotta go.

So, we’ve whittled “MMO” down to “MM”. What about the “MM” portion of the title? What defines “Massively Multiplayer”? Thousands upon thousands of players all within the same game universe able to freely interact in game at the same time.

Some games that are often considered massively multiplayer fall short due to design and gameplay considerations. Let’s examine Guild Wars. Great game! Fun times. A solid title to own for most gamers. Guild. Wars. Is. Not. Massively. Multiplayer.

What? Everyone says it’s an MMO! That is nothing more than a case of people being stubborn when presented with overwhelming evidence to the contrary. The actual developers of Guild Wars have themselves proclaimed it not to be an “MMORPG”, but instead call it a “CORPG”: “Competitive Online Role Playing Game”. I refer to it as an “OCG”- “Online Computer Game”, like Diablo 2, for instance.

Still, when you are discussing a game with the proper design to allow simultaneous mass-gaming, “Massively Multiplayer”, or “MM” works well enough to describe the genre.