Bottom 5 Video Game Interfaces!

I have come across some terrible video game interfaces in my day. Up to right now, these are my bottom 5 video game interfaces from the next gen consoles.

5. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 - Why is the type so small that I need a magnifying glass to see it? The interface itself is not ugly, just somewhat impractical. I shouldn't have to stand 6 inches away from my television to be able to read the type.

4. Marvel vs Capcom 3 - MvC3 is one of the best fighting games that I have ever played. Such an anticipated, artistic, beautiful game; with quite possibly the most annoying online gaming interface. Why in the blue hell do we need to be sent back to the main menu every time you don't find a game? I have no idea. (On a side note, you are also forced to play against people that are sometimes a much higher level than you). Other than that, what forces this great game's interface to the number 4 spot on the bottom 5 is it's function rather than appearance.

3. Elder's Scrolls IV: Oblivion - Slow loading in-game interface and to make it worse – the soundtrack for the load screen and menues was god-awful. 

2. UFC 2010 - Whatever number 3 did, number 2 did even worse. I loved playing UFC 2010, it was such a fantastic game... plagued with an awful musical score and outrageously long load times.

1. Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion – Again. Sorry, I just can't stand the soundtrack. It's really THAT bad. Sometimes I play the game muted, just because it practically makes my ears bleed. Sometimes I just yell at the tv screen out of frustration because of the soundtrack. Just listen for yourself.

Do you think I missed any of your hated menus? Let me know! Tune in next week for some more imagination.

Top 5 Video Game Interfaces!

You buy your brand new game, you open the case pop in the disc and sit down on your couch. Then your greeted by an ugly (or boring) video menu. Of course, games aren't about the menus, they're about the content, but even so I wish that sometimes these video game companies would spend a little more time on the interface that the users is forced to look at when he starts or pauses the game. There are some games, however, that have great menus and start up screens. Here are the top 5 that I have seen.

5. Bioshock - The eerie piano sound effect and the fantastic original score just add to the beauty of the cinematic main menu.  Would you kindly...

4. Fallout 3 - The use of the Pip-Boy and the aesthetic in it's entirety is great. You really feel like your living on the Wasteland.

3. Halo: Reach - The combination of it's epic soundtrack and it's imagery compels you to play. You just want to kick butt and take names.

2. Call of Duty: Black Ops - You are strapped to a chair, there are televisions in front of you, your legs and arms are tattered and covered in blood, all in first person. Not to mention that the transition from menu to single player campaign is flawless.

1. Portal 2 - It's... *tear* beautiful. One of the most anticipated games of 2011 has a good looking interface.  From when you pop in your disc until you hit your option of play, you are infatuated by it's beauty.

If you think I missed any, leave them in the comment section! Tune in for next week's Bottom 5 worst interfaces!

Mortal Kombat - New Mini Series

In 2010, a live action Mortal Kombat promo debuted.

It looked amazing. After watching it, no one had any idea what it may have been... a live action movie? a tv show? Wrong. On April 12th, Warner Premiere released the new mini series Mortal Kombat Legacy, a live-action of the beloved and bloody video game series Mortal Kombat. Here is the highly anticipated first episode.

We all know of Mortal Kombat's embarrassing past on the silver screen. With it's cheesy dialogue and horrible action scenes, it was quite possibly one of the most horrendous movies I have ever seen in my life. This on the other hand looks far more promising. I love the new morbid look of the series, it looks a whole lot closer to what the video game franchise really is. I'm excited to see what the next episode brings.

Summer Blockbusters!

The excitement is killing me! This summer, two (of many) highly anticipated movies will be released; Captain America: The First Avenger and Green Lantern! Being a huge comic book nerd I am very familiar with both characters, and can't wait until I see them on the big screen. Comic book based movies are usually either hit or miss. They either become a really huge success and make fans like me happy (Spiderman, The Dark Knight) or they are a complete failure and anger fans (the 2003 Hulk movie, Electra). The film's success boils down to these factors: the director, the writer and the actors. Captain America: The First Avenger looks super promising. Check out the high def extended trailer here. The director, Joe Johnston, has had great success on the silver screen with titles like Jumanji, Honey I Shrunk the Kids and The Rocketeer under his belt. The screenplay writers are the same duo who wrote the Chronicles of Narnia movies, Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely. There's not much need to write a story for a Captain America movie since there is so much well written content out there by some of the most creative minds like Jack Kirby, Joe Simon and Ed Brubaker. As an added bonus, Chris Evans (Cellular, Johnny Storm from the Fantastic 4, Lucas Lee from Scott Pilgrim Vs the World) stars as the first avenger and Hugo Weaving (mr. smith from the matrix, V from V for Vendetta, Elrond from LOTR) stars as his arch nemesis, the Red Skull. Green Lantern: The less advertised awesome hero. If you never knew how awesome he is, check out the summer movie trailer here. The director, Martin Campbell is known for Goldeneye, Casino Royale (the better of the two new Bond movies), and the Legend of Zorro. The screenplay writers have a decent portfolio, one of which wrote the screenplay for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. With Ryan Reynolds as the Green Lantern and Mark Strong as Sinestro, you can't really go wrong (maybe you can, but it'd be really hard). They even look the part.

It takes a great deal of work to make these movies happen, so hopefully they do become the blockbuster we all want them to be.

Design Ramblings

I recently received what I ordered from moo.com, and the quality was superb. Take a look at the cards I printed (one being my uncle's cards and one being my cards). The printing was inexpensive, the shipping time was speedy and the packaging was just as awesome as the product. I would definitely recommend everyone to get their cards and other things printed here.

On another note, I found some interesting logo evolutions online while boredom surfing. As we all know, a logo is the most important branding tool a business can have. Without the identifying stamp that a logo puts on a product, we wouldn't be able to tell one product from another (ex.tropicana from florida's natural), and maybe not even care.

Check these interesting logo evolutions out here