• 4Sep 08

  Mercenaries 2: The Debacle

  Mercenaries 2 is a game I'd been looking forward to since it was announced, and definitely since last E3 when they gave an awesome studio demo. Even as the release date closed in, I still remained very excited about the game.

  Upon renting it, I've found the game to be entertaining, but mildly disappointing. It's extremely shallow, the story is very thin, and the graphics are stunningly bad. Despite these shortcomings, it's still a good game, not great, but good.

  Then came GameSpot's review.

  5.0

  That about sums it up. GS has been very harsh on games recently. After receiving criticism for not using their full scale, it appears they have taken note. While I am disappointed in the review, I like what they are trying to do. A wider range of scores will help divide the average from the slightly above average, especially after moving to the .5 scale. Mercenaries 2 is a rent. This is simply the new GS review system.

  Adjust accordingly.

  • Posted Sep 4, 2008 7:18 pm PT
  • Category: Games
  • 0 Comments
  • Tag
  • Print
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Digg
• 2Aug 08

  Will The Dark Knight break $600 Million? (Update #3)

  Following The Dark Knight's record breaking performance so far, many believe that it has the potential to break the current domestic box office record of $600 million, set by Titanic back in 1997. At this point, it's too early to tell for sure, but it will almost certainly end up at least second, currently held by Star Wars (nearly $461 million, although that includes both releases).

  Titanic was a somewhat different case than Dark Knight is. Titanic started off very slowly, making relatively little it's first three weeks. However, the earnings actually grew the weekends following that as it topped box office sales for many weeks in a row. Because of its slow start, it took 66 days to reach the $400 million mark, a record that The Dark Knight is set to shatter.

  The Dark Knight has currently made (as of August 1st) $364 million. Titanic made between $20 and $30 million each weekend between its fourth and eleventh weeks out, a very impressive stat that no other movie has come close to touching. If Dark Knight is to make it, it would have to make at least $20 million for the next eleven weekends. In the more likely case, The Dark Knight will continue to make tons of money in the weeks still close to its release, but will fizzle out long before the twelfth week.

  Because of the inconsistancy between the patterns, it's impossible to predict. All there is to do is wait and hope.

  UPDATE: I'll be updating this post to keep track of how the money flow is going. This weekend, The Dark Knight's third weekend out, it took in $43.8 million. That's the second most a movie has ever taken in, behind Spider-man with $45 million. The Dark Knight's success took it to approximately $395 million in total domestic sales.

  UPDATE 2: Fourth weekend out, Dark Knight made approximately $26 million, bringing it to the number 3 all time spot.

  UPDATE 3: The Dark Knight continued it's decline in sales on its fifth weekend out. It made just over $16 million, bringing the total to almost exactly $471 million. Due to the sales decline, it seems highly unlikely that The Dark Knight will break the $600 million mark. It will most likely cap out somewhere around $500 million, and remain the second most successful movie to be released in the United States.

  • Posted Aug 2, 2008 4:56 pm PT
  • Category:
  • 5 Comments
  • Tag
  • Print
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Digg
• 26Jul 08

  Dark Knight

  So I went and saw The Dark Knight on opening night last week. We arrived at the theater nearly an hour before the showing, and there was already a line forming outside the room wrapping around into a second hall. Despite being near the end of the line, we were able to get pretty good seats.

  The movie itself was outstanding. It took everything I liked about the first movie and added more action. The plot was great, the acting was great, everything about it was great. Recommended for all people who enjoy action movies, and even some who don't. This is how a superhero movie should be made.

  • Posted Jul 26, 2008 2:25 pm PT
  • Category:
  • 1 Comment
  • Tag
  • Print
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Digg

See Previous Blog Posts