Mario Review

This may seem strange that I have decided to write this blog post about one of the most famous video game characters, but I found myself thinking of all the ways that Mario has been redone and remade.

Through out the years we have gone from the first ever Mario, all the way up to Super Mario Galaxy where we find our lovable little Italian where Mario literally travels the final frontier of space, with a few additions and improvements from the creators of the game

Mario was originally made by the Japanese creator Shigeru Miyamoto for the Nintendo and was soon decided to serve as the mascot of Nintendo itself.

Image source: www.theage.com.

Mario games are considered by most as the most popular game series ever created and the franchise has sold over 210 million units. Although Mario was originally designed for the Super Mario series, he was appeared in many other games from the famous Mario Kart all the way to the fun and easy going RPG, Paper Mario.

The main plot theme of the original game of Super Mario is a classic in the gaming world. The helpless princess Peach is captured by the evil Lord Bowser which sets our hero, Mario, into motion to rescue the fair and helpless princess to the best of his abilities.

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This will always be one of my favorite game series, and Mario will always be one of my most well loved and favorite video game characters.

Flyleaf

I've done it yet again, I've attended yet another one of my concerts and now I believe it is time to write a well worded review, no?

This concert was held at a smaller staging are in downtown Salt Lake at a little place called the Venue and the concert featured three bands all together. The place was hardly full when the first band came out on stage which gave me an excellent front stage spot to watch.

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Stars and Stereo, a five member band from LA, opened with a band that seemed to get the crowd reeling and excited. They presented themselves with confidence and ease even though this was their first tour and their sound was positively amazing.

They somehow managed to incorporate a number of different musical properties into their songs, which is an expectation of any band that can be remotely considered good. They seemed to be a mix of rock, metal, and a bit electronic, making them appealing and interesting to listen to.

The band together also had a very pleasing on stage personality and knew how to interact well with their crowd managing to include them in each of the songs. If it wasn't clapping it was singing along or jumping around.

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Drowning pool was the second band to come on stage and let me just say now, they were the reason I brought the ticket in the first place. This was a band that I am very familiar with because of their most well known song, Let the Bodies Hit the Floor.

They came on stage reeling and ready to preform in all their edginess and crude music. This was the first time that I also got to see their new singer and hear a few songs off their new album and let me just tell you now, they did not disappoint.

Jasen Moreno, the newest vocalist of the group showed the crowd that he was ready and prepared to fill in the roll of the countless number of singers before him and he did a fantastic job.

He connected well with the audience and gave the illusion that he actually knew you personally instead  of him being up on a three foot high stage in front of you playing you some music.

Drowning Pool, though always changing has remained a great band nonetheless and they actually were my highlight of the entire concert.

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Flyleaf was the last band to preform that night, and by this time I was starting to get tired and my feet were starting to kill, but they still managed to keep me interested and incorporated...For most of the time.

They were also sporting a brand new spanking singer, Kristen May. She took a safer and more similar approach to the music and kept the same sound and rythme as the old singer which was familiar and appreciated but a bit of a let down.

Flyleaf were pumped and ready to preform and gave it their all out on stage, and a few of them even jumped down and joined the crowd near the end of the setlist they were playing, which proved they were not only willing to join the restless crowd, but also how dedicated they were to their fans.

They played their hearts out and made sure that the concert went out with a bang! When they played their last song, with flashing lights, heavy music, and a singer who's lungs wouldn't quit, I found myself happily jumping along with the music, much to my feet's complaint.

The concert was a splendid one and I can't wait to see who I will see live next.

Black Veil Brides

Two days ago I stood in line, in the freezing cold, for two and a half hours to see the best concert that I have been to as of now. The line stretched nearly around the block and out into the street, but luckily my group and I had gotten a good place in the middle of the line.

Who were we waiting for you might ask..

None other than Black Veil Brides themselves.

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The concert started at approximately 7:00 and by the time I made it to the doors of The Complex, I was being crammed into a tiny room with a billion of other people. Imagine having an inch of personal space for two seconds then all of a sudden being pressed up against three people without enough room to move your arms.

That's how crowded it was.

As soon as the opening band came on stage everyone was rushing forward with screams that nearly punctured my ear drums. The opening band was a crunk-core band that went by the title of I Capture Castle. A local band from Salt Lake City, whom I found myself loving every second of each song they played.

I Capture Castle worked the crowd up and got the energy flowing and the vibe reverberating. The crowd was screaming their lyrics and jumping around like there was no tomorrow. Mosh-pits riled up and people were surfing through the crowd. I couldn't believe all the amazing madness, what with this only being the opening band and all.

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My feet had begun to hurt by the time that William Control took over the stage and I must admit right now that his music didn't really intrigue me, though his fashion sense was actually very interesting. His music was a mix of screaming and electric beats that, for some reason, just made me want to cover my ears.

However, he was dressed like an old school vampire, what with his posh brittish-punk clothing style and funky up-do that made him seem just the slightest bit aloof. He did, though, have a very excited and upbeat on stage personality that kept the crowd dancing and screaming for Black Veil Brides to come onto the stage.

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....Finally the time had come...They were finally coming on stage...

C.C. (drummer for BVB) was the first to appear on stage, and just the mere raise of his fist made the crowd wail like a bunch of lovesick girls. I clearly remember that tears sprung to my friends eyes when Ashley Purdy (bassist) walked on stage and formed a heart with his hands.

The band did not disappoint. They played a number of great songs, including a cover of Billy Idol's "Rebel Yell" with an interesting 80s metal twist. They made me laugh and scream and jump around, as well as wish that the concert would never end - no matter how bad my feet had started to hurt by this time.

The concert, songs, and band members of all three bands were amazing and worth the money and time spent on going to see them, and even the fan-base (audience/crowd) were a very interesting bunch of people to hand around.

Merc With The Mouth

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I believe that any of you who have read my recent blog posts have already figured out by now that I am a nerdy person, actually I may have mentioned that on more than one occasion already. Anywho, I've noticed that anytime someone is asked who their favorite superhero is they always answer with the expected; Batman, Superman, Spiderman, you get the gist. 

Well, when I am asked the same question my answer is always Deadpool. You're probably thinking to yourself, "Who is this strange superhero this crazy girl is talking about?" Well my good reader, Deadpool is the Merc With The Mouth, the Regeneratin' Degenerate, the Crimson Comedian, or just plain ol' Wade Wilson.

Deadpool first appeared February 1991, in the issue of The New Mutants. He's depicted as being dressed from head to toe in red and black and he is always carrying more than his share of weaponry, but really what can you expect from a Mercenary? He was firstly developed as a spoof character to make fun of D.C. comics, Slade Wilson aka Deathstroke. 

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Three main things that make his character stand out from other Marvel superheros are:

1). Before becoming a super, Deadpool had cancer, and to save his lousy life he needed help. So, he ran off to Canada to test an experimental procedure that would mix his cells with that of Wolverines. After the procedure, Wade gained an uncanny healing factor that alowed his body to regenerate itself, but it also rapidly sped up the cancer causing tumors and illness to spread throughout his body.

2). Due to the rapid spread of cancer, Deadpool's body is always battling death. This, of course, can start to take a toll, gradually causing poor ol' Wade Wilson to drop into a state of low mental health, In other words he went bonkers and even developed two voices in his mind that are constantly quarreling with him and each other.

3). Deadpool is one of the most humorous and sarcastic marvel characters out there, I swear he gives Spiderman a run for his money. In other words, Deadpool is and always be entertaining, even when he's looking down the barrel of a shotgun.

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Deadpool was ranked 31st on IGN's 100 Greatest Comic Book Characters, But in my own personal opinion he deserved 1st place. I first discovered Deadpool through a xbox game called Ultimate Alliance where he is a playable anti-hero throughout the game.

All in all he is the funniest, most spontaneous, spunk hero out there and we should all honor and know him for that.

WHY SKYRIM?!?

This week I am going to use you readers as what I like to call Shoulders to Complain On. This basically means that I am going to tell you all the things I absolutely despise about The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.

Before I do so, though, I must fist officially state that I love the game itself, and couldn't imagine what I would have spent those countless hours of my life doing instead - bungee jumping maybe? No I hate heights. Anyways, all I'm trying to get across is that this game does in fact have some glitches and problems that should have been dealt with before releasing the game.

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While this game allows you to immerse yourself in the world of Skyrim and fight for the land you come to love, be that on the side of the Stormcloaks or the Imperials, it tends to take away from this experience with minor and major glitches.

For one, I noticed that once you have reached a certain number of save points in the game, usually surpassing 450-500 saves, the game gradually slows down. But not only does the gameplay start to lag, but actually it starts to stop completely. For example, I was in the middle of entering one of the many Barrows you can find around the vast regions of Skyrim when the game completely froze in the middle of the loading screen.

This brings me to my next point, which is the fact that you have to save your game literally every twenty minutes in fear that you might lose all your progress so far. To all of you newbies to the Skyrim world, let me explain a little further for you, shall I?

Basically what I am saying is that the game doesn't automatically save your progress for you after a big accomplishment or mission, but rather only autosaves if you enter or exit a home, tomb, castle, ruin, etc. This means that if I were traveling across Skyrim to discover a new region, only to be killed by a Snow troll and I hadn't saved before this vicious attack, I would literally have to start back at the my last save point. This could legitimately kick me all the way back to my last successful mission.

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The last glitch, that I myself found annoying but could be considered a blessing to other players, actually happened to me first in Dawnstar. I was merely headed towards the Dark Brotherhood Sanctuary - a safe haven for blood hungry assassins - when out of NOWHERE, not one but two dragons appear and start bombarding me with ice and flames. 

I, being unprepared in light armor with a dagger, sadly died quickly only to respawn and have the two bullies show up again. After countless attempts I, along with the Dawnstar townspeople and guard, finally managed to kill both dragons and I also absorbed both their souls. The thing to complain about here is that I had to use a number of potions and enchanted weapons to kill both of the dragons and keep myself alive and it took me nearly an hour to replenish my stocks.

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And with the note, I end my rant and thank any of you who read on through my full complaints. I must admit it feels really swell to get that all off of my chest.

Until next time...