Marc Johnson's Blog, page 9

Top 8 Things I’ve Learned from Last Generation’s Video Games

I love the video games! I’ve grown up with them for most of my life. This past generation was the longest one in video game history. Video games have woven their way into my writing and I’ve learned a lot from them.

8. OPEN WORLD GAMING

Open world gaming has exploded this past generation. When I was a kid, we all talked about how great it would be to explore some of the video games we were playing. The closest we got were The Legend of Zelda and Metroid. Unfortunately, what I’ve learned from having a huge sandbox is that I hate it.

Stories in video games are sorely lacking, but being able to wander about to do pretty much anything feels boring to me. There’s no climax or tension because I can get to it at my leisure. I can also level up with all the side quests and get some badass equipment before I rush off to fight the boss or dungeon thereby making those fights extremely easy.

And with worlds being so big and having so many things to do, rarely do people ever finish the game.

7. NOT FINISHING GAMES

When I was younger, I wish I had more video games. I didn’t so I’d have to play the same game over and over again. I got really good at the ones I owned. It probably helped that games were a lot tougher back then than they are now. I would also trade and borrow games from my friends. Of course, with me having less time then back in the day, I know I can’t finish games.

I hate having unread books or comics, unwatched TV shows or movies, or unplayed games. Unless they’re bad, I want to finish them. I try to take the games one at a time and only borrow or buy them when I’m ready, but even now, I have a backlog of games. Why get games if I can’t finish them?

6. NO NEED TO SPEND $60

When I first heard how console games were going to cost $60, I remember thinking it was a ripoff and that I would never pay $60 for a game. Luckily, I have friends that work in the industry so that’s been mostly true. Of course, what I didn’t think was that companies and stores themselves would train you to not spend $60 on a game.

The older I get, the less time I have to play video games. Something about growing up and having a lot more responsibilities. These days 8-10 hours is the sweet spot. Anything longer and the game will sit on my shelf. If it does that, I will hate the fact that I just wasted $60 on a game.

Price drops were inevitable but the rate at which they happen today is amazing. Two to four weeks and the game will drop to $40. If it’s a game that hadn’t sold well, it could drop even sooner or less. After a month, it could be part of some buy X, get X free deal. If you wait even longer, companies will bundle games and downloadable content into one complete game into a Game of the Year Edition.

5. GAMES ARE EASIER

They used to throw you into a game and beyond the instructions telling you how to play, you didn’t know what you could do. That may be why we spent a lot of time smashing crates and rummaging through bookshelves. These days, they give you tutorials, spell things out on the screen, brighten areas, or have an AI yell at you. They also save the game every two minutes so you can go back to where you were.

Of course, replaying old games is harder because we’ve gotten used to how easy they are these days. Or we’re just old or we suck. Probably both.

4. DOWNLOADABLE CONTENT

I both love and hate downloadable content. On the one hand, being able to continually play a game I enjoy is great. I don’t have to let it sit on the shelf after I’m done with it and can continue to immerse myself in the world. On the other hand, it seems that more frequently, downloadable content is used to have people buy stuff that should have already been in the game.

I like the idea behind it, but as more companies sell an incomplete game for $60, I’m slowly going against it. It’s just a way of milking more money out of consumers.

3. MICRO-TRANSACTIONS

Speaking of milking money, as bad as downloadable content can get, sometimes it’s good and is even free. Micro-transactions ALWAYS costs you money. A lot of these games you’ll see on the iOS where you have to pay money if you want to recharge to attack more than once a day or get more gems. While I don’t understand the less than 2% of people that pay money for these transactions, they make up a significant portion of the company’s profits. And that just validates the company releasing more games like this.

2. FIRST-ADOPTERS

I have never been much of a first adopter. Maybe it’s because I’ve been poor most of my life. Maybe it’s because I’ve never felt the need to have the shiny new toy right away.

The problem with consoles and most electronics, is you never know if the system will work correctly. For some strange reason, instead of putting out a perfect product, they rush it out and patch it later. However, the biggest reason to not buy an early console is that there will be price drops and deals.

Now, there’s always been price drops and deals, but the previous generations were a little different. You’d get a price drop and a game, maybe an extra controller. The redesigns of smaller models didn’t come until way later. However, if you wait long enough, you’ll get those smaller models and even a different color.

1. DOWNLOADABLE GAMES

The reason I bought an X-Box 360 was because of the game Castle Crashers. It was then I learned that on the Xbox Live Arcade there’s a slew of great games, most of them were under $10. No longer did I need to get $60 games with their micro-transactions and downloadable content. I could now get awesome complete games that had the same spirit of the video games I grew up playing.

I also think those cheaper, downloadable only games saved the video game industry. A lot of indie developers came up with some awesome games and didn’t need to spend millions of dollars on marketing or development.

Those are the lessons I learned last generation. What have YOU learned?

Marc Johnson

Writing From a Different Place

Having just rewritten the first half of my third book, Reawakening, I’m going over my editor’s notes again before I move on to the second half. As wonderful as she is, she tends to repeat things a lot, probably to hammer in the lessons I need to learn and skills I need to acquire. While having those weaknesses is my fault, it made realize one thing–I’m no longer the same person I once was.

Writing The Passage of Hellsfire is an interesting thing. Since it’s in first person, I have to write as if it’s my own thoughts and feelings. I first started it when the series began so Hellsfire was the same age as me. Basically, a lot of me is in him. Now while a lot of me is in Hellsfire, not all of me is. Sure, I have the same fears and thoughts at times, but I don’t have the responsibility or the power he has, and I live in a completely different and boring world. But I’m straying from my point.

The earlier drafts of my books are very different from what I ended up putting out. While my editor does a great job at pointing out suggestions and what needs work, it’s also my state of mind that affected my writing.

I wrote the earlier drafts from Catalyst to Reawakening about 10-15 years ago and I was a different person then than I am now. The core of who and what I am are essentially the same, but the way I go about things is different. I’m not as ruled by emotions as I was nor do I care about frivolous things as much anymore. I guess you can say I’ve grown as a person. And as my editor keeps beating into me, that growth must also be shown in Hellsfire.

It does make me wonder though. How did Sir Arthur Doyle deal with Sherlock or Ian Fleming deal with James Bond? Those are static characters who never changed. Did they just have to worry about plot and whether the mystery made sense or the story was full of action?

Writing’s weird. As a writer, you put a lot of yourself into your work even if you’ll never do the things your characters will or be put into those extraordinary situations. I’ve been writing since I was 7 years old and looking back, my skills have changed and grown over time. I’m no longer writing in the same place even if I still believe in some of the same themes and ideas. And I guess that’s what being a writer is all about.

Marc Johnson

Emotionally Distancing Yourself

Humans are very emotional creatures. We tend to do things based on our emotions. While some think it’s great, I’ve always found it to be a flaw more often than not. One of the most common emotional flaws is that people tend to judge things based on how they feel at the moment.

My friends give me a lot of crap. They think I’m always wrong because I say I know something is bad. Just because they like it and think it’s good, what I’m saying is some kind of judgment on them. I’ve said this before and will continue to say it, but just because you like something doesn’t mean it’s good. That’s the main problem people have. That’s why I tend to distrust a lot of reviews.

People will immediately watch or play something and write or talk about their experience on it. More often than not, that review will be positive. The reason it will be positive is because it elicited an emotional response. Sadly, that emotional response often has to do with CGI, big explosions, and loud foreground music. An emotional response is good. It means you felt something. But if you distance yourself away from it and think about it, the emotional response fades and you’re left with its core. The core of today’s media is weak, which is why when it gets released on DVD or is in reruns, you won’t watch it again, or even if you do, you don’t care.

That first emotional response is usually nothing but window dressing. You’re still in shock and awe because you’ve not seen it before and it’s all new to you. But once you get over that newness, you’ll learn it’s core is weak with its lack of story, characterization, and/or depth. The story made no sense or was convenient to the plot; the characterization was non-existence as everyone was stereotypical cardboard cutouts; and it didn’t even try to do anything new or make some kind of social commentary.

People also feel the need to justify their response. While I have no problem with people liking what they like, my problem is that people are unsure of their feelings. They’ll often answer stuff by first hesitating and by asking, “It’s…good? I…like it?” They just spent $60 on it or three hours watching it, they have to justify to themselves that they didn’t waste time or money on it.

Whether you’re reviewing it for a blog or talking about it to your buddies, take a step back. Give it a day or two to marinate to see if you really enjoyed it and more importantly, to see if it’s good. And remember, it’s OK to like crap. I know I do. And lastly, just because you don’t like something, doesn’t mean it’s not good.

Marc Johnson

Top 5 Fall 2013 TV Shows

With all of television going on their mid-season “finale,” I thought it’d be fun to talk about them. Now, as always, there were many new shows debating this past fall. Let’s talk about those that made my cream of the crop and that won’t (hopefully) get cancelled.

5. Almost Human

This sci-fi show is pretty much a collection of all classic sci-fi movies. It has the look of Blade Runner, the feel of Demolition Man and Minority Report, and even has a Robocop. While it is a mish-mash of plenty of good movies, that’s not a strike against it because sci-fi plays on a lot of similar themes.

At its heart and what makes Almost Human fun to watch is the bromance between Karl Urban and Michael Ealy. I’ve always had a soft spot for buddy, action, comedy movies, which this is. While the plots may be fairly predictable and nothing new, it’s worth it alone to watch these two great actors go at it.

4. Sleepy Hollow

When I first heard of this show, I thought how could they make it a show? Surely, it must be a rather long mini-series or just a one season show like Revenge. But I was wrong.

Sleepy Hollow is in the same vein as Supernatural, but whereas that show is mostly serious, Sleepy Hollow is not. That doesn’t mean it’s goofy. It just means that it doesn’t give a shit. The characters do crazy things for the most outrageous plots. Somehow it all works. Partly because of the charm of Crane, but also because it doesn’t drag things out and keeps the wheels turning. Much like Almost Human, the chemistry between the stars is excellent.

3. The Michael J. Fox Show

While I’ve been a big fan of Michael J. Fox’s movies, I’ve never been a fan of his sitcoms. I gave this a shot even though I was slightly worried about how things would be with his Parkinson’s. I had worried that not only would things be awkward but that the show would focus on his dealings with Parkinson’s. Turns out, I had nothing to worry about.

The Michael J. Fox Show is a solid family sitcom. Yes, they brushed upon his Parkinson’s in the pilot but only mention it in passing in each subsequent episode. It’s also a very traditional sitcom in that it’s focused on a more “normal” family. It’s very funny and has a ton of heart.

2. The Blacklist

I’m not big on crime or cop stuff. There’s only been about a handful of stuff I’ve enjoyed that fall into those two genres. However, the premise sounded interesting enough to try it out.

And I love it!

I’ve always been drawn to characters like the one James Spader plays. Be it Vegeta, Cole, or Thanos, those characters resonate with me. Maybe it’s because if I ever let go, all of me will be like them.

Aside from that, Elizabeth Boone plays an excellent Agent Keene. There aren’t many strong woman on television or in movies, but Keene is one. And she doesn’t rely on being sexy, which actually makes her more sexy.

While some people get bored of the “monster of the week” thing. Much like the early seasons of Supernatural, I actually think it works here.

1. The Goldbergs

I was afraid that this would be a gimmicky show, but because of my love of the 80s, I had to at least check out the pilot. As you can see, it’s an excellent show.

I like to describe The Goldbergs as The Wonder Years meets Roseanne. The 80s dressing isn’t just a gimmick or feel tacked on like it does in The Carrie Diaries. It’s crucial to the show and its own character Having grown up in that decade, it feels real. While the family is a bit wacky, they also have a ton of heart and truly care about each other. Not that it’s all sappy. The Goldbergs is also pretty hilarious.

Those were my top new shows of the fall 2013 season. What are yours?

Marc Johnson

Writing in a Dead Genre

It occurred to me the other day that I write in a dead genre. High fantasy just isn’t as popular as it once was. Now I’m not saying fantasy doesn’t sell. It does. But it’s not the type of fantasy I grew up with. What sells is urban fantasy, paranormal fantasy, or gritty fantasy. All of those subgenres have many things in common.

Best selling fantasy today is all dark, sexualizied, and cynical. And while I get that reflects today’s world, it saddens me that it’s not like how it was before.

When I was growing up in the 80s, the world was full of hope and so was I. You’d see that reflected in movies, books, music, and shows. If you watch, read, or listen to pop culture today, it’s the completely opposite. Not to mention people are way too angry when they drive, ignore the world with their headphones, or don’t even know their neighbor’s name. I’m not saying that things will or should return to how they were, but it’d be nice if everything wasn’t so dark all the time.

People do try to bring it back to how it once was. It’s why you see reboots, remakes, prequels, and sequels. A lot of the times they don’t work because while the idea may be the same, the execution is not. It’s influenced by today’s lens. And despite how flashy it is, how improved the CGI is, how big the budgets are, how greatly their skill has improved, it will lack the heart and vision of the original. Because of that fact, more often than not, it will always fail. Worse yet, it will tarnish the original.

So if you want to write in a “dead” genre, you should. You shouldn’t worry about whether or not it’s going to sell or if you should tailor it to make sales. Call me foolish, but I think if you write something you love, it’ll shine through and it will eventually pay off. Like all things, writing goes in a cycle. While it may not be hot now, odds are it will be hot again.

Marc Johnson

Top 5 Friends Episodes

I love Friends! It’s one of my favorite shows. Despite how much I watch it, it’s not my favorite show or even my favorite sitcom. But it is the number one show I go to when I want to unwind after a hard, long day at work. It’s such a great show and even after seeing episodes dozens upon dozens of times and can recite them by memory, they still bring a smile to my face.

So I got to thinking, what are my favorite Friends episodes? What are the ones that have me stay up entirely too late? After much hard work, I came up with a list. I noticed that my favorite episodes are the ones where the entire cast are in the same room together. Say what you want about Friends, but it had great chemistry, writing, acting, wit, and heart that just can’t be beat. It may go down as the greatest sitcom ever. Though it will be hard to be I Love Lucy.

5. The One With Phoebe’s Uterus

I would normally rank this one a little higher because I love the quiz show, but the whole Phoebe is pregnant plot drags it down. Even though it’s the title of the episode, I could have done without it. Real life pregnancies in shows tend to ruin them. The five who are in the quiz do shine and it’s hilarious!

4. The One Where Ross Got High

The Thanksgiving episodes are always great. Mainly because you get such great chemistry play with all six of the cast. Even when random, terrible characters like Tag are in, the episodes are good. Here, instead of people like Tag, you get Ross and Monica’s parents. They’re some of my favorites. There’s a lot going on in this episode from Phoebe’s crush, Rachel’s dessert, Chandler’s problem, that it all cumulative into one explosive finale!

3. The One Where Ross Can’t Flirt

I love Ross! He’s just a big dork who can’t get enough dinosaurs. He has surprisingly been with a lot of women. It may have to do with his self-confidence since his game is just like mine–non-existent.

I also wish they had done more with Joey’s Grandmother. She’s pretty funny. And whatever happened to the duck?

2. The One With the Football

Surprise, surprise, ANOTHER Thanksgiving episode! Sports episodes in sitcoms can either be very good or very bad. This one is the former. There’s so much stuff going on here such as Ross and Monica’s childhood rivalry, Chandler getting over Janice, Chandler and Joey going after the same girl, and Rachel going long. Yet it’s all enjoyable and moves amazingly fast. Plus, there’s a Troll trophy.

1. The One Where No One’s Ready

I never much liked Ross and Rachel together. I always preferred when they were apart and when one of them was pining for the other. Maybe it’s because I know too many guys who become insecure when in a relationship. This is probably the sweetest episode of the pair followed closely by “He’s her lobster.” There’s also loads of fun between Chandler hiding all of Joey’s clothes, Joey doing the opposite and going commando, and Monica going crazy. Lastly, it’s in real time and Rachel looks extremely hot in this episode.

Drink the fat!

And those are my favorite episodes of Friends. What are yours?

Marc Johnson

In Media Res

If there’s one thing I hate about today’s movies in shows it’s that they try to start “in media res.” What that translates to is, “in the midst” of things. It’s a way for writers to begin things in the middle rather than start from the beginning. Recently, it’s just become lazy story telling.

Movies and shows today are bad. One of the reasons is that they don’t start from the beginning where you’ll spend time getting to know about the characters and their situations. If you look at the 80s, a most excellent time period for movies and shows, they told stories in a very linear structure.

In The Karate Kid, there’s no big explosion or huge action scene when it starts. Daniel and his mom drive cross country where you see how bad those apartments are, how rough a time Daniel has making friends, and that he tries to do the right thing before getting his ass kicked by Johnny. That’s a good 15-20 minutes before that action scene with Johnny.

In Die Hard, you don’t see John McClane mowing down a bunch of people. You see how he hates flying, how there’s trouble with his wife, how good Holly is at her job, that Holly works for a good and kind man, and that John misses her and won’t cheat on her when he could. Again, another 20 minutes or so goes by before the terrorists seize Nakatomi Plaza. When he first kills a terrorist, he hesitates because he’s a cop and that’s what he’s been trained to do.

Those 20 minutes may be slow to some, but they give you time to care about the character. You understand what’s going on in their lives and how crummy it is, what they wish for, and how hard they have it. Because of all that, you start to connect with the character.

The most recent thing I watched was The Lone Ranger. And while that had is more of a frame narrative because of the flashbacks, the premise stands. I just watched it and I don’t really remember what happened except there was a bank robbery with the Lone Ranger and Tonto. I had a couple of questions like why were they robbing a bank, what did it have to do with the plot, I thought this was an origin movie so when did they meet? Questions like that tend to pop up when you don’t do a linear story.

In the also awful, Agents of SHIELD second episode, there was an explosion in the plane then it went back to the beginning of how that happened. Even though I did have the pilot to stand on, a bunch of similar questions popped into my head.

You need time to understand the situation and care for the characters. By cutting that out and just adding a bunch of explosions, people won’t be able to connect with the story beyond the most superficial way.

However, you can do a story right by opening with an action scene.

Star Wars opens up with such a scene. The Big Bad Ship is attacking the Small Ship. You have no idea what’s going on, but you know that the Big Bad Ship is the oppressor because of its size and color and the way that the scene is shot. You also know that there’s no escaping it. Now while that would be a good scene all on its own, what makes it work is that it sets up the entire story of the Empire and the Rebellion. Those themes and opposing sides will resonate throughout the entire movie.

A more recent film and one of my favorites, The Matrix, also does the same thing. Trinity is able to kill a squad of cops with some amazing and crazy skills. Yet we soon see her run from the Men in Black because she’s terrified of them. You’re left wondering why is she so afraid of them if she could do what she just did, and what is this world? That works because like Star Wars, all those questions will be answered, and you’ll learn more about the Agents and how powerful those gatekeepers are and that they must go through them.

Afterwards, both those movies spend a good 30-45 minutes with little to no action and plenty of character and world building.

Movies and shows today have none of the subtleties in themes, worlds, or characters that those movies and shows in the pat had. You can clearly see that when you compare remakes such as Total Recall, Evil Dead, Red Dawn, and (probably) Robocop. The remakes clearly lack what made the originals good. While some of it has to do with the wooden acting, lack of charisma, over reliance on CGI, or dumbing it down for a PG-13 rating, it’s hard to build a house when the story’s foundation is shaky.

Marc Johnson

What Once Was One is Now Available in Print!

What Once Was One (The Passage of Hellsfire, Book 2) is now available as a print book. It’s on Amazon with more to eventually follow.

Marc Johnson

Kindle Matchbook

If you haven’t heard, Amazon recently announced their Kindle Matchbook program. If you don’t know what it is, it’s basically a way for people to get digital versions of the physical books they bought for $2.99 or less. And this can go back to books you bought years ago. While I didn’t feel the need to sign up for Amazon’s KDP Select program, because I don’t like exclusivity unless it involves piles of cash on my doorstep, I think I’m going to sign up for this program.

There’s really no reason not to sign up for it. Unlike Select, where you have to only sell your books on Amazon, this has no such restriction. I haven’t really thought about if this will boost my print or ebook sales because honestly, I don’t worry over things I can’t control. My print sales are as you might suspect, abysmal so this may give them a boost.

I’m a gamer. If there’s one thing we video gamers know it’s that we constantly buy our favorite games over and over again. I’ve lost track of how many times I’ve bought Shining Force 2 on each and every console. While that analogy isn’t exactly the same, it’s similar enough. There’s nothing more annoying that buying the same game, book, album, movie over and over again when there’s no noticeable differences like an HD remake or Uncut version.

It would be interesting to see if people will start to buy my print book. At the very least, they’ll get two different versions of the cover and a few people may prefer the print over the ebook. I’m still not sure what to price it though. I’m leaning towards $.99 because if you spend $14.95 on my book, it’s the least I can do.

We’ll see how things go and maybe I’ll write a post if it made any difference or not.

Marc Johnson

Best Star Trek Crew

Recently, there was the annual Star Trek convention in Vegas. One of these days I have to go. The fans decided on the Best Star Trek Crew. While I wholeheartedly disagree with that list, it got me wondering, what ‘Best of’ crew would I put together?

CAPTAIN

I may be bias because Picard was not only my first exposure to Star Trek but I have just finished watching all of TNG. Whatever the case may be, the reason I would have Picard was that he epitomizes everything good about the Federation. Out of all the captains, he probably breaks the Prime Directive the least. That doesn’t mean he’s a stickler for the rules as he’ll try to follow the spirit of the Prime Directive.

Picard will always try to help people even if they’re his mortal enemy like the Borg. He’ll try to reason with people as oppose to blast them with phasers. There’s a reason why there is a Captain Picard Day.

FIRST OFFICER

I was tempted to put in Spock here as I love Spock and he’s a great first officer. However, him and Picard kind of play similar roles. With that in mind, I settled on my number two, Kira Nerys.

I love Nerys because she’s a fighter. She also has plenty of experience in battle, understands about working with her former enemy, and can manage factions with different agendas. I love her passionate personality yet she doesn’t let that interfere with her work and knows how to get things done.

CHIEF ENGINEER

This was another tough decision. You could pretty much choose any Starfleet engineer as they can all turn rocks into replicators. However, I ended up going with O’Brien.

With the exception of Tucker, the rest of the engineers had it easy. O’Brien had to deal with Federation, Cardassian, and Bajoran technology, on one busy space station yet he somehow got it all to work. The only downside with O’Brien is that he’d want to bring his wife along. MILES!!!

MEDICAL OFFICER

With the exception of Polanski, I love all the doctors! In real life, I love my doctors to be motherly and women, but I think I would have to go with the one who carried an entire show on his back–the Doctor!

The Doctor’s an interesting character because he’s a mixture of all the other characters. He explores his “humanity” like Data or Spock, he’s grumpy and short with people like Bones, and since he’s a hologram he has a ton of advantages. Out of all the doctors, he probably has the most personality and he’s the first of his kind. He’s just a joy to watch and I’m so glad they eventually gave him the holoemitter.

SECURITY OFFICER

This was actually one of the easier ones to decide as there’s really only two choices. Yar died early and Worf was the worst security officer ever. I don’t think they had security on Kirk’s ship as he WAS security. That leaves Tuvok and Odo.

It was a tough choice but I decided to go with Tuvok. Odo’s not the best shapeshifter even after being in the Great Link with his people, but Tuvok spied on the Marquis for a while. And I thought Vulcans couldn’t lie. If the Doctor was the most interesting and enjoyable character on Voyager, Tuvok was easily number two. Plus, what’s Star Trek crew without a Vulcan?

SCIENCE OFFICER

Because of the symbiote inside of Jadzia, she had access to previous time periods and tons of knowledge. While I did enjoy some of her past life episodes, I wish I had seen more of Jadzia the Scientist. Those times when she used her brains instead of flirting or talking about her past were always the most fun for me. I always felt like she was holding back her smarts under the veneer of seduction.

COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER

What made Hoshi great was that unlike the others, she didn’t have the benefit of a working translator. She basically made what people in Picard’s era used. She spoke several languages and when they ran into a new language, she would use her knowledge to decipher and understand it. That always made for fascinating viewing. I always thought they missed out as Hoshi could have been an excellent codebreaker/spy and it would have made far more sense for her to be working with Section 31.

HELMSMAN

I need someone competent to fly the ship. So why not get someone who was born on a spaceship? I always thought they wasted the opportunity to explore Mayweather’s background. Yes, he had the one episode but I think everyone in Star Trek was born on a planet or moon. Is there a divide between people born on ships and those born on planets? Because of his background, Mayweather would be better equipped to deal with a ship’s controls and maneuverability more than anyone else.

It took much thinking on my part but that’s my Best Star Trek crew. What’s yours?

Marc Johnson