Pixel Theories | a gamer getting older...

Cashback - review

Originally released as a short film in the UK in 2004, Cashback narrates the story of Ben, an artist student and insomniac. 

Ben's insomnia beings when he is dumped by his girlfriend as they both realize that his incapable of making her happy.  Unable to sleep and constantly reliving the moments prior to their breakup Ben finds work at a grocery store to occupy himself and for his work he gets "...cashback."

The employees of the store all have their special ways of making the hours of their shift pass faster, some pull pranks, some refuse to look at clocks, Ben prefers to stop time in his mind.  At which point our protagonist waivers the line between artist and erotic voyeur.  When in this state of frozen time Ben draws portraits of the female patrons of the store, some clothed and some nude.  When he's done with his drawings Ben takes the time to redress his "models" and restarts time with the crack of his knuckles.

While Sean Ellis' story of heartbreak and love takes a detour from the traditional cookie cutter romantic comedy, it's only slightly creative enough to be considered time well spent.  As much of the narrative outside of Ben's isolated existence in frozen time is par for the course in this genre.  However, those looking for a few laughs and some expanded big screen nudity have found themselves a hit with this 2006 UK film.

The Pause Button

Over the last seven weeks I have been missing in action.  My body has been covering for my absent mind which has been wandering.

My father lost his job and to make matters worse, his constantly deteriorating knee has him to the point that he's using a cane at the age of 53.  "A jack of all trades and a master of none" is a statement that has not only been reflective of his life but also his largest weakness in securing an occupation with decent medical benefits.  Since he lost his job he could not afford to pay his rent and therefore was evicted from his apartment nearly two months ago.  In the meantime he has been living with family, mainly my wife and I, and looking for other work. 

On my days off I have got the ball rolling on my father's DSHS and Social Security paperwork, getting Medicaid, food stamps, and his SSI interview.  My wife has been amazing in getting his doctor appointments setup and liaising with his social worker.  But having a house guest with these needs has taken it's toll on our state of mind and our bottom line.

To make matters worse I recently was informed that my uncle is losing a battle with liver cancer at the age of 55.  Though he had been hiding this from most of his family for nearly a year, the rapid loss of weight combined with the jaundice has made his failing physical condition obvious.  When I'm not helping my father on shopping trips, picking up food, or trips out of the house, I make my way from Tacoma to Lynwood to talk with my uncle and when possible help around his house.

Seeing both of these men in their poor condition has resulted in stress that has kept me from playing, blogging, and even eating.  I often wonder how others deal with this type of stress.  Am I just overreacting to an inevitable death in the family?  Or, is this how I am supposed to behave when people this close to you start to enter the winter of their life?

My father's knee surgery should be sometime early next year.  While we are currently unsure if he'll ever be able to walk without a cane again, the surgery should alleviate most if not all of the pain.  And in sometime in the more immediate future the man who took me and my cousin on fishing trips to the San Juan Islands and camping along the Skagit River will enter a coma and die.

I have been ordered to "take a break and eat something" by my mother the nurse, who has taken in her ex-husband in for the time being.  Apparently my sleep deprivation and my wife's laryngitis has prompted my mother to take point on the situation.  Dwelling on these dark thoughts has been more than I or my wife can handle lately and for the time being we have to get back to something of a normative behavior.  Which for me means staying up late playing vidz, taking my wife to dinner and a movie, and blogging.

Seven weeks ago I pressed the pause button.  No more games, movies, blogging, etc.  It was time to be serious, dependable, and dedicated.  But I've found that without a balance, the audacity of trying to be everywhere at once and beyond that eliminating what you enjoy in life will exacerbate your health and leave you depressed.  The hobbies that we have are part of what makes us happy.  And because of that I've decided to press the pause button and start the fun again.  I know that I can balance being dedicated and having fun, I just need to get a little bit better at it.

Bourne Conspiracy can't hide it's flaws.

It's not that I'm too disappointed, I just had more hope for an IP that had potential. 

The Bourne Conspiracy for the Xbox 360 is essentially a run through of the 2002 movie The Bourne Identity.  Why a different name, I'm not quite that sure.  Whatever the motive, it seems that the game as a whole was an opportunity to cash in on the trilogy before everyone moves on to the next big thing.

The game takes liberties with the IP.  Which is not that much of a surprise to those who've read the books.  Once again there is no mention of Carlos, and little focus on the foundation/creation of Treadstone 71.  While the movies don't follow the books at all there was an opportunity for Sierra to break some new ground with the IP, instead they played it safe and used most of the action sequences from the first movie as a foundation for the game and insight into the back story of Jason Bourne.

The real flaws in The Bourne Conspiracy rely within the decision not to invest heavily in the characters' assassin like approach to taking out targets.  In this story Bourne has no devices and little to no intelligence.  Instead of sneaking around enemies, you fight them head on; which for an assassin who's supposed to be "invisible" sounds...idiotic.  Most if not all missions put you in the shoes of a run-and-gun suicidal hero, rather than a methodical, cold blooded assassin.  This is a real disappointment, considering that Ubisoft has basically given out the blueprints on how to build a good stealth shooter with the Splinter Cell series.

Furthermore, the shooting mechanic is sub-par in comparison to todays FPS's.  There's no way to focus for head shots, instead you have to eye it with the over the shoulder camera.  Adding to the frustration, NPC's on the Assassin difficulty are not only marksman shots, but manage to hit you even when you're behind good cover.

The highlight of Conspiracy has to be the hand to hand combat.  While it can get repetitive, Sierra did an excellent job of making the user feel like a bad ass while going toe to to with cronies and villains.  With every landed punch and well timed shots you can increase you sense.  Bank enough of this hyper sense ability and you can perform environmental takedowns on enemies.  Some of these takedowns are straight out of the movies, others involve the environment and have a certain brutality about them that leaves the player satisfied.

Ultimately Conspiracy doesn't do enough well to merit a purchase.  The lack of content straight from the literature that spawned the television movie in '88 and the three movies of late is a complete oversight.  But if you're a fan of the Bourne books or movies and just can't get enough, then rent with a buyer beware like attitude.  As The Bourne Conspiracy lacks the depth and feeling to keep you coming back for more.