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Rants
Something has upset the captain
The Iron Mic vs. Mass Effect 2
0725 days
Now that I have somewhere to post, I can record the thoughts that usually swirl about my brain and trickle out in the form of self-directed mumbles while I’m in crowded, public places. I noticed this happening while I was playing through Dragon Age, and so, hammered out the last rant, hoping to relieve myself of the hushed voices. The fact that I was actually looking forward to Mass Effect has, I think, intensified the whole process to the point where I’m not going to be able to keep track of all the shit that irks me about this game. As such, I’m going to post my (hopefully spoiler-free) thoughts here. Feel free to join in.
– I don’t know what exactly caused it, but I was completely taken in by the first ME. Perhaps it’s because I very much enjoy sci-fi. I like it as a setting for most any story, far more than fantasy, as it has the eventual possibility of coming true. Humans discover vast technological stores and go on adventures spanning billions of miles? Sign me up. I read every planetary description, noting the color of the different gas giants and which chemicals on the barren desert planets were responsible for killing me if the red death-meter got too full. This time around, the game has managed to completely cut me off from the universe within. Oh, I’m not allowed to travel wherever I want anymore? I can’t land on planets and drive around, looking for things to kill/collect unless I pay you an extra $15? Fantastic. Sign up someone else this time.
– So, they went to the trouble of describing, in detail, why there was no such thing as ammunition scarcity in the first game. Mass drivers, and scrap metal slugs, and whatever. That was fine, I bought in; plausible explanation. Now: oh we’re sorry, we meant there IS ammo, but it’s not called ammo it’s called “thermal clips.” Great, now you’re just like every other game. Way to be.
– Where the hell is my inventory screen? Why is ammunition considered a “power” that not everyone can use? It’s ammunition: a physical object that fits into a gun. If it fits into one pistol, shouldn’t it fit into another identical pistol, regardless of who is holding onto it? While we’re on that, why can’t I carry whatever weapon I want to? Last time, you simply took into account that certain characters were trained in the use of, and therefor better with, certain weapons. Now my character is physically unable to find the “ON” switch to a rifle? And why can he carry two more weapons than anyone else? And why does my squad insist on entering combat wearing nothing more than bondage gear or a swimsuit?
– The sniper-time and hit locater are right up my alley. Anything that adds squishy headshots is OK in my book.
– At least the hack/bypass minigame isn’t a Simon-clone anymore.
– Man-faced broad is man-faced. (eww, man-faye)
– I really, REALLY hate what they did to the inventory system.
– Apparently a 7-year-old could hack the average Defense Robot.
– The Galaxy Map is tilted wrong and I can’t see what I’d like to. The listing of what quests are in which systems is nice, but perhaps wait until I highlight them to tell me rather than cluttering up the map.
– The Citadel got smaller. That’s exactly the wrong direction to head in; more exploration, not less.
– Fuel/Probes: an in-game currency drain necessary to continue playing. This isn’t an MMO (yet), let’s not try and make it more like one.
– This might fold into my dislike of the inventory system, but where are the stores? Am I to believe that, in the future, retail outlets will only carry two random items each and specialize in nothing?
– It takes me twenty minutes to scan a planet for resources, and I don’t even get to drive around while doing it.
– I’ll bet the PC version looks awesome, but it probably still has this same generic redhead I see repeated every 3 humans. Every game, Bioware; every fucking game with you the same thing.
– To steal a bit from Yahtzee: there sure are a lot of chest-high walls in this galaxy.
– I can assign a power to the d-pad OR use it to direct traffic, not both. What gives?
– The AI is better at telling my squad what to do than I am.
– This game has more unnecessary recurring characters than Episode I.
– Bioware must think they’ve found the recipe for the next smack, and they’re only willing to cut it but so much with parts of fantasy, sci-fi, or seaquest. It’s as if they expect people to buy the same product over and over, and then thank them for the privilege. Well, think again; I’m only willing to RENT the same thing over and over.
Unfinished Business
0775 days
One day... it shall be mine!
As I sit here writing this article about unfinished business; I find it ironic that I am listening to the soundtrack of Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, simply because it is a game that I thought I would never finish. I played that game across two xboxes, and even two different discs (one stopped working). I did, however, finally finish it. After 100+ hours of play, I closed the last oblivion gate and thwarted the daedric invasion. It was a very satisfying feeling. Maybe not so much looking from the game out, but rather the fact that I had accomplished something that I never thought I would do. That game is MASSIVE, as I think we all as gamers know. As far as RPGs go it was just a giant time sink, with thousands of things to do, see, and well… kill.
Which brings me to the meat of this little piece: I have way too many games left, just from this year, to finish. As any gamer worth his weight in plastic peripherals knows, the couple months before Christmas is THE time to get big games. Last year the bigger titles were: L4D, Little Big Planet, Resistance 2, and the biggie Gears of War2. This year the list is probably twice as long and much more spread out over different genres. Games like Dragon Age:Origins, Assassin’s Creed 2, L4D2, and Modern Warfare 2 will satisfy the hardest of the hardcore. There are also games for people that are more casual with their games (not necessarily “casual games” however), games like Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, Forza 3, Borderlands, and even the New Super Mario Brothers Wii game. Needless to say, the shelves have been stocked for a while with quality games for pretty much any kind of player.
Anyway… I now have sitting on my shelf in the gaming lair: AC2, NSMB Wii, Borderlands, Modern Warfare 2, Dragon Age: Origins, and Left 4 Dead 2. Of those 6 titles, I have finished a grand total of ONE, and that would be MW2, because the single player is like 5 hours. Although, I have started to go back and play through it on Veteran, which is taking up even more of my time. Point being, I have a LOT of unfinished business with my games. I have played quite a bit of each title (save DA:O) and thought I would at least write up my impressions of these games so far. We’ll start with the oldest first…
"Boom! Head shot!"
Borderlands is one of those games that you can just jump right into and have mindless fun with for hours. I am sure to catch a lot of flack for this (should anyone actually read this) but THIS is the game that I wanted Fallout 3 to be, so very badly. Not that Fallout was a bad game, I don’t think that, but it just never felt right to me. If you put a gun in a persons hand, set the camera behind the gun, and give me lots of targets to shoot at, I NEED the game to be more responsive and the controls to be tighter. Sorry. Fallout was way too slow and methodical, as a regular RPG should be, but not one with guns and a first person perspective. I enjoyed the game; it just didn’t satisfy enough of either genre to keep me interested. Borderlands, however, is a very satisfying game for me. Having four classes to choose from (Sniper, Tank, Soldier, and overpowered Chick) makes it a game that could possibly be played through several times with different effect.
Speaking of multiples… there are thousands and thousands of guns for you to find or buy in this game; literally. Granted, a VERY large chunk of them are pieces of junk that you will never use except for padding your wallet, but the few that are rare finds are well worth the search. Searching is something you will do a LOT of. Chests, lockers, safes, piles of garbage, sometimes even animal carcasses will have weapons or ammo in them. This game makes the loot factor in Diablo seem tiny and insignificant. Seriously, it’s just that overwhelming.
The controls are easy enough to manage if you have EVER played a FPS before. Everything functions as you would expect it to. The visuals are done in an almost “cell-shaded” way that makes them look almost cartoon like. It definitely adds to the visual style of the game, and sets it apart from just about all the first person shooters out there.
The biggest and probably most fun draw for this game is the Multiplayer. You can grab three of your friends and jump into a game. The person that hosts the game is the one that you will follow the story line and quests for. So say, if you have already finished a certain amount of quests, but your buddy hasn’t, you may still have to go back and play them again if you are playing in his game. Also the game scales to that person as well. So be careful getting into games with higher level characters because you may get your ass handed to you.
The story in Borderlands is, hmm… we’ll just say, thin. Actually, to be quite honest, I have almost no idea what it is about AT ALL. I know that I am some sort of mercenary or something, and I am looking for pieces to the “Vault”. There is some chick in my head that keeps telling me I am on the right path and doing the right thing, but I couldn’t tell you who she is or why she is talking to me. What I do know, is that this game does a great job of give you a fuck-ton of quests to accomplish, as well as giving you a rather large world to accomplish them in. If you are looking for a decent FPS that blends in simple RPG elements then this game is probably going to be a good match for you.
Also, this game just came out with what looks to be a rather fun DLC. It’s an entirely new island full of new monsters (ZOMBIES) and a few new weapons.
Seeing as how this article is a bit longer than I first expected it to be, I will post it in parts. You have just read (obviously) Part One. Part Two will be coming up soon, on one of the other games that I listed above. Probably with less exposition and filler.
The Iron Mic vs. Dragon Age: Origins
0777 days
Kotor was rather popular, and also good, but it’s time maybe to try making an RPG that isn’t essentially another thinly-veiled ripoff. If you can’t, then just make Kotor 3 and let me get my Star Wars fix already. I realize that it’s easy money, but at least try mixing it up a bit. Try rearranging the bones to come up with a new animal.
How about some menus that aren’t wheel-based? How about a game with more than 5 towns? How about an rpg where every conversation scene isn’t about tiptoeing around your crew of opinionated crybabies? How about a storage system that I don’t have to pay extra for?
There is little that annoys me as much as having to stop in the middle of a dungeon and decide which of my items will probably sell for less than others (and can be dropped/destroyed) so I can pick up the gift/weapon/potion/whatever that I’m not sure if I’ll need later in the game. Yeah, yeah. Here comes the argument that the game has backpacks for sale that increase inventory space for in-game gold. You know what games that sentence describes? Mmo grindfests; which are the bastion of offensive game design.
There are a few ways for (benevolent) developers to handle this. You can go the Final Fantasy route and let me carry x99 of any existing item, but no more than that; or you can try the Jagged Alliance design and give me a limited personal inventory with persistent drops (dropped items staying right where I fucking dropped them and never leaving unless I intentionally move them). If you don’t feel like coding either of those, you could just stop putting so damned many items in the game. I don’t need twenty similar swords to choose from if I don’t have the ability to carry them all.
Now, I haven’t played Torchlight, but I hear that you can sell things while in the middle of a dungeon. Word up on that. Perhaps other game companies could take that under advisement and add something similar in the future. And no, I’m not willing to pay an additional $10 for the convenience, you greedy assfunchkins.
You know what else sucks? The targeting. I have lost count of how many times I’ve accidentally targeted someone on my team instead of targeting an enemy. No, I wasn’t trying to open your conversation screen, I was trying to attack/loot/freeze that evil demon right fucking next to me. This would have been an easy fix: d-pad left/right for enemies, and up/down for friendlies. (I’m guessing this is the part where guys playing the PC version laugh at me derisively.)
Bottom line: I don’t hate Dragon Age. I’m going to play it all the way through. I might even play it a second time and play as a different class. Its formula keeps getting reused because it makes for a decent game. I just think that, at this point, they’ve gone to the trough too many times to not be called on it. If I spend more time thinking “that’s just like in [earlier game]” or “god dammit not again” than I do “that’s fucking sweet” it tends to obstruct my enjoyment of the game.
P.S — What the hell is with Morrigan only looking good in the one outfit? Change her armor and an entirely different body model is loaded. Bullshit.
1-800-HYPE-HOTLINE
1866 days
You can’t outrun the Hype Train!
First off, no I am not writing this to fish for trolls, start a flame war, or even get hits on my site (well maybe a little of the last one). I have been playing games since they only used primary colors. Back when squares represented people, and giant ducks represented dragons, if you get that reference then you have been around for a while too. So seeing as I have seen my fair share of game franchises come and go, I feel at least some what qualified to say when games are over hyped. The only thing I want you, the reader, to understand is this: I am NOT saying that these games are BAD games, not at all. In fact I own most of the games that I reference. I am simply saying that the hype placed upon them sometimes isn’t really necessary.
Link could barely stomach himself in the CDi version.
First game I would like to call out is Zelda. Yeah yeah I can hear your groans already, just hear me out. Zelda was and is a fantastic game. I have owned pretty much every major release they have thrown out. It’s a great mix of platforming and puzzle games with a dash of RPG mixed in for good measure. The story is sometimes original, I guess, in the way that they seem to have Link always saving Zelda in some way shape or form.
Here’s the rub though. That game hasn’t changed since the original release. Seriously. You are always, as I said, saving Zelda. You always have to go from castle to castle (or dungeon) find a certain object, then use said object to defeat the boss. Almost always in the same order too. Boomerang, Hook shot, Legendary Sword, it’s always the same. The environments have slightly changed over the years, but the old standbys are ALWAYS there. You usually have to visit a world that involves some sort of elemental boss or castle. If you think that I am going to go to yet ANOTHER water world, find some “Heavy Boots” and defeat another water monster again, you are crazier than a deku nut. Zelda can just hang out with Gannon for the rest of her pathetic life for all I care. The only recent game that got me even the slightest bit excited was “Phantom Hourglass” and that was because it used a different type of control scheme.
He'll eat you and everyone you love!
Next on the chopping block is one that I have only recently gotten back into after 10 years: Madden. Oh yeah, that’s right, EA’s juggernaut of sports games. I will accept that it must be hard to innovate on a game that actually doesn’t change. I mean the game of football has stayed relatively the same since the NFL started, honestly. There have been rule changes, new teams, and an extension to the season, but generally speaking it’s still football, same as ever. It’s hard to take that and make your game new and exciting every year, that’s a given. Which makes it that much harder for me to understand the hype that circles a Madden release.
The people that wait in line at midnight to buy the game, probably have paid for every iteration of the game since John Madden started eating six legged turkeys. It really is football in video game form. Every couple years it looks a little better, plays a little faster, or they throw in some wacky gimmick. Overall though, it’s the same game year after year. Why then do people freak the fuck out when August rolls around and they know Madden is coming. I just don’t get it. I could maybe see the allure of getting the game that sports your favorite team on the front. That I can see, because you want to show your team spirit. But the other 99% of the people that buy the game, just do so almost mindlessly and never expect anything different. I swear they could change the box art, the load screen, update the rosters, just resell the same game to you a couple years in a row, and no one would ever notice.
Finally (because I could go on all day) the last game I will mention is Halo. Yes… Halo. Again I want to reiterate that I am not saying the games aren’t good, just the hype is too much. Halo for the original Xbox was an amazing bit of gaming. It introduced us to good story telling even in a first person shooter. Levels were very well laid out (except for that damnable Library) and the sound and visuals were great. It really was a system seller and Microsoft should STILL worship the plastic it was pressed on.
Working overtime starts to take its toll...
That being said, the rest of the Halo library is just more of the same. Seriously the ending for Halo 2 was a GIANT middle finger in the face of all Halo fans and gamers out there. They might as well have had it end by a screen that just said “Thanks for buying Halo 3 when it comes out bitches!” Seriously. Then Halo 3 does come out, and it looks fantastic runs ultra smooth, and (almost) finishes the fight. Let’s be realistic here though. Halo 2 was pretty much Halo Ctrl C – Ctrl V, + Dual Wield, and Halo 3 was more of the same but with buffed up graphics.
I played the game, and I enjoyed it, however I don’t see where it was the “end all be all” of 360 games. I was pretty disappointed there weren’t really any new weapons or abilities in the game (no dual wielding a needler is NOT good enough). The story still left you with that, “Oh there’s more” feeling in the back of you head. It never really felt like there was any closure. Like the Halo gods closed a door but opened a window kinda thing. At least it wasn’t just another five hour advertisement for their next game like Halo 2 was. . . Or was it.
Halo:ODST just came out recently and honestly I couldn’t care less. I thought I might care until they announced at E3 that one of their bigger “additions” to the game was adding silenced weapons. Really? That’s like releasing a new Texas Chainsaw Massacre movie and now he uses only gasoline in his chainsaw, instead of that kinda mix you have of oil and gas. It’s the same damn thing just changed ever so slightly for the sake of saying they changed something. What’s next, sneaking missions in Halo? What I do love is the title of the next Halo game… Reach. Because that is EXACTLY what they are doing now, “Reaching” for anything to keep this money train on the tracks.
All I am trying to say is that pretty much NO GAME is worthy of the Corinthian hype it may receive. That includes other games that are very near and dear to my heart like Final Fantasy and even the mighty Metal Gear Solid. Both of which I own most all the copies of, not because I bought into the hype but because I thoroughly enjoy playing them. Hell I bought a PS3 so that I could play MGS4 and FFXIII, but you won’t hear me telling all my friends to do so. I guess this is the reason that I haven’t really been excited by the coming release of Modern Warfare 2. I have played way to many games and sunk enough money into my habit that I have earned the right to be crabby and cynical about any games release. Again I think ALL these games are fun in most respects, and ALL are really well made and do deserve accolades. I just don’t see why people worship them like they were sent to humans on the backs of Unicorns spreading love and good cheer everywhere they go. Now get off my lawn before I turn the hose on you!
Friends Vs. Friends List
0892 days
Show of hands: people who like to play video games with their friends? Now, put your hands down if those “friends” are only online… This article is more for those still holding their hands up. This is for the people, like me, that are being overlooked as video games “progress” further into the future.
Lets start things off with a little personal history lesson. When I had an Atari 2600 I used to play games like “Boxing” and “Combat” against my friends and family. We would play for hours trying to get in the final win; memories I wouldn’t trade for the world. Then things progressed to the Nintendo Entertainment System and we would play games like “Double Dragon” and “Cabal” and of course “Contra.” The games were even better looking and it was even more fun. Next there was the Super Nintendo, with its games like “Mortal Kombat” and the grand-daddy of competitive gaming for me, “Super Mario Kart.” Same friends, same style of fun, and so the trend would continue, up until the late PS2/Xbox era. Things took a major “leap forward” and my real life friends were left in the wake.
"Can I still get online with my Game Cube?"
More and more games (on the Xbox especially) were going online. Meet up with people all over the world and play games with, or against them. That was the big hook, right? Well, what about your buddies that you had played four player Goldeneye with for four years? Sure there was Halo, and that was great, but not much else out there, at least not for people that want to play in the same damn room. Have we not progressed past the days of Super Mario Brothers on the NES? Remember when you had to take turns playing a game? Mario would have to make it through his world, then Luigi got to play. Same-screen, multi-player games then weren’t really all that great because of the limitations of the technology, but that was, what, 25 years ago now. Fighting games existed too, but they just weren’t as fun. Playing tournaments of Soul Blade on the PSOne, or getting all four controllers going in a good game of Twisted Metal: that’s where it’s at. You can’t replace game memories like that with online games of Mortal Kombat Armageddon or Auto Modellista.
When I stepped up my system to the 360 I was totally down for some more gaming with my REAL friends. Things started off well: we got to play “Perfect Dark Zero” together. That was a lot of fun. Shortly thereafter though, games decided to just forget about your buddies and concentrate on your “new” virtual friends. Games that used to be marketed as “Co-Op” were all now being sold as “On-Line Co-Op.” I guess I really hadn’t noticed until I wanted to play some Co-Op with a friend of mine in Crackdown. It seemed like it would be a lot of fun to be two super powered cops running around the city, beating the snot out of criminals. Much to my dismay, however, the game ONLY offers “On-line” Co-Op. From there the trend only spirals out of control.
Games that DID offer the ability to play in the same room with a friend usually involved making mock rooms on Xbox Live. The problem there is that you ONLY have you and a friend trying to play deathmatch or CTF games, one man, one team. The worst part about it is that developers have taken out probably the easiest fix or at least patch to this issue: Bots. My friend Bill and I played literally countless hours of Perfect Dark on the N64. The game wasn’t all that great, the graphics now look absolutely horrendous, but never the less it was a hell of a lot of fun. Why? Simply because he and I could play deathmatch for hours and hours and it would never be the same game twice because of those little bots. I am no programmer, but I would imagine that something that fit on only PART of a N64 cart could be programmed into a multi-million dollar DVD game. Seriously… The only full size game (that I am aware of) that has Bots in it since has been Killzone 2 on the PS3. Even with bots in that game you could only play it single player. What the hell?
At the most recent E3, Microsoft said they were going to release Perfect Dark (from the N64) as an XBL Arcade game. Being such a huge fan of the original I already have very high hopes for this game, most of which I expect to be disappointed on. Sure it will look better, play faster, and sound great in 5.1 surround, but all that doesn’t mean dick to me if I can’t play it with my friends in the same room. Talking smack to my friends as they sit beside me and see me drop their in-game character over and over again is much more satisfying than doing it online. I like to see my opponent’s face as they realize that I have been following them, just waiting to capitalize on the first mistake they make.
Where are my split screen games that AREN’T racing games? In order for my friend Brian and I to play COD4 together he had to have his own 360, an account on XBL, and his own copy of the game. Damn! I mean seriously, why have this super powered machine, with the ability to have multiple controllers “hooked up” at once if you don’t have anything to play? Thank goodness for games like Army of Two and most of the Tom Clancy games; they are trying to keep hope alive. Army of Two probably does one of the best jobs of recreating the fun of those old games like Bad Dudes and Double Dragon. However, games like this are few and far between. This is, of course, excluding all manner of Wii games and “Rhythm Games.” Rock Band and Guitar Hero are in a category all their own, and since most Wii games DO have some sort of Co-Op or multi-player ability, but are mostly crap anyway. I mean you have your Wii Sports games and certain Kart racers, but as a whole the Wii isn’t known for it’s stellar games. Just being honest here. I own all three systems so I am NO fanboy.
The "Frag Dolls" always game with friends, and Avril Lavigne apparently.
For the most part, games that do allow you to play simultaneously with a friend are games of trivia or puzzle games, and most of them exist only on the PSN or XBLA. The exception to the rule is sports games. All your major sports games (NBA, NFL, NHL, MLB) have the ability to play with your friends on the same couch. Honestly, if they take those games and make them solely online multi-player, I’m done. If I can’t give my friend sitting beside me a verbal thrashing following me scoring a game winning basket/TD/goal/home run, count me out.
I’ve said it many times before: I don’t like relying on other people (especially that I don’t know) to have fun with a game. Also, think about the online gaming community as a whole. Take the good experiences you have had in a group of strangers versus the bad. Which one happens more often? Don’t get me wrong… I have been playing online with a great group of guys over the past year or so, but I have never met them. I don’t have the same history with my “online” friends that I do with my “real” friends. There won’t, and can’t be, any stories of “Oh, remember when we were at your apartment playing this?” or the occasional “Remember when we got back from the bar and were totally drunk playing this?”
Like I said, it’s as if games are progressing forward everyday, as far as graphical prowess, sound design, acting, and even story telling are concerned, and that’s great. However, if games progress too far without at least trying to keep some semblance of the offline or same-household Co-Op involved, really, where have we gone? At the price of human interaction we now have friends that we probably will never meet in person, and will have no connection to in the future. Yes, I know that people have met offline, and I know that others have gone so far as even getting married to their online counterparts, but these are definitely the exception, NOT the rule.
All I am getting at is this: Developers of games that actually have some need for Co-Op, be that online or off, at least consider doing something so that I can include my friends sitting beside me. That doesn’t mean that I need some half-assed multiplayer shoe-horned into my game totally ruining the experience, though. Also, don’t forget to consider your friends (speaking directly to the gaming public, I mean). If your buddies are sitting around watching you play a game solo, it probably isn’t the most fun experience they can have. Even the most craptacular old-school offline Co-Op can be made fun with the right people. My friends and I have played many a crappy game for hours, just because we can find ways of making it fun.
So when your Friends list tops out at 250, don’t forget your real friends. Take some time and play a game that involves them, too. At the end of the day, your real friends will literally be there for you. Like it or not, 90% of the people that you meet online and game with don’t give two shits about you on a personal level. They won’t pick you up if your car breaks down, bail you out of jail if you get caught with that “escort” in Vegas, or keep the secret on why you can’t use ice tongs without cringing.
Les Lye Dies at 84
0914 days
On July, 21st 2009 someone very near and dear to my heart died. Les Lye, a great comedic actor from Canada died at the age of 84.
He started out doing radio shows back in the early 50′s on Canadian radio. Later he would join Bill Luxton in the in the mid 60′s as the kids comedy team of “Uncle Willy and Floyd” which ran for some 20+ years. Until he was tapped to do a children’s show on Nickelodeon. That show would go on to run 143 episodes and span 3 decades. All of which Lye was a part of, and played nearly every adult character.
Go ask your mother...
I can remember watching that show as a little kid and just laughing and having the best time. My parents even used to watch it with my sister and I when it was on. My mother to this day still will tell my sister and I, “Don’t encourage your father.” Memories of that show will out last most any television or movie quotes I have filed away in my brain.
Recently I was able to find on the internet a collection of the entire series of You Can’t Do That On Television, on DVD. The rights to the show have been fought over for years and years, some say Lye has the rights others say Nickelodeon does, maybe even some Canadian television station has them. It doesn’t matter, the set that I have could be called bootleg I guess. They are copies of the shows that were obviously recorded on a VCR then transferred to DVD. The quality is pretty poor, but again it doesn’t matter. I can still watch them, hear them, and in some cases recite the lines word for word. Now that Les is dead they may finally decide on who really owns the show and maybe even make a “real” DVD set. If that is true, then I will be first in line to pick it up.
Most remembered TV face of the 80's
You Can’t Do That on Television spawned several things that were influential on nickelodeon and in some cases television in general. For one, the green slime that is used on other shows came from YCDTOTV. Just the simple phrase “I don’t know” was enough to bring down a bucket of the green gooey stuff on your head. You could also just as easily get doused with a bucket of water but uttering “water” on set. It was simple and childish, but hell, it WAS a kids show. I think I even remember the Family Guy using that bit at some point. YCDTOTV also was a jumping off point for a lot of child actors. They would get their start on the show do a couple seasons then move on to bigger and better things. Just look at the IMDB listing for that show. Granted the names aren’t very familiar but those kids have all pretty much been busy playing roles here and there on TV ever since. The most glaring example of that was Alanis Morrisett. Personally I always liked the episodes/seasons with Moose, Lisa, Alasdair and Kevin Kubusheskie. They will always be the best group of kids on that show.
Les Lye 1924-2009
Anyway, it’s just a shame that Les Lye dies and no one (including myself admittedly) knows about it, at least here in the states. Also, in 2003, Lye and Luxton were honored with lifetime achievement awards from the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists, for their work onWilly & Floyd. Lye continued to work as an active member of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and was writing a book of his memoirs at the time of his death.
I saw a post somewhere about this that made me laugh, it said something to the effect of: I can no longer make a snarky comment about a cheese burger with out thinking that some how, some where, Les heard that.
