With Assassin's Creed II, Ubisoft Montreal has taken any perceived failings from their original game and significantly improved them. They once again recreate a fully realized historic world and fill it with people about their business. Through all of that the player takes on the role of an assassin, to mingle, conduct espionage, and assassinate. In the process, one gets to play one of the best games of 2009.
In animation is the best place to realize the visions of graphic novel writers and artists. DC and WB have teamed up their veteran producers and brought back their voice actors to create a faithful adaptation of Jeph Loeb's Superman/Batman: Public Enemies. The movie distills the comic down to its essential, Batman and Superman against a host of villains and heroes. Along the way they also save the world. It creates a fun hour of entertainment with dialogue and visuals to match.
Batman: Arkham Asylum is a product of love and a steadfast dedication to the source and its spirit. This translates into a game that combines the best elements from the Batman mythos. Arkham Asylum is a compelling experience, with outstanding gameplay, and the possibility of realization for all Batman fans that they too can be the Batman of their dreams.
There is no doubt that Up is a good film. For that matter all of Pixar's films are good. They all feature great animation and a stock of interesting characters. The problem is that for all the progression that Pixar demonstrates, in its ability to engage with new themes and characters, it still sticks to its same formula. This makes for an entertaining film, but there is unrealized potential here that one aches to see brought to the fore.
"Common Code" was the last major project I worked on at LSA:DMC. Its scope encompassed a lot more than my minor portion, but the role I played was considerably more integral than during the LSA project. I pushed forward on a number of technologies, including AJAX, that helped push the LSA's websites in to Web 2.0 territory. In sum, I created a strong base for the "Common Code" sites to kick off from and over enhancements could be gracefully layered.
J.J. Abrams does a remarkable job bringing Roddenberry's vision of the future once again to life. He reboots a beloved franchise, handling with care and humor. His wisest decisions come through his casting choices. His Kirk and Spock become adversaries, move towards friendship, and develop a meaningful relationship. All of this as space explodes around them.
Over the last few years, the markup language of the web, a found of the Internet, has laid dormant. While the presentation layer, CSS, has gone through rapid development and implementation, the markup has been nary touched. This is all changing as two working groups, XHTML 2 and HTML 5, are pushing through a new framework for how the Internet will speak in the near future. Both come from different mindsets and each with their own goals and ideals. The unfortunate problem is that neither of them are working towards what is best both for the Internet and its users in the present and in the near future. The solution is simple, working together. The problem arises in changing their stances to focus on simplicity as well.
Rajeev Raghavan © 2002 - Today