I've been very busy lately, not much time for gaming so there's not much to talk about.

Well, I saw someone playing a DSi on a bus today. Not too remarkable, except I've never seen anyone actually play a DSi before, let alone on public transport. Asides from the odd kid with the PSP or someone playing TapTap Revenge on their iPod Touch, I just never seem to see that many people playing portable systems on public transport. When I flipped open my DS to play Advance Wars on a long bus ride to Melbourne I recieved nothing but dirty looks. Oh, and 10 dollars from a guy who wanted me to switch seats with his girlfriend. Sweet!

I'm still playing a lot of Dual Strike. It's what I have to turn to when Devil Survivor starts to annoy me (which it does a lot). I've also returned to playing the original Spyro the Dragon, because I never actually completed it. 11 years since I got the game, I can now complete the flying stages easily so I should be able to get 100% completion. Once I beat Tree Tops, at least.

And that's about it. Exams start and finish next week so I should be able to write/play more when they're over.

There are a lot of games out there that we claim are shining examples of innovation. But what if these games aren't as innovative as they initially appear? In fact, what if they're just blatant rip-offs of an early, uncredited game. Those are the games I'm about to expose. Well, one of them. The rest are kind of just grasping at straws but they're still not as original as you might think!

Game: Guitar Hero (2005)

Claim to Fame: First game to let you "rock out" with a fake guitar controller, first mainstream music game.

Stole credit from: Guitar Freaks (199, Dance Dance Revolution (199

So what is the difference between Guitar Hero and Guitar Freaks? Well, about two buttons on the controller. Guitar Freaks just never really took off outside of Japan. Maybe it was the steady decline of the arcade, maybe it was the lack of songs that were actually English. Even though you might not have heard of the series, new versions of Guitar Freaks are still being released, with the game up to its 17th version (that's almost as many games as Guitar Hero).

The game could also be linked up with Drummania, a drumming simulator, so you could rock out as a full band (minus the singer) before Rock Band was even a thought (really, I checked the minds of Harmonix employees and everything). But of course, Guitar Hero was the first music game to break into the mainstream! While I can see why Western audiences didn't exactly get into Pop 'n' Music and Taiko Drum Master (which is shameful, really), there was one music game which I thought managed to connect with the West before the invention of Guitar Hero.

Dance Dance Revolution was, pardon the pun, a revolution. Sure, watching someone beat Through the Fire and the Flames is pretty impressive, but five years ago those same crowds would be drawn to the crazy Japanese kid moving his feet at blinding speed to some song no-one could understand the lyrics to (not that I can understand Dragonforce lyrics). Think about it - people wanted to use DDR in physical education lessons. And nothing says mainstream like sport. You don't see any music lessons using Guitar Hero as a teaching tool, do you?

Game: Shenmue (1999)

Claim to fame (well, infamy): Invention of "Quick-Time-Events"

Stole credit from: Dragon's Lair (1983), E.T. (1982)

Ugh, the QTE. We're all hate them, but you shouldn't hate Shenmue for creating them (but it's alright to hate Shenmue if you think its boring). Direct all your anger towards Dragon's Lair, the 1983 laser-disk arcade game. Asides from graphics that were really ahead of the time, it also had what are generally considered to be the first quick-time events. But I don't follow that school of thought. I believe that the first game to feature QTEs was something even earlier.

Ah, E.T. for the Atari 2600. We all hate it, except me. I still can't forgive it for having what I think is the first quick-time event, though. As I mentioned when I actually played it, the icon at the top of the screen changes depending on where you are. If you press the red button on the controller when it pops up, a variety of things will happen. I'll leave it up to you to decide, but personally I think that E.T. should be to blame for the invention of the QTE. Is there nothing that game can't be blamed for?

Game: Nintendogs (2005)

Claim to Fame: Starting virtual pet craze

Stole Credit From: Tamagotchi (1996)

Screw you, Nintendogs! You ain't got nothing on my Tamagotchi duck!

I had something completely different to post, but half of that particular blog was left out for some reason, so here's a random movie review instead! It's a little on the short side and for a film you may not have seen but that won't stop me.

Set in a war-torn country, a young girl finds an escape from the harsh reality of life when she stumbles into a magical world and comes across a faun and other magical creatures. No, this isn't The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe. Guillermo del Toro's film couldn't be further from the saturated, Disney fairytales we've become accustomed to over the years. Pan's Labyrinth is a fairytale in the truest sense – a dark, often disturbing story that treads the fine line between fantasy and reality.

10-year old Ofelia (played magnificently by Ivana Baquero) moves with her pregnant mother (Ariadna Gil) to a post where her new stepfather, Captain Vidal (a distinctly evil Sergi López i Ayats) is fighting against Spanish Maquis guerillas. Fascinated by fairytales and the titular labyrinth, Ofelia encounters a faun (played by Doug Johns) who tells her that she is the princess of a magical world, and if she wants to return to this world she has to first complete several tasks.

This setting of civil war is interesting in that it complements the creepy nature of the fantasy settings. The woods surrounding Ofelia's new home are filled with the guerilla fighters, a fearsome force which contrasts the often frightening creatures which Ofelia discovers along her quest. It also gives the characters some interesting motives and personalities. Every character is fleshed out, such as the housekeeper, Mercedes (played by Maribel Verdú), who has her fair share of secrets. No character has too much screen time, and all of them are interesting with well-written dialogue.

Captain Vidal is a rare kind of movie villain – one who commits numerous unforgivable atrocities but still retains a basic touch of humanity, so he never appears to be a mere caricature. His violent actions are undeniably some of the most impactful parts of the film, and as gruesome as they are to watch, serve as a brutal demonstration of the power he abuses, and draws the audience's attention.

Despite the interesting characters and overall storyline, there are some parts of the plot which appear to be underdeveloped. The alternate universe is seemingly intended to be an escape from reality for Ofelia, yet nothing particularly terrible happens to her for her to want to escape, at least not until later in the movie. Yes, the Captain is violent and bloodthirsty, but she is never actually exposed to any of this violence.

The film is reasonably lengthy at almost two hours running time, but del Toro manages to keep the audience's attention throughout its entirety. Part of this is due to the grim, yet mystical world he has created in this film. Unlike a lot of modern films, CGI is used sparingly. Instead the focus is on the elaborate make-up and costumes used to create some of the more unique characters in the movie.

Just as the characters in the film are led to believe that the world Ofelia discovers is all in her imagination, it is up to the audience to decide on whether the alternate reality presented to her is real or not. The film ends on a somewhat ambiguous note, leaving it up to the watcher to determine what really happened. This may be off-putting to some, but it gives the film a greater air of mystery.

Overall, Pan's Labyrinth is a dark, yet immensely appealing film, which despite some unexplained plot details, presents a rich world with interesting, well-developed characters.

4 and a half stars (or 9.0 if you want to do things that way)