This generation, we know what's the hot topic. Hardcore vs. Casual, aka World War III. I see people left and right, claiming to be hardcore and deserving special treatment or something, but today I come to talk about real hardcore. Real. Serious business. Real hardcore.

People have been trying to define hardcore, apparently they will sleep better at night if they manage to do it, but I have new words to suggest. You know, there are games which are just right. You can play through it with no super challenge, but no yawns either. Then, we have challenging games. A bit further we enter the unforgiving games category- so challenging, they will require all your attention and h4x skillz, but will instigate you to do your best. Next, we have frustrating games. The kind of game that makes you throw your controller around at Mach 3. And finally, we have downright bad games. This is the uttermost level of hardcoreness you will find, and Mega Man X6 fits the description wonderfully.

I have yet to fully realize the ordeal MMX6 was. Even more astonishing, is the fact I forced myself to beat that sin of a game 100% complete. I really, really don't know where to start. But let's start. The level design is an insult. It has a poor excuse to be random, and whatever you get, it's ridiculously insane. Hordes of maniacly scripted enemies, misplaced platforms (yes, you'll HAVE to kill yourself until they appear in a proper place), sadistic traps... The armors are jokes. Until you find the Shadow Armor (guess what, the last thing you can do) AND the proper add ons to make it worth it, you'll just want not to use one, because they actually DOWNGRADE Mega Man. Bosses are a bigger joke. I wish I could spend a whole paragraph for each boss, but I'll limit myself to special mentions: Blaze Heatnix, Infinity Mijinion, Shield Sheldon, High Max, Nightmare Zero, I'm going after your designers.

Seriously. There should be an eleventh commandment forbidding such games, specially Mega Man X6. Not because they're hard, not because they're bad. They destroy the gamer self esteem. It's just ridiculous. The very moment I stepped in the first stage, my jaw didn't drop, it flew away. I should have stopped playing and forgotten about it, but no. There was something evil in this game. I ignored the difficulty level. I ignored the frustration. I ignored the constant b!tchslapes and devilish laughs MMX6 meteorstomped at me. I just played the biggest joke of a game ever to insult my senses, until Capcom directed me a polite "Thank you for playing". I polished my skills until speed run and insane improvisation levels. I didn't care about challenge at all, I didn't care about fun anymore. I was just a cold, dead, indifferent gamer reacting flawlessly to everything on screen.

I was hardcore.

And I'm gonna give you the recipe so you can MAKE it too and EAT it. Seriously go for it.

First, little story. I had this room mate, well not exactly room mate since each of us three here has his own room, anyway he was mega crazy - the fun kind of crazy. Literary guy and stuff. So, he wrote this recipe down. That was like almost one year ago. Now he's somewhere bewteen French Guiana and Brazil (no kidding) and I find this recipe with all the crazy original puns he usually writes, funny stuff. And I make it - I know it's good, he had made this CAKE once long time ago.

Now, recipe. It's an APPLE CRUMBLE. You'll need:

- TONS OF APPLES

- SUGAR

- FLOUR

- BUTTER

- CINNAMON

OK, what happens now? First comes the part that tests your patience. You gotta peel and slice the apples, at least five juicy red shiny apples. The more juicy, redder and shinier, the easier it will be. Slice them in little cubes, not too little, though. Then mix them with as much sugar and cinnamon (powder, don't be fooled by the pic) you feel like.

Now, the part that tests your h4x skillz. So for the dough/paste whatever you call it, you gotta mix the flour, melted butter and sugar. Most recipes will say something like 100g of butter, 100g of sugar, 150g of flour, like the one my mate left, but this is FAIL. Seriously, you'll need almost the DOUBLE. You can add cinnamon to the mix if you feel like.

So, at some point it may get hard to mix so use your HANDS, way easier and way more fun. So, now, first put the apples in a prepared pan. Next with your bare hands you gotta pick the dough and apply it on the sliced sugar'd cinnamon'd apples, smashing it with your manly sheer raw brute force until it covers the whole surface. Seriously, apply strength here, so the apples underneath really become one single unit.

LAST, oven for 30 minutes (hope you pre-heated it first), or until the dough gets crunchy.

EAT.

For more readable recipe:

- 5-6 sliced apples
+ some sugar
+ some cinnamon

For the dough:

- 150-200g of melted butter
- 150-200g of sugar
- 250-300g of flour
+ some cinnamon

Cover the sliced apples with the dough and put it in the oven for 30mn. Done.

Gotta hate living in France. I had to wait until July 30th for WALL·E and August 13th for The Dark Knight... Oh well, at least we get the next James Bond earlier, October 31st. Anyway, I've finally managed to watch WALL·E and here I come to share impressions!

I haven't mentioned The Dark Knight and Quantum of Solace for no reason. 007 is there to make you jealous (unless you live in UK, France or Sweden) and relieve my anger for waiting so much for The Dark Knight. And The Dark Knight is the actual starting point of this blog post, so let's get moving and stop those fillers:

Very well. I recently read a pretty good article published in the Brazilian newspaper 'Jornal do Brasil' about this whole comics movies trend. You know, since the first Spider-Man, a new era began. An era in which comics licensed movies want to be taken seriously. After all, not only Spider-Man proved it was worth it (I'm talking revenues $$$), but it also inspired many producers and directors to create new movies living up to our beloved heroes' reputation. With those new standards, our demands increased, and we've learnt to expect maturity and depth whenever a new Marvel or DC movie is announced.

The point of the article is that just as we've learnt to expect quality from those movies, producers learnt to deliver as well. Everyone is used to the new established standards, and so no one dares taking a step further, as the first Spider-Man did. No one will ever contest The Dark Knight qualities - it may very well be the best this trend has delivered so far - but did it change anything? Along its fair share of "true cinema", The Dark Knight also features just as much, if not more, mindless entertainment. Even though the Joker character could have been the star of the darkest, grittiest and most psychological drama, it didn't prevent the producers from including everything a less demanding spectator would expect.

Will someday comics movies make a step further and explore the challenges of more cerebral, character driven movies? I don't know, so for now, I want to compare all I said to, that's right, WALL·E. Finally on topic!

The comics movies trend has probably been the most visible for some time now. I wonder what unlicensed movies besides the Pirates of the Caribbean ones enjoyed as much success ($$$). But there is another trend still going on, and for some reason it doesn't generate as much buzz. I mean the "mature animations" one.

I can't really tell when it started; I guess there wasn't a true starting point like Spider-Man was for the comics movies. It was more like a progression, but I recall the first time I felt like the trend was set was when The Incredibles released. Pretty much every review mentioned how The Incredibles was part of the new kind of animated movies which would please all ages by broaching themes that wouldn't really be perceived by the primary target audience, the kiddos, but would resonate with mommy and daddy.

Anyway, you know the big picture. It has been quite sometime animated movies aren't just for kids anymore. From more daring humour to deeper themes along the traditional colorful and vibrant presentation, now everyone has something to look forward in animated motion pictures. We know what to expect, producers know what to deliver. Perfect, ain't it?

Yup, you know what comes next: isn't it time for a step further? Maybe it is, maybe it isn't, but one thing is sure, it's never time for a hesitant, stumbling half-step. And WALL·E, no matter how much I love it - and I do love it a lot - has much from a hesitant half step. It shares a lot with The Dark Knight in which, in its genre, it exceeds expectations, announcing changes, but never actually achieving them.

I wonder if WALL·E was actually marketed, because I never heard of it until very soon before release. Maybe it's because I'm in France, and you saw how nasty cinema can be here, but still. Anyway, I eventually saw a WALL·E poster, which left me wondering quite a lot. I saw PIXAR written on it, and Disney too. But I didn't saw jumping colorful characters on it. The protagonist didn't seem ready for endless peripeties, but quite sad and unsatisfied, actually. All in that deep, space empty blue. Hey, that could very well be the animated movie I was waiting for, the "step further"! Now beware, it's raining spoilers.

WALL·E kicks off gorgeously and unfolds magnificently. It was easily the lite version of 2001: A Space Odyssey, an easy comparison given the lack of dialogues. The refined presentation and the nostalgic mood construction, the simple yet rich values representation, the subtle character development, the way live action and dialogue married the animation... everything was, yes I'm gonna say it, perfect. Dazzling. It was true cinema. Oh, don't think of it as an elitist expression. It means the folks at Pixar weren't committed to a target audience or their own fantasies, but to the art of cinema itself. They were focusing on achieving a stand alone work, committed to nothing but itself, that would eventually find its own fanbase.

Then, WALL·E and EVE kick off to space. I guess the change of scenery from the never ending trash city was kinda refreshing, but I raised an eyebrow nonetheless. When the AXIOM appeared in sight, I raised my second eyebrow, even though I should have expected it since the AXIOM was given quite some screen time at the beginning. If I had a third eyebrow, it would have jumped right off from my forehead when I saw actual humans, loads and loads of them, populating the aforementioned space ship.

That's when PIXAR's commitment ended, favouring the "rules" of the animated movies trend over "true cinema". WALL·E had to please all kind of audiences, just like its predecessors, and it had been time something was done for the kiddos. So you'll see robots of all funny kinds spreading mayhem in the AXIOM, some ubber stealth action through trash conduits, obese people ownage by amassing them in a corner and an epic final battle against a steering wheel. Quite a change from the poetic beginning! Oh, I didn't miss the quality moments, like WALL·E and EVE's space dance, the very intelligent references made throughout the action and the beautiful ending; but from the very moment WALL·E stepped into the ship, the movie ceased from being an accomplished work of art to be just the latest PIXAR animation. A heck of an animation, but the producers hesitated, stumbled, and the feasible step further was stopped halfway through.

Unfortunately, it wasn't this time. When the first dialogue lines in a movie are the most meaningful and charming...

WALL·E: "Wall·E."
EVE: "Eve."
WALL·E: "Eva."
EVE: "Wall·E."

...but ends with "pizza-plant", you gotta facepalm, in a sad way. With a smile, though, a very deserved smile.