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Sunday 29 April 2012

Video: Hysteria in Equestria (PMV) - Teaser

Oh dear.





Until next time.

PMV Switcheroo

I've decided to do the Hysteria PMV first. Why? Because I have more ideas for that then Everybody Hurts.

Until next time.

Saturday 28 April 2012

Video - Gears of War 3: The Road to Seriously 3.0 (Apr. 28th 2012)

Have an Seriously 3.0 update video!





Until next time.

Monday 23 April 2012

Next PMV - Everypony Hurts

Yeah, I'm doing "Everybody Hurts" by REM :)

Thanks for your suggestions (mainly on Twitter), but I got some really good ideas, so I'm gonna put them into practice.

Hysteria will come after. As for "The Day The Whole World Went Away", that will be put in my logs. We may see it in the future, but I doubt it.

Look out for the "Everypony Hurts" PMV in May/June :)

Until next time.

Sunday 22 April 2012

Next PMV - What should it be?

Alright, so I have 3 ideas for a new PMV, but I can't decide which one to choose, so I'm gonna make you choose for me! :p

The three ideas I have are:

1. REM - Everybody Hurts - This PMV will focus on the hardships that the Mane 6 have faced throughout the series, as well as focusing on their resolve and ability to conquer any challenge. Also, it will be sad.
2. Nine Inch Nails - The Day the Whole World Went Away - This PMV will focus on the season 2 finale. More specifically, it will focus on Twilight, and how her whole world "went away" as plans for her brother's wedding were set into motion.
3. Muse - Hysteria - Crazy ponies! This PMV will focus on the mental breakdowns seen throughout the series, as well as more of the "crazier" moments.

Choose which one you want to see by commenting on this post, or by contacting me on YouTube or Twitter. Otherwise, I'll probably just choose one at random, or something.

Until next time.

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Season 2 Review (Part 2)


In this part, I’ll cover my top 10 episodes of the season, as well as give my overall evaluation of the season. So, let’s get started, shall we?

TOP 10 EPISODES
(Note: Two parters will count as one episode in this list.)

10. May the Best Pet Win! – Not many bronies will put this in their top 10 list, but for me, this episode had a certain… charm to it. It may be because of the “Find a Pet” song (which is my second favourite song of the season), or that the morale was essentially, “never give up”, but the fact was, I quite liked this episode. Many people will probably disagree with this, and for good reason, but I feel this episode was worthy of going on my top 10 list.

There’s something funny in this picture somewhere…

9. The Return of Harmony – This two part episode kicked off the season by introducing a new villain (Discord, the spirit of chaos, and voiced by John De Lancie, who also played Q in Star Trek), and the return of a major plot point, the “Elements of Harmony”. The episode tested the mane 6’s resolve, as they were put through Discord’s trials, and eventually put against each other, with Twilight being the only one to save them. It made for some compelling viewing, and, although Discord was eventually put back in his stone prison, I do hope we see more of him soon (Lancie is returning for Season 3, so who knows?)

Dash looks pissed.

8. A Friend in Deed – “Come on everypony, smile, smile, smile!” As I mentioned in part 1 of this review, after hearing that song for the first time, I was grinning like an idiot for the rest of the episode. The song is so happy and cheerful that you really cannot hate it. On top of that, we also got a really good episode, with lots of Pinkie Pie humour, and plenty of character development, especially with the new character in the episode, Cranky. The morale of the episode may have been a little off-putting, but it didn’t hamper an otherwise excellent episode.

                                                  How could you possibly say no?

7. The Last Roundup – Let’s get the obvious out of the way first: Derpy. Yes, I was squeeing like mad when Derpy was referenced by name, and I squeed even harder when she started speaking. It was one of the highest points of the brony community, and for good reason. Of course, we also had a great episode, with Applejack taking centre stage, but there was more Pinkie Pie humour to go around, and quite possibly the greatest pop culture reference in the entire season. All in all, a fun and enjoyable episode (even if it was tainted by events that occurred after its initial airing).

One does not simply break a Pinkie Promise.

6. Luna Eclipsed – The Princess of the Night returns! A lot of bronies rejoiced when they found out that Princess Luna, a fan favourite, would get her own episode, and the episode certainly lived up to a lot of people’s expectations, with plenty of character development, humour, and a good story to boot. Also, a lot of memes spawned from this episode, LIKE THIS ONE. FEAR THE POWER OF MY CAPS LOCK! SORRY, MY ROYAL CANTERLOT VOICE!

Luna sees you… and is satisfied. Please continue.

5. It’s About Time – Crazy Twilight is best Twilight. Also, time travel. In this episode, Twilight receives an incomplete message from her future self (who was looking worse for wear), warning of a future event, which leaves present Twilight sick with worry. This episode proved that the show wasn’t just for little girls, with concepts that were just utterly crazy, but also made sense. And who doesn’t love Twilight losing control of herself?

This doesn’t seem scientifically possible…

4. Hurricane Fluttershy – There was one thing that stood out for me in the first season: Fluttershy episodes seemed to be the best episodes. Season 2 is no different. This episode, while a Fluttershy episode at its core, mainly focused on the relationship between her and Rainbow Dash, and how Dash realises that Fluttershy had a troubled past, and encourages her to face her fears. This was a strong, emotional episode, and one that the writers should be applauded for.

I admit, I cried a little here.

3. Lesson Zero – Now I know the writers had fun with this one. Twilight having a complete mental breakdown? Check. Fluttershy kicking the crap out of a fully-grown bear, then snapping its neck? Check. Sonic Rainnukes? Check. Twilight coming extremely close to being viewed as a paedophile? Oh god, check. So yeah, you can see I enjoyed this episode immensely.

Probably the scariest scene of the season.

2. Putting Your Hoof Down – It’s one thing to see Twilight go into crazy mode, but Fluttershy turning into all-out bitch is quite another. Yet, we got that in this episode. The episode focused on Fluttershy getting assertiveness training from a new character, a Minotaur named “Iron Will”. This assertiveness training works a little too well, with Fluttershy becoming the polar opposite of her former self. Great animation and superb voice acting (especially from Andrea Libman, who portrayed Fluttershy’s assertive side very well) made the episode, but just seeing Fluttershy lay the smack down on everyone made this episode a classic for me.

Epic standoff between Andrea Libman and Andrea Libman, right here.

1. A Canterlot Wedding – It’s not usual for me to put the season finale as my immediate number 1 episode, so I’ll just give you the list for why this is an exception: Lots of really good songs, an epic storyline, exceptional animation and voice acting, the return of Vinyl Scratch (as well as revealing her eye colour), a great new villain, and an epic fight scene. There are many more reasons, but those reasons alone make this two-parter my favourite episodes of the season and perhaps my favourite episodes of the entire show so far. It is now clear why the Hub spent so much promoting these episodes: they were just so awesome.

This show is for little girls? I highly doubt that.

OVERALL EVALUATION
At the beginning of the first part of my review, I stated that my main question was: Did Season 2 keep the charm that made Season 1 such a success? My answer to that question is a resounding yes.

Even with Faust gone, the producers knew what their winning formula was, and kept to it this season, while expanding on those ideas and taking some risks in trying to appeal to both its targeted demographic, as well as its unexpected demographic. I felt that those risks paid off, and we were left with a collection of episodes that will be remembered by many people, even long after the brony community has died out (it will happen, don’t deny it). Of course, there were a few things that weren’t as good as others, but nothing’s perfect, and I’m sure the MLP: FiM staff will get around to fixing those mistakes by the time Season 3 airs.

So thank you Hasbro, thank you DHX Media, and thank you Hub for providing us with a highly entertaining Season 2, and I can officially say that this brony cannot wait to see what’s in store for Season 3.

So long... for now.

Until next time.

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Season 2 Review (Part 1)


Not often does a cartoon attract so much attention. It’s even rarer to find that all the attention is coming from a demographic that the cartoon isn’t even aiming for. Yet, Hasbro/The Hub/DHX Media had managed to do exactly that, with the newest iteration of the “My Little Pony” franchise, entitled “Friendship is Magic”. The people outside the target demographic, teenagers to young adults, warmed up to the show and now, the “brony” community is one of the largest on the internet.


Season 1 was what sold the bronies. With good storylines, excellent animation and exceptional voice acting, it was easy to see why this unusual audience liked the show. Now, with the show’s second season (and the first without the show’s creator, Lauren Faust, at the helm) coming to an end, the main question is this: Did Season 2 keep the charm that made Season 1 such a success?


THE GOOD


Animation – The quality animation that we saw in the first season has remained. In fact, it’s even better than before. During the downtime between the two seasons, it seemed like the animators learned a lot of tricks. One particular trick that I really liked was in the episode “Putting Your Hoof Down”, where in one scene, the camera pans across in an almost 3-D like way, while the depth of field effect really brought the mood into the scene. The general animation in both parts of “A Canterlot Wedding” were also a high point for me. The animators should be praised for their work this season, and I’m looking forward to what tricks they have for Season 3.




Fluttershy is disappointed that the season’s over just as much as you are.


Voice Acting – All the voice actors from Season 1 return for Season 2, and, once again, they do a spectacular job. The characters feel alive, and each character feels unique (sometimes, a little too unique…)


Just sayin’.


The singing actors also deserve a mention as well, especially Rebecca Shoichet (singing actor for Twilight Sparkle), who did an amazing job in the season finale, and Shannon Chan-Kent (singing actor for Pinkie Pie), who sung my favourite song this season (Smile). All in all, I was really impressed with the voice acting this season, and I hope all the actors return for Season 3.


Pinkie is also impressed by the voice acting.


Songs – When we heard the first song of the season, “Find a Pet” in May the Best Pet Win, we knew this season was going to be special in terms of song writing. “Becoming Popular” in Sweet and Elite just cemented those feelings. Lots of bronies were content… then “Smile, Smile, Smile” happened. I admit, after hearing that song for the first time, I just had a huge grin on my face for the rest of the episode, and, once it was posted on YouTube, it went straight to the “Featured Video” spot on my channel. Hell, it was the first MLP song I put on my iPod! And then you had the goldmine of songs in “A Canterlot Wedding”, to top it all off. William Anderson and Daniel Ingram did a fantastic job this season, and I cannot wait to see what they have in store for Season 3.



Feeling down? Just smile!

Pop Culture References – The amount of pop culture references thrown in this season was just astounding. From the Star Wars ending in “The Return of Harmony” and the I Love Lucy scene in “The Last Roundup”, to the parody James Bond intro in “MMMystery on the Friendship Express”, the writers just kept giving gifts to all the bronies watching the show (hell, there was a Trainspotting reference in one of the episodes!). More for Season 3? Yes please!


You really think little girls will know where this comes from?


THE BAD


Writing – While most of the storylines were very well done, a few episodes didn’t really live up to my expectations. One example that I can think of is “The Mysterious Mare Do Well”. The episode was a chance to develop Rainbow Dash’s character. Instead, what we got was a rushed plot, no character development, and a very predictable ending. That episode disappointed me greatly, but upon further research, I found that this episode was penned by a new writer, so I wasn’t too fussed (besides, the exact same writer did write one of my favourite episodes of the season. More on that later). Other episodes that I thought weren’t that great in terms of writing were “The Cutie Pox”, “Baby Cakes”, and “Hearts and Hooves Day” (although I did still enjoy watching them).


These ponies are not impressed.


THE UGLY


The “Derpy” fiasco – I’m sure you saw this coming. For people out of the loop, in the episode “The Last Roundup”, the background character, named by fans as “Derpy Hooves” (due to an animation error which gave her a wall-eyed appearance), was called by said fan name (thus making it canon), and was given a voice role in the episode. While many bronies rejoiced, as this was a major sign of Hasbro and the Hub taking notice of the brony community, a few people found Derpy’s appearance and voice to be offensive, and requested it to be changed. Shortly after the episode initially aired, the episode was pulled from iTunes, sparking fears that Derpy was set to be removed from the show, or, at the very least, altered. This led to many campaigns around the internet, all with one aim: “Save Derpy”. The episode was eventually re-uploaded to iTunes, but it did contain some edits. Most noticeably was that Derpy is now not called by name, and that Derpy had a new voice. The animation was also changed so that Derpy’s eyes were normal, but this seemed to be a one-off, as future episodes still kept the “derp” expression. The whole fiasco was labelled as a “very dark period” for the brony community, and many people feared that the bronies’ relationship with Hasbro was severed because of this, although this now doesn’t appear to be the case.


No Derpy, I don’t know what went wrong either.


Stay tuned for the second part of my review, where I list my favourite episodes of the season, as well as an overall evaluation.


Until next time.

Friday 20 April 2012

Umm...

They sent me something today... a photo. And... umm... yeah.




It's creepy as fuck.


Until next time.


(P.S. Keep an eye on my YouTube channel over the weekend.)

Thursday 19 April 2012

PLEASE. HELP US.

[INCOMING MESSAGE. PINPOINTING LOCATION...]
[LOCATION: EQUESTRIA]

Hello? Is this thing on?


Can anyone hear me? My name's Rarity, and we're in trouble. If you can hear us, then listen to my words. Please, help us. Our friend has gone completely mad. We fear for our lives. She has already hurt too many ponies today, and we can't seem to stop her.


We are broadcasting this message to you from an undisclosed location, far away from Ponyville. We are safe for now, but we are running on borrowed time. Pinkie Pie has opened 3 portals to your world so we can keep in contact with your kind. This is the first. The other two are located in different places on the thing your kind call the "internet":

We will try to send new information to your world whenever we can.

Your kind are our only hope in seeing the other side of this mess. Good luck.

May Celestia have mercy on our souls.

[MESSAGE ENDS]

Hmm... Have no idea what happened there, but it sounded important. Might want to keep an eye on my pages (why did they choose my pages as their portals anyway? Ever heard of privacy?), just in case they return.

Until next time.

Tuesday 17 April 2012

Plans for the next few months

Hello again.

I've thought about my plans for the next few months on YouTube. And here they are:

If you haven't seen it yet, check the Video Release Schedule for release dates concerning ongoing projects (I'll put it just underneath this post).

Next week, I'll get back onto Halo Reach and finish filming the Paradise video. Once that's done, on Saturday (28th), I'll post the monthly Seriously 3.0 update (this one is actually worthy of being called an update). Then, I'll finish putting together the Paradise HMV for an early May release (the date in the schedule is tentative).

For all you bronies, I have decided which song I'm going to use for my next PMV. However, I won't start on it until Paradise is done, so there probably won't be any news on it until early-mid May, when I start production. Also, you won't know what song it is until the full thing releases :p (All I can tell you is that this one will be a lot more darker than my previous PMV's. Be warned.)

Fails & LOL's Episode 2 is still happening, but I may switch from F1 2011 to another game, as I'm nearly done with F1, and it really isn't entertaining me as much now. So, you've got three choices for the episode:



  • I stick with F1 2011.
  • I show off some fails I had on Skyrim.
  • I mess around on Mass Effect 3 multiplayer.

The choice is yours. Let me know on here or on Twitter!

After Fails & LOL's, I'm gonna be taking a break. Even my creativity runs out after a while. Don't worry, I won't be gone for good, but the break I'm planning to have will be quite long (1 and a half months, from mid-June to the end of July). I'll be back making videos in August.

And there you have it. My schedule for the next few months! Keep an eye on Twitter for the latest updates.

Until next time.

Wednesday 11 April 2012

Monday 9 April 2012

Video: Charlie Brown/Cartoon Heart (PMV)

Nothing more needs to be said. Go watch.





Until next time.

Sunday 8 April 2012

Charlie Brown PMV - Release Date!

[UPLOAD COMPLETE]


It's coming today, peoples. It is now finished, and is currently rendering. After the rendering is done, I will get it onto YouTube ASAP.


The wait is nearly over. I do hope you enjoy this PMV (it was a blast making it).




Until next time.

Tuesday 3 April 2012

Video: Grand Theft Pony III - Intro

After seeing 2007excalibur2007's ponified intros for GTA: Vice City and GTA: San Andreas, I decided to round off the trilogy by ponifying the GTA3 intro. Enjoy!





Until next time.