Bulletin

Arthur Augustyn

Hello! Welcome to Feather Rufflers. This website is completely operated by myself (Arthur Augustyn). I'm primarily the main contributor, but the real focus of this website is to just make a collection point of various work that I've made. However, there are other elements to Feather Rufflers that other people contriute to, including yourself the reader.

First off if you've just visited this site for the first time I suggest checking out our forums. You can find a few of our community members mingling about numerous topics. Most of our members were introduced to Feather Rufflers through our podcast. You can download episodes of our podcast every Saturday off our RSS feed. For more information on that check out the podcast page.

As I mentioned earlier, I am the primary contributor to this website but that doesn't mean that I don't get a little help from a few friends of mine. Starting as of this post (June 28th) I'm hoping to implement written content from a few friends of mine. The first of which you're likely to see soon is my friend from college, Martin Totland. He's a big movie buff and will be supplying the website with film reviews whenever he chooses to (No one is under written contract for this website). Anything written by him will be "bylined" as such.

In addition to Martin I'm going to attempt to pesuade some of my podcast hosts to publish any written content they've worked on for this website. My vision for Feather Rufflers is to provide a stream of opinionated people speaking their mind on various issues. I try to surrond myself with these type of people and I hope the ones who choose to write for this website will provide viewpoints you find interesting, even if you don't agree with them 100% of the time. So feel free to start reading and let me know what you think in the forums!

Another Earth Proves Too Smart For Its Own Good

 Arthur Augustyn - July 23rd 2011
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Before I say anything about Another Earth there's two essential pieces of information that must be stressed: First, Another Earth is not a science fiction film. It's been advertised as such and yeah there is a planet next to another planet but the film is a drama with very light Sci-Fi elements. Second, I'm not sure if I liked the film yet. Hopefully by the time I get to the conclusion paragraph I'll have made up my mind but when the credits rolled I had conflicting emotions. Another Earth is easily one of the better ideas for a movie in recent years but the film becomes a bit of a conceptual Frankenstein. It eventually outsmarts its creators and evolves into a new being that has no real definition or explanation. With all this in mind, it's likely that Another Earth will become one of the most divisive films this year.

Another Earth stars two main characters: an MIT graduate named Rhoda and a family man named John Burroughs. Early on in the film Rhoda attempts to drive home drunk and ends up crashing head-on into John Burroughs car, killing his pregnant wife and five year old son. Rhoda is sentenced to four years in jail and John goes into a coma. When Rhoda gets released she discovers John has awakened and attempts to contact him to apologize but upon discovering John has no idea who she is, she loses her nerve and instead pretends to be a cleaning service and gets hired by John as a maid. Occurring congruently with their first meeting, a blue star is discovered to be another planet that's drawing closer to the planet Earth. After four years of progression the planet is revealed to be an identical Earth with the same geography, same people and same cities. Our planet attempts to contact "Earth 2" to see if everything is exactly the same or anything varies at all. (read full review)


Captain America: The First Avenger Review

 Arthur Augustyn - July 22nd 2011
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If there's one thing that frustrates me more than anything else in Hollywood, it's the industry's ability to downgrade fantastical concepts to generic and mundane standards. Look no further than Fantastic Four or Catwoman for examples of this criminal offense against creative minds. Marvel Comics has had a particularly off-and-on track record with their film adaptations of various superheroes but for the most part The Avengers quartet has been meeting expectations. That is, until they released Captain America. I don't mean to mention The First Avenger within the same breath as atrocious films such as Daredevil because Captain America isn't a bad movie. It just happens to be the least conceptually interesting film of The Avengers origin stories with only a few key attributes saving it from absolute boredom.

Most of the problems in the film can be attributed to the source material and particularly the issue that Captain America is just a really boring superhero. The Avengers team has been described to me as "the cast of reject superheroes that can't survive in their own comic so they merged them all to make them relevant." In today's film saga, it seems insane to claim that Iron Man or Thor are "boring superheroes" but from the comic book fans I've spoken with that seems to be their reputation in the world of colored print. (read full review)


Deathly Hallows Part 2 Review

 Arthur Augustyn - July 15th 2011
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When taking into account all encompassing elements, Harry Potter is basically this generation's Star Wars. Muggles all over the world have dressed up with yellow and maroon scarfs brandishing wands and broomsticks as they identify their allegiance to Hogwarts with a lightning bolt scar on their forehead. J.K. Rowling struck gold with the first Harry Potter book and her success is finally concluding with the film interpretation of The Deathly Hallows Part 2. Although fans across the world are hailing the series' conclusion as the best film in the franchise, I can't help but feel cheated out of the enjoyment everyone else is having. I've never read the Harry Potter books because I assumed the films would work on their own. However, Death Hallows Part 2 makes it more evident than ever before that these films act more as an additional supplement to the books and not as standalone films.

Harry Potter's film saga has a reader versus viewer dissonance. The entirety of the film series focuses on big events that occur in the story. Climatic battles that occurs, villains being created or heroes dying, but there's no small talk. Only the most important events necessary make it into the final cut, and I can't say I blame the producers for this decision given they're adapting books that are literally over seven hundred pages long. However, without small talk there's no character development. People become friends through repeated encounters over a stretch of time, not through "act three's climax." The crux of these problems rear their ugly head in Death Hallows Part 2 as the film series has skipped over every little detail in the books, but still expects you to know that they occurred off screen. (read full review)


Martin Movie Review: Transformers 3

 Martin Totland - June 30th 2011
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Michael Bay is the King of Commercialism and he is pretty fucking good at maximizing profit. If his movie-making were to be judged by the criteria of profit alone then he'd be one of the best film makers of all time.

Michael Bay has made so much money that he could singlehandedly solve the humanitarian crisis in Darfur...probably.He does this by way of pandering shamelessly to our most hedonistic instincts. Explosions, wanton destruction, stereotyping beyond belief, robots, slow-mo firefights, beautiful women. It's his trademark style and regardless of what you (or I) may think of it, few people do it better than Mr. Bay.

Transformers Dark of The Moon follows the recipe to a fault. The movie opens with a slow-mo shot of the toned legs and derriere of a young, gorgeous woman lightly skipping up a staircase, dressed in only underwear and a shirt, to wake up our hero, Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf). No one can accuse Bay of subtlety.

Life has changed for young Witwicky; he is done with college, has a new girlfriend, has saved the world twice, received a medal from President Obama but still he finds himself without a job. Remaining are his crazy-ass parents and his relationship with the Autobots. Things are about to get explodey, however, because the evil Decepticons are planning a global takeover using more-than-nefarious methods. They even have a trick up their sleeve that no-one saw coming. It it up to Witwicky and the Autobots to save the day, the girl and the world. (read full review)


Midnight in Paris

 Arthur Augustyn - June 26th 2011
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For any generation living today, they've more than likely heard words of praise for a previous era contrasted against numerous complaints for today's. Hippies wish it was the 70s, grunge enthusiasts desire the 90s and your grandparents probably wouldn't mind reliving when Eisenhower was president. Envy for previous time periods is universal to every generation. The past is easily romanticized as the best relics are remembered while any dissatisfaction evanesces over time. Midnight in Paris dabbles in answering the question for why some people are infatuated with how everything could be but disappointed by how they actually are. Director Woody Allen is a man who typically guides his projects with heartfelt passion as opposed to careful planning. His latest film, Midnight in Paris, is no exception. The result is an intellectually engaging film that lacks thought out film work, which inevitably holds Midnight in Paris from achieving maximum potential.

Midnight in Paris is a tale of Gil Pender, a successful screenplay writer who desires to abandon his self-described "Hollywood hack" career in favor of becoming a novelist. These thoughts reach their peak during a vacation Gil takes to Paris, along with his fiancée Inez and her parents. Gil becomes obsessed with the city and desires to live in Paris for its persistent magnificence. He spends his downtime marveling in awe at the city's beauty in hopes that it will cure his writer's block. However, Inez is less than impressed by Paris and would prefer to return home to California as soon as possible. (read full review)


The Green Lantern

 Arthur Augustyn - June 20th 2011
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Amidst the bevy of comic book movies being released this year, it's easy for each fantastical tale to wear on audiences as they become more familiar with super hero clichés. We've been wowed by the CGI revolution's ability to manifest abstract ideas such as Spiderman, Batman and Superman but the mystique has subsided. As is true with most societal changes, some are quick to adapt while other linger on previous trends. The Dark Knight set precedence in developing believable characters as opposed to marveling viewers with inconceivable effects and the results speak for themselves. The Green Lantern, on the other hand, is a film that is stuck in limbo, transitioning from outlandish premises to tangible human themes.

Outlandish elements begin with the premise itself. Ryan Reynolds plays the role of Hal Jordan, a test pilot for the military who finds himself chosen to become a "Green Lantern." The job description of a Green Lantern can be condensed to "space cop," as they are tasked with defeating evil in both brightest day and blackest night. Green Lanterns draw strength from a ring that allows them to create whatever they can imagine. The potency of their creations depends of each user's willpower, but other than that there are no rules or restrictions as to what they can construct. (read full review)


Mapping The Buttons: Big Daddy Fights

 Arthur Augustyn - June 12th 2011

This is a video series that I've had rolling around in my head since I first started making videos. A series dedicated to pointing out specific examples of great game design. For the past few years I have had the time or the means to make a video of this kind. I lacked the proper equipment and knowledge of how to write for a video like this. Luckily thanks to some college schooling and increased experience in making these things, I think I've finally nailed how to make the video I've had in my head for so long.

So here's the first episode of Mapping the Buttons. A comprehensive look at video game design in a variety of perfect examples. I decided to start this off with a universally agreed upon piece of genius, Big Daddy Fights in Bioshock. In the future I hope to look into games such as Hitman: Blood Money, Oblivion, Alpha Protocol, Uplink and various others. Hope you guys enjoy!


X-Men: First Class

 Arthur Augustyn - June 6th 2011
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Since first inception of the X-Men series, the franchise has been abundant with modern day allegories to racism, protest rights and civil rights movement in the 1960s. Two forces on the same side are oppressed by a new type of segregation between mutants and non-mutants. Charles Xavier’s X-Men believe change comes with understanding and acceptance, while Magneto and his followers lay on the opposite side of the spectrum with an attitude that’s more “my way or the highway.” X-Men comic book storylines often dabbled in these themes but Hollywood adaptations have all but forgotten about the political undertones. That was true until the release of X-Men: First Class; An unordinary type of franchise reboot that follows the stories of Charles “Professor X” Xavier and Erik “Magneto” Lehnsherr in their younger years, depicting the events that formed them into the iconic characters that we’ve come to identify with today.

With a more focused endpoint established it’s not surprise that the core protagonists of First Class are easily the best part of the film. James McAvoy’s portrayal of Charles Xavier mimics the ideals and viewpoints that the character stands for. He’s reserved and soft-spoken, quick to defend his cause but rarely raises his voice and always keeps a mutual respect between both parties. On the opposite end, Michael Fassbender’s version of Erik Lehnsherr is much more destructive and off the rails than seen in previous renditions. His presence is intimidating and strikes an unwavering sense of discomfort over the unpredictable nature of his actions.(read more)


L.A. Noire Video Review

 Arthur Augustyn - May 26th 2011

I present to you my video review for L.A. Noire. I had some pretty polarizing opinions on this game. Part of it I loved, and the other parts I really hated. In this video I attempt to formulate all of my thoughts into a coherrent opinion and hopefully it gives you some insight on whether or not you'd like the game. I don't give scores to games generally since I believe my words should act as grading enough to give you an idea of if the game is any good or not. If you'd like to leave a comment of support or criticism, click the embeded video and do it through YouTube.

I originally tried to upload this video to FeatherRufflers with a built in video player, but it was too much hassle and not a lot of gain. Some of the problems included the fact that I render in WMV format which only windows movie player will play embeded so if you rely on VLC or own a mac then the video wouldn't work. For now I'll just use that channel. In the future I may attempt to switch all the videos over to a "Feather Rufflers" channel, since that's a way better name than "Golden Woozie" but we'll see how it goes. Enjoy!


Hanna

 Arthur Augustyn - April 11th 2011
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Audiences today have definitely gotten sick of the plot progression archetype that modern action movies have become victim to. It seems every main character is either a previously trained professional out on their own or a superhero capable of overcoming enormous odds stacked against them. This general depreciation of a once original concept may be why director Joe Wright’s latest film, Hanna, focuses more-so on visual aesthetics and establishing a unique style instead of improving genre clichés. Although words of appreciation can definitely be awarded to Wright for accomplishing a very different type of action movie, the overall product tries a little too hard to be special and the coherency of the film deteriorates as a result.

Joe Wright may be a familiar name to anyone who has seen his previous works Atonement or Pride and Prejudice. Since his career started, Wright has managed to pick up a few Oscar nominations and begin developing a distinct style to his films. They generally have notable soundtracks, long tracking shots and unconventional plot points. Hanna is no exception. Saoirse Ronan plays the titular role, Hanna. Roughly sixteen years old, Hanna has been living with his father (Eric Bana) in the forests of the Arctic Circle learning to become a killing machine. Trained in multiple martial arts, fluent in dozens of languages and capable of surviving the direst conditions, she’s basically a mini Jason Bourne. (read more)


Cultural Norms Affecting Game Design

 Arthur Augustyn - March 31st 2011
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On last week's podcast episode, my co-host Slade stumbled upon an interesting fact that shaped Crysis 2's development in a negative way. You can listen to the revelation yourself (it's around 16:45 timestamp). For those who don't want to listen to it themselves, Slade was complaining about the fact that many parts of the game include pieces of the environment that can't be interacted with. He cited the copious infected humans walking around that could not be shot or affected by the player's actions what so ever. Initially he believed that these restrictions were due to memory problems and lazy developers. As it turns out the reason why you can't interact with dead or dying bodies in Crysis 1 or 2? It's against the law.

For those out of the loop, Crytek is a German developer with home base operations working out of Frankfurt, Germany. In Germany they're big on censoring overly violent video games, movies and pretty much anything that can have violence in it. Every game with blood has it changed to green or removed entirely, swatiskas are routinely removed from World War II games and various other measures are taken to lower the level of violence in media. The only problem is that this German cultural norm caused Slade to dislike a huge aspect of the game, enough that it detracted from his experience.

Whether or not his complaint is reasonable could be debated since Crytek literally CANNOT develop the technology for rag doll physics without facing legal action, but this also isn't the first time a developer's culture hugely impacted a game's final version. I thought I'd use this as a jumping off point to delve into the various other games that have been affected by cultural influence. (read more)


Every Pill is Red: The Futility of Choice

 Arthur Augustyn - Originally posted on Destructoid
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In 1987, at the height of its popularity, the famous movie series Rambo got a video game adaptation. The game itself wasn't anything memorable, with the exception of a design choice made at the very beginning of the game. Upon being briefed on a possible mission, the player (Rambo) is given the option to accept the mission (yes) or decline it (no). Saying "yes" would continue the game as it was the desired result. However, if the player was a bit adventurous or perhaps overjoyed by the thought he could control whether the mission would exist or not, they could press "no." Unfortunately, saying "no" prompted this response from the Colonel.

At the time it was a funny gag that was continued in countless other titles afterward. It worked because back then games were limited in their ability, the idea of being able to choose anything was a fantasy that even games couldn't conceive. The good part about this story is that games are not longer limited to 8-bit graphics or memory limit sizes. Developers can create whatever their mind thinks of. The sad part is despite years of innovation no one has figured out the fundamental uniqueness that games have: the ability to do things differently.

"BUT WAIT, I PLAYED A _______ (BioWare, Bethesda, Obsidian, Irrational) VIDEO GAME! AND I CHOSE A BUNCH OF STUFF IN THAT!" is the likely response that should be generated right now. Yes games have had some sort of player-interaction ever since you could change your main character's name in Final Fantasy, but that's not what I'm talking about. When you pick an action in real life, it has its ramifications. Games have yet to really tap into what that means, and if you don't believe me I'll break down the biggest examples. (read more)


Cinematic is Anti-Game
Arthur Augustyn - Originally posted on Destructoid
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So the year of 2009 is almost over, and for a brief moment I thought about writing a “My Game of the Year” or “Top Games of 2009” editorial. I soon realized that everyone was sick of these damn lists and since I procrastinated so long to even write anything at all, it probably wouldn’t be the best idea to regurgitate what’s already been said. I mean I can’t even do something crazy and say Demon’s Souls is my game of the year, so I was out of luck.

However thinking about those editorials made me realize how distraught I was over which game I would even pick for the number one spot. The two games I was torn between were Uncharted 2, and Dragon Age: Origins. Now before anyone says “those games are terrible” or “dragon age? Wtf?” the point of this editorial isn’t really about the game themselves, but how I came down to my ultimate decision, and made me realize something very important about the videogame industry.

So the conflict arose when I made a list of why I like each game. To give you an example, I’ll write out a few bullets from one of the lists and you can try to tell me which game it is: (read more)






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