Four Entertainment Stories About Video Games and Movies
In the era of digital gaming and the increasing number of new video games being released, there’s a lot of speculation about whether video game companies are becoming more profit-driven.
Downloadable content (DLC), which offers more game content at an extra cost, is one example. The trend of adding expansive DLCs in games, often at the expense of a lack of free content in the base game, has become noticeable.
The Sims, Diablo 4, and Call of Duty are some examples of games that have added a large amount of DLC. Yet, they have also faced criticism for various reasons, including the quality, quantity, and pricing of the content added.
“DLC releases make me mad because many cool items are locked behind level and money requirements,” junior Tyler Rundel said.
This can be especially frustrating for those who cannot afford extra paid content, as more game companies jump on the DLC and microtransaction bandwagons, prioritizing profit over player satisfaction.
When talking about the new Mean Girls remake which came out Jan. 12, many fans were worried that it might just be a cash grab. This, compiled with the recent writers’ strike and controversy surrounding other unpopular remakes, as well as the movie itself being marketed as a ‘musical,’ led to a bit of trepidation. However, some fans had high hopes, thanks to the appearance from much of the original cast and director.
“I feel like it’s going to be a good remake, it’s directed by the same director as the movie and the Broadway show,” junior Lily Brethauer said. “Having the original cast is going to be a little weird, maybe it’ll be a good homage to the original movie, but Amanda Seyfried is the only one who can actually sing.”
There’s a lot of reasons for a movie to get a remake, and although there’s almost a curse on remakes of old classics, the potential to do a great job is always there. This is seen in remakes like Scott Pilgrim, which went from comics, to an iconic movie, to a new show. Fans hoped that the new Mean Girls movie could bring the original, over dramatic, sensational drama back for the third iteration of the household classic.
Over the years Disney has changed a lot but not for the better. Disney used to be about entertaining and giving children a magical experience while watching the media they produced, although in the past few years a lot of people have walked away from Disney.
“My favorite was Frozen for the longest time, I watched it a lot when I was younger,” sophomore Madison Zangraft said. “I don’t really enjoy Disney as much anymore, they aren’t the same as they once were and I 100 percent prefer old Disney over the current one.”
Many of the concerns involved their decision making, such as the censoring of past Disney movies. For example, films previously containing cigarettes or cigars have been removed by Disney as well as a warning Disney has put on past Disney films that they claimed contained racist stereotypes. There has also been unnecessary recreation of some movies such as ‘The Little Mermaid.’ The main issue is the choices in general that they have made on certain topics. People have openly said that they are done with Disney.
Inside Out 2 is a sequel to the original Inside Out and will be released on June 14. Inside Out shows the emotions of Joy, Sadness, Anger, Fear and Disgust in Riley as she starts her new life in San Francisco. During the movie the emotions get split up along with core memories making it so Riley’s life metaphorically crumbles as Anger, Fear and Disgust can’t make happy core memories and her personality crumbles because Joy and Sadness need to make it back with her core memories.
Inside Out 2 shows Riley as a teen going through puberty, which after their old emotion table gets destroyed and replaced with a new one, they get introduced to the four new emotions which are Anxiety, Envy, Embarrassment and Ennui.
“I’m super excited to see it because Inside Out was one of my favorite movies of all time,” senior Sophia McClure said. “I’m hoping Inside Out 2 is able to be just as good if not better.”
Your donation will support the student journalists of Francis Howell North High School. Your contribution will allow us to purchase equipment and cover our annual website hosting costs.