I’ve run some rants about 3D, the last one last month after seeing another disappointing 3D flick, and it seems Wallstreet is also starting to realize the whole 3D is just a big scam with no added value.

CartoonBrew has a nice article discussing the plunge of 3D maker RealD’s stock when they presented financial results which were below expectations.

Death to 3D I say, and bring us back good movies who don’t need a gimmick to be sold.

The 3D hype has been going on for over 1,5 year now ever since Avatar broke box office records and pretty much made the whole 3D thing mass accepted.

I saw Avatar in 3D to see what the hype around 3D was and I must admit it was intriguing to see the 3D effect for the first time. The first 30 minutes or so the 3D effect was very noticeable and it was a nice touch. Not something I’d miss if it weren’t there, but a nice to see thing for one time. After 30 minutes or so into the movie the effect of 3D started to fade and it felt like watching a 2D movie.

I said ‘for one time’ with a reason because 3D is not something I have to see numerous times. I’ve paid to see it once just to see what the fuzz was all about and now that I’ve seen it I don’t find it’s worth paying extra for.

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Dan Ariely and Donald Sutherland are two psychologist who’ve each written famous books about irrationality and how we humans are anything but rational beings.

Once you know the psychological games being played behind the scenes, you start to understand some of the irrational behaviour humans display.

With that in mind, there’s still no person on the planet who can explain to me why anyone would want to make a live action version of Nickelodeon’s The Fairly Oddparents. Especially not after seeing the horrendous trailer below.

EPIC fail!

Anime News Network and Animated Views are reporting that a new Voltron cartoon will premiere June 16th on Nicktoons.

The new series will pick up right after the ending of events in the original lion force Voltron series from the 80s.

Nicktoons has a streaming clip of the trailer but those idiots have disabled it for viewers outside of the US, bunch of fucking idiots. I hate these kinds of fucking entertainment companies who prevent consumers from viewing their stuff, especially consumers who actually want to buy from them. Well, fuck you Nicktoons!

Thanks to the blessings of the Internet, the trailer is also available on Youtube:

After seeing the trailer I’m a bit shocked in regards to the animation, it looks very amateurish. Nevertheless, the good news is that a new Voltron cartoon is coming soon.

In the last year and a half I’ve complained quite often about my Sony Vaio laptop because it seriously underperforms, especially taking its high-end specifications into account.

But yesterday was the last straw.

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As companies like Apple have proven, design matters. Now more than ever and design doesn’t only apply to products itself but also everything else around it, like internal processes at the companies that make the products or the user experience.

But on a direct level the design is immediately visible in the product itself and the package it comes in.

And I ask myself why do some companies take the risk to package their product in butt ugly boxes?

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I’m one of the few consumers who actually wants to buy his music, dvd and software and have a legal version.

But companies really make it hard to buy their products legally and I can fully understand that people resort to illegal downloads because I’m sometimes also driven to that even though I want to buy it legally. Stupid retail stores don’t help either.

Today I went shopping for some music software and actually went to a store to buy a legal version. And guess what happened.

The stupid store didn’t have the damn software in stock! They only had one copy left but that was reserved for someone else.

Here I am, a consumer with the intention to buy something from your friggin’  store and you don’t have the damn thing in stock! Having products in stock so that consumers can immediately purchase and take their new purchase home is one of the few advantages brick and mortar stores have over online stores.

But this store even managed to fuck up one of the few advantages a physical retail store can have. And it made me wonder, do some companies even want to make money? I mean, if you want to sell it’s not that hard to imagine that you actually need to have stuff in tock to sell.

Because I really wanted and needed the software I eventually bought it online. Guess my money didn’t go to that retail store. Online stores are not a threat to brick and mortar stores but incompetent employees and organizations are.

End of rant.

Milking Out At Its Best

Hollywoodreporter posted some news about all 6 Star Wars movies being redone in 3D and to be released in theaters in 2012 starting with The Phantom Menace.

I first all am already sick and tired of the 3D hype. Has Hollywood forgotten the main reason people go out to see a movie is because of the content of the movie and not for a gimmick?

Any movie shown in 3D is another reason for me not to waste my money on a ticket. I’ve already seen the 3D thing and it’s not something I have to continue seeing.

Secondly, how often can George Lucas milk out his Star Wars saga?

Blu-ray versions are already in the make. And no doubt the saga will also be re-re-released on DVD as 3D. You’d think at a certain point he’d have enough money.

Danzig Fanbox Not For Fans

When Danzig’s new album Deth Red Sabaoth was announced I was looking forward to it and when I heard there would also be a limited box edition I definitely had to get that one.

 

The limited box edition was advertised as an porcelain-like urn containing some goodies including a 7″ LP and a signed poster by the Evil man himself. The box would only be limited to 666 copies.

 

The album was released but the limited box version would be released later due to delivery issues, but very few sites sold it. After some searching I found a reputable site that actually had the LE box for pre-order and without hesitation I immediately pre-ordered it.

 

Then the release date came and my box was shipped. But when it came I was quite surprised and not in a good way.

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