Tag: z’s
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Dragon Ball Z’s best game series is making a comeback
If you think there aren’t enough Dragon Ball games in the world, good news, as Bandai Namco just revealed a new Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi game.
It’s been years since we’ve last had an entry in this particular line of Dragon Ball games, but yesterday, Bandai Namco teased that a new Budokai Tenkaichi game is in the works. If you have taste, you obviously know these are some of the best games based on the classic manga around, but there hasn’t been a new entry since 2011. While the teaser, which you can check out below, is quite short, and doesn’t explicitly state if it will be Budokai Tenkaichi 4 or something else, it will give you a good dose of nostalgia.
The trailer shows all of the original games playing on an old chunky CRT, and damn, if seeing that didn’t bring back some lovely childhood memories of mine. Obviously you can see that Super Saiyan Blue (I’m not writing the whole thing out) will be featured, showing Goku specifically transforming into his souped-up state. Transforming was easily one of the best features, so even if the teaser is quite short it’s nice to see them return in such a bombastic way.
Flip phones and digital cameras: Gen Z’s need for retro gadgets is much wiser than you realize
Newzoo: Gen Z’s gaming habits foreshadow the metaverse
Gen Z’s New Fascination With Flip Phones
Why this fascination? Several reasons. Flip phones are far less expensive than any smart phone, easier to operate as they have few, if any, software included, there isn’t the incessant need to see who messaged you or who said what and, perhaps just as important, privacy. For a generation which grew up on being tracked wherever they go via their phone, a flip phone’s simplicity allows them the freedom to simply enjoy their life.
HMD Global (the company which owns Nokia) said many people like the idea being less available. “We attribute this shift to many smartphone users beginning to recognize they are spending too much time glued to their devices and having a strong desire to disconnect and ‘be fully present’ to improve their quality of social connections,” Kates said.
CNN spoke to one influencer pushing flip phones — Sammy Palazzolo, an 18-year-old freshman at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign:
Palazzolo’s TikTok encouraging others to purchase flip phones has more than 14 million views and over 3 million likes, with hashtags that include #BRINGBACKFLIPPHONES and #y2kaesthetic. [The video says that instead of apps, the phones will only have the phone numbers of their other friends.] “It eliminates all the bad things about college and brings all of the good things about a phone,” Palazzolo said. “Which is connecting with people and taking photos and videos….”
Palozzolo wanted to use a flip phone during one high school summer because she thought it would be “cool.”
“My parents said absolutely not, we need to be able to track you,” she said.
“I love the photos on the flip phones because they are grainy and blurry,” Palazzolo tells CNN. “And I think that captures the vibe of going out in college perfectly….”
And one 18-year-old told CNN what they think is missing from the flip phone era. “People were more involved in each other than our phones and social media. It seemed like people just were talking to each other more and everything was more genuine and spontaneous.”
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
‘Missing’ review: a twisty whodunnit where Gen Z’s internet habits save the day
While Missing may be a mystery, it’s more importantly a masterclass in innovative, visual storytelling. The film is a standalone sequel to 2018’s Searching, and like its predecessor, Missing’s plot is entirely mediated through technology.
We see our protagonist June Allen, wonderfully played by Storm Reid, navigate her mother’s disappearance by watching her laptop screen for the majority of the film’s unfoldings. Every Google search, text message notification, or notes app to-do list is how Missing tells its story. It’s a wildly intimate visual rollercoaster.
What is Missing about?
Credit: Sony Pictures
June Allen is your typical Gen Z teen ready to party it up all week while her mother, Grace (Nia Long) goes on a vacation to Colombia with her new boyfriend Kevin (Ken Leung). But things quickly turn dark when Grace doesn’t return from her vacation, leaving June in the epicenter of a dangerous disappearance where she assumes the role of detective, using her laptop and overall tech-savvy skills to hack into emails, security camera footage, and even TaskRabbit to piece together her mother’s whereabouts.
While the film is riddled with one too many plot twists, its big reveal speaks to a more pressing aspect of our news cycle and its vilification of people of color. This makes Missing an important watch beyond the simple merit of a fun, action flick.
The charm of Missing is initially in its editing, but the plot twists become tedious.
Credit: Sony Pictures
Missing’s editing and choice in telling its story through June’s MacBook is the real fun of the film. It allows the audience to get to know her in a really intimate and innovative way. Yes, we get to know June through her dialogue with other characters throughout Missing, but we also get extremely detailed tidbits on her laptop — like a to-do list that solely consists of “do financial aid thingy” — that are sweet but subtle nods to what a Gen Z teen is actually like. You can tell a lot about a person by how many Google tabs they have open or how messy their desktop is, and Missing acknowledges that fact and invites you into June’s world.
The editing also leaves room for some incredible montages. In the film’s first act, June throws a massive house party that’s mediated through smooth transitions from Snapchat filters, to Instagram stories, to fire emojis morphing into her home’s fireplace. And when the film’s mystery kickstarts, the editing and sound design catapults its suspense to a whole new level as we see (and hear) June frantically typing and clicking different links to get a single clue as to where her mom is. It all perfectly situates you in her position and realistically follows what anyone one of us would do in the face of dangerous uncertainty: Google what the hell you’re supposed to do.
But Missing slows down in its second act. The ceaseless plot twists, coupled with the lack of seeing June actually move around, kills the suspense. There are only so many FaceTimes you can watch before wanting to actually see your protagonist in action — a feeling that’s most potent in the final act when we’re exclusively watching almost everything through a security camera, as opposed to getting up close to June in her final fight.
Missing acknowledges where we’re at with true crime and why it’s a problem.
Credit: Sony Pictures
Missing‘s incredible editing also comes through in its concluding moments, when we see June’s final fight transition to a true crime Netflix special made about her story. June questions why anyone would want to see this “garbage.” And the sensationalization of her story was an incredibly smart tidbit on behalf of Missing’s creators; it speaks to a moment in entertainment where true crime remains an audience hot topic with no clear ethical boundaries. We’ve seen it play out this year with Netflix’s Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, where the real-life families involved with the case spoke against the show for rehashing old wounds. And Missing’s focus on the internet driving a true crime thirst that overshadows what’s actually at play is a smart decision that saves its lackluster final act.
Throughout the film, we also see June’s close friend Veena (Megan Suri) regularly reference different true crime shows in an attempt to help June with figuring out what to do next — it’s an extra dimension to the film’s reflection of Gen Z culture, while simultaneously addressing the same audience hunger that drives true crime entertainment in the first place. Couple that with the flood of viral TikToks in the film about Grace’s disappearance, and Missing is, at its core, commentary on how true crime can eclipse real-life scenarios and bolster an environment where nothing is really at stake if it reads like a fun, true crime doc.
Missing may drag on but its decision to speak on cultural issues, including true crime, racism, and the internet gives its twisty plot real substance. If you power through its hefty second act, there’s great reward in its finale and some fun along the way.
Missing releases in theaters on Jan. 20.