I really liked the first book due to all the nerdy references and the ending utilizing Monty Python’s Holy Grail. Even when his friend was revealed to be a black lesbian due because it was better to present herself as a white male I just rolled my eyes. The second book on the other hand was garbage. You get the whole women in gaming lecture, the real hero was a woman trope, lgbt stuff of course, and the aforementioned character whining about the lack of representation everywhere they go or whining about the fact that Prince (they visit an area of the Oasis with Prince playing concerts) became a Jehova’s Witness and condemned homosexuality. The book overall seems to use to Sword Art Online plot as well.
It’s like the author felt the need to apologize. Although the the woke crowd a white make nerd from the 80s is evil incarnate it seems
They got away with it the first time, why try your luck a second time?
Feels like while the first book got away with being niche, the film got away with not just nostalgia baiting and visual effects but also because everyone could imagine the main bad as EA when they were hated the most.
This feels like it'll flop as there isn't the same connection, most gamers have abandoned the big studios, most people are becoming VERY aware of SBI and companies like it and people really dislike the Mary Sue trope.
Yea I could see the first book as a love letter to the 70s/80s nerd culture since that is when the author grew up but that appeals to nerds like me even though I grew up in 80s/90s. Like you said that is a niche market. More and more I’m seeing it’s best to let things be niche. Like comic books. I hear they may adapt one of Sanderson’s book series. I can only imagine what they will do
But even the whole premise of the movie was pretty retarded once you looked at the actual story and past the flashy effects which were well done. The game itself was clearly some second life style rip off with micro-transactions and the whole beef with the evil corporate executive was he wanted to put more micro-transactions in as well as ads. The only difference was it was the corporation 'making money' off it rather than the players although realistically the original company was still making money off the micro-transactions generally through the currency much like modern day crypto games.
They even have a specific section in the movie where they show how the micro-transaction buying works and you could buy some RL stuff from the company as well.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wmOXTEszYA
I'm bitching but this movie did kind of aggravate me.
The fanfic written by the author of The Martian (and declared canon by the original author) gave a good reason for the villain, his sister became a neet and died due to her lifestyle, he's tring to tank it to force everyone off and save others from experiencing what he did
That's a way more compelling backstory than what got shoved into that movie lol.
I don't think you understand how desperate stupid money is to get a worthwhile investment. They'll dump millions into anything that has made any profit. Especially in today's Hollywood.
I was gonna say they did a bang up job on the SFX.