Difference in Opinion

In light of the new the upcoming Dark Knight movie hit theaters in the next few weeks, Difference in Opinion has decided to pay a tribute of sorts to Batman. In the weeks leading up to the release of The Dark Knight on July 18 we will have a variety of Batman features on the site. We plan to review every Batman film that has been released. By “every” we actually mean “every” live action Batman film. Adam West anyone?

In addition to reviewing all the previous films we plan to break down the differences between them all such as the various actors who have played Batman and compare and contrast the best of the best and the worst of the worst. Something I look forward to is a comparison to what each director has given to ‘the bat.’ Christopher Nolan has done some amazing things with the newer Batman movies but it is hard too look past the dark and twisted feel that Tim Burton had in his films. Joel Schumacher definitely brought his own style to the Batman movies (read: suckiness).

ChubbyHands will also be doing a retrospective of Batman with drawings depicting various versions of Batman from the stubby-eared classic costume to a dark and twisted interpretation. So sit back and enjoy the ride and be sure to voice your opinions on the franchise, the characters, the actors and anything Batman. The staff can’t wait for The Dark Knight to come out. You can bet that we will all be in line on opening night.

It is no secret that the site died out for a few weeks. Fortunately we weren’t just sitting on our rumps watching paint dry but were actually at a gaming event down in Melbourne, FL. Memorial Day weekend marked one of Tied the Leader’s annual events. I say “event” because we used to refer to them as LANs (and still do some), but to me they have grown well beyond that cage. Yes, there is LANing involved but that is just the shell of a nice M&M full of all kinds of chocolaty goodness.

I went down early and stayed late. It seems like I don’t get enough time off work so when I do take a break, I want to enjoy it to it’s full extent. The weekend was a nice blend of Halo 3, Rock Band, swimming in the pool, being on the beach, and raising money for charity. Very little sleep was involved, but it would only cut into the other things to do. Behind the gaming playing the TTL events have another purpuse. For the last 3 events we have donated all profits we have to our charity, the Tied the Leader Foundation. For the last 2 events, there have been auctions to help raise more money while providing attendees and those online with a chance to get great prizes. With each event comes a new milestone. The first donation we made was $500 which was our Florida event last year plus all the money we raised from merchandise and various donation. Chicago 2007 raised $500 by itself which was the most we had ever raised from a single event. Florida 2008 (just a few weeks ago) tripled Chicago raising $1500.

When all the pieces of the puzzle come together we have a gaming event that raises lots of money for combat-wounded was veterans. There seems to be no downside: gaming, friends, charity, vacation. It was well worth the extra time off work. I may be a bit biased since I am one of 7 founders of Tied the Leader, but I would offer anyone who attended and didn’t enjoy themselves a million dollars (of monopoly money) and a puzzled look.

There were around 40 people in attendance, all of the best caliber. Difference in Opinion had three of their staff there: myself, our news editor UtopiaUnknown, and our sketch artist ChubbyHands. Below is a nice little list of links to gaming sites and personal sites of some of those in attendance.

Tied the Leader Blog - Podtacular - I Am Stuicide - The Jackle’s Den - Living Vegan

Only one week into our new design, there is already a new addition to the site that will help balance out the abundance of words. Sean Jackson aka ChubbyHands will be doing sketches for Difference in Opinion. You can expect a new sketch every other week for now. As with everything on this site, they will deal with movies and games in some way.

Below are some character sketches ChubbyHands did for some of our staff members:

Bubblecake

Demag0gue

Phoenix Sam (formally Suicide Samuraiz)

UtopiaUnknown

We are all excited about ChubbyHands joining the staff and can’t wait to see all of the sketches he comes up with. To check out the latest sketch, stop by Sketchy Situations on our front page. You won’t be disappointed.

Feeling a little uneasy? It sort of feels like going to your grocery store only to realize they remodeled it while you were gone. It was hard enough to find spaghetti before, now you may as well bring your GPS. Unlike isles full of canned and boxed foods, the new design of Difference in Opinion is not only easier to navigate, but it offers so much more and with a much sleeker [dare I say sexier?] look.

Many aspects of the site stayed the same, just are nicely sorted and displayed for your viewing pleasure. We still have movie and game reviews and news. On the front page, the reviews can be found in their own little area on the right, with the most recent at the top. If you are looking to check out our archives you can still view the list as with the old site, in their category-style display, or even a Top 10 of both gaming and movies which will be updated each month. On top of adding a bit of a new twist to some old rusty digs, there is a totally new section of the site.

Staff Columns

Not only does the staff write reviews and news, edit, or do graphics, but most of them now have their own column on the site. There are a range of subjects and articles, but all relate to movies and games in some way. This is a great way for you to get to know the staff and what they love writing about. In addition to the columns, there is a page on the site devoted to various blogs and sites our staff maintain. You can visit those sites to get and even more person look at the staff, just don’t say we didn’t warn you.

There are many exciting things around the corner. We will always bring you the latest movie and game news and then take a deeper look at those same titles and review them for you. Stay tuned for a few more things being added to the site in the coming weeks.

GameTrailers has a trailer up for the upcoming Star Wars game, Force Unleashed. Have a watch and enjoy. The game is slated to hit shelves on April 8th and will be out for the Xbox 360, PS3, PS2 and the Nintendo DS.

Our friends over at 360 Style just celebrated their 20th podcast episode. Of course, they had to do it with style. On this episode Avid, Bimbo Barbie and Pupnasty had a chance to interview Jerry O’Flaherty the Director of Thundercats the Movie and previous Art Director for Gears of War. This is definitely worth a listen. Jerry seems like a really down-to-earth guy and talks about the developmental process for Gears of War and chats some about the upcoming Thundercats movie. Click here to drop by 360 Style and listen.

If you haven’t heard about Sock Puppet Gaming yet then you need to check your pulse. SPG is a blog that offers video podcasts with commentary about recent news in gaming. Here is an excerpt from their site.

Stu and Doon here. We’re sock puppets who love videogames, and this is our blog. We record an episode of the Sock Puppet Gaming Show each week, which you can see on this blog, on our YouTube Channel, or by subscribing via the iTunes Store. If you have any questions, feedback or suggestions, please send an email over to us at the clubhouse.

In their most recent episode (Episode 5) they even mentioned Difference in Opinion. Thanks for the shout out fellas! For your viewing pleasure, below is their most recent episode. To watch more, stop by Sock Puppet Gaming or look them up on iTunes, Vimeo or Youtube.