alternatehistory.com

2007 in Review

In retrospect, many saw 2007 as foreshadowing for the events to come near the end of the 2000s. However, in the there and now, it was a cotninuation of optimism and hope for the future though underlined with a sense of urgency and duty toward the environment as raging fires and natural disasters brought people together to confront them against the crueler aspects of Mother Nature. A greater sense regarding gun violence had begun awakening in the nation with discussions beginning to rage in regards to such a thing. A notion that made more than a few conservatives nervous given how the case could end up in the Supreme Court. Virginia Tech's shooting and the others remained a haunting spectre and it became another focal point to rail against. While shooter games have no longer been blamed as such except by conservatives, there was a shift away from them or at least from realistic situations of them. The economy was also shifting a bit, with some worrying about a potential recession though it did not seem like there was anything really bad at first. The focus on investments into renewables had been a good deal of focus, especially with the fall of Exxon-Mobil. Cars have been focusing back on their diesels or rather more biodiesals while investments into biogas has been growing alongside with research into associated fuels. In fact, many were looking to see if there were varying byproducts that could be used as a form of synergy. At the same time, Gore has been it clear that it is a stop-gap and electric cars are still the to be researched and many noted that more work needed to be done to truly overhaul the system though the optimism remained. There were growing discussions over biofuel being a stop gap while mroe radicals noted just overhauling the system by having the government mobilizing the whole industry. Indeed, such was the topic in one of the events of the Live Earth. Of course, there were still troubles around the world regarding elections and politics, but bit by bit, there was still the hope the world was getting better. There was still faith and belief in the system, it just needed to be updated was all. Right?

Meanwhile across the world, the folks were wondering who the US will elect after Al Gore, especially with how he has defined the first years of the new millenium. The Kenyan general election took center stage in the last days of the year with massive rioting and controversey that appeared as a result. Beyond that, the various collaborations with a common goal such as dealing with climate change have been helping to heal the rift between the peoples of the world while also working more and more toward dealing with climate change. However, not all nations were working at the paces and some were causing trouble. Russian relations with the West continued to grow cooler and more aloof along with the divide between the USA and Saudi Arabia, especially with the latter's policies.

The film industry also began seeing some growing shifts and changes as well. One of the big news was how Spider-Man 3 would ultimately be cancelled after months of delay, contract disputes and staff quitting, showing how the production snowballed. One notable problem was the forced inclusion of Venom led to a crux of the new problems along with other writing issues. Ultimately, the film would remain incomplete and be considered another failure in some of Sony's rougher years. Additionally, the film industry showed off some more surprises. Riding off the success of their previous animated works, Disney decided something bolder with Wally's Secret Life, an adaptation of another Thurber's works, The Secret Life of Walter Milly. However, it was a looser adaptation, with the protagonist being a dreamy middle schooler named Walter Milly and the creative inspirations in his head from the mundane bits around his life. Unlike its more satrical origin, it's wholeheartedly celeberating the beauty of the dreamer within and encouraging them to unleash their imagination, as Wally is portrayed as a budding cartoonist. Perhaps more daringly was the usage of many different animation styles for the various fantasies going through Wally's head, all done vividly. Perhaps more notably is the final one regarding an examination of the future, done in CGI, which many have seen that Disney accepting CGI animation becoming part of the future. Ironically enough, the bit was done by Pixar, who found it interesting enough to work on it. Ratatouille still did very well, but lost barely over to Wally's Secret Life. Both films did better than Shrek III. A film who's development was delayed by the diffeing zeitgeist, it was a strange mix of focusing on Shrek's past and origins along with his future as he struggles with future fatherhood. At the same time, it still did very well as it continued to develop what happens after the "Happily ever After" and dealing with changing times as Fiona notes that perhaps Far, Far Away changing for the times as well. Additionally, the big animated picture to catch attention was The Simpsons Movie, due to the massive news associated with it. Namely that the film would serve as a series finale for The Simpsons. This was following a decline in viewership and as noted, the changing zeitgeist though some also speculated that it was because of the return of Futurama. Regardless, The Simpsons Movie would close the chapter for the The Simpsons and airing over during Winter Break. It's a return to form as it starts with a Christmas pagent with the family struggling as they realize their life has gotten nowhere and wondering what the future holds. Many fan favorite characters are shown off in the loving tribute to the show in its 150 minute run (with many characters who have not been seen in the film given send-offs over in the final season of the show, which they managed to get many of the original writers back on.) The film explores the relationship dynamics of the family as they, led by Homer, successfully save the day and finally bonds with Bart. The epilogue reveals a timeskip of memories as the family grows up and Bart and Lisa heading of college or wheever in the future, with Bart telling the audience affectionately "Don't have a cow, man." THe film also announced the return of Futurama through an animated short beforehand. While The Simpsons as a show ended, Groening has noted the comics will continue and likely be used to fill in the blanks while noting that they may do long specials involving the characters much how they did films for Futurama. Beyond that, various film news appeared, such as the Transformers film being postponed due to Bay's lack of interest and noting the unlikelihood of the success in the current times while various other films were pushed back or rushed because of the The Simpsons Movie Christmas date. However, this did have an effect on the film Ghost Rider as rumors speculated that the film may be part of a bigger deal.

As for video games, well, many of the best games would be unleashed. Nintendo gave the world Super Mario Galaxy, which won the hearts and minds of many players while also providing Super Paper Mario, which may ave changed the formula up, but also grabbed many players attention. SEGA at Microsoft meanwhile unleashed a new mainstream game and a spin-off game for Sonic: Sonic Rush II and Sonic Rivals. The former was a sequel to Sonic Rush, with the return and expansion of the new "Boost" mechanic. In Sonic Rush II, Blaze the Cat returns and tries to stop the notorious Captain Whiskers and his crew from stealing the Cane of Jewels, a powerful artifact connected to the land. However, things go wrong when she learns that the crew has been augmented by Eggman and in trying to take bake the Cane, it breaks and splits her nation into several island nations. She's saved by Marine the Raccoon, a sailor who fishes her out of the water and upon seeing the state of her land, she travels to recruit Sonic for his help against Eggman, with Tails coming along at Marine's insistence (impressed by his technological skills.) Players go from island to island to clear stages to reclaim pieces of the cane from one of Eggman's robots or members of the crew. Sonic Rivals meanwhile is a racing spin-off games where the heroes can race across various tracks to claim the various prizes at the end, whether it be Chaos Emeralds or pieces of the Master Emerald, with the plot being instigated by the Eggrobo, who rebuilt himself and used the races as a distraction to try and take over Eggman's robots and uses the power of the Chaos Emeralds. Other games included a new NiGHTs game and a new Crazy Taxi among other games. However, many other games have made their mark such as Team Fortress 2, Portal, Mass Effect, Bioshock, and most notably Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, a spin-off focused in the modern warfare where soldiers going into the Middle East are embroiled into a secret conflict involving mercenaries, private military companies and petrol states. The idea was capitalizing on the growing "green" movement in culture while also serving as a critique on the industrial-military complex. It was criticially acclaimed and praised for its gameplay as well as its story in regards to how military conflicts are prolonged for the sake of profit and on certain groups oppising the green change (such as how the final boss is a Russian oligarch.) Sony would still be struggling along, but manage some success with the PSP and other games on it and the PS3. However, the XBox 360's SEGA influence in Japan has led to hurting sales for the PS3, which affected some of the spread of some games. One notable example was on how Persona 3 would end up being ported to the Xbox 360 to try and make up for sales for it among various other developments. Some see this as further unpleasant news for Sony. Online gaming began seeing more through the release of Team Fortress 2 and the expansion for World of Warcraft Burning Crusade, which included new races, such as the draenai for the Alliance and the tauren for the Horde, with them bringing formerly side-exclusive classes with them, such as draenai shamans and tauren paladins.

In world of comic books meanwhile, Marvel was beginning to fully organize the new status quo of their characters after the M-Day debacle led to the formation of a new universe for the mutants. This allowed them to begin paying more attention to lesser known groups or heroes. One in particular were the Inhumans, who got a bit more attention. However, they weren't a replacement for mutants, functioning far differenty (being a cousin race to humanity and served to display a divide between groups of people.) Other heroes began getting more prominence with some having been tweaked a bit. Heroes like Mantis (who was becoming Vision's new love interest) and Monica Rambeau (who many have noticed has been getting closer to Black Panther) have been getting more attention. Marvel decided to showcase the new rules in their cosmos with the Annihilation storyline, showing Annihilus and his forces beginning to ravage and attack various worlds while returning to prominence, cosmic characters like Quasar and Richard Rider as Nova among others while having the heroes of Earth help explore the greater cosmos. Meanwhile, the folks at DC Comics have been preparing for something else. After the various Crisises and whatnot, they were planning to once more try and give a fresh start, leading up to what is being called Final Crisis.