2006 In Review
2006 would be a milestone of a year for the Gore Administration and the world in general in part due to the many various events and phenomena. It was a year after Katrina and 5 years after 9/11 after all. All in all, there was a sense of positivity and optimism in part because overcoming adversity, either by nature or by man. At the same time, it was also a time of great change going on over in the world, with new unexpected developments beginning to blossom or would blossom over into the future. Additionally, the various elections held across the world landed some predictable results although others had surprises. In Canada, during the closely watched election, the Liberal Party under Paul Martin faced a defeat from Stephen Harper and his Conservatives, though by quite a short margin. This was attributed more toward the mishandlings and corruption under Martin than any benefits from Harper. Notably, Harper and Gore's relations were quite cool. On the other hand, the successes and popularity of Gore in the United States have given plenty of energy to Canada's Green Party. The Exxon-Mobil scandal 2 years prior also caused a haunting over in Canada in regards to fossil fuels and while some politicians stood their ground (albeit pragmaticslly), others became more willing to support the Green party. While not enough for prevalance, it did show plenty of promise for grassroot campaigns. Other elections included the controversial 2006 election in Mexico, where Calderon barely beat AMLO, and cries of corruption and rigged elections ran rampant. Additionally, Calderon's call for a more aggressive War on Drugs would be seen as a method to foster encouragment, but overall not succeed in endeavors. While it did foster support with the Gore Administration, even Calderon and the others noted that the drug war would be a problem they'd need to solve with their approach. Another somewhat surprise was the clsoe victory of Hugo Chavez over in the elections of Venezuela. The Gore Administration's relative ambivalance toward Chavez meant that the more fiery rhetoric was not as effective. Additionally, seeing the Gore Administration dealing with the Exxon-Mobil scandal had left a surprise for have Chavez and his supporters. It seemed Gore was walking the walk and along with growing frustrations, meant Chavez had to change his approach. Moreover, it meant that the people were becoming more skeptical on their reliance on oil for their exports. As such, this all led to a surprisingly close election for Chavez. Some saw this as potential change for Venezuela while others worried it meant that the administration would begin clamping down on rights. Only time would tell what the future would hold over for them.
Moreover, the effects of the Gore Adminsitration's policies were showing. There was a renewed faith in the governmental system with the declaration of political gerrymandering unconstitutional and various groups were eyeing to make sure the next election would progress smoothly. Additionally, this would have great effects on who would be considered likely candidates. Solid ideologues and more radicals were generally seen as unsafe bets and moderates were becoming more reliable. Previous policies such as the restoration of the Fairness Doctrine would have a good influence on the "restoration of moderation and civility" in politics. However, at the same time, there were still the odd duck that superceded the pre-established rules and the potential populists who could overthrow the system out of whack. Despite this, the effects of the future "de-gerrymandering", the Fairness Doctrine and other decisions such as increasing the availability of voters access to machines and so on. This was done to ensure everyone's voice was heard and Al Gore was likely motivated personally by how close his election came and thus working to try and make sure such a matter would not occur again. Additionally, while the Fairness Doctrine meant that the positives and negatives of the policy would be shown, certain pundits and quasi-political shows still influence the tone of conversations though it was easier for some groups more than others in regards to voter accessability. Many would also look back at this as the beginning of the end for this era of the Republicans. More and more Republican policitians are taking moderate positions with their counterparts or at least being flexible and pragmatic. They were across the board though were united by two common factors: a growing rejection of the neo-conservative Reaganism and a strong advocacy for environmentally-friendly policies.
Pop culture meanwhile would show a resurgence in the popularity of superheroes. Ironically enough, the news that started it were not by any means good. Namely that the supposed Spider-Man 3 would be further delayed. While a teaser was released, the troubled production of Spider-Man 2 carried further problems into Spider-Man 3 and rumors would begin spreading that the film may end up being ultimately cancelled. At the same time, people learn from the mistakes of others. Warner Bros delayed the release of their new Batman Begins film over to 2006 in order to get it right. Fortunately, the decision did allow to better address te growing cultural climate. Some worried that Bruce Wayne would not be relatable enough to the audience because of his extensively wealthy status and thus rewrites to the film were changed. Namely, by further emphasizing the positive work that Wayne Industries and the Wayne Foundation have done while further including that the various mobsters of Gotham have ties to corrupt businesses and politicians, the point being that even the very wealthy like Bruce are not safeguarded from criminal elements and that the Waynes remained in Gotham to improve their home. Batman is also shown having spent his adolescent partially on the streets (with a rumored appearance by Selina Kyle) and even abroad in shaggy clothing. The film was a surprising success at showing a darker and practical Batman rising up to take care of the crime in Gotham. Many still note the inclusion of the Batcave, Batmobile and Batsuit, being fit into the story. However, what surprised people was the rumors of it tying in with a new film... Superman Returns. The film underwent more radical changes when the possibility of linking the films together were discussed. As such, Superman Returns went from being a quasi-continuation of the Reeve films to start of something new. The film features a world where Superman seemingly disappeared after a cataclysmic event while Clark Kent struggles with his reporting after a serious injury though also in a relationship with Lois. The film was inspired by The Death of Superman and even used plans from a planned animated film for this one. The film's motivation is on the importance and relevance of having a paragon like Superman do his part. Seen with some livng through his example. The film also showcases Lex Luthor as his corrupt businessman/scientist, but also showcasing his self-centered nature, creating a Superman-like android codenamed The Eradicator to serve as a new "tough on crime" protector and later enforcer. The symbolism is in how Superman is a paragon, lex Luthor is a corrupter. Both films hint at a potential crossover and future plans. Beyond the superhero films, the comics have also begun changing. Marvel comics have been working to establish the relative new continuity as a result of seperating the X-Men from the rest of mainstream Marvel. They have taken the opportunity to clean up loose ends and try and promote other heroes, such as Carol Danvers aka Ms. Marvel. Others have noted the success and DC has been doing something similar by planning releases of the former Fawcett line, aimed at a young audience. They took the opportunity to reassert Billy Batson as Captain Marvel and showing off many of the other Fawcett heroes.
Beyond the apparent potential return of superheroes into film, other films were Casino Royale, which saw the return of James Bond and The Da Vinci Code which was considered to be a fun popcorn flick. However, the big surprise also saw the return of Disney with their latest animated film The Great Quillow, which saw the eponymous character, a droll toymaker, take on a horrendous giant through the power of his brains. The film's story was expanded to explore of the notion and also continue with the animaton. More people came to see it and were happy to see Disney branching out with new while keeping with the whimisical old. The notoriety came from how The Great Quillow would perform better than Pixar's Cars in regards to sales and in ratings, even winning Best Animated Features (if barely) from Happy Feet and Monster House. This gave a form of return to traditional animation that was seen as uplifting. However, it did become clear that Disney would need to once more to change with the times. However, the path remained unclear. After all, buying out Pixar would not end traditional animation, but some would see it as an admission of defeat. Others noted that they could maintain their partnership. It became clear that new direction would soon be needed.
Video games also began their own revolution with the release of the next generation of consoles: The Nintendo Wii, the Xbox 360, and the Playstation 3. The Wii, with its appeal to the open family market and its motion controls dominated it though the Xbox 360 with its own serious games showed equal rivalry with the PS3 struggling. Sonic the Hedgehog Revolution, celeberating the Sonic series' 15th birthday, would be released this year on the Xbox 360. It was a massive transition for the series as it took the elements of the previous Adventure games and brought them to the peak. A love letter to the franchise, players could choose between Sonic, Tails, Knuckles or Amy going through various unique stages tailored to unique playstyles. The plot was relatively simple in comparison, but still memorable in its exceution. Dr. Eggman has exploited the distractions the Sonic team was facing (such as the Sonic Rush and Sonic Rivals games) and the global chaos caused by the Black Arms various crisises (from Shadow the Hedgehog) to prepare his ultimate army to try and attack as many areas at once in his quest for world domination. He pulled out all the stops, including successfully acquiring the Chaos Emeralds. The story has Sonic and his friends travel across the world to reclaim the Chaos Emeralds and liberate the areas, all while Eggman awaits them in his official fortress, the one that has been foreshadowed since Sonic Adventure I, Eggmanland. Many fans adored the execellent execution of the games' mechanics and a return to form after the questionable decisions of last year's Shadow the Hedgehog. They praised the mechanics and level design along with the character interactions as they reminscence on stopping Eggman. The stages were wide and expansive, being heavily inspired by past Sonic stages. However, the variety of characters meant that there many ways for each character to go through the same stage though with different routes or even redesigns of the stages. Many have called it "classic 2D Sonic game in three dimensions.) The playable characters were Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy, Cream, Shadow and Rouge. Each one of them possessing unique abilities to traverse the level and solve certain unique levels. Many classic Sonic robots were seen, such as the Badniks and Egg bots from Sonic Heroes with the ultimate fight being against Eggman himself. While the game was relatively light on story, it often did have character interactions between levels depending the last characters on played, resulting in plenty of hilarity and touching moments. Other SEGA and Xbox games included the first of a trilogy of remakes of the Panzer Dragoon series. Other intense games were released and showcased throughout the year such as New Super Mario Bros as well as Nintendo doing well in the handheld. Despite Sony's troubles, they still did quite well with Kingdom Hearts II as one of their biggest games. Additionally, their PSP was doing well to hold up against the Nintendo DS in the handheld market. The deal with RARE and Ubisoft would see the two companies merge to become Rare-Ubisoft (or Ubirare by some of the fans) though Rare would maintain its close relationship with Nintendo and Ubisoft itself would grow closer to the company as well.
Overall, the video game scene was doing very well and many would see it doing even better in the future during the increasing competition. So much so people would begin talking about them on various video websites.