Welcome to Deja News, the every Monday article where I talk about the news you already know about, and if you don’t know about it, you’re welcome.

I grew up with a SEGA Genesis. All of my friends had a SEGA Genesis as well.  That means that I never saw, let alone played, a Super Nintendo game. The reason I bring this is up is that Secret of Mana, a game considered to be not only one of the greatest Super Nintendo games of all time but one of the greatest role-playing games to ever be made, was just announced to be coming to the PlayStation 4 in February.  From the details that are listed in the PlayStation blog article, it appears like this is a complete remake giving fans and newcomers alike something to be excited: new visuals, voice acting, and updated controls. Like I said, for someone like me that grew up never having a chance to play this, I’m really excited. If you’re still on the fence though, check out the announcement trailer below.

I played Half-Life once. It was alright. To my surprise though, the internet thinks it’s the second coming. If you’re not aware of Half Life’s history, well, that’s a story I’m not meant to tell. Long story short though, people have waited an incredibly long time for the next Half-Life game to come out and unfortunately for those die-hard fans that were still holding out hope, the closest thing they’ll ever get may have just been released.

Marc Laidlaw, the Half-Life series writer, recently released a blog on his site where he laid out the plans for what would have been the next chapter in the Half-Life story. While this doesn’t signify the end of Half-Life, it does give fans somewhat of a proper goodbye that many felt they would never get. Below is the link to Marc’s blog. He has recently changed some of the characters names. Perhaps that was to avoid upsetting Valve, the company that owns the Half-Life series. Also, some of the editors at Game Informer sat down and had a really interesting discussion about what was written. As I said, I was never a big fan of the series, but in all seriousness, I understood it’s importance within the gaming industry. For someone that isn’t very familiar with the Half-Life story, I thought the guys at Game Informer did a great job of discussing where this truly unique story was possibly heading next.

http://www.marclaidlaw.com/epistle-3/

Everything this past week having to do with the DC cinematic universe was a complete disaster for fans of everything Batman. The week started with rumors circulating that the Ben Affleck Batman movie would not be connected to the DC Universe and instead would be a stand-alone film. The other rumor was that the Ben Affleck Batman movie would not have Ben Affleck. As you can imagine, fans were not thrilled with this. Thankfully that has all been resolved and it turns out that Ben Affleck will be in the Batman film and it is in fact connected to the other films that have come out so far in the DC Cinematic Universe.

Sadly, this troublesome news was only the beginning. For those of you that don’t know, as Batman V Superman and Suicide Squad were preparing to release in 2016, Warner Brothers proceeded to announce movie after movie that would all take place in their Cinematic Universe. This is why I prefer the Warner sister. She seems to have her head on straight. One of those movies announced was a film called Gotham City Sirens. A film where Harley Quinn, Poison Ivy, and Catwoman fight the Joker. The reason I bring that particular film up is that this past week Wakko and Yakko announced a Joker and Harley Quinn film. A film that one insider described as an insane When Harry Met Sally. WHAT?! This film is supposed to take place after the already announced Suicide Squad 2. WHAT?! Is the Gotham City Sirens movie canceled? Did it just become this weird new movie that’s been announced? Warner Brothers’ cinematic universe seems so disjointed that it’s impossible to keep up with. Suicide Squad was not a good movie. Some might even say it was horrendous. How I Met Your Mother levels of awfulness. Harley Quinn was a lone bright spot in the film though. Fans want to cheer for her. Keeping her partnered with the Joker just isn’t what people want to see.

And to end this threesome of crazy DC stories, let’s talk about something that fans DEFINITELY want. A stand-alone Joker movie that explains the Joker’s origin. Oh, and did I mention that this film, UNLIKE THE OTHER JOKER MOVIE I TALKED ABOUT, is rumored to not star DC’s newest Joker, Jared Leto. WHAT?! I know fans weren’t in love with Leto’s version of the character but I personally liked it. I thought it was an original take on the character and something I’d like to see more of in future films… particularly films starring Batman, but maybe that’s just me. Either way, if the studio people at WB don’t like Leto, then they have to move on. Recast the part with someone new, and just admit things didn’t go the way you hoped they would. Double Jokers makes no sense, especially when the ageless Leto looks young enough in the role to play a younger Joker.

There’s, of course, an even nerdier problem with this that I’m willing to shout from the rooftops. The Joker shouldn’t have an origin. The whole point of the Joker is that he doesn’t have a backstory. Does he have a tragic past like Batman? Maybe. Is he just some psycho killer that fell into a pool of chemicals? Maybe. The Joker not having a backstory allows for the character to be all over the place and unpredictable. If you know where he’s been, then you can probably figure out where he’s going and that’s not what you want from The Joker.

If you’re interested in reading more about these stories, the links to all of them are underneath. Good luck trying to understand this mess.

http://www.digitalspy.com/movies/batman/feature/a836315/joker-standalone-martin-scorsese-dc-movies-future-dceu/

http://collider.com/is-the-batman-in-the-dceu/

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/joker-harley-quinn-movie-scores-crazy-stupid-love-filmmakers-write-direct-1032210

Well, this has been the first week of Deja News. Are you excited for Secret of Mana, sad about Half Life, and frustrated with the Warner Brothers, or do you completely disagree with me? No matter what you think about these stories,  leave your comments down below, either on the site or back on the facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/ThinksofaThoughter/   I’m always interested in keeping the conversation going, and I can’t wait to hear what everyone thinks.