Geek so to Speak

UFC: How far we've come

2010-07-07T11:35:00.001-07:00

I remember the first UFC game I had : Ultimate Fighting Championship on the original Playstation. It didn’t have a lot of dept (much like UFC in 2000); simple yet poetic in a strange way (much like the UFC in general) but the games lacked a sense of urgency and fulfillment. Hard fights were hard but the real battle was keeping the match going long enough to turn the tables; most fights lasted 1 round. Since that time MMA fighting, as a whole , has changed and the new UFC 2010 Undisputed pretty much delivers a real MMA experience.

Since that first UFC game over 100 UFC pay-per-views have been held and the sport of MMA has grown from brutal cage fighting to…well, brutal cage fighting which you can now bet on. Really though, MMA is now its own fighting style, a blend of everything that works. Being a wrestler (waaaaay back when) I respect the crap out of MMA fighters. Learning to wrestle is hard enough but adding in boxing, kick boxing, Judo, Karate and Brazilian jiu-jitsu to the mix is just crazy…I can barely get up for work some days and these guys are learning multiple fighting styles at the same time! That’s what the UFC and all MMA is about now. It used to be about seeing if a wrestler could fight a boxer but now it’s more a sport than a car crash of fighting.

A great example is (dare I say it) Brock Lesner. From world class wrestler to Wrestlemaina Main Eventer to UFC Heavyweight Champion! He can fight and regardless of what went down this week with him he’s a great athlete and I expect he’ll leave a toaster size fist imprint on the UFC. (Tip via Joe Rogan- Always talk about a fighter as if they are standing right next to you) …Brock Lesner is also an all American destroying machine and a nice guy with great hair and solid moral standpoints as well.

But let’s get back to the new UFC video game. UFC 2010 Undisputed is amazing . The career mode is still a bit lackluster; a large improvement from 2009 but still needs work. My biggest problem right now is you can’t mid-mix your fighter (for you out there that never played DnD, that means taking points in every stat as you get them so you know a bit of everything, middle maxing your stats) and MMA is all about mid-maxing. That’s the whole sport is to mid-max and them pick one or two things to be just a little better in.

MMA video games have evolved just like the sport. Now winning isn’t just about a quick KO you need to block and time everything. I find this year's (as well as last year's) UFC games to be better than the Fight Night games, which for the record I do love. A few flaws are just due to the fact the games are still rather new; the Fight Nights have had years to adjust and create a great game around the fights where MMA games have had only 10 years or so to adjust. So creating a fighter isn’t as solid and seeing them beef up or slim down isn’t present, but I see that in the future, and frankly it doesn’t bother me right now.

The real shinning statement about UFC 2010 is the controls. It’s a real struggle to grapple and to take a top advantage position. I have never felt more victorious with a video game than a 2 round KO via a kick to the head or a 3 round tapout. I jumped up with my arms in the air like I really just made Tito tap…I felt the world was behind me…then I realized my cat (Thor, yes, as in the God of Thunder) was laughing at me. But add friends (either online or at your place) to the game and you get a great mix of competition, laughter and random knockouts that no one can see coming. This might just be the best party game around as long as it stays on the screen and not in the backyard…that never ends well. UFC 2010 is frankly amazing and a total buy. AND, the PSP version is expected out soon, too. That can only lead to more fun.

-B

PSP Go

2010-06-16T07:24:00.000-07:00

A few months ago I broke my PSP in a rather sad fashion, may I say. I was playing PaRapper . The Rapper and I got up to check something down the hall . When I came back I had forgot ten I placed my beloved PSP1000 in my back pocket and I had indeed cracked the screen upon sitting down…the sound was working…which was the “err-err” from failing a songon Parapper...I imagine a sad face was making that sound.

I decided that I would get a new PSP but (and here’s where it gets shady) would I update to a PSP Go or to a PSP3000? I decided to wait on it (…I was broke) . I waited almost six months (I was really broke) . Finally , after I had totally cleansed my system of PSP goodness , I decided to pick up a brand new PSP (I finally got a raise!). But I did do some research. Basically hard facts down, the PSP has a slightly smaller screen but that does result in a very clear picture. Also, the 16 GB of internal memory is a bit small considering the size of game varies between .5 and 1 GB of space. But the biggest thing is the swapping out of the Memory Stick Pro Duo for the M2, which is pretty big because M2 cards cast more via the lack of interest outside of PSP . Go users.

The biggest elephant in the room was the fact the UMD drive is gone. Now I 'm sick of hearing that. Every blog, video, article , everything on the PSP, somewhere it says “lacks the UMD drive”. Sony tried to get a “swap” service for PSP Go users but video game companies said “nay-nay” and that was the end of that . That singlehandidly almost killed the Go. But wait!!!! It’s not dead yet! (more on that later)

But all the talk on "lack" made me think back when the PSP was first introduced. The lack of the UMD drive on the new PSP Go is the same problem that the PSP1000 had with having a UMD drive! See , the UMD drive was hated on because of lack of space on a UMD disk (just under 2 GB). So after seeing “no UMD drive” on everything I said “Wait! I haven’t played my damn PSP in months! What do I care if I can't play the games I haven't played anyways ? ” So I decided to give in and move forward and get a PSP Go!

Now for a review.

1.) I like the fact it’s all digital, no need for UMDs in you pocket or taking up space and falling out of you car when you open you trunk (yes, I had a lot of ‘em).

2.) The analog stick has great placement ; it wasn’t until I had played it for a few hours that I noticed my thumb wasn’t cramping and in red hot pain. (No one has ever noticed that!!!! I AM THE FIRST GEEK TO THANK SONY FOR MOVING IT!!!!!)

3.) It’s pretty . I’m not a whole fashion kind of guy but I love the fact I mistake it for my phone.

4.) It’s small . The PSP was plagued with the fact it wouldn’t fit in a pocket. Now that you can, I take it everywhere like intended.

5.) Works flawlessly with the PS3 and PCs. Only bad note on that I wish you could download games to the PSP via Remote Play; you can download them but you can’t copy them to the PSP without a USB connection (but another note, you can play classic PS1 games with it, just don’t lose your connection).

Now the bad

1.) M2 memory card is new and pricey. Maybe in the future this won’t be a problem but as of right now this is the first and big problem. 16 GB isn’t a whole lot , but I understand to keep the price down on the PSP Go they needed to make the hard drive smaller.

2.) The price of games. Now you can complain that this is my way of saying “no UMD” but hear me out. I can go the Gamestop and pick up, let's say, Ridge Racer (new) for less then $10 but if I download it it’s gonna cost me $20. So something 's not right. But!!! Sony has a solution.

This is the soul reason I decided to move to the PSP Go. Sony is expected to announce a rental service on games. Now no word on price or limitations, but the idea alone makes me gitty. Yes, gitty. The fact Sony has said “fine, we can’t let our users update from UMD to digital, okay we’ll do something different” - which means UMDs are going to die. Sorry UMDs.

The only other thing I don’t like about the PSP Go (but it’s the same on the PSP so I didn’t number this with the other two) is the fact games aren’t separated like they are on the PS3. So you want to play a Final Fantasy (on the PS3 it would be under games under a folder named PS1) well just go to your games listing then go to the folder. Then find it with the other games you have. I hate that. I want a separation, just so it looks clean. My Rockband tracks are even in that folder!! WTF! But that's an update that's rather a simple fix.

So that’s it. PSP Go 9/10 (soon to be 10/10)

-Brandon Dyer

TNA Kills Update!

2010-04-19T05:41:00.000-07:00

Since I posted my blog on Friday ewrestlingnews.com (as well as a few other sites but originally reported from The Wrestling Observer I just love me my ewrestlingnews) has posted stories on both Kurt Angel and Jeff Hardy both of which stating concern of their well-being. Though it is now being painfully obvious that both Angel and Hardy’s welfare is on the fritz I believe I am still the only one pointing the finger at TNA.

Backstage Concern For Jeff Hardy's Well-Being - Details

Backstage Concern For Kurt Angle's Well-Being - Details

TNA Kills

2010-04-16T06:39:00.000-07:00

2007 after the horrific double murder/suicide of Chris Benoit wrestler mega giant, World Wrestling Entertainment cracked down on its wrestlers and issued a very strong anti-drug policy. Following that, WWE changed its image from nearly (and at times way over) a TV-MA rating to a solid TV-PG rating. They replaced any character or storyline that seems too risky; John Cena (the center of the hate fest for this rating change) even changed his finisher’s name from the F-U, a direct slap in the face of former WWE wrestler and current UFC Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar whose finisher was named the F5. Cena took the high road and rename is modified fisherman’s suplex to the “Attitude Adjustment.” Or even take “The Rated R Superstar” Edge who’s now as tame as Disney’s hit movie Up. On the other side it’s been a rumor that because of the sheer size of some of the wrestlers (John Cena and Dave Batista are center of the debate) the TV-PG will never go to a TV-G, which is what WWE is shooting for currently. WWE wants wrestling to appeal to all age groups again, as it did all throughout the 80s, making wrestling a family-friendly outing; cheering for the good guy and booing the bad guy. A total 180 from the “adult-male-chest beating-gore-fest” wrestling has been in the last 15 or so years.

But the big battle for the WWE was to drop the drugs behind the scenes and protect their investments (the wresters). Wrestling has a very dark past of excess narcotic/alcohol usage, most of which lead to deaths of some very talented people at very young ages. The WWE, being at the top of the ladder of wrestling promotions, wanted to take a stand and put an end to untimely deaths because of bad decisions while at the same time cleaning up its image. The WWE has fired or let go of any wrestler that has violated its “wellbeing” policy in the last few years (the wellbeing policy also prohibits wrestlers from things like chair shots to the head and “cutting”). Rob Van Damn was (unofficially) striped of his title(s) in 2007 (early in the WWE “wellbeing policy” era) because of a drug possession charge. The wrestler he was traveling with at the time, Sabu, was even fired. Soon after RVD had suffered his punishment he left the WWE (willingly and on good terms; Rob’s wife had been diagnosed with cancer and WWE let him go) but he has yet to return to the WWE (a few appearances but nothing official). He, like many discharged or disciplined from the WWE, headed to Orlando, Florida and took a role in smaller but steadily growing TNA, or Total Nonstop Action wrestling, founded by Jeff Jarrett which, for the record "That's J-E-Double-F J-A- Double-R, E-Double-T!” Ain’t he great?

TNA has a very ECW (Extreme Championship Wrestling) feel to it. As Barry Blaustein said about ECW in his documentary Beyond the Mat, “it’s where old wrestlers come to be reborn and young wrestlers come to be discovered.” When you put it like that it is almost beautiful but the sad and sick reality is that TNA doesn’t have a “wellbeing policy”; most wrestlers that come there have some very serious issues with drugs and none is more apparent to me than Jeff Hardy.

Just look at him two years ago while in the WWE (as champion).

Look at him now.

His eyes seem glossy and “out-there” and I’m not alone. Of course this is a photo of him after being arrested but just tune in one night to TNA Impact and see for yourself this is a normal look for him now. Every single fan I have chatted with says the same. No doubt he’s a great wrestler and as an entertainer he’s remarkable but since his departure from WWE he’s gone downhill in his wellbeing to the point where you can notice it drastically. Kurt Angle is another wrestler whose addiction to pain pills had led him to TNA. Angle, a true Olympic gold medalist in men’s freestyle wrestling (he’s even in the National Amateur Wrestling Hall of Fame), has grown in size in just the last year from being in TNA and his lack of personality behind the scenes has been noted. Steroids and chair shots do not mix.

TNA has a TV-MA rating, so blood and chair shots to the head come into play. And just by watching a few shows you see both, a lot. The only thing that TNA is suffering from, besides all the negative things, is high ratings and a bigger budget. This is indeed a dark path to go down. The parent company of TNA, Panda Energy, will suffer no consequences from the actions of TNA and guys like Vince Russo and Eric Bischoff, who are directly responsible for the tarnish and the fall of WCW and deaths of several wrestlers including Owen Hart, whose stunt was result of Vince Russo’s idea. Also, to give credit where it’s due, both Eric Bischoff and Vince Russo are directly responsible for the biggest and most recognized faction in wrestling history, the NWO.

God of War, Where Are We Now?

2010-03-26T05:31:00.000-07:00

It’s been a few days, and after letting the dust settle from both fan/naysayers from the epic that is/was God of War III, I think it’s safe to ask what now? Well, I’m not going to let too much out of the bag for those of you who haven’t finished it yet, but first off, it’s the most visually stunning game to date. The level of artistic craftsmanship is like no other game on the market. (My favorite detail, FYI, is Aphrodite’s Chamber and her bed… HIGH FIVE!) But it is rather short. Not story-wise, ‘cause crap it’s a lot of dialog! But game-play wise it was shorter than I imagined. Oddly enough, I am okay with that. You can complete the main story in less than 7 hours if you really sprint it, but with all the details and the story being oh so very “greek,” I think it makes sense. HYPE is the word of the day ‘cause all the hype that was put on this game doesn’t come near the reality of it, which is it’s better than anyone could have expected. The cut scenes, the music, the art, the story, the controls; just everything is complete.

Gaming isn’t a sport, the fastest isn’t the winner and longevity is key. The smartest thing the GoW franchise did was put out the first two games onto the PS3! I already know a few months down the line I’m going to be popping in my God of War Collection again and starting from the beginning. Why? Well, it’s a great game! And like Super Mario and The Legend of Zelda, God of War will hold up against time and still be good 10 years down the line.

Absolutely, my biggest fear is exactly what happened to the Halo franchise. Bungie parted ways but didn’t get the rights to its game…thus a series of bad games “featuring” the name Halo arrived. I’m not a huge fan of Halo, but I respect it and what Microsoft did to that name was only tarnish it and place Bungie in the hot seat to recreate the magic it once had. And if SCE Santa Monica Studios are done than let’s call it a day folks.

Basically, SCE Santa Monica Studios has only worked on 3 games in its life. God of War (and all games following), the ever so talked about Warhawk and Kinetica (which, if you don’t remember, that name was a short lived but positive reviewed PS2 future racing game). So it makes sense to put Kratos on the shelf from a developer standpoint. I mean, it’s cool and all that you made a character so well know all you need to show is his eye to get a reaction, but artistically speaking you need to broaden your horizons!

I would like to see one game in particular, which has ties to SCE Santa Monica Studios in a way. David Jeffe who directed the very first God of War game was also a very creative designer and just awesome storyteller…oh, and he is also known as “THE MOST HADED MAN IN THE WORLD!! *by Microsoft*”
Just a recap, David basically called out MSNBC calling its reviews bias via Microsoft owned them (or whoever wrote a review that prized the 360 game in question). David, you’ll be happy to know I am paid by NBC and I hold no bias; Bomberman: Act Zero was a horrible game as was Haze. (I’m gonna let the Wii off the hook, not because I’m getting a free Wii for not saying anything…but because it’s easier to list the 5 good games than the billion horrible games…)
But, David Jeffe also gave us one of the most visually stunning yet simplistic games of our time. Twisted Metal: Black. Oh, yeah baby! TWB was/is a juggernaut of a game. It’s hard to find anyone that hasn’t seen Sweet Tooth head ablaze and all. My hope is that Jeffe has something awesome in store…a Twisted Metal game rises from the ashes and I finally get to blow the hell out of Claypso’s again...Oh yeah…did I forget to say that Eat Sleep Play (David Jeffe’s original company) is back together and planning a new Twisted Metal?…oh yeah oops.

What is Star Wars Visions?

2010-03-11T07:08:00.000-08:00

For almost a year, something strange has been brewing in the force. While sifting though Golden and Silver Age comics and all sorts of other swag at last year’s awesome (might I add) comic showcase the San Diego ComicCon, a small but steady flow of beards and Stormtroopers gawked over a corner of the LucusArts booth. While most strolled by admiring the life-size replica Jabba the Hutt or newly displayed costumes for all six of the Tri-trilogy films, only a few noticed and fewer still questioned the beautiful painting of three floating rocks accompanied by Luke Skywalker’s lightsabor. As much as I tried to dig it out, the guy manning the booth only had two things that he knew: “2010” and “Visions”

Well, that was a year ago and little more has been answered. Starwars.com has released a new painting from the book almost like clockwork every two months since ComicCon ‘09 but with no real solid info. The paintings are just wonderful; mixing geeky with fine art is always a plus. But, still, I can’t imagine a book, let alone a 142 page book, filled with full color art from Lucus. It could be done no problem but seems unlikely.

First off my suspicions only popped up a few weeks ago when Wizards of the Coast decided to not renew its contract with Star Wars and LucusArts. Which had people asking “why did a very well known hobby game creator end a long and very lucrative relationship with the biggest name to roll with in RPG!?” Wizards of the Coast is huge, too; we’re talking Magic the Gathering, Dungeons and Dragons, Axis and Allies; really big names they make and arguably the best name brand they worked with was Star Wars. But seemly out of the blue, Wizards ends the 10 year relationship with Lucus! Makes me think someone didn’t like something someone else did.

On a side note, the very last Wizards book for the Star Wars RPG is to be released in April (no later than May when the contract officially ends).

So maybe LucusArts is getting into the writing and creating of RPG games. That seems to be the answer to Vision so many online sites give. It’s not official and really I think it’s a “New Hope” more than a fact. Fans have wanted a new system for Star Wars for awhile; the 2007 “Saga Edition” dropped some of the very known d-20 rules and added some (not as loved) d-20 modern rules. Also, they slashed races and classes like a Death Star superlaser directed at Alderaan. Fans didn’t buy the “updated system” and continued the ways of the old. So by cutting the Star Wars brand, Wizards dropped a very high-end price tag that wasn’t giving them a return expected. Seems logical.

Basically the Star Wars brand is very high priced, but not out of reach. Lucus has always been very giving to fans. I could honestly say if a fan wrote a RPG worth bearing the Star Wars name, he would allow it, assuming he got a cut of course. Problem is the whole RPG community is split down a very drastic line(s). The d-10 system is very simple to learn, the d-20 system is the classic, the miniatures system is the “combat” system, the card system is inexpensive and of course the so loveable, “Custom” systems arrive from versus books like Evil Hat Productions. I know the guys over there very well and one of them owes me a beer. (PS Lenny, where’s Dresden? And I better get a copy of the damn book(s)!)

Visions is a mystery, still. If it’s a new RPG, I’ll be stoked. If it’s a book of art…I’ll be okay with that in the universe. If it’s a true to life manual on The Force…well then I can use my newly acquired Jedi powers to Force Pull some ice cream across my table while I watch Episode IV for the 1,000th time.

10 Muse-Sites, Websites That Inspire Me

2010-02-25T06:19:00.000-08:00

In my everyday quest to find something worth blogging about, I check a slew of websites for what people are talking about but only a few of them ever offer the inspiration I desire. So, I offer my favorite Muse-Sites. Useless? Yes, but I only offer the best.

10.) MSNBC – When I hear something I wanna blog about on NPR or on the news, I check out MSNBC to get more info.

9.) Facebook – Every few weeks someone will message me asking a question, so I reply “good question”.

8) People of Walmart – Much like the failblog but it just strikes a chord so very near to my heart. FYI- this site was my motivation for this blog today!

7) Think Geek – I love this store! Everytime I log on I see something new I have no intention of buying, nor do I need, but I want it oh so badly. Thus making me think about things I want, thus blogs.

6) Metallica –What? I’m a fan.

5) Pandora Radio – The sweet, sweet melody of Dio makes me write faster. “Look out there’s danger! Nowhere to run! Looks like desperate measures but something has got to be done!” (Yes that was from the Mob Rules album)

4) Wookieepedia - Wookieepedia! Need I say more? I check the Quote of the Day, Featured Article and the Did you know sections and off I go.

3) Failblog – Oh failblog how I do love you so. Watching people fail is like finding the Golden Grail of inspiration.

2.) IGN Boards – Okay, so when I need a laugh I hit up my friends at IGN and by friends I mean the mean-spirited, over-the-top fanboys that reply to every post on the boards! Within seconds of reading you’ll find something that A.) Infuriates B.) Makes you laugh and C.) Makes you wonder if Tallahassee, Florida really is the video gaming Mecca of the USA.

1.) Google – I just start typing words and something comes up. Most of the time it’s inappropriate and wrong but it amuses me.

Too Many Games?

2010-02-12T07:01:00.000-08:00

In the last year a lot of games came out: good ones, bad ones and ones based on good ones but which had no intention of being good. But the question lately is, are there just too many games out there? I know personally I haven’t paid full price for a game in months; the little cash I have to spree on games goes to World of Warcraft or to used or out of season games (like Smackdown vs. Raw 2009 which I paid a whooping $20 for a brand new collectors edition!). The few games I want to get I’m waiting for the price drop or I’m just simply not impressed enough to go out and get ‘em.

The marketing of games has become all too much a Hollywood type campaign, too. As gamers we expect a game with, at very least, over 30 hours of gameplay and a great story. In that aspect we have become greedy. However, I do remember a time when I would pick up a magazine and read about a game for months before it even hit the shelves. Not some under 100 word description of the story and a few pictures, but a real life interview with some no-name guy telling me he was proud of his work. These interviews would build my impressions of said game and my eagerness would build to the point that when the game did come out, I was there the very first day to buy it. But lately, maybe because of the lack of integrity of developers and game designers, no one speaks much about the game they are making. Vowing to a code of silence instead of dropping nuggets of information about a game in different articles and blogs so that you would anticipate a game release more for its features and how fun it looks than its story and name attached to it.

Every gaming website I open now has a game being advertised in the sides and the background of the site. I’m sick of seeing rendered still frames from a game which gives me no clue as to what it offers! Dante’s Inferno is a great example. Months and months of “go to hell” ads but not an article to be found! Finally, a glimmer of light; a demo was released and then it happened. An uproar from PS3 owners clamming “Ninja Bullshit!” and on-the-defense Bro-Box fans screaming “We should get a God of War too!”. And then the game dropped and guess what? It didn’t do very well. IGN (which advertised the game to the “very bitter end”) gave it a 7.5/10 on overall gameplay. And other gaming sites said “it’s a copycat” and fans agreed (months before hand, but they did). So two good things came out of it: marketing a crappy game to death still makes it a crappy game, and even you give your favorite ad venture all the money in the world, they will still roll over you like a bus driver texting when your product is lackluster.

So what am I getting at in this whole little rant… I just want to know if it’s a good game before I get it. No marketing campaigns, no protesters from Ventura County, no pretty paintings or music videos with gameplay scenes. I want a guy with no improv couching to sit down and talk about why the game he is working on is awesome. I’m sick of seeing some guy with gel in his hair, a bright white smile and blue eyes telling me stuff I could have guessed already - “best graphics around, 1080i” “no lag” - just stop! Give me the guy who’s pale white and sporting a Happy Tree Friends t-shirt and let him give me the truth. Even the much skewed truth, but at least it’s from someone I know has worked on the damn game!

What do I think about the iPad? Well, you're gonna need one these...

2010-01-29T05:48:00.000-08:00

Phone of the year...?

2010-01-18T03:16:00.000-08:00

I know what you’re going to think: Are you really trying to push something as “of the year” when we’re already into a new year? Well, put simply, yes. I have a busy schedule lately and well…this is MY blog, so yes I am going to.

I really, absolutely, 100% and wholeheartedly feel Motorola deserves the biggest gold star I can find. They went from the over saturation of the RAZR in 2005 (everyone had one) to near death, to bringing out the “Time Magazine Gadget of the Year.” And, well gosh; I agree it is the gadget of the year. I don’t say that as a Droid owner (which for the record I love my phone) but as a fan of tech.
They not only allow custom user interfaces (UIs), which can seem a bit sketchy for anyone, but Motorola embraces it and silently promotes it by adding apps for these UI at their app store. As a phone company they understand the very basics of their job; to make a phone capable of doing what the user wants. Not make an interface that works with the phone they make or “let’s make a phone interface that works with the cheapest phone we can produce!” Which seems to be the trend in cell phone manufactures. It seems like a very simple concept to make a phone as best as you can while not cutting out its core - THE USER. But most manufactures want the cost effective over the optimally equipped. Even the mighty Apple iPhone is almost backwards (I say almost very lightly); using the concept “let’s make a phone we want.”
It’s hard to bash the best phone on the market. It’s a simple fact the iPhone transformed the cell phone industry from a once luxury idem to a convenience to both, making it a luxury item that’s peak in convenience. Before the iPhone no one dreamed of full html internet on a cell phone. No one dreamed that a 3g network could exist in America or that a phone could have the power to keep a 3g connection running for more then a few hours. So, yeah I can’t bash it but I can point out because of the iPhone other companies have stepped up. Verizon has the most 3g coverage; Sprint has been working on battery life for as long as I have followed their lead designer on twitter and AT&T is constantly making network upgrades. The only drawback (I say only very lightly as well) is that prices are at a standstill because of all the competition. But the old is also the new in some light; outdated networks have sprouted up new cell phone services that are both inexpensive and reliable (as long as you stay in range of their small networks).

But what Apple and AT&T are missing in the whole is “future” - which is a very Apple way of life. “Make the best right now, get a new one later” is the hacker slogan for Apple (I need a bumper sticker that says that). While innovation is key, longevity is king (wow, another bumper sticker I need) and for what it’s worth the iPhone works well but it’s already in its 3 generation and just shy of being 3 years old. That’s kind of a big thing if you’re spending $500 on a cell phone. Verizon (being cost effective more than anything but making a good point) places costumers on a two year upgrade plan starting off, and that’s about right for cell phone lifespan. Now, breaking the phone is something else all together but I’m talking about as far as the technology after two years it’s a whole new world. Spending $1,500 and change for a new iPhone every year is quite ridiculous.

An ad that recently aired proclaims “It’s the first thing you see when you wake up, and the last thing you see before you go to bed.” How true is that? I couldn’t tell you the stress I feel when I don’t have my phone on me. It’s practically my left arm. I can totally live without it but it’s very, very useful (Meh. That one is so-so on the bumper sticker kick). So if you’re going to spend the cash get what works for you best, which again is Apple’s way of doing, well… everything. But if you don’t own an Apple computer…why are you getting a phone made for it?
Also, check out this great editorial on IGN this week…

Dante’s Inferno

2009-12-22T09:37:00.000-08:00

Lots and lots of hype; that’s all Dante’s Inferno has to offer. I wanted to start this blog hard and that’s just it. I played the demo of Dante’s Inferno last night and the whole drive to work all I could think was “WHAT THE HELL?!” But before I get to that I wanted to get to what the people had to say, so I hit up the IGN boards and found Dante’s Inferno. 10 pages later this is the overall feelings.

bounce425 posted: Glad to see that Kratos (oops, I mean Dante), is trying to save his wife and child (oops, I mean Beatrice) by using the Blades of Athena (oops, I mean Death's Scythe) and Rage of the Gods (oops, I mean Redemption)...but I'll still download the demo and give it a go.

quaternion posted: Am I the only person who is genuinely annoyed that they are changing the story of the Divine Comedy so much. It's missing the point entirely to invent the plot that Beatrice was captured, and needs rescuing.

At this point I realized if someone has an avatar of Cartman, they are just as ignorant as the character. Around this time on the board people started to play the demo. Here’s what happened:

Spazzyman (guess what his avatar is) posted:

people keep saying that this is a rip off of GOW.

please tell me any original idea in GOW and i will tell you a game that has already done it.

theres my challenge, please take it or stop saying DI is a rip off.

(in reply)dgknight501 posted: You do realize that it's one thing to take some ideas from other games and something completely different when you take the entire controller layout and fighting system button-for-button and move-for-move (even the timing!)...

TheGigOfwaR posted: Yea...but if someone made a game that looked and played almost exactly like Halo, or assassins creed, or gunstar heroes people will lose interest in the genre cuz it seems like no one is making strides to make original games anymore. Just finding a formula that sells and putting a different sticker over the front of it. Hell, the part where Dante wears down the beast with attacks opening up a prompt to start a button sequence...Oh God...instead of pressin O you press R2 instead...original! Gaming should not be like Hollywood when it comes to taking used ideas from better franchises and spitting out 4 other droppings just to push the buck. Sorry but if just dont see anything in this game that plays on anything remotely the new.

Tigersnake12 posted: just played the demo... How in the hell did they get away with ripping off every single aspect off of God of War... Come on!!!! Everything down to the health chest (now a fountain) to pushing circle above a weakened opponent's head (now R2). WHY?!?!!?!?

And then something magical happened - smart people showed up!

swiftencounter posted: Ok so I just beat the demo and as others have said this is a fun game but it won't compete with the top tier action games IMO. As I stated in an earlier post, I went into the demo with the preconception that it will be a good game but not as good as GoW 3 or Bayonetta and I finished the demo with the same feeling.

Firstly, the in game graphics are good but nothing special but neither is Bayonetta for that matter. The cutscenes on the other hand are very nice. I have rarely seen boobies look so beautiful in a video game. With that said, they mixed in some cell shaded bits into the cut scenes and they don't work at all. It is very much like what DICE did with Mirror's Edge, only they mixed them with beautiful rendered parts and the contrast is jarring. I would be very surprised if this isn't mentioned in the review.

I did however, like the art style overall it reminded me of God of War mixed with Demon's Souls.

The game plays exactly like God of War. I mean exactly. This isn't a bad thing but graphically it doesn't look as good as the God of War 3 demo IMO. One thing I did notice is that I felt the camera was too zoomed out the entire time. Maybe it's just me but I just got done getting my plat on the GoW collection and I think the camera was closer in on those games and I like it better.

If you have been paying attention to developer interviews you know you get to take control of a boss after you beat him/her. This felt clunky to me in the demo but somebody might like it. Personally, it seems like it will slow down the game.

So all in all, this will be a good game IMO. I'm guessing from the demo it will get around an 8.5 review score, and if you are the type of gamer who buys tons of action games you might want to play through this, but if you aren't with GoW 3, Baynonetta looming on the horizon and the Ninja Gaiden games and DMC4 available at discount prices I think Dante's Inferno may be a hard sell.

juyan16 posted: I usually give alll games the benefit of the doubt
but after playing this demo,Dante's Inferno is the most blatant rip off of a game I've ever seen. From the control scheme. To the gameplay mechanics and
story. This is all God of War. Not that it was bad,
but god, have some originality.

And with that I think my job is done as far as a review. But let me just say at a point in the beginning of the game an assassin sneaks up behind Dante and stabs him in the back after Dante kills about a hundred guys. And Dante’s reaction was priceless! He was like Dexter - nothing happened! Death shows up and he even pulls out the knife but he doesn’t even bleed! ROFLCOPTER DOWN!!!!

But I did feel better that most (8/10) people agreed about this game: rip-off of a better game. And after a bit of research almost everyone on this board who questioned God of War or “totally felt Dante’s Inferno wasn’t a rip-off” did not own a PS3. Stating once again “If we can’t have it we’re gonna bash it!” Thanks Bro-Box360…thanks.

EA Sports Branching Out…again

2009-12-10T05:25:00.000-08:00

Madden, NBA Live, MVP Baseball, NHL, FIFA, Tiger Woods PGA Tour, NASCAR, Fight Night, Grand Slam Tennis, SSX and the list goes on and on and on. Since 1982 EA Sports has been pumping out the sports games like a well oiled machine. Every year there’s a new batch of titles and a new batch of features to make you want to pick them up.

Personally I don’t pick up an EA Sports title but maybe once every two to three years. Don’t see the point in it - why am I going to shell out $60 for basically an update on rosters, graphics boost and maybe a new bubblegum feature? I say bubblegum because, let’s face it, the novelty factor really wears off fast with most of them. For instance, the NHL 10 fighting system; the game was as good as always but the fighting (which was 90% of their marketing) didn’t make the game (or give it 9/10 in reviews). And honestly, if you just wait a year, sometimes even less, you can get the “last year’s version” for under $30! NHL09 was just $20 the week after NHL10 dropped!

But back to the point here, EA Sports has announced that yet another sports title is going to be added to its franchise. We got hockey, baseball, football, boxing, soccer, cricket, golf, racing, rugby, arena football, tennis, snowboarding, a personal trainer and even sports trivia (even an MMA game if UFC doesn’t sue all their fighters for being in the game*)! It really makes you wonder what they will jump on now. My guess would be the Olympics. With the Winter Olympics video game rendition spoken for by SEGA and a few years until the London 2012 Games, now would be the time to start talking about doing a game.

SEGA has really dropped the ball with the Olympic video games…kinda. Their kids versions featuring Sonic and Mario did okay, scoring 7/10 on both Wii and DS versions. But the big brother Games, both Summer and Winter, scored low 3/10s. Plus they had two years (being Turin 2006 was made by 2k) to develop a system for the Summer games and four years for the Winter. I have heard that the Olympic Committee that offers their likeness to video game developers is flakey but even if that’s the case who signs a contract without a game plan? (No pun intended)

I see EA taking something that first off looks like an EA Sports game, ‘cause face it, they’re on the ball (yes, pun intended) when it comes to graphics. And second, they offer them something that plays well too. SEGA was mocked for its use of “button mashing” and the new games were even compared to the old Track & Field game, just not in a good, nostalgic way. So EA can basically say “you can only go up with us” and I see that being the case. Plus, as much as you can mock EA Sports for “pumping out a game” every year, even I have to admit, for what it’s worth, every year the games do get better on some level, so when you have 4 years to make something up when your nomral time frame is just a few months it should be cool!

*EA Sports had announced a Mixed Marshal Arts game but it’s still in the air because The Ultimate Fighting Championship’s president Dana White had threatened to blacklist any fighter who signs on to appear in the game. The only exception was Randy Couture because of pre-existing contractual arrangements. This is all rooted from Dana White trying to sell his brand of MMA to different video game publishers. Apparently he approached EA Sports and they told him MMA isn’t “a real sport” and that after the huge success that THQ had with UFC 2009 Undisputed, EA just jumped on to make a quick buck. (Dana said it a little harsher saying “EA doesn’t give a ____ about Mixed Martial arts. They made that very clear.”)

Brutal (ancient) Games

2009-11-16T06:01:00.000-08:00

Sports aren’t what they used to be. First off, take out all the flamboyant colors. Teal shouldn’t be the color of the flag you’re waving. Unless you’re from Atlantis and you have gills - then it’s okay. Second, replace all the “bragging rights”; you beat last year’s champs and you're set to “go all the way!” I personally hate that. Real sports not only need talent but also the chance that anyone can win on pure, simple luck. Mixed Marshal Arts has this aspect; you can train as hard as you want but if someone misses a head kick and breaks their ankle then tough. BUUUUUUT, MMA loses out on my first rule: no flamboyant colors.

So with two simple yet polar opposite rules in place, I headed out into the world to find a “true” sport. I searched high and low, near and far. And I came up with a tie.

First off I give you the ancient Egyptian sport of FISHERMAN’S (MAN’S- MAN’S- MAN’S- MAN’S) JOUSTING! (ING!-ING!-ING!-ING!)

Take a few guys, let’s say four. Now put them in a boat made from flimsy papyrus (yes, it must be papyrus) then give them a few ores. Find four other dudes and do the same. Now (here’s the kicker) put them in a river known to be home to crocodiles and deadly hippopotamuses. You with me so far? So recap, eight dudes, two boats, some ores and crocs and hippos all about. Now, this is very important, the last guys still in their papyrus boats win. Rules? Well, let's just say murder is a victory.
How brutal is that? It’s known that many fishermen of Egypt could not swim, so drownings happened a lot. A sculpture has even been found depicting a fisherman’s leg bitten off by a crocodile while playing this game. Now this game is only cool in ancient Egypt, with the crocs and the bloody beating with ores. Nowadays wouldn’t be nearly as cool with life jackets and padded ores and (totally defeating the coolness) no flesh eating animals around. If that is the case it almost sounds like something they did on Road Rules. Boo…

So savage ore beatings on a boat equals fun in the sun for sure. But maybe you like a good hand to hand sport (rather than ore to face sport). How about my other favorite sport?

I give you the ancient Greek sport (and those Greeks knew how to have a good time!) PANKRATION! (ION!-ION! …oh screw it)

Remember how I said MMA was close but no cigar? Well, Pankration hit it right on the money, baby.
When you think of the Greek sports you thing of the normal Olympic sports like running and wrestling. Well Pankration is like the evil brother of boxing... in ancient Greece when boxers would, well, box. Fighters wound leather straps around their hands, sometimes even embedding spikes in their straps, and the fight would last until one of the fighters was knocked unconscious. It wasn’t that uncommon for the fights to end with a death of one of the competitors. That’s pretty hardcore, but Pankration - again, evil step brother.
Pankration is modern day MMA; mixed boxing and wrestling and just simple scraping. But take out the leather gloves and breaks and pants (yes, you're naked, not sure why either). The only rules explained are no biting and no gouging of the eyes (boxing then was still much like boxing now, no kicks, no low-blows that kinda stuff). Other than those rules you're free to beat the loving hell out of each other! The fight itself did not end until one competitor was forced to submit! No time limit! NO BREAKS! Just bare knuckle fighting (well…bare everything fighting to be more precise) and the kicker was if you killed your opponent you LOST! It was considered braver to die fighting a dude than to just simply tap out! DAMN! So the winner (alive or dead) was celebrated and the loser would be given one of these few complementary gifts: death, death by lions, slavery, slavery then death, a whipping resulting in death, or maybe just another match of Pankration. Hope you didn’t spend all your energy with that last fight!

BRUTAL! Take the golf! Tennis! Basketball! Don’t get me started on basketball. You tap someone you get a foul! Add a few lions or something on the court! HELL YA!

Nerd News: Fashion

2009-11-06T17:58:00.001-08:00

Yesterday in London George Lucas turned to the Court of Appeals to fight Andrew Ainsworth (again) from selling replica Stormtrooper costumes. The armor was first sculpted in clay by Brian Muir, a sculptor from the LucasFilms and then Andrew used a mold of those clay sculptures to produce the suits. Star Wars IV: A New Hope then became a worldwide success, and Lucasfilm built up a licensing business for the manufacture of the helmets and armor. But Ainsworth kept the molds and started to sell versions to people all over the world. Lucas finds out and sues. A California judge agrees that it was in breach of copyright laws. But, a judge ruled the Stormtrooper suits were not covered by copyright because they were not “works of art.” That was July of last year. (FYI, there is a lot of stuff in between that happed, like a 150 page verdict and lots of he said/she said. But I have a point to get to, so this is the CliffsNotes version.)

Lucas’ lawyer, Michael Blosh, is strong with the force (a.k.a. legal know-how). He said, ''The question arising on this appeal concerns the scope and meaning of sculpture for the purposes of the Act.'' And if the high court was right - nothing in the film should be considered “art” sculptures. Blosh isn’t joking around about this and I fully agree. The judge said “it is an essential requirement of every sculpture that it have artistic character as part of its purpose, a visual appeal in the sense that it might be enjoyed for that purpose alone.”
My question: How doesn’t a film, which if you study film in college you spend 90% of your time studying Art in film, have “visual appeal?” In theatre you can get a whole degree on costume design! Everything must look interesting and attractive on stage, same for movies costumes. So…you can call one thing an egg and then call the same thing an apple only as long as it’s on film? Right.

But thankfully Lucas can afford good lawyers and followed up saying “this interpretation would lead to the result that statues of the Virgin Mary commissioned by churches and sold throughout the world would not be seen as sculptures because their primary purpose was non-artistic - as a focus for prayer.” ''On the erroneous approach of the learned judge, arguably the most famous sculpture in the world, Michelangelo's Pieta in St Peter's Basilica in Rome, would also be disqualified for the purposes of the Act.''

Which sounds way better than my idea of giving the judge the finger in a Jedi robe holding a lightsaber…but oddly it gives same effect.

Nefflix on PS3

2009-10-26T20:00:00.000-07:00

Netflix + PS3 = Free Streaming Movies without outrageous fees

Outrageous fees = $50 a year from Xbox live

The time you took to read this < time I spend reading hate mail after posting this

Ticketmaster Vs. The Boss

2009-10-09T13:03:00.000-07:00

Ticketmaster, the largest ticket retailer in the world, is in talks with Live Nation, the largest concert promoter in the world, to merge their two businesses together. It’s not the most reported story in the world, though. First off, neither of the two companies is talking about the merge, which tells me the only people losing out on this deal are fans and concertgoers. Just recently I spent almost $300 on Metallica tickets that where priced at $90. Add in “convenience fee” (not sure why that’s in there ‘cause you couldn’t buy them anywhere else,) “shipping and handling fee” (the cheapest way to get the tickets was to send them in the mail…just to print them with my own ink and paper was a $5 fee!,) and of course taxes, which I really can’t complain about; I would rather pay taxes on my tickets then a B.S. “convenience fee.”

But back to the merger for a few then I’ll hand it over to Jersey (No, really)! Ticketmaster and Live Nation would eventually control everything before, during and after a concert, which leaves little room for anything or anyone to step up. In the UK the Competition Commission said the merge could lead to “higher prices and lower quality of services.” More so it would encourage Live Nation to “inhibit a “significant potential rival” from entering the UK market. And that statement goes across the pond too!

Besides the few artists like Danzig who have stepped up and said “get out of my fans’ pockets,” Ticketmaster rules tickets both in the UK and USA. For the last 3 years, in fact, Danzig has used a different site, owned by Artistdirect, to let his fans get presale tickets. Normally the presale tickets would sell out, leaving only a percentage for the box-office to sell, totally kicking out or only leaving Ticketmaster a very small percentage. But Danzig is not the first: Blink182 used their site (again, owned by Aristdirect,) Loserkids.com to do the same thing a few years back.

Now let’s hear it for the man that really hates Ticketmaster, THE BOSS! Bruce Springsteen is pissed off! He’s not pissed because he’s from Jersey, but because Ticketmaster “totally screwed his Jersey fans” by routing fans to buy tickets to a “secondary site” where they were charged way more than the price advertised ($54). Ticketmaster owned that “secondary site” and charged between $200 and $5,000 for tickets to his New Jersey show! The Boss posted a message on his Web site and accused Ticketmaster of “scalping” the tickets! Hell yeah! Give it up for The Boss people!

Then, in a twist of “good call,” New Jersey Congressman Bill Pascrell said he was “deluged this week by calls from angry music fans” and sent a letter to the Federal Trade Commission chairman; not just the complaint line, the chairman! Pascrell asked them to look into Ticketmaster’s practices, which I wholeheartedly agree with.

I would assume that this is huge news for Las Vegas; we’re the entertainment capital of the world and Ticketmaster is used for almost every show on the Strip! But I guess that’s why I am breaking this bad boy open!

PS- Keeping kick ass Bruce!

Geek Science

2009-10-06T09:24:00.000-07:00

So I’ve always wondered, why during a flight are we asked to turn off our electronic devices during take off and landing? So I e-mailed some people trying to find out just what was the reason. So, after a few days of nothing I get a very polite e-mail which said “Frankly, you know that screeching sound when you use a cell phone next to a radio? That noise can transfer into a pilot’s headset.” I was also informed it’s “very distracting.” So, it’s worth your safety to just power off your iPod and Laptop. Other note, why do I need to be in a praying mantis position to type on my computer in a plane? Just a question…

Search it up!

2009-09-22T06:11:00.000-07:00

So, like most in the news room, searching the internet is a daily occurrence, be it looking for story ideas, checking facts, browsing Wookieepedia for the last known whereabouts of Admiral Traest Kre’fey (last seen in the Battle of Kashyyk in the Second Galactic Civil War around 40 “ABY” or 40 years after Luke destroyed the first Death Star outside of the planet Yavin 4) …yes, I knew that offhand and don’t ask why.

So, it’s hard to really decided what search system to use when in need of information. Does one choose Google, Yahoo, Dog Pile? Well, for most of my life Google has been the standard search for me. I even use the word “Google” when talking about “googling” on Google. But last week I had a dream, and I really wish this hadn’t happened this way because it sounds oh so lame.

In my dream I was at an auto press conference. Yes, I dream about auto press conferences. And at this particular show the sound was being demonstrated by a Kiss cover band, make up, platform boots, leather and all. And at one point they asked if anyone wanted to be made up Kiss style and then come perform on stage to some Kiss “ClassLicks” and I shot up my hand in pride (first off, before that statement gets analyzed too much, I, in fact, do not have pride in my fondness for Kiss. I am, in fact, ashamed of it, unless World Without Heroes is playing. Then I will sing every word. SOOOO….I get all excided about being able to play drums and be the one and only Peter Criss…WAIT!!!! Yes I WANTED to be Peter Criss…no one wants to BE Peter Criss…yet in my dream I wanted to be Peter “Cat-Man” Criss).

I was not picked to be made into Peter Criss, and thus I woke up. I was furious! Not because I wasn’t chosen to live out the stage life of The Cat-Man but mostly because I had a dream where I wanted to BE THE CAT-MAN! Sad…even for myself.

So all day, it just lingered in my head WHY!!!!! So I started to look at all things Kiss, in search for some answers. And oddly enough I stumbled on something so attractive (yes I’m speaking of attractiveness and the band Kiss in the same sentence) I had to share it with the world.

It’s called Search With Kiss, and with the simple act of searching on their website you earn Swag Bucks, points you can redeem to get prizes; both Kiss and non-Kiss related prizes. Good stuff, too! iPods and Star Wars Lego Sets, even a real drum set so you too can play dress up like Peter Criss!

It’s not a bad search site; my only beef is the lack of auto suggest on the site. But, the plus is if you aren’t quite sure the correct spelling of Traest Kre’fey, give it a shot anyways. If you mix up and had “Ker’fey” it gives you a “Did you mean” and that counts and another search meaning another chance to get some Swag!

...Nosetra-geekus

2009-09-09T14:26:00.000-07:00

I turn my back for one and a half weeks and Marvel and Disney are in talks and DC has a video game out that is actually really good! WHAT THE HECK?! So I decided maybe I can help and reach my inner Nosetradamus at the same time. Let’s make geek predictions!

In the year of tens DreamsCasting with reappear to no avail

Months later, a new Superhero fighting game will emerge and unlike 1 and 2, the 3rd, a stand up apparatus will not be made

When the moon turns dark on the 3rd week of July, geeks will come out to the usual spot a year later; the city of lights and $1 Keno will take the honor of geek paradise

The glory of Spartan will not need 10,000 because 300 can’t be topped

The Colony is the best show ever (No hidden meaning…it is…along with MythBusters)

On the 9th of 9 of 09 a game will arrive, and it will take spotlight…six months later no one cares

The Dark Knight will again release a box office smash…but the villain and the hero will fall to a man turned to steel in his magnetic field

Little hairy feet will arrive on the silver screen, but only a white rabbet will trample the shire

Well now we just have to wait and see…

Xbox Fail(ure)

2009-08-19T14:08:00.000-07:00

Just yesterday, a new survey published in Game Informer magazine points out a rather sickening figure. The failure rate for Xbox 360s has climbed to a new high of 54.2%. Over 5000 readers were surveyed and over half said their systems had failed in the last year. Even more shocking is the typical customer experience dealing with Microsoft on broken consoles. As a geek (not as a Sony fanboy for once) I really felt disgusted by these findings.

Console failure rate
Xbox 360 – 54.2%
Playstation 3 – 10.6%
Wii – 6.8%

Percentage of console owners who suffered a second hardware failure after the original repair
Xbox 360 – 41.2%
Playstation 3 – 14.7%
Wii – 11%

Percentage of people who rate their customer service experience "very helpful" Nintendo – 56.1%
Sony – 51.1%
Microsoft – 37.7%

Percentage of respondents whose friends have had console hardware failures Xbox 360 – 69.9%
Playstation 3 – 12.4%
Wii – 6%

Now Game Informer did specify some of the findings stating the reason the Wii had the lowest hardware failure rate could be because the system is played the least of the three; which for the record I agree with being I own a Wii and haven’t played in 6 months. The numbers don’t lie either: 41.2% of Wii owners surveyed said the play the console less then one hour a day, meanwhile the majority of Xbox 360 (40.3%) and Playstation 3 owners (37%) say they play their console on an average of three to five hours a day. More shocking to me personally (as a Sony Fanboy) is only 3.8% of those surveyed said they’d never buy another Xbox system because of failure and customer service ratings.

I read this particular story on IGN.com - what a surprise! The story made the front page…in the little thumbnail at the very bottom of the page but it made the front page. Come to think about it, it’s rather odd to even see a Microsoft = bad story at all on IGN (not saying IGN works hand in hand with Microsoft and has had a track record of placing their games over PS3 and PC - just saying the GAMES tap puts Xbox over Wii PS3, PC, iPhone and lots more too, why not alphabetical?). The real fun in reading it on IGN is the great comments left by readers! Some were almost violent, some had splices of intelligence (like one stated “don’t keep it (Xbox 360) in a DVD stand with 2 in. walls and maybe it can breath,” and some had the same reaction as I did: “CONSOLE WAR!!!!”

These types of stories get me up in the morning! I love to hear both sides screaming over an IP address; makes me giggle every time. I’ve come to realize that I can’t take a side anymore (even on the Apple/Windows wars); it’s just no win. I’m happy with my console, yes, but does it make it the best? Who knows and who cares anymore? I just want a good game and 1080i resolution (I can live with 720, too).

S.M.P _ 604164 said “a pull of 30 million would be more accurate.” Well, yes and no. First off , question “respondents whose friends have had a console hardware failues” adds another, let’s say 4,000 people to the survey (if you total the percent, it adds to 88%, meaning some people don’t have friends whose experienced a failure or didn’t have friends, sad). So let’s say out of 9,000 people, half have had a failure. And if Game Informer questions their readers (I’ve worked at one of these call centers you call the people that have subscriptions) - why isn’t that trustworthy enough? You question 30 million random people, you have to toss out 15% right away because you question people that don’t have a clue what you’re talking about but still agree (again I’ve worked at these places too…lots of older people answer - not so much younger folks). So, 15% is being nice. But S.M.P _ 604164 is right too; more surveyed means more answers, means more numbers, means more range of percentages.

Now for the “well, all these game makers are switching.” Well, again that is very true but very wrong. First off, it’s well known in the industry Xbox is a great system to make games on, it’s easy. Not easy but simple(r). But the big elephant in the room when it comes to this statement is MICROSOFT PAYS THEM TO MAKE IT AN XBOX GAME ONLY! And they have waaay more money to push around for this stuff. Sony, on the other hand (not saying it smart) is using their system on reliability and user experience rather then pumping out cash to convince department heads “you’ll reach more of a demo graphic with an exclusive title…oh and here’s $10,000 for you to tell Sony to piss off!” Truth hurts.

See, this is why I stopped getting in the middle of these war threads. I see both sides’ flaws and can point out the bull from a mile away. Now I tried to find a Sony = bad post worth debunking, but they only real one I could find (worth posting) was “PSP had dead pixel problems but nobody seems to open hundreds of threads for it”. Simple answer is ya, nothing competing with PSP to the death. Nintendo is doing okay being the “family” system and it’s good for them. Xbox and Sony are the “gamer big boy” systems so without an Xbox Portable it’s not worth screaming over it. Oh and also the little fact of RRoD (Red Rings of Death) is a little bigger than a dead pixel.

It’s not worth fighting on a thread with logic, like a knife in a gun fight. But because this is my soap box I get to have fun with it.

The fact is real sad: everyone knows 1 person that has had an RRoD or a dead pixel, but it’s the customer service that really saddens me. Luckily (knock on wood), I’ve never had a problem with my PS3, PSP or my Wii ( I did sit on my PSP and broke the screen, but that wasn’t a Sony problem that was a “one too many ice cream cones” problem). So I can’t tell you a personal customer service story. I did, however, break 3 PS2s and Sony was very nice to replace my 4 year old console. I expect the same from them for my PS3. There’s no reason for bad service after a product breaks. More so when it’s a common problem with the product you shipped.

I want to end this with my favorite post. It’s the whole reason for this blog.

WhiteySpidey posted “it's MICROSOFT. What do you expect their computer products to do?”

The next 300 posts commented on why Apple was better, the next 200 stated “why are we talking about Apple,” the next 100 asked about Microsoft Word and the last post I read said something about “daylight” and “outside”. Not sure what they were getting at.

Brandon

Comic-Con 09

2009-07-28T13:56:00.000-07:00

It was great! Over 300 pictures, and an hour and a half interview with DC Universe Online! I'll post as soon as I get though all the stuff in my mail box! But I'll leave you with some "personal" photos (The Green Ranger that is in 4 or 5 photos is one of my best friends so please send him hate mail not me!) And I also have a "Boondocks" style preview of the new Star Wars game! Oh and pics of me playing the demo for God Of War III! Yep all and all good...oh and I found a Wolverine: Origins 2(Canadian Variant) (which if you see the photos you'll see the $500 version and my $40 (currently being rated) version!) So for the time being enjoy!

Comic-Con 09

2009-07-17T14:01:00.000-07:00

Next week starts Comic-Con 2009, the biggest comic book convention on the West Coast. I will be attending on Saturday only, as my broke ass didn’t want to get a hotel. However, my crew of three should be able to get the scoop on all our favorite stuff. Big on my list (so much so I even have a real life interview set with ‘em) is Sony and their new online role playing game, DC Universe Online. Looking to find out just what the plan of attack is. Not worried about the game content as much as a monthly price – if Sony has tacked on $15 a month, what’s the point? Aside from that I have a few booths I make a point to check out every year.

Marvel, who is like a dead set first stop for me and my crew (lol - I have a geek crew) looks good this year! But as always, Comic-Con opens the door for a whole new direction and as seen in the past from them, is always fun to watch!

DC? Well, I’m hoping for a lot from the #2 comic giant, and maybe a new feature film announcement! Again this year, their booth is bigger then Marvel’s but if it’s like last year don’t look too much into that.

Slideshow Collectables is always a must-go, mostly for the shinny objects! But then you look at the price tag and walk away…but it’s fun just to see what people with money get to buy.

Dark Horse is a hard call; some years there’s no flash but lots of cool announcements, other years it’s no flash and no announcements. So toss a coin.

Mattel is always fun, mostly because I’m a big kid and love toys, but they always bring something special to Comic-Con. Just hope it’s something cool this year like a Captain America dress up set! They’re also great on listening to people, i.e. last year a call for a Guardian action figure and late last year…well let’s just say it’s on my wall right now next to Ultimate Thor and Classic Wolverine.

Hasbro fits in the same shoe as Mattel, but their comic inspired board games are rather fun when you bend the rules a bit. If you have some time, grab a copy of Guess Who: Marvel and get geeky with the guesses - “Was he/she ever an Avenger? Are they part of Weapon X?” Great stuff…

As always, a stop at Lucasfilm is a must. New action figures and new comics to boot this year! And I can’t think of a Comic-Con without a photo op with Darth Vader and their 1/1 model of Jabba The Hutt!

And last (not least by far) is Capcom. I expect a huge Marvel-related announcement from them. Now if they actually say what I (and the rest of the Marvel and Capcom fanboys/girls) expect them to say, Marvel vs. Capcom 3…well that’s all I need to say.

I’ll be sure to take lots of pictures and make sure to expand my comic book and action figure collection!

Brandon Dyer

The Punisher: No Mercy Review

2009-07-10T21:50:00.000-07:00

The Punisher: No Mercy is only $9.99! Now, I know what you’re thinking - how good can a $10 game be? Well, simple fact is the game isn’t that bad at all. Really, the only big problem I have is no local multiplayer mode, and that the filling in of textures seems to take a few moments every time you start a game. But the game overall looks smooth and is very well done. The different weapons to choose from aren’t gimmicked to hell but (unfortunately) the voiceovers are. I don’t think I’ve heard someone say “Mother-F’er” this much since Sam Jackson in the movie…well any movie he’s in. But again, it’s only $9.99!

Selling point aside (if you haven’t figured it out it’s only $9.99!) the game is a very fun arena first person shooter; the guns all have their advantages, and noobs have a chance on staying alive in online death matches, but more on that in a second. Out of the box…err right from the load screen, I do what any gamer does: click on Story Mode and have at it. I almost expect a game to always have some kind of tutorial system in first few missions but Frank Castle says “nay-nay no how-to for you Mother-Fer! You’ll have to find that out for yourself!" But the story presentation is very nice, though heed my warning: if you’re not an avid comic book fan, the story or who wrote the thing will mean nothing to you and you may hate the storyline no matter what I say.

The actual story and the character design for The Punisher: No Mercy was done by Mike Deodato, which explains the why that seems to be a nag in every review I’ve seen online. It’s a short story, but ties in the arena FPS aspect of the game rather well. The art (and voiceovers) on these cut scenes are pretty good, but seem to stray away from the actual design of the gameplay maps. I really didn’t have a problem with that. I was so focused on the art and the story that the background didn’t seem to matter; I just filled in end points myself. During the cut scenes the voice acting is superb, but in game it’s quite lame. You hear every line in the game within 30 seconds of playing, but personally it took me back to the days of Duke Nukem (The Punisher even used a line or two straight from Duke himself). The soundtrack for the game is good, but during long matches the song has to be repeated a few times, and you can hear the cut in the audio to restart the track.

All I can say about multiplayer in the game is that online it's one of the best I’ve ever played, but the lack of a local multiplayer mode really leaves a bitter taste in my mouth. As stated above, noobs can hop on and last awhile due to the system of in-game weapon upgrades, active and passive mods and simple controls which make the game really fun to play for all gamer levels. Even while losing in a team death match (like badly losing) I was having so much fun I really didn’t care. That’s a real hard quality for a game. One of the reasons I had a hard time during my (still ongoing) campaign with Resistance: Fall of Mankind was that I wasn’t having fun, so I had to turn the game off. But just Thursday night alone I played well into the night and was just giggling at how stupidly fun the game is. I really do like the game, but the fact there is no local multiplayer is the worst part of the game. It’s pretty hopeless unless you’re online; that’s where the game is worth all 200 nickels. Even to get new costumes and different weapons you need to play online, which is a drag but means you earn every bit of that crossbow.

So final call: It’s a good game and a great buy, but if you don’t have a steady online connection don’t bother. (if you do don't forget Battlefeild 1942 is a great buy too!)

Brandon Dyer

Backtracken...

2009-07-01T16:06:00.000-07:00

One of the biggest complaints I hear about gaming today is the simple remark “remember when?” And I understand we all love the nostalgic essence of gaming’s past, be it Mario or Zelda, Final Fantasy or Metal Gear, or even Halo…or Halo 2. It’s gaming’s poetic past that sets up the future. More recently, I have even started to replay God of War I and II; I love the games, but I feel the need to refresh myself in the past adventure to fully illuminate the potential of GoWIII, and I don’t want to miss a beat of the biggest release to date on the PS3! (I’m not even like fanboy preaching here, it really is)

But after the first generation of PS3, to drop the price a bit, Sony stopped including the “Emotion Engine” chipset to their products. Seems logical as far as the industry goes – “let’s focus on new products and phase out the old” - but gamers and geeks (like me) hate the fact that something relatively simple and all around nice feature-wise as backward compatibility isn’t part of a system. To me, I feel I have spent “x” amount of dollars for years on this system and enjoyed it; now you have a new system, so I’ll get that now, but I don’t want that “x” amount to seem like it was totally useless now.

Here’s the funny part: I do indeed have a first generation PS3 so I use it to play games such as God of War, but I still own a lot of old systems too, and there is a certain glow about dusting off an old system and playing games on it. Just last night I played Mutant League Football and Comic Zone on my Sega Genesis and even had to hold back my glee when I finally found my copy of Echo the Dolphin. And I still own my PS2; I haven’t needed to bust it out yet, but I know one day will come when I do feel the urge to blow off the dust on it and I’m sure I’ll feel the same amount of joy as I did last night. But replace Echo with Twisted Metal: Black…come to think of it, I need to find that in my room…somewhere in there…

But let’s get to the point here. Sony has recently filed a patent that suggests to capability of making all, ALL, PS3s backward compatible with a simple firmware update. Not sure if it’ll be as powerful as the chipset, but it’s a nice thing to toss in. It may not receive a huge ovation from PS3 owners around the world…more like a “sweet” from the handful of people that actually read the update notes. Even myself, one whom considers himself to be “in the loop” with things like this found out Sony’s intentions via IGN. But really the point here is look how cool Sony is, thinking about the consumer even if it means taking a step back...EAT IT APPLE! (Sorry I now have a monthly quota for Apple bashing…I am behind from the previous two months so I apologize for any inconvenience I may cause in the following statements:) WHY WOULD I, AN EDITOR, THINK THAT BEING ABLE TO EDIT VIDEO ON A CELL PHONE IS GOOD THING!? I LIKE MY JOB AND MY PAYCHECK! ALSO, WHY ARE YOU CHARGING THE PEOPLE THE COST OF A WHOLE NEW PHONE JUST TO BE ABLE TO RECEIVE PICTURES?! MY FOURTH GENERATION NOKIA COULD DO THAT! EVEN NEXTEL CAN PULL THAT OFF! (Again I apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused; I am now set for rest of the month of July. Thank you.)

Brandon Dyer

Superhero Crush…

2009-06-16T14:20:00.000-07:00

So, as Comic-Con nears I feel as if I need to come clean. First off, I do enjoy Final Fantasy VII; it takes a lot for me to admit that. Don’t’ get me wrong, I still hate the subculture, creepy kids with bleached blond hair with giant swords…just no. But I did download FFVII from PSN last week and I remember why I loathed it so much…it’s so much fun that I lose track of time. (I also picked up Resident Evil, so very great!). Aside from that I do have one more thing to admit to the masses: I’m in love.
Yes, I know that I’m engaged, but I have talked about my love of another with my fiancé and she understands. Well, she doesn’t “understand” but she does know about it. It’s funny because it wasn’t until a chance meeting at the 2009 Comic-Con that I decided she was the woman for me.

I have a crush on Power Girl. I know, I know, she’s a geek icon, and I have no chance in hell, but just one date with Power Girl - that's all I'm saying! Just one night of bowling, maybe a movie, I know a great little place with the best pizza! Or, we can be friends if you choose! Just chill out at my pad for a while playing some Guitar Hero: World Tour, then head to the JLA and play some Scrabble! We could talk the night away, share secrets and you can help me hook up with Supergirl or Batgirl! It’s a win-win baby!

Brandon Dyer

Game Rental Services (online edition)

2009-06-01T16:09:00.000-07:00

There’s no big online secret about Gamefly.com; it’s the largest and, by many standards, the best video game rental service (online) there is. But most just click on it and subscribe without any thought of just why they are the best.

There are actually four other game rental services available online (maybe more, but these are the ones I would trust): Gamerang, Gamemine, GottaPlay and RentZero. All have their flaws and their advantages.

Gamerang is a solid second; good “Q” system and webpage design, but the price per game is outrageous. One game a month is $17.95!!! The good news is you will most always get the newest game, no wait. Mostly because you’re paying $18 a month and no one else seems to be.

Next is GottaPlay, from the most expensive to the cheapest - $12.95 per month! W00T! But…they’re pretty bad about new releases. For example, InFamous isn’t even on the site yet…so you’re gonna wait for new stuff.

RentZero rocking a $13.95 price tag isn’t bad, but say you want older game, say God of War. You may need to just walk down to the Game Stop. Not a bad service, but as far as I can see the distribution house (ya I think it’s just one) is gonna keep you waiting for the mail man.

Last is Gamemine. Now they too rock the $12.95, but if you think GottaPlay suffers from backlog and no new releases, Gamemine just got Spiderman: Web of Shadows.

So let’s talk about Gamefly. The best thing about the service is first off it’s the middle of the road for price - $15.95 - and sometimes you’ll suffer from wait-insanity, but it’s rare to see your #1 pick dropped back more than an month. They have lots and lots of distribution houses, so it’s never more than a day or two wait for Mr. Mailman/woman. HUGE selection!!! Never seen so many games, even ones maybe you never heard from. Back in the day this was the only place to rent Katamari Damacy! Also they do a great job of reviewing the game; not just a copy and paste review, you can really tell they spend a good amount of time playing and work out the flaws in the game. Also, my favorite part, if you’re playing a game you rented and decide “Hey this is full-blown LOVE,” most games you can grab for a cheap price! Say you wanted SoulCalibur IV…$21.99. That’s better than most strip mall gaming stores; they ship the box to you and you get your next game in your “Q!”

For the record, I was a Gamefly member long ago, like when they first started. Stopped because I was broke….sad. But I’m back now after looking around the web for myself. Figured I’d pass the info along! So, if you’re looking for a video game, but just aren’t committed enough to give your heart to a game…rent and enjoy and return when you’re ready.

Brandon Dyer

For What It’s Worth!

2009-05-20T11:54:00.000-07:00

PS3….laughed at in America, but feared and loved in Japan!

X-box 360… feared and loved in America, laughed at in Japan!

See, this is what I deal with all day. Do I listen to the fanboys or do I side with the technical? Do I point out the obvious flaws or do I poke pinholes into the “only happens 1 time in a million” mishap? See it’s hard; I would love to say that I, myself, am a true journalist, pointing out both sides’ arguments, taking no side whatsoever, but honestly I can’t. I own a PS3, never had a problem and love it. I have friends who own an X-Box and had to get it replaced a few times (before and after the “overheating” issue). And I even have a friend that is wealthy enough to own both…he’s useless.

But what if I did a true, 100% middle ground blog? …never gonna happen but I’ll give it a shot…cross your fingers!

Sony’s PlayStation 3

·First? Well, it’s not as revolutionary looking as the PS2 was, looks about the same just “Apple-ised” (or is it iThemed?).

·Next, it’s pricey, has a Blu-Ray player but really if you’re not rocking HD, who cares!

·Its online system is lackluster; like Sony, (it) asks the game developers to make the game online compatible, and then tells them to be in charge of it. Like it’s an added on feature.

·The controllers are expensive.

·When the system needs an update you need to do that before anything.

·Home is dumb.

·If you don’t own a PSP you don’t care about “remote play” or using your PSP as an extra game extension like in Formula One Championship Edition - you can use it as a rearview mirror.

·You don’t have to worry about the “Live” bills each month to play online.

·It’s wireless out of the box so you don’t have to get in your car to back to BestBuy or Walmart and pick up the wireless connecter.

·It’s full 1080i, so if you have a HDTV it looks better than a tall glass of water in the middle of the desert.

X-Box 360

I was going to write this, but as soon as they heard someone was bashing their product, Microsoft tossed money at me so just like all the problems “I am expecting an update to fix” this blog…I’ll get back to you.

But I do know for sure your X-Box Live money is going to good use…

J Allard is not fighting crime as PLASTIC-please don’t overheat-MAN!

Batman sues…Batman?

2009-05-07T15:10:00.000-07:00

This isn’t a new story but a definitely good one. A few months ago, the city of Batman, Turkey decided to take back what was rightfully theirs from the Caped Crusader…the name Batman?!

If you haven’t heard this story it’s quite ridiculous. Basically, the largely oil-producing town of Batman, Turkey was looking into suing Batman Begins and The Dark Knight director Christopher Nolan and distributor Warner Brothers, claming the studios had been using the name “Batman” without the permission of the city. Furthermore, the mayor placed blame on the film for a “number of unsolved murders” within the city and that the “psychological impact” from the film’s success generated a “high female suicide rate” among the Batman-ians(?).

Sweet subtext to the story: the city of Batman, which is the shortened name of Bati Raman Mountians, lies on the Batman River! THE BATMAN RIVER!!! That’s so cool!!! I wonder if Superman or Green Lantern has a town, let alone a river. Or is it Supi Semana and Lagrene Erlantn?

All jokes aside, if you look back at the city’s history you’ll find that it really wasn’t a city at all until the 1950s when oil companies moved in and the city started to grow. Before that it was just a simple village. But as we all know the Dark Knight (Batman as in Batman and Robin or Batman Forever) first appeared in Detective Comics #27 in May of 1939! Well…we all “should” know that. But my point is that Batman (superhero) may have been named prior to Batman (city). Oh, and the little fact of his name is based on WHAT HE LOOKS LIKE!!! BAT-MAN! HE’S A MAN THAT LOOKS LIKE A BAT! BATMAN!

But other than that, I highly doubt that either Bob Kane or Bill Finger traveled though Turkey in the 1930s to find a small village near the southeast border…it was the 1930’s! Both Kane and Finger where very well know to be Jewish Americans. I’m going to assume that both would avoid southern Europe like the plague, and Batman wasn’t even on a map at that point. So yeah, I’m calling “Ninja Bullshit” on this one.

Here’s the real skinny on Batman (city). The city is now faced with a high level of unemployment (what city isn’t?) but the city is also the home to many Turkish state officials. They want the city to undergo a load of renovations to become a major tourist attraction. Just search around the official website of Turkish Culture and Tourism Office, click on Destinations, then click on South East Anatolia on the map and then click the city of Batman!! On there you can get the total population of Batman (which in 1990 was 344.669…wait how the hell is it 344 and .669 of a person?). You can even get some sites of interest, like the Camiü'r Rızk or the Hızır Bey Mosque whatever the hell those are. But Turkey sure is proud of Batman, even got a sweet 300 person concert hall! Even Metallica is willing to work with that!

So as my story drifts off into the ramblings of a geek with nothing going on this week, the city of Batman ended up never suing Christopher Nolan or Warner Brothers. First off, neither of them gave Batman his name, and second if people like me are that bored to search the internet just to call out “Ninja Bullshit!” on a simple city in need of some fast cash, then hopefully so is some European layer.

But hey, before we go here’s another fun quote from Batman mayor Huseyin Kalkan…you know it would have been better if his name was Theodore Cobblepot…other acceptable names are as follows: Fiorello H. LaGuardia, Mayor Hayes, Mayor Thorndike, Hamilton Hill, Julius Lieberman, Armand Krol, Marion Grange, Daniel Danforth Dickerson III, David Hull, Charles Chesterfield, Aubrey James or Mayor Giordano from the alternate future via Batman: The Dark Knight Strikes Again…yes, I have too much time on my hands…but Mayor Huseyin said “There is only one Batman in the world!”

Brandon Dyer

BREAKING GEEK NEWS!!!!

2009-04-29T15:41:00.000-07:00

Marvel vs. Capcom 2 Confirmed!!!!!

Tomorrow on PSN you can download a demo for the much loved arcade classic for FREE!! And the full game (online play and all) will drop soon!!!!!! That's right no more saving to buy a used copy for $150 on Amazon! $14.99!!!!

I AM SO HAPPY!!!!!!
REALLY I AM GOING TO CRY!!!!
TOO...MUCH....GEEK...

Brandon Dyer

Drawing the Line…

2009-04-24T15:57:00.000-07:00

Masaya Matsuura (creator of PaRappa the Rapper) woke up, walked down (well, I’m sure he was driven but work with me here) to the D.I.C.E Summit here in Las Vegas back in February and told video game developers to “Stop wasting your talents and the world’s music with licensed play-along games.”

What do you say to that? I mean, the guy that pretty much invented music play-along games…well, he hugely mass-marketed those play-along video games, and then tells developers to stop with all the Rock Bands and GuitarHeros…

He’s very justified. I mean, just within the last two years there as been just over 20 music play-along video games for a variety of systems. GuitarHero, Rock Band, Rock Revolution, Lips, Sing Star, Karaoke Revolution…and that list goes on for miles and miles. Shop at the Wal-Mart toy aisle and you’ll see all the Disney Sing Along titles. To top this off, in the next year we still get to see 5 more major games coming out that uses the same system of play-along with fake guitars and drums set to real music!

I do love GuitarHero…from the first strum of “I Love Rock and Roll” from the first game to “Satch Boogie” on the ship to Asgard. I mean, shoot, I just wrote a blog about Metallica GuitarHero. In my defense, I’ve been waiting for that since Joan Jett belted out some lyrics while I hammered on yellow and pull off to a red…But I mean really, where does it go now?

More songs to the game?
Okay. Cool.

Better graphics?
That didn’t seem to bother me in the first game…I mean, they look better overall. But really, I’m focused on what’s going on behind the note highway anyways.

Exclusive licenses to music?
Does anyone really like Van Halen that much? (That was rhetorical!!! NO HATE MAIL!!!)

Rock Band kinda stumbled with Rock Band 2. (And now here comes the crap from all the 360 fan boys about bashing RB2) But when you look at the game as a whole, it was pretty much the exact same game as its predecessor; they fixed a few problems and added a few things, but at most it was a “system update” and nothing more. So why then was it $70?

The next Rock Band title is Rock Band Unplugged. Nice idea but don’t really see taping on the D-Pad of a PSP being that much fun. (See? That was bashing them from a Sony angle!!!) And after Unplugged, The Beatles is the next venture. Kinda a stretch for the demographic. I love The Beatles and I’m sure they’ll sell a whole lot (even the Aerosmith GuitarHero did better than any of their albums ever did, which sadly is the truth!) But Beatles fans aren’t really playing video games (Oh well, there goes hope for no hate mail…) There are always exceptions, and I’m sure my mother-in-law would love to play a Beatles video game, but that’s just beside the point. I would think a Beatles download would be just as good as an entire game. It could be a really cool game. Take in point the Metallica game was centered around the world of Metallica! Every single song, every picture, every little detail about GuitarHero Metallica was Metallica. Not sure the same vibe would come off in a Beatles game. Congrats and all for getting the licensing, but really a track pack/clothing download/venue add-on would be just as good as a $70 game for any real Beatles fan.

What I really feel is that the music industry and (more so) the music artist should start thinking outside the box when it comes to writing music and selling an album. So in the interest of my boredom and because I really want someone to steal this idea, I’m going to tell you what the next step for music based videogames should be.

First, you need someone that can create a whole lot of music with some kind of substance and they need a great sense of humor! If you take a song (more so a song based for a video game) too seriously, the game would come off as to obscure. GTA is a great example: giddy and dark, but great sense of humor making fun of itself the whole way. Second, you need to have a musician that is in him or herself a great character; “they” need to have over the top characteristics, great and marketable personalities and a “clown.” Why a clown? Well, because. There’s nothing worse than a video game that you can tell wasn’t even supported by the person on the cover (not going to name names) (okay screw it, Shaun White!). So the game must take the “band” into its own little world and then take the gamer with them flawlessly.

So you take this band, get them to record a whole album (or start on “another” one) and take the ideas and demos of the songs and work them into a game. That’s the idea - make a game that gives a life to the songs. This isn’t a new idea “Metallica” was originally going to do this, well without the whole “new” album thing.
But you take the new songs, some old favorites, the band and some “supporting actors” and toss it in a blender of sorts. The whole key is the new stuff…to coincide with a CD and a video game at the same time, basically selling a CD twice but with an interactive platform to experience that CD. Cool right?

But you need a band that’s willing to “take forever on everything!” A band that has a “heavy” back beat to “brutally” exterminate any evil that may come. You need a band that doesn’t exist. A subconscious characterization of one man’s life. You need Dethklok!!!!

Yep…

See, a band like that is so over the top, but yet so good it could work. Take the song Hatredcopter and design a whole level to a game about that; after you beat the level about the song you play that song at a gig. Just like the TV show, a bunch of mishaps and fun lead to a very metal conclusion. A music play along mini game of sorts. Why not? At that point it would just be an extra something that would just be an add-on. And because Metalocalypse has such a huge variety of music, different styles and genres - each one would come with a different character; each level would in itself be a totally different experience. From a Dr. Rockso skiing mountains of…well let’s just say skiing, to a whole level playing as mermaid that is committing murder, Murmaider as it’s so called.

Now a drawback is that it could come off as hokey if done sloppy and without total consent from creator Brendon Small. But if it was done with the same passion and enthusiasm as Metalocalypse is, then maybe, just maybe, it’ll light a fire under other musicians. I could think of seven or eight guys that would fit into a video game, Slipknot comes to mind right away.

In just the last few years, as new video game programmers come into the industry, they get opportunities to call upon their favorite musicians. Les Claypool just did the theme song (among other songs as well) for Mushroom Men: The Spore Wars. Which, for the record, isn’t a bad game, just very, very, very - well…Les Claypool-ish.

This whole idea is a huge stretch, but not as far from the truth as it may seem. It’s more about the artist behind the music trying to figure out new ways to sell themselves. Metallica doesn’t need help in any sense. I just dropped $180 for tickets (they come in December and they sold out the thing in April…you know how much could happen between then?!) but a band like Dethklok could use it as a way to expand their music catalog, rather then just showcasing the same old stuff and playing fake instruments to it.

Brandon Dyer

Ninja's and PSP

2009-04-13T12:25:00.000-07:00

Okay, I admit it, for a so called “geek” blog I really don’t review that much stuff…I complain a whole lot…but to date I haven’t really ever rated and reviewed anything. But over the weekend, I acquired some cash and decided that one of the two things I was going to buy was a new guitar for GuitarHero: Metallica, which would be my third guitar I’ve had to get since the game came out. (By-in-by, GuitarHero has had a Load (get it? ..it’s a Metallica album) of problems with the down strumming malfunctioning on the World Series Guitar, so take it from me - make sure you keep that receipt so you can replace it!)

(And on another side note, the FrontMan Explorer Guitar for the PS3 is a great alterative for the game…A-: it looks like James signature white ESP Explorer and B-: I haven’t broke it yet…)

But back to the money I had. So my second purchase was going to be a PSP game!

Okay, take one more step back before we get to that. On Saturday, I picked up Rag Doll Kung Fu: Fists of Plastic on the PlayStation Network and it’s a great game, lots of just dumb fun and a great style of smash em’ up fighting! Great for a party or just some stress relief. DodgeBall and King of The Hill mode rank high on the anti-Zen for this game.

So, to say the least, I was in the mood for something like a Kill Bill type of game…

So while in this Battle Royal type of mood at GameStop I looked over at the PSP rack and saw Tenchu: Shadow Assassins. So at first I was very cynical about what the game offered. I mean, I like ninjas…but the corky type (Askaninja.com). The graphics looked amazing on the box, but like any PSP game I auto-downgrade anything I see on the box art. Learned a hard lesson on SmackDown vs. Raw 2008 (the only instance I’ve seen since). The graphics on the box are never the ones you see in game. But after walking around the other racks awhile, I decided that I would grab a copy and hope for the best.

Right out the box, the game looks incredible (for a PSP). I mean, they’re not breaking any doors open on next generation systems, but for a handheld I think they have beat out anyone on graphics point blank. The controls are surprisingly easy, but fun and challenging at the very same time. It takes awhile to master the game; hiding and dodging from Samurai trying to kill you. The levels are pretty big and are separated into sections. Each section varies in size but for the most part, I was impressed on how big they. The game uses mini load screens to take you from section to section, and even on my first gen PSP are very fast.

The big selling point for me was the stealth combat style which plays a lot like Splinter Cell, just more brutal. Lots of blood and lots of creative kills, some make you laugh, and they get more as the game goes on.

So as far a rating goes for this game…8.9 solid! A must to get if you have a PSP, but the only problem is the camera is a kind-a sort-a issue at times. Also, the AI for the enemies is at times very predicable. But for the record: best PSP game and Best Ninja game I’ve ever played…

Sweeps...that's my excuse...

2009-04-06T16:50:00.000-07:00

Sometime you just need a break...and working in a news room makes you crave a break. So last week I was lame and didn't post anything...opps. Well to make up here's a link to some sweet and not-so-sweet keyboards.

Click this...

check it...maybe I'll do a wrestling blog this week?

2009-03-26T16:12:00.000-07:00

Growing up, I honestly can say I hated to read. More accurately, I hated spending any length of time away from TV and video games. I am a true child of what I like to call the “Nickelodeon Age,” so called because it was in fact what 90% of my childhood memories consist of. Whenever I bring the “Nick” theory up, I get one of two reactions: a smile or a blank confused face. Most can agree though, shows like Guts, Doug, Rocko’s Modern Life and The Adventures of Pete and Pete just seemed to rule our lives for that time in front of the tube.

In high school I was pretty much the same way; couldn’t get into any source of printed text. Even comics seemed too demanding, though I knew all the stories and love the characters (Tim Burton and Larry Hous get credit for that,) but even though I dabbled here and there, I could never totally get away from the video games and weekly syndicated TV shows I love so very much.

It had to be senior year in high school that every week we (my best friend and I) would ditch school and find something “better” to do. Now before you get any ideas brewing, remember I am a geek!
We spent most of the year driving round town, finding some place open. In Las Vegas, high school starts at 7am…meaning nothings open for two hours. So we drove and talked a great deal. But like any good ditcher knows, you can’t go home. What if your parents come home? So we would spend the next four hours looking for something cheap and entertaining. This was the reason I discovered GuitarHero. One day we went to Fry’s and there it was. So there we were for five hours…oddly enough, no one cared. We even visited The Atomic Testing Museum once…ya, we ditched school to go to a museum. But I did contest that it “didn’t really count as a ditch day, considering we both learned something about World War II!”

Now, I also really go into comics because of these ditch days. See, the comic store I went to was A- ; far enough away from my house and from our school, ‘cause both of us were paranoid ditchers and B- ; the doors opened at 9am! So drive down there, get some food and then comics! It was almost perfect some days. But this kind of kicked me into comics 100%. Talked comics for hours, got to know a slew of characters that I never knew of, even learned a few trading card games. Come to think of it, that was the first place I even admitted to being a geek. Even though I was in TV Production, making me a true AV geek, I never admitted it.

Now, not saying ditch school kids, but…I won’t rat you out if I happen to see you at the local comic stand…as long as you don’t rat me out for not being at work!

…okay so now that I wrote a bio let me give you some real news! The X-Men animated series by Larry Hous and Frank Squillace is finally coming to DVD!!!! On April 28 both Volume 1 & 2 are going to be released on DVD! Here’s the best part peeps…only $23.99 each! Yep, over 600 min of greatness for under $50! GO, NOW, PREORDER!

Met-tal-ic-A!

2009-03-13T14:43:00.000-07:00

Well, I’ve avoided the subject for a little while now…but now is as good as a time as any to step up and talk about the “new” GuitarHero Game: GuitarHero: Metallica. (See, it’s not truly new because it’s world tour, basically, but with a Metallica theme - not complaining here just saying)

I love me some Metallica! I own a truck load of t-shirts (which I tend to wear…a lot) and other than Danzig, they are a true favorite of mine. I even sport the shockingly poorly reviewed Lars Custom Diamond plate Snare Drum on my drum set! I don’t care if it does tend to sound like a trashcan lid if the head isn’t changed every few months! Truth be told, they are one of the biggest reasons I started to pound the drums in the first place. Now, of course, I realize as a drummer Lars isn’t the best, nor even close to being the best…BUT, let’s face it: Lars is Metallica. I mean, can you think of any other guy to sit in on that spot? Okay enough rant, let’s get to the game!

45 tracks baby! (Half of which are from the band) That’s over 400 hours!!! I mean – wait - no, 400 hours? Well, okay so I exaggerated how long some of the songs are, but you know what? “One” is 7:29 long! But still, this game isn’t Aerosmith or AC/DC (as much as I do love some of their music you can’t sit and tell me it’s not repetitive). You’re getting everything from Seek and Destroy to All Nightmare Long. Some are even calling this game a best of the best of Metallica! Wait…why is Frantic on here?

Let me give you the big money saving tip though! IF YOU HAVE ROCK BAND DRUMS YOU DO NOT!!! I SAY YOU DO NOT NEED GUITAR HERO DRUMS!!!! This comes direct from the GuitarHero:Metallica website; PS2, PS3, X-BOX360 can use all three sets (RockBand, Rockband II and GuitarHero) on this game (Wii is the odd ball= as always.) I’m not sure if you can add another petal to the Rockband drums…I believe you can on the Rockband 2 drums…but I’m not at home right now so I can’t really say for sure whether or not.

But to end this blog/rant I’m going to finish ranting. A few years back (2003) on the St. Anger album there was a teaser video for a Metallica videogame featuring futurist- Shakespearian-NASCAR-type-event game…thank you Murderface.

Anyway, soon after this I e-mail Metallica HQ (yes that’s what it was called) and asked about making a Metallca GuitarHero type game…later on that night I got a response and it read as follows:

“This hasn’t been ruled out; in fact due to the recent popularity of the game we may even think about changing this game.”

A year later that game was officially caned. And GuitarHero: Metallica would soon be announced. Not saying I am the reason for this, but I am saying I popped the idea in their mouths…

Epic Win.

Spiderman via 1979 Japan!!!

2009-03-09T12:56:00.000-07:00

‘bout time!

2009-03-06T11:49:00.000-08:00

Let’s put this nicely: When Ultimate Wolverine vs.. Hulk #2 came out… I was still in High School. I mean, I understand Damon Lindelof is the producer of Lost, and I know if I was in the position I don’t think I would be home that much let alone having time to write a comic book. But at this point in the game, why bother finishing this book? I mean, #3? Not #302 or #1, but #3? I mean, you can own the whole series with just two clicks on Amazon.com (well, three now). I’m not saying it’s a bad story arch - I love it to be honest - but why not hand this series off - ooooh – say, a year and a half ago?

The question is simple: why is this comic worth picking up?

Well first off, I would have to commit myself to Arkham if I don’t finish a story line (lame line by in by). I mean, the rest of the universe moves on but one story is still in limbo? Like say World War Hulk was put on hiatus after issue #1 when Blackbolt was laid out? Well?? Bull, right!?

But a real reason to pick it up…I would trust Damon with making fans happy, even with a three year wait. He’ll make it entertaining. I mean, he’s no Miller but when he does something he makes sure to make it worth while. Now I know I’m not the only one confused when the season of Lost finally airs, but even when I click off the TV screaming “Screw this show!” The first time I see a promo for the new season I set my TiVo on season pass mode…so lighten up nay Sayers! Go support your local comic shop, and pick it up. And if you don’t have a shop to go to see my friends at Comic Oasis! They’ll treat you right! D is the man!

Brandon Dyer

PSP 2 update

2009-02-27T14:27:00.000-08:00

Last night while updating my Twitter, Facebook, Myspace and Microspace while at the same time tanking Ony (I’m a social networking dweeb with a WoW problem) I was checking up on one of my favorite twit’s, David Parry (video game designer and a good one at that). He let it slip that “Sony finally has the PSP 2” and “Thank goodness they’ve removed the stupid battery-sucking UMD disc drive.”

First you have to remember the amount of buzz on the “PSP2” is pretty high. Just last night when IGN reported on this exact same thing it reached 2,000 hits and mind you it wasn’t even on the front page! I mean, between the PSP2 and the iPhone, Sony has had a whole lot more to talk ‘bout than what “could be” in store for it. Sources are saying it’ll have a touch screen, others have said it will have a sliding screen and even more have said it will be just a PSP-4000 - not a true PSP2…so what to believe?

But if you take a good look at the PlayStation Store, notice how much downloadable content is already aimed at the PSP. Now notice a lot of games are downloadable (like PaRappa the Rapper!)! It would make sense to sell games direct to your PS3 and let you pick and choose what games you want to take with you for that day (like you would say…for a Sony Mp3 player!)

The second part of this story is if Sony plans to remove the “used” game market. Take a look at the sales of new PSP games; they’re okay. Now take a look at the amount of used game sales from stores like GameStop - they’re doing great! And I even called a store to confirm this! Joey from a local GameStop told me he rarely sees PSP games bought brand new, most every sale (for PSP) is a used or Greatest hit game. So it would make sense that Sony wants money!

This move also makes use of the PlayStation Store and the PS3 more. I’m sure they’ll bring out a computer version of the Store once all is said and done, but think of this product move as the iPhone. Really, to get the full experience from it you need an Apple computer…

But I have high hopes…more so I want a new PSP. Remember, I still have my first gen and it’s still going strong baby!!! (Reminder I need to update it…)

Brandon Dyer

W00T!

2009-02-20T12:17:00.000-08:00

No, I didn’t just win Warsong Gulch (no thanks to the healers); Woot.com is pretty much the best thing for my impulse buying needs. Have $10? Is it burning a hole in your pocket? Well, there you go…Woot.com is your place!

First, some history: It started as a market-testing website for an electronic distributor. The idea was “one deal, one day” - take a product, toss it on the site for a low price and see how many you can sell at that price. Well, it worked quite well. In fact, it started two other sites with the same sales model: one offers original t-shirts, the other offers fine wine.

Second thing to know…. “Woot-Off”= awesome! The site offers a succession of random products for an unannounced period of time (mostly 24-72 hours). When you see rotating lights at the top of the main page you’re in a Woot-Off!

Next: Bag O’ Crap. Well, how do I put this? For $1 you can purchase a “grab bag” of stuff. Sometime’s it’s a bag full of dollar store stuff, and other times it’s a flat screen TV! Yep…that’s right sir you “could” get a flat screen TV for a $1! 9 times out of 10 the BOG will sell out so fast you’ll never see it. It’s been rumored Woot has made up to a million dollars with a single BOG sell.

One other cool thing, 2 for Tuesday offers do exist (also, it’s not rare to see a 3-for-Tu3sday, 4-for-Fuesday, 5-for-Tue5day, or even a10X-Tuesday)…

But why is this so cool? Well just read this excerpt from the “What is Woot” page…

Will I receive customer support like I'm used to?

No. Well, not really. If you buy something you don't end up liking or you have what marketing people call "buyer's remorse," sell it on eBay. It's likely you'll make money doing this and save everyone a hassle. If the item doesn't work, find out what you're doing wrong. Yes, we know you think the item is bad, but it's probably your fault. Google your problem, or come back to that product discussion in our community and ask other people if they know. Try to call the manufacturer and ask if they know. If you give up and must return it to us, then follow on to the next FAQ entry.

See!!! This site is run by geeks!!! I love any site that blames “YOU” for something and then tells you “tuff!”

And hey what are you going to lose? I mean, besides your electric, gas, phone service? I mean, besides that? Trust me; it takes a few months before you get evicted from your apartment, and you’ll get a boot waaaaay before they repo your car!

Brandon Dyer

WIN!!!! Tuff_Fish

2009-02-12T15:09:00.000-08:00

So, for the last year or so this video of a guy only know as Tuff_Fish lossing online poker has been going around...but someone got creative and took some soundbites and mixed them with Super Mario Brothers...win for all!

How do you know it’s bad?

2009-02-11T14:45:00.000-08:00

Canada just laid off 2,900,000 workers; Panasonic cut 15,000 jobs; the PS3 just dropped another $100 ( and a side note for that Dead Rising 2 isn’t a X-Box Exclusive anymore!), and here’s the #1 reason why hell’s ‘bout to freeze over…drum roll

Apple is even “downgrading” for the next version of the iPhone!!!! Well…kinda…

Word on the web is that Apple plans to release a $99 version of the iPhone that will run off a 2.5G network and not the 3G. Also, this cheaper phone will continue to sport the 480-by-320 3.5-inch screen of the current iPhone (the high end models sport the 720-by-480 high res screen among a few other bells and whistles). Bit for Bit, the rumors are starting to fall into place. AT&T would be a great source for all this, too - mostly because what better way to sell more phones than drop price of the #1 wish list phone and make sure everyone can have one! (Even if it means the product suffers).

Okay, here’s a first: I like the iPhone (yep I admitted something positive about Apple. Hope all you geniuses in Hawaii are happy now), I do. I think it changed the way everyone looks at a cell phone and though some phones have tried to match the power they couldn’t come near it. As far as what’s next, I’ve gotta say Apple may just stay on top and even branch out to others sources. I hope, I mean I would apple to work with my computer, not an Apple, I know surprise? I would love the iPhone to work with any media player.

What did you really expect me to praise iTunes did you? Psh…fail.

Thundercats HOOOOOOOOO!!!!

2009-02-02T16:17:00.000-08:00

I've been board too, but never did I make a Thundercat trailer...

X-Lock

2009-01-30T11:45:00.000-08:00

If Grand Theft Auto IV is the “final” adaptation of the series, Rockstar North is ending on one of the highest notes possible. From the HUGE sandbox (but not San Andreas big) to the almost comical realism, the game is almost an addiction. Seriously, I’ve been clean for a few months now, and out of the blue I pick up a controller last Sunday and BAM! I’m right back into tossing people out of their cars and mowing down anyone in sight. It’s a great game and it’s one of the very, very few games that disserve a perfect 10 overall rating. I mean, you could get picky and criticize the aiming system, but really, overall, you can’t find a better game.

This brings me to the current state of Microsoft. Two years ago they paid RockStar a total of $50 million for the first two episodic contents to release exclusively on the 360. I don’t have a problem with this - I mean, it sucks for PS3 users, but at the same time if someone gave me $50 million to just release more stuff that I already planned on doing, a heartbeat later I would be $50 million richer! But I have a problem with the way Microsoft plays with others. This is a very Ted Turner move; you need good talent for you half-assed productions…toss some money at it, see if that works.

It wouldn’t surprise me if, in fact, the X-Box 720 hits stores by the end of the year. Rumors have really run wild that the 360 has hit the peak point graphically speaking and would it really surprise anyone if those rumors are true? I mean, it was rushed out the door, plagued with problems, and to top the list their biggest franchise just finished. I’m not saying it’s a death sentence, but it’s for sure grim.

I like what Microsoft did for the video game industry, they single handily helped bring competition back. But tossing money in other directions to keep people from looking at their problems isn’t helping them one bit. The words “Video Game Crash II” come to mind and heaven forbid that happens ‘cause lord knows one day someone’s gonna dig up all the Halo Wars that didn’t sell…soon after that they’ll find 10 billion ET cartridges.

X-box was a great idea and it was the underdog from the start but now they are on top, without question. But they don’t have a top of the line console on the market. I’ve ranted before about the problems but now I want an answer to all the rumors. Something tells me a 720 or even a 900 can’t really fix all the problems.

Wait what time is it?

2009-01-14T11:50:00.000-08:00

Waaaaaay back in 1995, James Cameron wrote an 80-page sciptment for a movie titled Avatar. Now if you’re thinking bald headed Japan-America-imation boy that can bend air, maybe you’re forgetting 1995 was the year of Toy Story, Batman Forever and Blues Traveler! What? Blues Traveler isn’t a good enough obscure reference? I love Blues Traveler!

Anyways, a year later, after Mr. Cameron finished the epic story that was Titanic and it won, I believe the technical term is a shitload of awards, he announced he would start production on Avatar, making use of “synthetic”, or computer-generated, actors. A few years go by, lots of Terminators come and go…then Final Fantasy comes out and that plan changed a bit. Though Cameron stated years later that he delayed the movie because the “technology necessary to create his project wasn’t advanced enough” word on the streets was that Digital Domain, the special effects house he was going to use for the project, ate up the $100 million quoted for Avatar pretty fast, leaving Cameron to find a better way to make “Project 880”

In December of 2006 (wow we’re just jumping all around aren’t we…) Cameron explained he was going to use a new type of motion capture animation to make photo-realistic computer-generated characters (say that three times fast) and he was finally starting production on the movie. Unlike normal MOCAP systems where you add the digital environments after the actors motions have been captured, this system allowed the director to view the digital world as well as view the digital cast in real time. This sweet system allows the director to direct scenes as if he was in a live-action movie, control all the aspects of the lighting, camera angles, even the colors of…well everything! Basically, if the director wants to make the entire scene on a slice of white bread instead of a spaceship…he can.

Word has it a few big name directors showed up on set of Avatar while Cameron was testing this bad boy: Spielberg, Jackson and even Ol’ George Lucas saw it in action!

So this brings us to January 2007. Paramount just announces a live-action movie for the “Crazy Japan-America-imation Airbender Kid” screen titled Avatar: The Last Airbender (which if you haven’t heard will suck because M. Night Shy-A-Lay-Suck-A-Lot-A-Lan is directing it) but bla-bla-bla the name Avatar was already registered to Cameron’s movie bla-bla-bla so they add “last airbender” after the title but bla-bla no one cares. But something that same month James Cameron declared (running out of synonyms for proclaim, damn I used another one) the movie will be in 3D! Also, he’s sated that every movie he makes (Terminator 4,5,6 and maybe True Lies 2) will be in 3D. Makes sense, even the PS3 was showcasing 3D games at CES last week.

At this point I revealed (add another check to the list of synonyms) this movie really feels like a late-night infomercial. “Not only will this movie use state of the art deign and programming software but we at 20th century Fox will make it 3D! And if you call in the next 30 minutes we’ll make 60% of the movie computer-generated elements and 40% live action!!!”

So after 14 years, Avatar is to be herald (kinda a stretch on that one) May 22, 2009! Let's just call Avatar James Cameron’s Chinese Democracy (hope it dose better)

But wait, if you call now James Horner will…oh shut up.

Brandon Dyer

Why so damn expensive?

2009-01-08T14:21:00.000-08:00

Monday was a very long day for me. It started Saturday - as soon as I woke up I was running The Underbog with my warrior Bellatrax. After several hours of that I met my friends at the first game of the year for roller hockey then to Adam’s Ribs (great place and you can almost always find me there) and after that I was off to work the dreaded 2am to 11am shift.

Driving home it downed on me - why are my video games so damn expensive? See, I used the build up because I was so tired from my 23 hour day my mind wondered in all directions…so at that moment I was on video game prices. Now fast forward three days to me sitting in my edit bay asking “what I was thinking about that was such a good idea to blog?” Then – BAM! - here I am.

So after about 3 minutes of web searching random failblog.org pictures I cheeked out Yahoo Answers, which led me to a Forbes article which low and behold, they wrote an article about the exact subject I was questioning and more it was only a few weeks old!

Basically it had a lot of mumbo-jumbo about people working on a game (which was Gears of War 2) but at the end it was broken down and I just made it easier…

45% Programming and Designing
20% Retailer
11.5% Console Manufacturer Fee
7% Marketing
5% Market Development Fund
5% Manufacturing
4% Licensing Fee
1.5% Publisher Profit
1% Distribution

I even made a pie chart!!!!

We’ve Cena ‘Nuff!

2009-01-04T14:47:00.000-08:00

Yep, it’s that wonderful time again where I get to dissect the wrestling world yet again. This time, though, it’s about a real-world subject, not just fantasies conceived in my own little world, where I tend to live most of the time. Rather sad when you put it like that.

Anyways, for the past few months if you turned on any WWE televised event you saw adds, promos even announcers praising the return of John Cena. In September, right before Unforgiven, he suffered a herniated disk in his neck (which totally sucks for anyone that has had one) and had to drop out of the event. He had even had to have corrective surgery on it. Out for a month, Chris Jericho held the entire company on his shoulders. Unlike Cena, Jericho doesn’t suck as a wrestler and can play something else than an overrated babyface…which he did at one time, very well in fact. Come September, Cena comes back and the entire PPV has been centered on him returning. To take the cake he even gets the belt placed back around his waist. Jericho is a great wrestler and understands the world of wrestling, so he knows not putting Cena over is pretty much a death sentence.

The question most Canadians ask is why is WWE pushing Cena over so much? Body. Simple answer, right? See, Vince Mac has a very deep passion for guys that look like superhero, bodybuilder, can’t-even-see-their-feet guys i.e. Hulk Hogan and better in this case, The Ultimate Warrior. For years people hated Warrior, ok they still do; he was given the belt, pushed to break and the biggest slap in the face was he turned around and spit right on the hand that fed him in return for all this. Unlike The Warrior, Cena is actually a cool dude, I’ve heard tons of stories about him waiting until every fan gets to see him at a meet and great and in the wrestling world that’s a real cool thing, unlike Warrior who I’ve heard some horrid things about.

Warrior has always been very edgy from what wrestlers have said. For example, in Bret Hart’s book he tells a story about a sickly Make-a-Wish kid sitting in a wheelchair, face painted and brightly colored arm bands to boot just like his hero. After waiting the entire show for a chance to meet Warrior, a series a growls indicated he wasn’t in the mood to meet anyone, even a sickly little warrior. Jerk.

Needless to say, Cena is being pushed on the same as Warrior, looks alone. My big problem is that WWE is now forcing Cena “haters” not to share their opinions. For a few weeks (more so the shows in Canada) people booing Cena were covered by can applause (which is a reoccurring thing, watch WrestleMania again), fans have been told to withdraw signs, they were even torn up, and worst of all, people were actually kicked out of show because of these signs.

Last week at Raw, a guy was holding a sign that said “Cuck Fena!” Now this may be crossing the line a bit, but at the same time it was only a few years ago that WWE was pushing a slogan of “Ruck Fules!” Even the Stone Cold shirt of “F(insert skull logo here)CK FEAR!” - so that line was crossed along time ago. But WWE is working on a newly fund (or should I say refund) family friendly show. So I can see why this sign was torn up. But soon after this the same guy held up a sign that said “We’ve Cena ‘Nuff!” (I loved it so much I used it as a title!). After this the security asked this man to leave because “the people renting this didn’t want him there.”

Maybe WWE should change their named again to WTF!

Good ‘ol JR did write in his blog about his incident and even expressed that WWE loves fans to express their love or hate towards their talent, I guess as long as they aren’t bashing their #1 guy. And for the record, I don’t think Santino would have got the love he did in Canada if he in fact wasn’t Canadian…fact of life.

I wanted to end this week’s blog with a video from the famous WWE video The Self Destruction of the Ultimate Warrior, which if you’re looking can be found on Amazon.com. As in a long line of tradition, what once was the top guy that everyone thought sucked but was prized by the owner is now mocked and laughed at because they still own the rights and the character, oh how I love the WWF. I mean E! Enjoy.

My PSP wish list...

2008-12-26T19:22:00.001-08:00

I haven’t really been all too good of a boy this year, with the trashing Apple, slapping DC comics in the face numerous times over and hailing Halo as overrated about a billion times….yeah, I’m on no one’s good list, okay maybe Marvel’s.

The PSP is a true love of my life as far as work is concerned. With the little down time I do have I hate leaving the building and even more I hate even getting up and walking…I’m fat and lazy, yes I know. So whenever I get some down time I click on ye’ ol’ PSP (seriously I still have my 1000) and play some Ultimate Alliance, Street Fighter or even my newest conquest, Dungeon Siege. I love the thing, in fact, for the record, I prefer my PSP to my DS, no real good reason, I just do.

I plan on getting a new PSP sometime soon and may just wait for the 4000 to drop before I do, but I have a few wishes first.

Like for instance, I would love a new music player system. The one on the PSP (the same as the PS3) is real file based. Scroll down the list of music, find the one you want and play. No album covers, no search options.

Other little things like a custom theme maker from Sony, smoother joystick, more RAM for smoother gameplay…oh, how about huge internal memory?! I would love my PSP to have 30 or dare I even say it 60gigs of internal memory! Sorry, I like the feature of memory cards but as far as a good way to store games, music and video, they’re just too small.

Now, for my last wish it’s kinda a big one…maybe it’s better for a 5000 or even 6000 version of the PSP, but I’m going to say the 4000 could get the ball rolling. I want to be able to use a 3g network connection on my PSP…anywhere! Yep, I wouldn’t mind shelling out $30 or $40 a month for wireless internet connection and the ability to both download content and to play online with friends…

Punisher

2008-12-18T17:28:00.001-08:00

...first person shooter, but PSN only? Could be cool...

Brandon Dyer

Midway

2008-12-11T16:04:00.001-08:00

At one point Midway was the giant of all video game companies. Tossing out games like the immortal Space Invaders and then the groundbreaking Mortal Kombat, true classics have come out Midway's doors. But soon Midway maybe gone, falling from grace and landing hard, just like TNA Impact did just a few short months ago… yep I said it.

But with a $240 million mound of debt (and it's still pilling) and only $167.5 in assists in the bank, Midway's future looks bleak. Funny story though, Midway did announce a sequel for TNA’s Impact is in the works…but come February of next year, I see a very large garage sale of new and used gaming ideas. Maybe this is just a classic Double J El Kabong for the win!

…and if you where wondering that J-E ha ha-double F-ha ha-J-A-ha ha- double R-ha ha-E-ha ha- double T-ha ha!

Brandon

Who’s the man….or Woman?

2008-12-01T11:53:00.000-08:00

This year in comics has been very up and down. Secret Invasion, though very interesting with a cool plot was just a set up to finish the huge events in 2006. DC’s side of the comic stand was bleak for the most part, but a shimmering star from Batman RIP was sadly forgotten in the payoff. Not to mention the entire series was just confusing with the Heart of Hush being the prequel to events in #676-681. I felt the comics while good, just felt like the ending was typical DC - don’t do anything that will hurt anyone good. Much like the Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe game, DC is just too much into making everything PG (not even PG-13).

But it wasn’t all bad for DC this year! Brian Azzarello and Lee Bermejo’s The Joker was fantastic, not just because I got to sit down and talk to Lee earlier this year, but also because somehow, someway he was able to get DC to ok Harley Quinn as a stripper, that and the pill popping Joker was almost edgy! Now I mean there was that little Batman movie that came out too, but I’m talking comics here.

Also this year was the reintroduction to Spawn…yep, Todd is back and writing it again! It’s not too bad either; the story drags you in, the first story arch from the series in a while to do so (for me at least).

The year is winding down, and I’m still interested in Ultimatum, which if Marvel kills that whole universe (which I do think they will) will be very interesting. One thing about Marvel that will never seems to surprise me is just how far they will go to tell a story.

Brandon Dyer

Toasty!!!!

2008-11-21T13:05:00.000-08:00

Yea, so MK vs DC...good game, lots of fun...small cast and no downloads (yet?) weak sauce...

But I did take the time to find a video of all the Fatalities for you...not bad, just not enough...I do love the old school MK1 finisher from Liu Kang....

The Dark Knight…just on a budget!

2008-11-14T11:29:00.000-08:00

After receiving my Batman Costume Hoodie last week directly from a new favorite store of mine - 80stees.com, I started to think about the idea of really “being” Batman. What would I need, and more importantly how much it would cost to be The Caped Crusader? Then, after being bewildered by the seven digit number that followed my question, I posed a different question: How can one be Batman, on a budget?

I decided to first throw out the custom auto, deciding maybe a secondhand car would be better. Then I realized I can barley afford my car now, let alone gas for two separate cars! So I thought of a cool “cloaking” device for my Batmobile. It hides my identity in case of any police not sure of my motives (well for a few days at most) and is easily added to any car on the market…cardboard box cut up to cover once license! Also, a garage is a perfect place to both hide your car and work on any “crimes” you need, thus it becomes an above-ground Batcave!

So now to the real meat and bones of my idea. $932.34. That’s the cost of being a “brokeass” Batman. Yep that’s all. Now over time that price will go up; stuff breaks and you may need to replace some stuff after a year or two, but it’s an out-the-door price. Let me break it down:

First and foremost you need some good body armor, more importantly, your chest! If you have a bright yellow bat on it, it’s only a matter of time before someone shoots you there. So I say if you spree on any one thing on my list this may be the one to hit up the CoinStar for. I say you go with the ProMAX Concealable bulletproof vest (why I added a link I will never know…). It features a maximum side protection style so even the most exposed place (your armpit) is covered by protection! Also it comes it standard black, white, or if you really want, you can go old school navy blue!

The way I see it, protect your body it first, second is your face. You can’t have a double life if you’re severely burned…sorry Harvey. So, a fire retardant mask is for sure a must. Now it’s not bulletproof like Batman’s newer cowls, but it’s something with which to hide your face!

Any batfan needs a good excuse to wear a belt, but maybe bright yellow is just too bold for a guy on a budget. So go with a Ninja Utility Belt. Not super suitable for your handheld laser cutter, but it will hold your wallet…even your keys, too!

Add a fire retardant cloth cape, some ninja stars, black army boots for grip and ass kicking power and even a handheld police scanner and you’re almost there. But I forgot a huge piece of Batman’s attire that needs some attention…

If one’s looking into being The Bat, you need to protect your family jewels. Bruce may have not had a great love life, but YOU may need these things. I suggest a Level III-A Kevlar groin protector. First thing any bad guy does is kick the man in the jewels. Take my advice, pick this bad boy up.

So with that, Bat-friends have at it...

Brandon Dyer

What do you mean I have to work?!

2008-11-10T15:29:00.001-08:00

Where in the world is Parry Saturn?

2008-10-30T15:10:00.001-07:00

In an article on http://www.ewrestlingnews.com/, the writer brings up that Perry Saturn hasn’t been seen since his last TNA match (March of 2003). How the hell does a 5’10”, 230 lbs, bald-headed, tattooed man just fall off the face of the earth!? You know it’s bad when Wikipedia lists you as “no one seems to know” where he is. So with that said I’m going to start a search for Saturn (Moppy too!).

…I will not rest, well I will rest…but I promises I’ll keep talking about it until we find Saturn!!!

Brandon

Scott Hall News

2008-10-27T11:56:00.000-07:00

Details are still unknown but according to a colleague of Scott Hall, he attempted to commit suicide some time late last week. Hall is said to be in a hospital near his home. I have also heard from sources that pills may have been involved, my heart goes out the Hall and I wish him all the best. Far too many wrestlers have died due to depression and drugs...I can only hope WWE feels the same way for one of their own.

Brandon

Wii Music

2008-10-23T09:19:00.000-07:00

In all the ways that Wii was fun and new when it hit the shelves, Wii Music isn’t. I know maybe that’s a harsh start, but maybe Nintendo would have had a better shot of impressing me if more time was spent in research and development before Wii Music was pushed out the door. I really had high hopes for Wii Music, too - I really did. I was so excited to see multiple music instruments being utilized that I merely let the look of the game slip. Guitar Hero is going on its 5th game (though most don’t count the Aerosmith version of the game), and Rock Band just released its sequel with over 500 tracks available for it by December. If you do the math, you’re spending just over $738 if you buy every song available and yes, I was sure to exclude the 129 original songs on both games.

Wii Music was marketed towards the same audience as Guitar Hero and Rock Band. The small twist Nintendo uses is the Wii Remote and Nunchuck as one of the four instruments to play: percussion, guitar, horns or violin. What a great new way of adding new playability to an already crowed market. But after this, Nintendo dropped a ball.

But like most Wii games the look isn’t as wonderful as other systems, because of the lack of visual components. Nintendo uses a cutezy, blocked headed, almost bad Japanamation look for most their games. And for games like Wii Sports and Wii Play, that simple look was okay. Matter-of-fact, Wii Sports was a great way to kick off the Wii! It did a great job of keeping the player focused on the controls, which for those first few games on the Wii was a crucial selling point for the system. Then games like Monkey Ball, Mario Party 8 and Mario Kart started to come along and forge a new direction for Wii graphics. With better character textures, a smoother looking gameplay, new controls elements and even more player to player interaction, Wii was coming into its own.
Now fast forward to Tuesday when Wii Music dropped. Almost three years after Wii Sports dropped…and what do we get? A sub par game with a sub par look and style.

By now Nintendo should have gone a new road with the “Mii” and worked an update for them. The simple look didn’t have to go, but maybe an update to clothing or extras for them to sport, like hats or watches even. With all the power in the Wii geared towered the controls, programmers simply forgot the most important part of gaming experience: let players express themselves. Games like Rock Band and now even Guitar Hero have made a huge point to let players create custom players, right down to what tattoos they have; and Wii should have picked up that, too.
Now, I understand the entire system is geared towards “fun for everyone” but does it need to look like a child’s opium dream?

Let’s get to the track listing though, another huge reason I decided to rip open on Wii Music this week. The tracks on the game have a few gems like The Police’s “Every Step You Take,” but most of the tracks featured on the game are just tracks from other Nintendo games! Though I love Zelda, and 90% of the music in every Zelda game is extremely well done and wonderful, it’s not a song I’m up to drumming to and Mario was better off as a Skat then with horns. Though I do love these tracks, and they do let me appreciate Nintendo’s classic composers, these tracks should be bonus songs and not part of the act.

Nintendo has a long and rich history of music, from the simple rhythm of Mario’s theme song to the blasting of “All the Small Things” in Donkey Konga. But this just isn’t one of those classics.
But on a high note, if you want to have some real fun (minus the graphics) play Wii’s version of Star Wars: The Force Unleashed. Nothing like choking someone out with the Nunchuck.

One more for today...

2008-10-16T14:32:00.000-07:00

I just got an e-mail and this was in it...I got chills...

Fail…

2008-10-16T09:25:00.000-07:00

A few days ago during my beloved game night, (this month we’re elbow deep in Hunter: The Vigil - very good so far) while in the middle of battling a very large and powerful Werewolf, we got on the topic of Apple’s seeming to have a Midas Touch on any and all products coming out of their doors. Truth is, they take a lot of time in designing their products and a whole lot of research just to find what people like and want in a product. So by the time it hits the stores it’s been though a whole lot of change. Also, Apple dose this really nifty thing of killing off anything that doesn’t work or changing the bad with an “upgrade” like, say, the iPhone or the iPod Fourth Gen that was released only three months later a “Color” and a “Photo” version hit stores. But more importantly there has been a few Apple fails that just bombed 100% and Apple never tried nor talked about again. This week I’m going to take a stroll down memory lane, a path Apple sure would love to forget but geeks like me love to bring up.

With their long list of super juggernaut products like the iPod, Apple has very well made themselves a slot in American, if not world history. But if you take a few steps back, in the winter of 1994 Apple wanted to get its hand in the Digital Camera industry and got slightly at it.

The first commercially available digital camera, the loveable Dycam Model 1, in 1990, had to be connected to your computer directly (no flash memory yet) and only shot pictures in black and white at .009 megapixels with a 320 x 240 picture display. This sweet piece of technology wasn’t a bad buy at $995 mostly because in 1991 Kodak’s DCS-100, which shot in 1.3 megapixels was priced at $13,000.

With only a few digital cameras around Apple decided to make one too. And with their Apple QuickTake 100 shooting at a whooping 0.3 megapixels and a 640 x 480 display resolution took the digital camera market…. nowhere… maybe even back a few steps.
The QuickTake 100 was originally priced at $749, which was relatively cheap compared to most of cameras on the market at that time. It also featured a 1mb Flash memory that was waaaay ahead of its time. Its original image format was a PICT (meaning you could only use a Mac to see anything you shot). Also, this huge format gave the QuickTake only 8, yes, count them, eight, pictures before you had to unload your pics to a computer (note: this was at full 640 x 480 resolution mind you). Oh, and I forgot - if you didn’t like a photo you couldn’t delete it until you hooked the camera to your computer, and by then the moment is gone.

Only a year later, in May of 95, Apple “updated” their QuickTake line with the Apple QuickTake 150! This time it supported multiple image formats allowing any computer running Windows or Mac to work with the computer! That’s ‘bout it though.

In 1996 Apple tried one more time at the Quicktake with the 200 model. This time Apple was using a SmartMedia memory card (up to 4mb of memory or 32 pictures at full resolution), but this really didn’t mean anything due to the resolution still being the same as the 100 and 150. The shutter did have a lot more speed than the original QuickTake, though (1/30 to 1/750 of a second) boosting a new speed of ¼ to 1/5000 of a second (the new high end Canon EOS-1D Mark III has a shutter speed of 1/8000 of a second). Also, the design of the Quicktake looked 10 times better and even had an LCD screen on the back of the camera to look at your pictures in real time (something Kodak was already doing at that time), and it also didn’t look like binoculars…

No one’s quite sure when the original Quicktake or even the 150 model was finally given the axe, but in 1997 Apple called it quits with their digital cameras. As far as failing goes the QuickTake wasn’t a bad camera but it just couldn’t compete with brands like Kodak and Sony. Though most cameras were far more expensive than Apple’s, they also had way better resolution and were far easier on the eyes. But this fail did lead to Apple spending more time on research and development and a lot more time asking people “would you buy this?” But at the same time AppleTV did well? Right?

Brandon

Look alive…

2008-10-09T15:21:00.000-07:00

It’s been a loooooong week and I had 20 to 25 comics to catch up on because of the lack of time to get to ComicOasis in the last few weeks. So after a night of catch up and still having time to read a few pages of “Hitman: blah blah cartoon world of wrestling,” (which is turning out not to be very bad at all, a bit here and there sometimes but good overall) I finally caught up on comics last night. And what more can I say than PICK UP SPAWN!!!!

Todd’s back on top of the game and boy he’s coming in strong. This is by far the best series of Spawn since Redemption (which is playing a heavy roll in this new storyline, so I’m going to highly suggest looking into reading that before you go hog-wild on the new stuff). Spawn is in Limbo (I mean physically in Limbo, not like a state of mind). And man, it’s on top of my list this week.

So is Cable though. He’s now three years in the future with the “baby” who is now a little girl while X-Force (looking very bad ass) met up with Bishop in the past…and tore his arm off…again, physically.

Another comic note this week is the fact the identity of Red Hulk, a true favorite of mine, is still not known! Good Golly, after the whole lot of fighting, Thor getting an ass kicking and Rick Jones helping Green Hulk, we end the mini series with a head shot of Red Hulk. But another day, another comic book run.

God of War 4 info!!!

2008-10-01T09:44:00.000-07:00

First off, Bret “The Hitman” Hart’s new autobiography Hitman: My Real Life in the Cartoon World of Wrestling should be in stores soon and via Barns and Noble’s website it should be in ALL Las Vegas/Henderson stores right now. This book is written by Bret and based on tons and tons of tape recordings he had made over the years. It’s written to be “brutally honest,” so the legend told Publisher Weekly, but if I know “The Hitman” this book isn’t just about his larger-than-life wrestling career. Though this book was released in Canada about a year ago, I have managed to stay clear of all reviews, spoilers and features about the book. Bret has called this book “one of the biggest milestones” of his life. And as a huge fan of Bret’s I want to read to book on my own. Besides, who doesn’t want to go relive Bret taking the WWF Intercontinental Championship at SummerSlam ‘91 as told from the man himself?

Also for those who are chomping at the bit to get another dose of the duel wielding, pale skinned and tattooed former God of War…you’re not alone! Word has been very….very very very very slim. The only thing for sure is it’s going to be on the PS3 and it will support the Sixaxis controller and run at 1080p. Also, the game is the NEXT in line for the story, not a side story or prequel (that’s why it’s God of War 3) and the last bit of info I could muster up took a bit of research on my part. Apparently in March of this year Sony had posted a few job openings for the God of War 3 team, one being a “graphics programmer”, nothing too big, and the other being an “Online Gameplay Programmer”. That one set off bells and whistles in everyone’s head. This could just be someone to program features like PS3’s Trophy system or a High Score System, but this could also be a wide open space for another story to emerge.

Long ago, when I beat the first God of War I, I then took on the Challenge of the Gods. An award was given to the player that could overcome these contests of epic proportions (not sure why I had to write it like Homer, but sue me I get excited). One of awards was a “Hidden” video; it told the story of Kratos as a little boy and his brother.

Now, I have no clue what online features God of War 3 will have, nor do I have on any notion of what Cory Barlog has in store for Kratos (well besides what he has said himself “the titans and god would be at war” and “it would be hell on Earth” also “ask the question if gods had a place”), but what if this long lost brother emerged to help Kratos…online!? Who’s to say what any of this means? One thing is for sure: “There will be only Chaos!” I’m so lame.

Brandon Dyer

Geek Economics

2008-09-25T12:14:00.000-07:00

With the wonderful time we’re living in right now, it’s hard to really get excited about a new iPod, or Google’s “iPhone killer”. Also, any sort of new Rock Band gear is almost out of question. Times are tough, but like a champ I don’t see the video game industry taking too big of a hit. In fact, while at GameStop this week I was told presales for videogames are still up for the most part. They only real hit I see happening is for games like Shaun White’s Snowboarding. Games that aren’t really looking good now aren’t going to sell the 40 copies they were expecting when they do hit the shelves. Guitar Hero 4 and Lich King are still going to do well, however. Video games, like the movie industry and music industry, may take a slight hit, but because they are still a cheap form of entertainment and their fans love the stories so much, they will find money in their personal budgets to get these games. Now I’ll admit I’m not in the position to go out every paycheck and pick out whatever game comes out, but I do have games I’m going to pick up. NHL 09 was one of them, Force Unleashed is on my list to pick up and so are Guitar Hero 4 and Lich King. I may not get them day of release, but I will get them before the price drops. Okay, I will be at the launch party of Lich, but that’s just what I do! EA isn’t going to drop their sports line, WoW isn’t going fall off the end of the world, and The Dark Knight DVD release is going to blow up like no one’s business.

and later this year...No Mercy!

Iowa...ahead of the game!

2008-09-17T13:11:00.001-07:00

For the past few week I’ve been in my homeland of Davenport, Iowa! That’s right, Quad City America in full action. Besides the local fishing, I did I find that vacationing in middle America isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be. But anyways, while in Iowa I took it upon myself to get away from most needed things in my life. So a week of no WoW, no PSP, no NHL 09 (that just came out a day before I left…). I spent my time with my fiancé and family all week. Did some writing and most of all I just relaxed. A much needed break from all things. It was nice and I highly suggest anyone looking to relax and not feel tied to a phone cord or a modem to travel to the great state of Iowa. Hey, eat some corn, fish on an empty lake, and take in the fresh air for once, eh? It was nice, but here’s the kicker: while traveling to Davenport from wonderful Cedar Rapids, Iowa (very small airport), every rest stop had a wonderful Wi-Fi connection. I basically had internet the whole hour and a half drive to my homeland. So I’ll ask the only question that jumbled in my mind all weekend. Why does rural Iowa have Wi-Fi at every rest stop but the space between Las Vegas and California is the biggest dead zone on the face of the earth? Just an idea - why not have Wi-Fi on the 4 hour trip to LA? I mean, it would make it a whole lot more convenient; real time traffic and weather with only a click of the mouse and most of all a reliable source for directions. Just an idea for the two states to think about. But hey - who knew Iowa was so advanced? Oh and corn isn’t in season just yet. Bad experience over the weekend…

NHL 09 or 2k9?

2008-09-03T12:00:00.000-07:00

The question of 2k9 or 09 requires a short answer if any. First off, you need to like hockey, so right there 1/3 of the America is taken out of the questionnaire. But for the fans this question is the tar pit of Hockey games. 2k9 has really cool features like a Zamboni mini game, playoff beards and, most of all, the same controls as all NHL 2k games. 09 features great graphics (2k9 looks like Paper Mario with an edge), defensive stick control, and they beefed up their hits!

NHL 2k games have always been great on the hits and checks, but sadly EA’s games have always lacked the smash and bang of a real hockey game. I wanted to write this blog after the 2k9 demo set came out, but it was pushed back until 09’s demo was released and I’m glad I did. EA did the one thing I have asked for three generations of games: make the players feel the pain! And though I still say 2k9 has better hits and smashes (via the demo) the stick handling and even the new career mode lets you live the life of an NHL player. You make your own player and you only play that player though the entire season, meaning if you play the game of your life, it doesn’t mean jack if your goalie can’t watch his five hole!

Also, the online game is brand new for EA. First off, they will have guild-like teams, and at the end of the year the team (guild) with the best stats wins the EA Cup (looks a lot like another cup but with a huge EA logo on it), but you win this and get to keep it! Now besides the ooohh and awww factor of this gimmick, the idea is you play your player and the better your team works and communicates, the better chance you have to get into the playoffs!

2k9 isn’t oohhing or awwing anything; their online and career modes are the same as always. And the same juke right shoot left trick works.

But, as always, this battle of the digital puck is down to the fans. My team is on the cover of 09 (GO FLAMES!) and 2k9 got Rick Nash, but either way it’s not the dust jacket that makes the game. Come next week I see EA winning this small war but at the same time a few weeks from now when 2k9 drops price I’ll pick it up too. You can only win the cup so many times before it gets old.

"What if?" Part Duex!!!

2008-08-27T15:21:00.000-07:00

Scott Hall knew walking into a meeting with Vince and Pat wasn’t a surefire set that he was going to be hired. It’s more of a challenge; see Pat and Vince both are legends in their own time. And as far as gimmicks come no one knows better than “Pretty Boy” Pat Patterson what makes a gimmick sell. Though it’s been years since the pink tights and the red lipstick, he still was the best in the business for scouting new talent. A few months before this meeting Scott was being pushed to the top of the WCW and now that his arrival has fizzled he’s on the D list of wrestlers. So, Scott Hall was in position for a new job.

Now, the story goes neither Pat nor Vince ever saw Scarface before Scott pitched them his “idea”…or so they say, and because of his great gimmick pitch they went with him. They figured this was the first of many great ideas to come, so it was an investment on their part. Now at this time Scott had nothing too great to hang his hat on, a few ripped off mock gimmicks. So as the story goes, this was his way of getting his own character. Every wrestler knows once you got a great character you’ve got a great paycheck. The better you can sell your image the better they can sell your image on T-shirts, mugs, action figures, video games and whatever else they can get your face on! Scott wasn’t too far off on pitching this character, the main theme he had was a Cuban “bay guy” and though Scarface had ran that gimmick dry, Scott did have a point.

So as I stated last blog, I wanted to ask the question “What if Pat and/or Vince saw Scarface?” (And for this story, Vince and Pat have a humanity of 9 so they can’t just say they didn’t know what Scarface was). So we begin with Scott pitching his idea. Soon after he starts to talk about riding down the streets with leopard print upholstery. Pat Patterson interrupts - “You mean like Scarface?” This turns the momentum around in the room. Vince knows the Golf War is done with, and that the times are changing, you don’t need to have the “all American fighter” so he starts talking about images of a crazy drug lord taking over the WWF (okay, humanity of 5..it’s the 90’s in WWF) and Pat starts pitching promos where Scott is tying up Vince and beating the owner of the World Wrestling Federation to submission, and after a few weeks Scott buys the WWF for mere pennies! Vince loves it and Scott loves it more - he gets to slap his boss! They start to get to names for this guy, a name that’s “sharp” and a name that’s “Cuban” - Razor Ramon! Perfect Sharp and Cuban (well kinda, see in this story Pat “knew” a guy named Ramon who just happened to be Cuban) so they set up the storyline two weeks after Scott officially ends his contract with the WCW. Right as World Championship Wrestling was looking for a new star to carry them into the future!

It was the fourth quarter of 1991 and a brand new guy was hired to fill in where Scott Hall left. He was big, had lots of flowing hair, and most of all he was from Texas! “Stunning” was only the first part. In the ring he could make a comeback like Hogan and outside of the ring he could drink like Andre. And with the promos starting up in the WWF about a Cuban drug lord, WCW started what was known as the Monday Night Wars with the WWF. (Really they didn’t start til 1995, but again this is a “What if?”) Steve Anderson’s talks with WCW didn’t have the same flair as Scott Hall’s with the WWF. But he had better ideas than Scott. “Why not go one step farther? Wrestling fans aren’t 8 anymore?” This would be the start of a battle that would span network TV for years to come.

After a few weeks of brutal gimmicks and storylines directed towards mocking fans and chairmen’s alike, WCW and the WWF’s fan base would start to diminish. Fans didn’t want to see backhand jokes night after night. Hall is “running” the WWF, and Austin…err Anderson is “terrorizing” the WCW. Hogan leaves the WWF and retires to Florida, and I mean he “retires.” He got sick of the bad jokes and there was no place for a super babyface in either company anymore. Sting also fades out and leaves the WCW to help with family issues. Bret Hart signs with the NWA’s Southern Canada promotion after Vince decides baby faces weren’t selling. Two years of low blows and backhands to each other and fans where getting tired.

At the same time, while WCW and WWF where exchanging eyerakes and uppercuts, a very small wrestling promotion in Philadelphia is starting to get a buzz. Their new owner has a vision of “treating fans like an audience” and “giving them the show of their lives every night.” He told them to “push bodies and sprits to the brink” and his voice would echo for decades when he said “just when they didn’t think it could get any better, pull the pin on an Atomic Bomb!” He spoke with power and desperation, he knew this was going to be big and bold and most of all…it had to work.

Just as quickly as the buzz started more wrestlers started to take notice, new guys and most importantly old timers, too. Guys that “retired” and faded out of the limelight started to see the glory days returning. While Vince and Eric were battling it out on national TV, the NWA’s ECW was signing big names. (ECW never pulls out of the NWA via the poo-flinging at WWF and WCW)

It was December of 1993. NWA’s ECW was hosting their first Pay-Per-View. On the main event card is a battle royal featuring Terry Funk, Shane Douglas, Tommy Dreamer and a mystery wrestler. Match starts with all three - no sign of the mystery wrestler at all. Shane takes advantage of Terry and Tommy, while they wait for the fourth wrestler. Shane quickly pins Tommy and soon gets a chair to the back of the head via the disgruntled “Innovator of Violence.” Terry and Shane then go on to have a great classic wrestling match. Shane takes advantage away from Funk and drops a quick Franchiser and Terry gets pinned. Just as soon and Shane rises his hands high music hits, Jimi Hendrix’s Voodoo Child hits the speakers. And the blond hair and tan mussels of the one and only Hulk Hogan start walking down the entrance ramp. Shane looks almost scared but at the same time ready to fight. Shane goes for a punch as soon as the Hulkster steps in and Hulk starts going into Hulk mode. He drops a leg and gets the pin and is the new NWA champ. Somewhere at the WWF headquarters Vince is screaming at the top of his lungs at Hulk leaving him for this.

As the year goes on, ECW gets bigger and bigger. Only relying on classic wrestling with showmen style entertainment. Guys like RVD and Jerry Lynn take huge steps with great matches and guys like The Dudleys and Mikey Whipwreck take huge leaps with matchs that push the body with fire, thumbtacks and barbed wire! A finely tuned instrument mixing violence with passion and most of all showmanship! And the fans love it. The little Philly promotion soon gets a national syndicated TV show and soon the world is watching ECW.

Now, is this what would have happened if only Vince and Pat watched more movies? We may never know, but it’s a good theory. See good ol’ Paul had a vision of extreme and always embraced good classic matches. And more then anything else, Paul E. embraced pleasing the fans, what they wanted was what he wanted to give.

Hey Yo!

2008-08-20T14:30:00.001-07:00

All week I’ve debated about what to write, lots of fun stuff has been lurking around like a new Bionic Commando, Tropic Thunder, taking down The Batman, the new NHL 2K9 released a demo, and most importantly The American Psychological
Association just admitted that WoW could be good for all (not joking we just got a press release…)! And with all that news I just covered all my holes I’ve left in this blog. Ha! I knew I could pull this off.

So with all that news covered I’m pretty much free to stand on my own and write another wrestling “what if?” propaganda blog! Face it, you loved the Bret Hart one! But see the last blog was easy; Bret had a larger than life effect on wrestling and so to make it a little harder to get to world destruction via professional wrestler I wanted to look at a wrestler who didn’t have such a great career…like the unforgettable Razor…err Scott Hall.

We start with the facts: Scott Hall was born in 1958 in Miami, Florida and began his wrestling career in October of 1984 at a little Florida wrestling promotion called the CWF (now, like everything in wrestling, they are owned by the WWE). His first feud was with Dusty Rhodes, you know the American Dream and father of the Dustin Rhodes a.k.a. Goldust a.k.a. “The Golden One” a.k.a. The Artist Formerly Known as Goldust a.k.a. Seven, wait what?
Anyways, besides all the “a.k.a.’s”, Goldust’s Dad was one hell of a wrestler and could push anyone to stardom, so the fact that Scott Hall started his career by feuding with a guy known for selling wrestlers like Terry Funk and Abdullah the Butcher is a pretty good sign! Plus, you could learn a few things from this guy like his patented finish of “The Dusty Finish” (meaning when he would fight, nine times out of ten the referee would be knocked out and another would come in and finish the match. Leading people to see that the guy that won didn’t “really” win). Hall did well with Rhodes and thus begins a very long career in the world of wrestling!

Next Hall goes to AWA after only a year in the door. He was being pushed as a babyface (in fact his persona was much like Hulk Hogan’s). But soon after he was given a handlebar mustache and started to use the leg drop (not joking, he did). He soon formed a tag team with Curt Hennig (Mr. Perfect) and won the AWA Tag Titles. But at the end of the year (1988) Hennig and Hall lost the titles and Hennig left the AWA to become Mr. Perfect. Hall was pushed for the AWA World Championship but was unsuccessful and soon left AWA for the NWA!

At that time the AWA was being run by good ol’ J.R. Jim Ross and at that time its MO was to find young and upcoming stars for the big brother (WWF). Big names came out of this place (and still do); guys like Sid Vicious and Brian Pillman so Hall was in the right place, but Hall wasn’t being push as much as some and soon left the AWA and went on hiatus…
After wrestling in Puerto Rico he returned to wrestling and signed with WCW. He was pushed heavily but soon after a year had past his star was fading once again. It was 1991 and Scott Hall was looking for a change…and in the wrestling world that meant he needed money! So while talking with Vince McMahon and Pat Patterson for a contract with the WWF Hall started to pitch an idea of a Scarface-like character. And Vinnie Mac and Pat loved it so much they called Hall a “genius” …turns out neither of them ever saw Scarface, so they hired Hall due his “ideas!” This starts the peak of Hall’s Career and besides the New World Order this was Hall’s defining character. But my question is what if Hall didn’t weasel his way into the WWF?. Say Vince saw Scarface. Say Pat knew the stunt guy that took the fall into the fountain. Say Hall never made it into the WWF!

But that’s going to wait for next week…I got to work sometime…oh and just a side note…I am now an official beta tester to the World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King! I’m stoked and Tony Somma is pissed…pwn

Sad But So True...

2008-08-15T15:06:00.000-07:00

Prince of Persia…delay

2008-08-13T13:37:00.000-07:00

Still one of the best games around, Prince of Persia was set to hit the big screen in a live action movie June 2009; one week before Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen was to be released . Big problem being Jerry Bruckheimer is producing both films - why compete with yourself? But for this new pushback for the Prince, we can thank Johnny Depp! No, don’t worry, he’s not in the film but damn that would be fun. Way back when Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest was being made, a big problem occurred. Because of the locked-in release date of that movie, a lot of special effects had to be rushed. Tens of millions of dollars! Overtime that really adds up! But Disney and Bruckheimer both decided that maybe this time around they could get all the visual effects done at a reasonable price. So, hence the 2010 release date! Oh - and have you seen Donnie Darko lately?

Blackbirds

2008-08-04T05:33:00.000-07:00

Way back when in 1963, when The X-men all wore blue spandex and Jean Gray was known as Marvel Girl, the team traveled in Professor Xavier’s private jet and his private helicopter. Though these were said to be “advanced versions” of conventional aircraft used at that time, mainly the only difference was the remote autopilot feature which allowed Professor X pilot the aircrafts from home base.
In 1975, when Giant-Size X-Men was released, along with the new additions to the team (Wolverine, Colossus, Nightcrawler, and a few more) the X-Men started to travel more and more (not to add that the “school” was doing better and better) and Professor Xavier helped fund a new jet. The original X-Men Blackbird was based on a modified and upgraded version of the real life Lockheed SR-71 “Blackbird”, a real life spy place from the 1960s. And if you look at the plane it’s pretty dead as far as looks. This bad boy could travel at Mach 3 and was designed by Clarence Johnson. Now, I’m not too much into aeronautics or aviation, but this guy had worked on some pretty cool things back in the day (and some pretty badass names for them too!): planes (jets?) like the Lockheed L-10 Eletra, the Lockheed L-18 Lodestar, the Lockheed Constellation, the F-94 Starfire, and the badass F-117 Nighthawk!

*also wanted to toss this in cause it’s really cool, the design codename for the Lockheed A-12 the predecessor of the SR-71, was “Archangel,” but many documents used Johnson’s preferred name for the aircraft “The Article” - sweet right?

Back to the Marvel Universe, the X-Men’s Blackbird was basically the same plane as the SR-71 but was modified to carry several passengers (i.e. the team) instead of the two man crew that was intended for the aircraft. Also, the other big difference was the Vertical Take-Off and Landing (or VTOL as they call it in the biz)(so I hear). The real life SR-71 needed a rolling takeoff with two J58-P4 engines that produced 32,500 pounds
of static thrust (meaning really fast). Now last week I exchanged e-mails with some people at Lockheed Martin and found that quite simply the real SR-71 could have never made a VTOL, but with correct modification and with Hank McCoy on the job it should have worked. (Also, in talks with X-men fanboys around the Valley I heard of a jet called the SR-73…and thankfully the nice people of Lockheed Martin assured me there was never such a plane)
Like Banshee being killed and coming back to life, the X-Men’s Blackbird has been destroyed and rebuilt numerous times. Later versions of the jet (1970s) used technology from the alien Shi’ar mutant Forge (1980’s+), featured added weapon systems, holographic active camouflage and most of all new engines capable of hypersonic speeds. Why go Mach 3 when you can go Mach 7?
Over the years different versions of the Blackbird tried strange but cool features like a cockpit windshield that was infused with a ruby quartz material (as used by Cyclops for his visor) this allowed him to project and amplify his optic blasts via the windshield! Which is rather cool as the only pilots of the plane were Cyclops and Storm.
In the Ultimate Marvel Universe, the X-Men have several aircraft, most notably one that resembles a B-2 Spirit stealth bomber, but was known as the “X-Wing” (I don’t believe that George Lucas was notified). Also one of the aircrafts in the hanger was referred to as the “Blackbird,” but it has no visible relationship to the SR-71.
Most recently, the Blackbird was turned into the “X-Jet” via the X-Men movie (and the following sequels). I’m sure it was for reasons of copyright and not wanting to get sued by the US Government or, even worse, George Lucas.

Back here in the real world, active camouflage like the Blackbird employs is something being developed! It has a real life patent! Basically it uses hundreds of small digital cameras and digital “screens” (like small LCD screens) to display what’s in front, behind or to the sides of the object, making the object seemingly invisible! Also, the days of hypersonic aircraft will soon be here. NASA as well as a few other manufactures (most in the industry are pointing at Lockheed the company that created the SR-71) are experimenting with hypersonic aircrafts. As always, science is following the lead of science fiction, and with new ideas from writers comes the question from scientists of “why not?”
Again I’m not really into this field but this was pretty interesting. And besides who else would look into something like this?

Brandon Dyer

A little sore, a little tired and very geeked out

2008-07-29T11:57:00.000-07:00

It’s Tuesday July 29 and besides being my birthday, I also have the pleasure of telling everyone how Comic-Con went and how cool it was this year (well besides one HUGE flaw…but in due time). First off, this year was massive. The whole convention center was used and it was very organized this year. One side had shops to buy things; the middle had comic brand booths, and TV sections, and then on the far right side was video game booths. It was wonderful! Second, no super big comic pushes, second year in a row. Marvel pushed its animation series and website stuff, mostly. DC pushed Watchmen and also a lot of “hey did you see Batman?” (By the way if I see another bad Joker costume I’m going to scream). A few smaller brands did a few things, but mostly as far as comic news, I would love to tell you how Marvel’s Secret Invasion is going and I would love to say that Marvel’s conference about killing off the Ultimate Universe went well, but this is where SDCC wasn’t very fun. They did NOT clear out the conference rooms after each event!!! If you waited in line all morning then you could sit in there all day, leaving everyone else screwed and either chairless or waiting outside of the conference room till something opened. And that is useless cause the worthless “event security” would look every five minutes to see if a single chair was open and even then it was a crap shot. I would have loved to wait an hour in line just to see what Marvel is planning, but thanks to this system even after showing up two hours before the conference was to start. I was out in the cold. But the main floor was flawless to say the very least. Even with the packed house on Saturday it was just amazing and lots of cool sites and sounds.

Little more of a beef though… if you are planning to head to Comic-Con just to show off your new costume please be advised it is a COMIC CONVENTION! Anime is not a comic, Batman is fine, Joker (though overused) is fine, Spiderman, Spawn, The Tick, Wolverine, Jean Gray, Poison Ivy (though maybe some girls shouldn’t wear this one; there is a weight limit to this costume) all fine. If I see another Avatar (though I do love this show) or if I see another Naruto Uzumaki I (again) will scream. By all means if you are really into all that stuff please go to Anime-Expo. It’s just a few weeks before Comic-Con and by doing this it makes me and about 10,000 other people happy too, because we don’t have to hear the annoying lady behind me whine “I don’t like this place there is no Naruto!”

But all and all good convention. And I can’t wait to spend another good lump of cash again next year. I did make off with a few gems and as always a whole lot of sweet action figures to add to my collection like the Wizard SDCC Exclusive Dan Hibiki! So very cool!

Well, I have a desk full of work to do. Little secret of the news, you leave for a day or two you have to make up two days of work.

Brandon Dyer

be back soon...update next week!!!

2008-07-24T09:44:00.000-07:00

The Dark Knight

2008-07-20T08:03:00.001-07:00

Very rarely does a movie make you want to grab a cowl and cape. The Dark Knight does - yes I’m wearing a Batsuit right now. After getting up early and getting into work very late, I just got done seeing the first public screening of the movie with a few close friends of mine. I can honestly say it was the best comic book based movie, period. My only complaint was the length of the film. IT WAS LONG!!!! But if that’s the only thing…damn. I feel like I just read Fight Club, or better yet, Diary for the first time. It’s an emotional rollercoaster that I’m sure will please hardcore to noobs. And most of all, I have to get out the biggest shout out the Heath Ledger and his portrayal of The Joker. I said from the very beginning when talk of a sequel was just chitchat and gossip that Jack Nicholson was such a great Joker it would take a reinventing of that character to make it land anywhere on the radar. And Heath not only pulled it off, it nearly scared me to see how “real” it really was.

One main goal of all comic books and comic superheroes (more so in movies) is to make it “seem” believable. And as I walked to my car to head to work after the show, I couldn’t help but feel a chill down my spine. The Joker that is portrayed is a very real and very adult version that was once shown on the big and small screen. So please be advised parents, this may not be a good movie for all!!!!

Brandon Dyer

Underrated Verses Overrated

2008-07-17T11:58:00.000-07:00

As Comic-Con comes ever so near (I know I’m counting the days), I’ve started to notice a nice bit of a trend: more and more comic book writers are using lesser known characters. Not the characters they can kill every few years or so, (Banshee comes to mind, only died 40+ times so far) but the ones that just never got off the ground. Writers are starting to stray from the high-end sup’s like Batman and Spiderman, and switching for the mid-range guys! Cable got his own storyline (a really good one at that), Deadpool is making a comeback and DC’s Orion…well he’s dead…but his death did get DC in second place again!
New philosophy of DC Comics: ”We’re not number 1, but we can take second.”

Side note - DC Editors please, please for the love of Batman stop trying so hard to sell your big yearly comic storyline! First you let a great idea start to brew (Batman R.I.P.) and then ruin the whole reason it was a good idea! Stop placing your good comics with the big comics! As soon as someone notices that people are buying one and not the other you try to get more readership by mixing them together, and that does not work! It’s lame to even think that’s a good idea and you’ve been doing this since the 1990s when Marvel started to kill you on the stands!
I know you guys are holding on to the “Golden Age” stuff and that’s fine, that’s dandy. But hear me - you cannot compete with Marvel if you’re not willing to make changes, like for once keep your storylines in order!

I’m done, back to my blog.

My point is the big guys are big (always), Wolverine will always have 20 different comics out! So for the average comic fan that’s a pull to read them. For guys like me (a.k.a. super nerds) they put out 50 or so other comics featuring guys like Hercules, Green Arrow and Ms. Marvel. These stories are always pretty good and most of the time have great art (sometimes though they do lack the budget that say the “yearly blow” ((a “yearly blow” is the comic series that is pushed from the venders the most i.e. Civil War, Final Crisis stuff like that))). There are a few guys that really should have a comic for them but don’t.

First on my list of great b-sided characters and the one that this blog is currently featuring is Deadshot. A rarely seen but very well rounded comic book villain from the Batman series. However, Deadshot was recently featured in the newly released animated feature Batman: Gotham Knight. He still has a much unknown past and is a very bleak character at best. If I were to write a comic book, Deadshot would be my first to write about just for that reason. He’s so dark and has only has two offshoots in his entire comic life. Just stay between the lines of those and fill in the gaps. Since the early 1950s Deadshot has battled for supremacy of Gotham, and in the two offshoots we learned that he killed his brother accidentally at a young age and he has a daughter that he had left because “normal life” isn’t for him. Why he is a sharpshooter is unknown, why he can’t work with Batman is still a factor and most of all why he doesn’t care if he lives or dies is still a dark notion.
So why hasn’t there been a good mini series for Deadshot? My guess: DC doesn’t like giving human aspects to villains. Even Joker, after all these years, still has the same mental aspects. Even Eddie Brock had willpower to think about the fears of life and death every now and then! I know I said I was done ranting, but damn it DC! You dropped the ball on every character you have! Clayface was a great example of that! I really feel to “win this battle” with Marvel you need to not just revamp your characters, like you did already and you failed by the way. But you need to start pushing the line of good and evil more.
Your fans aren’t just eleven-year-olds anymore. You have to make the stories work in life, too! The reason The Punisher, The Hulk, Spiderman, X-Men, hell even why Halo, work is because in some way they use human emotion to tell the story. X-Men did it in a huge way using the underline of segregation and racism to tell their stories. Human emotion is just as good for everyone on your list of Sup’s! Stop with the “Golden Age” because it’s not working! If you really want to be on top, kill Superman! Really, kill him off, make him human, weak and worthless! The reason that Kingdom Come did so well was the raw human emotion. Superman was starting to feel like he was old; Bruce Wayne was dieing and had nothing left to give the world, and Amazon Princess herself Wonder Woman needed someone just to talk to! Raw passion, raw emotion something we in the real world feel everyday. Please DC, for the love of Odin, create a comic worth crying over. Not just the same story we have all heard a billion times over. Good verses evil, evil takes the lead…GOOD WINS!!! We get it…Superman will always come out on top, Robin will always come back, and Lex will always feel like he has the perfect plan.

Brandon Dyer

Rant Part II

2008-07-10T05:45:00.000-07:00

‘Tis the year of the sequel and could I be any bigger of a hypocrite? As much as I whine and cry about remaking movies, boy do I love video game sequels! God of War II has been praised more on this blog than Imus has been in trouble with the FCC. Yeah, maybe I could have used a better example.
Anyways, from Fable II to the new World of Warcraft expansion, by the end of the year more than half of the video games coming out will be sequels, remakes, or add-ons from past video games. Unlike most movies, the production for video game sequels improves; nine times out of ten the game gets more money then they got to make the first game. So graphics improve, sound is better, and more time is given to finish.
Luckily for me comics take the same road as movies, so I’m not a complete hypocrite!

Some of the games I am looking forward to are:

Mortal Kombat vs DC

Fable II

WoW expansion

Overlord: Raising Hell (PS3)

Why is Blizzard Entertainment on top?

2008-07-03T06:01:00.000-07:00

One single word: Diablo. This game is the core reason I can’t remember my freshmen year of high school. I spent more time on Diablo than Lars Ulrich did busting Nabster! And the sequel Diablo II? Well, let’s just say that’s why I wasn’t on the honor roll. I would just go home, toss on some Iron Maiden or Black Sabbath, and stare at the computer screen falling deeper and deeper into the randomly generated maps.
It’s been 8 years since D2 hit the US and with that technology, graphics and gameplay have changed big time. Diablo and even D2 pushed all these things at the time they dropped and I guarantee that when Diablo III hits I’ll need to build a new computer to run it. If you couldn’t run Battlefield II don’t even touch Diablo III! As crazy as it seems, Blizzard has even made a custom game engine for D3! Which in terms of video games mean that they expect to do something great or something really, really, really bad (it takes a lot of money to create a game engine, so a flop that bad could cripple a franchise). As more and more details are coming out, I can’t help but feel something very evil is lurking in the land of Sanctuary.

And this just in! News 3 own Collette Wieland had a LARP dream last night...this is about the funniest thing ever...

Orcs like their Zunes

2008-06-26T11:31:00.000-07:00

Last year I found out that one of my favorite turn-based board games is coming back and coming back strong on the PC, X-box360, the DS and PSP! Blood Bowl is a fantasy football game that takes different fantasy races like Orcs, Elves, Dwarfs and Trolls to the bloody gridiron! Think Warhammer meets American football..or maybe it’s Canadian football? It’s set to be released December 31 of this year!
Okay, so that’s a few months away and thankfully this could be a good thing for the game to stay alive. Speaking as a media member, this date could help the game stray away from bad reviews and hitting the “must-have toy” lists. Most adult themed video games die even before they hit the shelves just because of bad rap. Though most games love the bad attention (GTA), this game has always been for adults, though I think the first time I played it I was 12…but I turned out alright…maybe?
It’s a hoot of a game but it’s made to be violent, evil and most of all…fantasy! See from what I learned in the news…violence on Elves and Orcs is okay. Violence on intergalactic planet harvesting aliens is bad…more so when Master Chief dies.

And by the way, if you ever receive a Zune, please toss it into oncoming traffic (not really this could be a bad idea). It's a "gateway electronic" - you will be sitting for hours trying to get it to work correctly. The Sync Group Feature is the worst feature ever invented by mankind. This product makes me want an iPod…and that's saying a lot.

Sad Day for the World of Comedy

2008-06-23T05:07:00.000-07:00

It's no joke friends, my vary first stand up act I saw as a child was George Carlin and last night he died...and in the sprit of his act, he didn't pass away HE F'N DIED! I'll miss you George and I am forever grateful for what you gave me as a young man, enlightenment and a wide since of humor.

Dungeons and Dragons and Geeks OH MY!

2008-06-17T13:59:00.000-07:00

This weekend, along with a few friends, a box of pizza, a twelve pack of Mountain Dew and a bag of Funyuns, I test drove the 4th edition core books of Dungeons and Dragons. While it’s getting very mixed reviews from fans of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd editions, new players are liking it.
For old timers, classes are missing, races are different, there are different fighting actions and the biggest change: the games go faster!!! This little fact really upset a whole heap of people on the D&D website!
Game designers took out a lot of “unnecessary” features and options. Even making a character only takes a few minutes now (about 5) rather then half an hour! Also, problems with class and races powers are somewhat sorted out. You now have powers that can be used once per encounter! So if you battle in the morning you’re not dead later on when you take on another battle. Plus, features like this aren’t over the top; they are cool and help you win but you can still fail epically. Also, everyone has a healing reserve, making the healer useful in combat too! I choose to be the healer for this game and boy, it’s broken! I have attacks that heal me or a member from my team and at the same deal a great blow to my foe! Do these a few times with a Morning star and everyone will be just fine, sadly the tank may be out of a job.
Also this new edition “codifies the use of miniatures use in battle” rather than “require miniatures in battle” like the 3rd edition did. But this makes sense since, in part, you tell me how in the world I am supposed to remember where everyone is, loot placement, traps and my positions of creatures, and at the same time rolling for attacks, adding damage, reducing for armor? You know what? - I’m just going to use miniatures. Make things a whole lot less clustered and the game is made to move while in battle. If you want “in your head” battles go play Vampire, this is D&D!
Overall, I liked the game. We got though a night in town, a small battle and a very large battle all in 7 hours. Plus I had to make a character, we laid out maps and we took an hour break to play Star Wars Risk!!! So it’s great for noobs, different and strange for old timers and too easy for fat guys with lots of facial hair and a basement full of pewter figures of all classes and races with full 1/25 scale custom map of his dungeon.

And on a side note…D&D’s Character Visualizer is still in the works…but they do have the page up on their site here and well, this could rock! But at the same time…this could be my final blow into full fledged geek-hood. I mean I could be that fat guy with the facial hair…wait, I already am that guy. PWN on me…

Also, Video Games Live was amazing! I loved it all! Well, besides the 5 year-old kid behind me asking questions THOUGH THE WHOLE SHOW!!!! But I did find it amusing that if you play Halo and/or Final Fantasy music, you could control the world. I mean, if you really wanted too.

Coolness all week!

2008-06-11T11:58:00.000-07:00

Video Game Live

This week, Video Game Live is playing at the Henderson Pavilion. Think paying a video game on a giant screen with lots of lights, but with a full orchestra instead of 8-bit audio! Video game greats Tommy Tallarico and Jack Wall created the show which features video game music from classics like Mario and Zelda to new favorites like Halo and Guitar Hero. Even Earthworm Jim makes it on the set list… ask Tommy.
I’m super stoked about it and I will be there Saturday night! Tickets are still on sale now; they run for $25 and $35. Also, I hear the pre-show is to die for. Don’t be surprised to see me dressed as an over-weight Link. Oh, I even make Gannon blush.

Comic-Con

Also we’re officially coming down to the wire with Comic-con! Marvel, DC and even Darkhorse are keeping very quite about what’s happening in the next year. Summer has always been a slow time for comics, but this year it’s getting bleak. A few gems but not many bombshells. But come August I see a whole lot of change!

Update on DragonBall movie!

Here’s a picture that has been tossed around a few times. As you see, the movie will be DragonBall (no Z), though this Goku looks older, prettier and American, the movie still may work out for the fans. Hey, as long as Master Roshi is comical, I’m all in.

WoW Help

And lastly, on this blog of short blips, http://www.mapwow.com/ is wonderful!!! I find myself lost 90% of the time; lost in the land of Azeroth and face it the maps of the World of Warcraft website aren’t very detailed. They lack where to find just about everything. You need a few hours of walking around to find anything, and say you don’t have a mount yet, get ready for a four hour tour of Southshore. But bless the all mighty power of the internet that gave us MapWoW.com! There you can find a Goggle Maps version of Azeroth! Find herbs, ore, flight paths, and even treasure locations!

Brandon Dyer

Backing the Future

2008-06-04T02:32:00.000-07:00

In 1985 the epic movie Back to the Future was released. And with its release, an overwhelming and somewhat unexpected success followed. So much so that a sequel was made; two sequels, in fact. But with more story added to the already somewhat simple movie, more confusion also was added. Besides the whole Jennifer number 1 and Jennifer number 2 problem, Back to the Future Part III is my biggest beef with the trilogy. Of all the films made this one had the most contradictory story line and the most factual errors based on the plot that the first two movies established. Even the beloved Back to the Future motion ride had better continuity.
In the first movie, Part I, Marty asks Doc, “Are you telling me that this sucker is nuclear?” Doc replies “No, no, no, no, no. This sucker’s electrical. But I need a nuclear reaction to generate the 1.21 gigawatts of electricity I need”. Just incase you don’t believe me here’s the whole scene.

Marty McFly: [looks through a camcorder] This is uh... This is heavy duty, Doc. This is great. Uh, does it run, like, on regular unleaded gasoline?

Dr. Emmett Brown: Unfortunately no, it requires something with a little more kick - plutonium.

Marty McFly: Uh, plutonium? Wait a minute. Are- [lowers the camcorder]

Marty McFly: Are you telling me that this sucker is nuclear?

Dr. Emmett Brown: Hey, hey, hey. Keep rolling. Keep rolling, there. [Marty raises the camcorder]

Dr. Emmett Brown: No, no, no, no, no. This sucker's electrical. But I need a nuclear reaction to generate the 1.21 gigawatts of electricity I need.

Marty McFly: Doc, you don't just walk into a store and-and buy plutonium. Did you rip that off?
Dr. Emmett Brown: Shhhhhh. Of course. From a group of Libyan nationalists. They wanted me to build them a bomb, so I took their plutonium and in turn, gave them a shiny bomb-casing full of used pinball machine parts! Come on! Let's get you a radiation suit. We must prepare to reload.

This scene establishes that the car doesn’t run on gas and is, in fact, an electric car. But in Part III the fuel line was broken, so the Delorean had to be pushed back to 1985 via a runaway train. See my problem is the car was electric, no gas needed, yet Doc says in Part III the car “always ran on gas” but clearly it did not.

Okay so in the defense of the movies, part II and part III were made because of the tremendous success of the original movie. However, even if you let this little mishap go I still see a big problem with Part III!

If the car, in fact, “always ran on gas” why not siphon gas from the Dalorean that was already in 1885. See Marty and Doc, 1955 Doc that is, recovered the Dalorean from a cave in a graveyard in 1955. They took that car back to 1885 to warn Doc (1985) about his appending (approaching, impending?) doom via a bullet in the back from Buford “Mad Dog” Tannen. So with taking the Dalorean found in 1955 back to 1885, there should be another Dalorean in a cave! So you take the remaining gas from that car and use it for the Dalorean and you get back to 1985 without all the stress of stealing a train car! I have a headache now.

And for guys like our very own photographer Joe, who said that Doc could have emptied the tank for storage, oil was being produced in the United States as early as 1858. And oil was being refined as early as 1854 in the Austrian Empire. Doc could have got his hands on some gasoline in a few months, but sticking the story they only had a few days. So, why not use oil that is in common use around the world? Oil lamps are big so use a simple oil refinery system with a furnace and make some simple and crude gasoline, enough to power the Dalorean back to 1985, ending the saga with less a headache and saving the ill fated time machine in the process.

And last in this little rant of mine is kind of out there, but I think you’ll find it at very lest interesting. At the end of Part III a train is used to push the Dalorean to 88 mph. Besides the fact that the bearings on that type of train would have given out way before they reached even 60mph is besides the point here.
Near the end of the scene Doc is on the train trying to reach Marty in the car when he realizes that Clara is also on the ill fated train. While she attempts to get to Doc on the front of the train she slips and Doc is forced to go back and rescue her, then the boiler explodes and he is in danger now. Marty then uses the Hoverboard to save Doc (this is not a sentence). As he is reaching out the train and the Dalorean then reaches a sign stating “1/4 mile remaining” - both the car and the train are traveling at 80 miles per hour at this point, and both still accelerating towards the final velocity of 88 miles per hour (the point the time machine would have taken off into the space-time continuum) This is where you need some math…

The Kinematic Equation

Displacement = Initial Velocity + Final Velocity / 2 * Time

or

So if you do the math, you find the total time would have been .00298 an hour or about 10.7 seconds for Marty to pass the Hoverboard to Doc so that he could save Clara. At the point of the Dalorean hitting the sign it takes Marty 18 seconds to let the board go. By that time the car would have been in time travel. And Marty (assuming he isn’t dead from having the car door open during time travel) would still be holding onto the Hoverboard to pass to Doc. Both Doc and Clara would have died…

With that I say, two damage to Back to the Future!

And hey if you really want to get picky check out this site! It has some really interesting stuff on the variations of the temporal display unit in the trilogy.

2008-05-27T14:53:00.000-07:00

The Prince Returns

In the past Prince of Persia has been called many things. The last game in the series was tagged as morally wrong by some and Game of the Year by others. Its diverse gameplay, unique storyline and wonderful graphics inspired such games as the award winning God of War series. Even the original Prince of Persia pushed the limits of technology at that time, using an animation technique called Rotoscoping to create lifelike moments for the Prince. Ubisoft is now placing the finishing touches on what could be a whole new life for the game. A brand new storyline, new look and it’s using an upgraded Assassin’s Creed game engine to run the high flying Prince. Well, technically from what I hear the character in this new game isn’t a Prince, but Vagabond of Persia sounds lame; sometime in Q4 the Prince returns to PS3, Xbox and PC.

The Really Really Dark Knight!

Grant Morrison (the guy behind 52, if you really want to send hate mail to DC) introduced his new epic comic in the works last week. Batman R.I.P. takes yet another look into the dark life that is Bruce Wayne/Batman. The new series also revamps The Joker…again. For me this “new” Joker seems a lot like The Joker from Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth and like that Joker Morrison hit it dead on. I loved, I LOVED Arkham Asylum!!! It was dark and edgy and just everything a Batman comic should be and Dave Mckean (by far my favorite comic artist) did a wonderful job. R.I.P. could leave the same flavor in your mouth as Arkham did, bittersweet but addicting.

Burst-ing at the seams

2008-05-20T00:05:00.000-07:00

GTA IV is out and is still, yes, still on the top of game sales. Just incase you were wondering, it has amassed over $500 million in sales so far. And with the story Grand Theft Auto has, it makes Halo look like Shaq Fu.

But hey - after Liberty City is defeated where is there to go? Well, lets take a trip back to planet Nemek! The new Dragon Ball Z game is looking sweet! But, let’s be brute here, DBZ has more games than the NHL has in a season. Some of them are pretty good, some aren’t. Thankfully, the Budokai/Tenkaichi series was really good! It had great animation, smooth gameplay, a ton of characters, lots of moves and is just overall a good game and most of all it had wonderful playback value. When I saw the demo of Dragon Ball Z: Burst Limit drop I had to pick it up! It’s the first ever Dragon Ball Z game done in full HD!!!

Oh and does it look sexy!!! From power levels to transforming into Super Saiyan, the game isn’t the same ol’ DBZ game. Game developer Dimps redid the controls and the fighting system, but it still feels great. I highly suggest you try the game out, and I will put my name on the line for this one: I guarantee this game will have the best replay value around! It comes out June 10 for both X-box 360 and PlayStation 3!

Brandon Dyer

What if?

2008-05-07T20:11:00.000-07:00

For years I’ve embraced Bret “The Hitman” Hart for his courage, his willpower, and mostly, his heart. At his peak in the WWF (now WWE), he was the poster child for all that is good in the wrestling industry. Fans from around the world chanted his name, things like race and class had no boundary for his fans. He was loved and respected all around the world. Even Vince stated that Bret was one of his greatest assets at that time.
Then, during November 1997 at the Survivor Series Pay Per View, the incident forever known as the Montreal Screw Job took place. Since then the WWE has been more talkative about it but still there are black holes in the story. The story is very bleak, even now that Bret has a book out (soon to be released in the US) that explains in detail his side of what happened that night among other things, we may still never know what was going though Vince’s head at that time.
Since then, Bret’s opponent during the Montreal incident, Shawn Michaels, has gone on to become a certified legend himself. His partner in crime, Triple H, has also become mythical in superstardom as well. In fact, the entire wrestling industry has changed in some way because of what happened that night.

WWE.com has a very interesting piece called What If…. In this commentary they question if certain moments from the WWE’s history had been changed. In this case, what if Shawn was the one that Vince scammed? Stone Cold said that Bret would still be working. Jerry Lawler said the wrestling industry would have been more exposed to how “bad” it really is. And Triple H simply stated that it would have never happened. So, I wanted to spend a bit of time on the topic from my point of view, a fan.

What if Shawn was told he was going to end the match on a draw, but Vince ended the match abruptly without either guy knowing what was going on?
Well, first off, like The King said, Shawn would have been very vocal about how bad he got it. I think the world of wrestling would have nearly crashed because of it. Shawn would have wined and criticized the entire industry until everyone’s ears bled. This would have been the downfall of the WWE, and WCW would have won the “Monday Night Wars” because Shawn most likely would have jumped ship right then and there. Thankfully, in the real world, Bret has handled everything very well. He’s talked about it and made it public, but didn’t sue anyone. Shawn would have.
Next, guys like Triple H, Kurt Angle, and Brock Lesnar would have had a lot harder time getting to the top. Bret had a style that embraced wrestlers more than challenged them. Shawn made a match short and sweet, while Bret made it dramatic and long. These guys would have had to wrestle a lot more and prove themselves in different ways to get to the top. Also, Triple H wouldn’t have ridden the coattails of Shawn in the WWF; he may have even jumped ship to WCW or ECW.
And lastly, because Bret didn’t jump ship his character would still be as big as it was. If you remember, at that time Bret was in the middle of a Canada hates Americans grudge. That feud had people in tears, as the Documentary Hitman Hart: Wrestling with Shadows showed. People didn’t just take it as a story, to some it was more. To this day that rivalry is considered to be one of the best written and best performed. Even though the truth is Bret loves America and would never say bad things about the land that had given him so much, the performance was very dramatic. If Shawn was screwed over I do believe that the America and Canada story would have been going on for a long time. Now this is the least likely situation, but I think Vince would have had Bret talking down Americans even more after “beating” Shawn.

I think because of that, wrestlers like Chris Benoit, Chris Jericho and Edge would have been tossed into this battle of American wrestlers and Canadian wrestlers. This would lead a separation between the two countries over time, both the wrestling world and in the political world. Canada would attack the US via internet virus, scamming Americans of millions of dollars! America would attack with an enforcement of US borders patrol agents and adding millions to border security, eventually a single Canadian would cross the boarder for unknown reasons and be attacked brutally by a group of rogue border patrol agents. This would lead the Canadian government to start talks with other countries to gain power to cause threat to the American government. At this time still elected President George H.W. Bush, because he would have won the 1992 election, would attack the citizens of Canada with propaganda. This would lead to the second longest Cold War of the Modern Age. Thankfully, Bret was screwed.

Brandon Dyer

Worlds will Collide

2008-05-06T06:12:00.001-07:00

It’s official: DC Comics is teaming up with Midway Games to release a brand new fighting game featuring DC superheroes. The real news though is that Batman and Superman are going to go head to head with guys like Sub Zero and Scorpion! What could be better than a full-on bloody fatality via SuperVision or a beheading from a Bat-a-rang?
Ed Boon, the co-creator of MK, has been hiding this announcement very cleverly. A while back on Noob.com, his official webpage, a count down clock was rolling down. And just last week it ended with IGN.com placing the official trailer on their site and HOLY @#!*!!

Questions are popping up left and right and answers aren’t coming from anyone. I say by the month we’ll know when it’ll hit the shelves!
My biggest concern is: will this game be any better then games released from DC in the past? And the other side, can Mortal Kombat keep up with the great games they are known for?
On a side note, Marvel needs to rethink releasing their big video game of the year the same week as the Juggernaut that is GTA IV. Cause it’s is the Juggernaut!!!! B!

Brandon Dyer

PS problems

2008-05-02T17:26:00.001-07:00

I get paid bi-weekly so I had to wait two days before I could pick up my copy of GTA IV. But before I could pick it up I was asked if I had a 60 gig PS3. I have an 80 gig so I’m covered, but of course what kind of geek would I be if I didn’t ask why. From what the guys at GameStop tell me, all 60 gig PS3's are crashing right after loading GTA IV! 40 and 80 gigs are fine, but the newer 60 gigs are having problems. I hear an update is coming out ( I assume very soon) but still, very interesting.

Second today, Iron Man is OUT!!!!! Both the movie and video games (on all systems) are out today!! Go see it, I know GTA is going to make it hard for everyone to get outside this weekend, but I hear great things from midnight viewers. Think X-men: The Last Stand, stay a while and wait for the real end!!!!

Brandon Dyer

Is Rockstar Out?

2008-04-30T12:36:00.000-07:00

It’s been stated that Grand Theft Auto IV will be the last in the series. This makes perfect after seeing the Review Journal’s article slamming GTA, as well as last night’s comical package by Gerard! Much Love! We’re doing stories in Las Vegas about a game that takes place in a New York style city. The power of the game to get people talking is overwhelming. But it’s all been played out; the numbers don’t lie and GTA will do better and better the more it gets criticized.
Nothing played out in Liberty City is too far from the real world though. Death, murder for hire, prostitution and drugs: this is just like a History Channel special I watched in high school. The makers of Rockstar have always done very well taking their art and emulating real life. Shakespeare’s Hamlet and Taming of the Shrew are based on a world of wrong doings and selfish behavior. And I’m sure someone tagged his plays as “Death for Dollars” too in his day.
GTA is a very good game! It’s always been. From the very first GTA game on the PlayStation it’s had a very deep and dark storyline, but at the end of the day you did these horrible things because your character was placed in that situation. Same for Romeo and Juliet, same as Casey Ryback in Under Siege, though maybe that is taking it too far.
My point is GTA isn’t Postal and it is not the Columbine RPG. These games were made to offend and disgust. Grand Theft Auto has a story that has always been Oscar quality. Violence sells, yes, but so does great gameplay and immense stories!

Grab your gear!!!

2008-04-24T12:45:00.001-07:00

Hey there Casey Jones! If you’re looking to buy some hockey gear might I suggest goaliemonkey.com? Besides having a great selection of gear for goalies, they carry a soon to be hot Marvel collector’s item!
Itech came out with five brand new goalie masks featuring Marvel characters on them. Iron Man, The Hulk, Spiderman, Wolverine and Captain America are all featured, and from the sales I expect more to come out next year!
Besides being a great mask, these babies look phenomenal! The price isn’t bad as far as masks go but if you want one of these bad boys for your shelf (like me), they’ll run you about $230. I’ve seen them for a little less and a little more, but for a full-size mask GoalieMonkey has the best price I’ve seen. And if you’re feeling lucky GalieMonkey is running a contest to give away a Spiderman and Iron Man goalie mask signed by The Man himself: Stan Lee!!! Here are the details!

Watch your five hole Kirprusoff!!! Who looses to the Sharks??!!

Brandon Dyer

Movies

2008-04-16T12:11:00.000-07:00

I’ve come to realize that original movie titles with original ideas are a mark of death for most films made today. I've begged Hollywood before to please stop re-making movies, stop re-telling stories, and stop recycling characters. But this morning, while looking at Rotten Tomatoes, I realized that movies are judged so harshly by the public that critics seem to take that as a basis to judge all films by. Aside from the “please say no evil about my movie” pay-offs, critics are judging all movies as if the only thing playing in theaters is the movie they are hyping or disrespecting and the only thing to compare these movies to is last year’s Oscar winner. Take for instance the newly re-made Prom Night, a slightly changed version of the original 1980s version. When I say “slightly”, I mean Leslie Nielsen isn’t in it.
Now I’m no film critic. I am not a screenplay consultant nor have I ever clamed to “know what the people want.” But if you look at this movie and say seems bad, please don’t make some corky remark like “this date is a dud!” If there is one thing I cannot stand it is movie reviews that need to play on words to move the show along. Movies always mean something different to different people; if one person doesn’t like it that’s one out of 6 billion! As a geek I’m always going to find joy in things deemed “lame” like pen and paper role playing games.
Back to the topic at hand though, I love the movie Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby. My sister and I have spent a good hour of our lives quoting lines from this movie like “I like to think of Jesus as a mischievous badger” and “I hope you have sons. Beautiful, handsome boys. Articulate, educated, and athletic. And I hope they have their legs taken from them, so you can know what this pain is like.” We love this movie so much because we are 100% sure the whole film was based off things our family has said…yes I am pointing at you Eddie!
Even movies with bad dialog, horrid character development and a wrenched 1980s top pick soundtrack can do well with the public, so says the 26 awards won for Independence Day…

What I’m getting at is movies can touch you in a billion different ways. When I was 10 years-old and ID4 came out, I thought it was a great movie! Best movie ever made! I watched it last week and couldn’t believe that I thought a movie based on 1,000,000,000 one liners was great. I’m sure IMDB has the entire script on the quotes section. But the movie takes me back to that packed Southern California movie theater where I first saw the movie, also the 1997 Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards, Will Smith won the Golden Blimp that year.

Maybe next I’ll go after Nielsen rating system. I never met anyone that watched Jag the same night I did.

Brandon Dyer

AOL/Yahoo! isn’t just selling out…

2008-04-11T11:39:00.000-07:00

Oh Mighty Putty’s own Billy Mays may just end up on your AOL homepage if you’re not careful! If America Online and Yahoo combined their forces not much would change for the average user, except the load of ads you see on every page of your AOL/Yahoo! Merging the two companies would double the space to sell advertisements for both sites.
If you’re looking to sale health insurance, stock advice, even “adult websites,” what better place than the number 1 and number 3 providers of e-mail service? Oh boy, imagine every time you click a page you hear “congratulations, you have just won.” Oh boy, I can’t wait for that! The “free iPods” and “absolutely hassle-free Xbox 360s!” Oh and my favorite, “just one click and five offers later you to can win a free vacation!”

Service wouldn’t change, nothing is going to go faster, but on the plus side Microsoft may just cry a little… or buy both.

Brandon Dyer

Cool your CAW!

2008-04-08T12:35:00.000-07:00

I’ve touched on the puny rosters of the recent WWE games before, but thankfully the create-a-wrestler has stayed strong and been updated progressively over the years. They’ve been beefed up so much that tweaks and adjustments can take hours to finalize your wrestler. You can even take it to a new extreme and recreate any wrestler from wrestling’s extensive past! Well any wrestler besides a certain Canadian… no comment.
Fortunately for us, those hours recreating “Macho Man” Randy Savage are cut in half due to the internet and the enormous amount of free time people seem to have. CAWs have grown to something bigger than just a personal wrestler to call your own. Modern day artists (a.k.a. wrestling fanboys with too much free time) have created some of the greats via Create-a-Wrestler on Smackdown vs Raw 2008! You can find just about anyone from “The Franchise” Shane Douglas to pre ECW “LionHeart” Chris Jericho! And they look pretty dead-on too, even some comic book and anime superheroes are recreated!
But this wouldn’t be a very good blog if I didn’t give you my favorite website to find these oh-so-good creations you can recreate on your copy SVR 2009. My favorite site to find CAWs is caws.ws! They have a great selection of CAWs for all Smackdown titles and a great search engine to boot. Plus 90% of the CAWs on the website have pictures, which help when you think you’re lost.
But be warned, some of these CAWs do suck out loud but sometimes you have to work with what you got! Luckily the rating system does help filter out some of the trash, but once and a while you’ll see a 9.2/10 on that Papa Shango CAW and notice his face paint isn’t nearly as good as yours!

Brandon Dyer

New Bill and Ted...Totally!!!

2008-04-04T11:47:00.000-07:00

Last night while watching some ATOS (Attack of the Show), they said a new addition to one of my favorite movie franchises is in the works to be made. I love Bill and his heterosexual life mate Ted, so hearing this made me smile! When I found out the one and only Keanu Reeves is even talking about it (very little that is) I had to chuckle! One day that guy will win a major Hollywood award and stand up on stage, one hand on his heart the other in the sky and say “Thank you…ahhh dudes of Hollywood!!! Wild Stallions!!” I can dream, right?

Later Dudes!Brandon Dyer

Brandon Dyer

Zelda Blues

2008-04-02T12:27:00.000-07:00

I wanted to avoid the “oh so great” April Fool’s Jokes around the net yesterday and took a much need day off, so sorry for the late blog. But the aftermath of one joke nearly stopped the server of IGN.com completely!
Around midnight yesterday morning IGN posted an HD video and an article teasing a Legend of Zelda live action movie…and before you start building your hopes and dreams, it was a fake! First off, the trailer was only in HD (and all videos on IGN come in both SD and HD) and the set release date April 1, 2009 is on a Wednesday! No movie on Earth releases on hump-day!

Now a few years back an independent production house called BMB Movies started to make a Legend of Zelda movie but were stopped short just after the trailer was placed on YouTube due to blatant copywrite infringement. But the movie looked even cheesier than the recent IGN knockoff. Though if you check them both out, they use the same titles, just different fonts.

IGN.com has posted a note below the story in bold today stating that, in fact, it was a fake and no actual movie is set to be made. But does this open a long awaited door?
The topic of a Zelda movie isn’t very far from the realm of reality. With the story being so very epic and the fan base so very large, making a profit would be as simple as placing Owen Wilson in a green hat and telling him to start swinging a blue sword. Okay, maybe that would suck. But it’s a great idea to make a movie based on this huge franchise. And hey, maybe IGN knew how America/the world would react to just the possibility of a live-action Zelda movie. And just maybe someone will pick up and run with this sure thing of a profit giant!

Lots of maybes I know. But on the same topic of epic video games shifting to the big screen, 100% true and for sure (and even has its own IMDB page) the Max Payne movie is set in stone! Filming should be near done for the October release date and the one and only Marky Mary is playing the disgruntled cop. And let’s cross our fingers and hope no Katana swards show up out of nowhere. I think Hitman covered that for everyone.

Brandon Dyer

Lay the Smackdown….yes, even on the DS this time!!!!

2008-03-28T13:14:00.000-07:00

As the years seem to drift by, so do the WWE Smackdown games. From 2000 to 2008, a haze of depleting rosters and horrific handheld renditions have emerged from the big brother of the game - the original WWF Smackdown for the PlayStation. Though some have complained about the lack of gameplay changes in the game, I for one am happy the original arcade style has held its own ground and still shows though here and there. It’s still a fun game for me; keeping in mind hell may just freeze over if you don’t see me with a copy of the latest wrestling title in my hand soon after hitting the shelves. Yes, even Showdown: Legends of Wrestling!
Smackdown outlasted the Raw video games and the Wrestlemania games, even the N64 games from THQ died out after the system was killed. Not going to lie here, I played WWF No Mercy not even a week ago. Somehow the Smackdown of today has become a middle ground between a wrestling sim game and that classic semi-arcade fighting style game it was released under.
But let’s move up a bit to last year’s game, Smackdown Vs Raw 2008. It was good, but the roster was very small. It did reflect the World Wrestling Entertainment roster at that time though. They were dealing with the loss of a handful of superstars that year. I guess everything from death to ingrown toenails gets you time off.
As far as handheld versions go, I’m playing the PSP one right now but the DS version of the game made me want to chuck my DS at the carpeted wall of my editbay!

Today, THQ is expected to announce the new SVR 2009! And from what I hear not much will change; same old stuff as last year for the most part. Of course updated rosters and a few nice features for the Tag Team gameplay I hear will change, but the big announcement should be the add on of a new Create a Finisher system and downloadable content for the big boy systems (PS3, Xbox360)
I just hope this “downloadable content” includes music, areas, and I would worship the gaming gods for life for roster updates on the fly!

Oh and for the recorded no word if the color commentary will work this time around. I’d give my kingdom for good voice tracking technology for a wrestling game!!! I don’t get it - Madden can, so can NBA Ballers! Why can’t JR and King just once say something different? It feels like playing with a pull doll - after about four or five pulls you hear the same line!

Okay so I saved the best part (hopefully) for last! The new SVR 09 season mode for the Nintendo DS (so I hear) will be developed by Tose (Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime) and will feature an RPG style gameplay experience! Again, because this isn’t going to be officially announced until later today, I’m not sure what is for sure but I’ll make sure to keep an eye out for an update.

Brandon Dyer

Answers?

2008-03-26T12:38:00.000-07:00

Noob.com is Ed Boon’s personal website. Ed Boon is the producer of every single Mortal Kombat game ever made! Also he’s the voice of Scorpion in both Mortal Kombat movies. But if you check out the link above you’ll see that the page has been striped…black background, Noob logo, and a timer that counts down that simply says Answers. The timer is set to go off about 22 days from now, but what is the question that it’s supposed to answer? Don’t go to deep into yourself to find the “answer” though. Rumors have been around for months about MK8 coming out; some good rumors, some outlandish. But one thing is for sure, Ed Boon isn’t going though all this trouble to keep another pinball or “super-violent television game show” arcade game covert. He’s known for Mortal Kombat plain and simple.
While on the topic of Mortal Kombat I wanted to get this out there…I swear if they keep that useless “Kustom Fatality” thing I give up on MK!!!! It was useless and just flat out bad game play. But I’ll keep an eye out on this WWOY! (See I told ‘em I could use it in a blog!)

So let’s move on shall we? This week the Las Vegas Philharmonic is performing “The Music of Led Zeppelin” I have very high hopes for this concert and I will be attending. I have information on the LV Philharmonic doing a special performance but I’ll keep that to myself for the time being.

And from around the world, more rumors about a new live action Street Fighter movie being made (as we speak I hear) are spouting up. The movies full title is Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li. I have a semi good feeling about this movie. I mean it can’t be worse then Jean-Claude Van Dammn as Guile right?

Brandon Dyer

The Killing Joke and Other Potpourri…

2008-03-24T11:55:00.000-07:00

I picked up the Special Edition of Batman: The Killing Joke Friday during my weekly comic store excursion. Though DC Comics has been lacking lately on the overall brand comics, one shots like these always draws me back into their charters. Alan Moore is awesome and face it, he always will be. This was one of his best though, so when seeing it on the shelves again in brand new coloring and hardback to boot, it got me all excited, so I picked it up and just devoured it in an hour.
It’s never been a long read, but what it lacks in size and length, the art and overall feel of the book always felt very natural to the Batman character. Also, Batman doesn't look over the top like some of the other renditions from other artist either. Brian Bolland has a great style of art and it’s dark but not Arkham Asylum dark. The Joker back-story and the angle of the book are very human, too. This new 20th Anniversary Special Edition also includes the short story “An Innocent Guy”. The story is very intriguing to say the least. Like all Moore stories it leaves you with lots of questions and a whole lot of open space to fill in. I highly recommend you pick this book. Even if you have done so in the past, the book is just a great add-on to your collection.

While on the topic of DC, there’s some very cool stuff coming out this year from DC Direct like the Superman Cape and Belt Prop that’s just one thing set to release under the JLA Trophy Room Set. Some other SUPER (lame joke…) stuff like a Batsignal is coming out this October. I expect to see more of this series announced soon.

Okay lastly, Todd McFarlane is set to release his Warriors of the Zodiac series of action figures and for once in a long time I’m excited about a McFarlane set. The set of 12 figures (I hoped you guessed that) starts out with with Aries, Taurus, Gemini and Cancer coming out next Month.

Brandon Dyer

2008-03-19T11:27:00.000-07:00

One thing you have to remember when it comes to video games and even movies made today is that there is a precise marking schedule for them. Most games today bring a lot of hype with them to the shelves. The months and months of publicity weave a very fine web of facts and fiction about the approaching game. Trailers can only show you so much and demos are just a rough draft of the final product.
On the defense, you can’t give too much to your audience. But to make gamers want to check a game out you must show a whole lot of the gameplay and action. Gamers just want a reason to go spend $60+ on a disc and developers want the game to sell to get your $60!
Take in part Grand Theft Auto 4, set to release April 28. Lately I’ve seen more and more features and new additions leaked for games around the web, like the multiplayer mode. Just a few weeks ago, I saw postings from gamers asking where the multiplayer was. This week we can say for sure it’s in the game. Releasing these bits and peaces of information could very well be Rockstar’s way of silencing these miserable fanboys and it might just hook them into picking up the game at the same time.

So with that stated, I wanted to post a few video games that I am looking forward to that haven’t received anywhere near the same amount of publicity as GTA4. Two of the games listed I have seen and even demoed and I can say I feel the final product will get my $60.

Iron Man

Street Fighter 4

The Incredible Hulk

DragonBall Z Burst Limit

Oh, and I wanted to add yet another plug for the untitled Marvel game, but sadly I must report that because of EA Chicago closing its doors, the project has been canceled. I can only hope Marvel VS Capcom makes an anniversary edition game. Please?

Rainbow Six: Vegas 2

2008-03-18T10:55:00.000-07:00

I couldn’t possibility live in Vegas and work in a Vegas news station and not talk about the new Rainbow Six video game. It’s a given that the Mayor hates this game, he hated the last Rainbow Six: Vegas game. From his eyes it depicted our city being a target of terrorism. And though, for the record I do like our Mayor and I do think he represents our town to the core, I still believe his disgust towards the game helped Ubisoft put the sequel on the fast track. I loved the first game and I still have great expectations for this game but like all Tom Clancy games I don’t expect anything to far from the last game. Like the Tony Hawk games, nothing too out of the ordinary is packed into the new games.
But let’s get real, these games aren’t GTA or “Let’s Bomb Vegas!” Rainbow Six is a real life scenario game. All the crimes and situations in the game could possibly happen. Maybe not to the same extreme but they could under the right circumstances. Even if Oscar doesn’t want to think about it, it still makes compelling story that a mega resort and casino is attacked. And face it Rainbow Six needs any story it can get its hands on!
Now, getting revenue from the display of Vegas in terror isn’t very cool, I do agree with that. I think this game shouldn’t have been rushed out the door just to capitalize on the fear of terror on our nation, let alone fear forced my home turf.
Again though, that doesn’t mean I’m not going to play it. The series has always respected the nature of war and combat in the urban jungle, and it always steers clear of making light of the horrible things that happen in the game. Like any Tom Clancy movie or book these games have always use the up most respect in these situations.

It’s a toss up though, the good Mayor is right and wrong too. All personal issues aside the game looks good, not the best, but good.

Brandon Dyer

Sony Style Indeed

2008-03-17T12:00:00.000-07:00

Now I know I’ve been harsh on the iPod and Apple in the past. Well, okay, nothing much has changed. I still see them as overpriced and sleeker versions of the same technology we already have. But I’ll give them credit on one part, the reflection font they’ve used for a few years now is pretty clean looking, so much so our own creative services even picked it up **cough**cough-a bit late** cough**.
I broke my “personal media player” a few months ago and have been looking into getting a new one for a while now. You know me though; I’m as decisive as a Hilton sister. I’m not going to lie, when you think of media players, Apple is on the top of that short list. But I’ve had my eye on new Sony Walkmans for a while now. I used to own their “Lima Bean” style player a while ago and loved the thing. Sadly, it was only one gig in space, but Sony did use some crazy conversion software to reduce music files, so small a gig seemed more like 3 gigs!
Sony’s new Walkman’s use Windows Media Player 11 now, so the conversion is WMA’s, but unlike Apple’s wave forms you can use WMA’s on almost every operating system known to man…yes, even Linux. This also reduces the time it takes to upload music on their almost famous time consuming software that came with the “Lama Bean.”
But like the “Lima Bean” Sony’s new Walkman is still all flash memory, so load time is near vanished and battery life is just extreme!!! 36 hours of audio playback and nine and a half hours of video playback. And one of the coolest features has got to be the Bluetooth connectivity! You can finally get some good use from those dusty Bluetooth headphones! Sadly the price is still kinda high as far as MP3 players go. But hey, being able to go to the gym and not worry about snagging a wire in a weight or gear is priceless!

And if you’re into the new “Sony Style,” check out their very cool Stereo Bluetooth Headsets, the DR-BT10CX. Everyone at the gym will think your iPod Shuffle is black, but when you whip out your 16 gig Sony Walkman and explain you’re listening to Season 4 of Family Guy via your Bluetooth headset, they may think twice about upgrading to next year’s iPod. One can only hope.

The Wrestling Game

2008-03-12T13:04:00.000-07:00

To my knowledge only two wrestling RPG’s have ever been made for a wide stream availability; both being from World Wrestling Entertainment, one in 1993 and one in 2005. But wrestling more so then any sport changes with the times. Wrestling is more entertainment then sport and storylines are just as valuable (if not more) as superstars. So a role playing game is perfect for wrestling. You can add style and flare to wrestlers that you couldn’t do any other sport; I mean you don’t see many fantasy football teams with hot pink and acid rock green team colors.
Wretchedly, the WWE has monopolized wrestling RPG’s; and if you ever played them you saw real fast, powerhouse wrestlers are broken!!!

I stumbled upon The Wrestling Game a few days ago, it’s a RPG made not by wrestlers or by any “brand” but made for fans by fans. Its system works like a charm, you start out as a jobber with only a handful of moves and with training you receive more powerful moves. It’s a time frame type of point system. You click on what you want to train and it gives you a time you have to wait for it to upgrade. So, if you just started training on a move, the time it takes is short like 30 seconds. As you go on and train more with that move it takes longer to upgrade, so later at level 5 it’s more like 6 minutes. But it’s addicting, trust me that’s the bad part. Once you start clicking you can’t stop, in fact I have my page up under my Word Doc right now, every few minutes or so checking it and clicking on a new upgrade…I know I’m lame…

The heart and soul of all wrestling is the matches however. The game makes them fun, just not as pinpoint as I wish they were. It’s a random system of text based fighting. You can’t control your wrestler at all. The game puts your stats up against your opponent and the better of the two prevails. Although, I have seen low levels pull off a victory on a high level here and there. Your moves you train on sometimes aren’t used but as time goes on and matches get longer and harder it’s good to know more then you use, just like in any sport. You will lose a lot of matches!!! But losing isn’t necessarily a bad thing either, you still get exp and the story still goes on. It’s still a very well thought out game. You get to be creative with your wrestler, making taunts and finishers to your liking. But as far as the storylines go, it’s kind of a crap shoot. Because it’s a massively multiplayer game, no one can be top dog. More like 40 or 50 top dogs. So it’s hard to get to the top, more so stay at the top. But you can create a team, and rivalries with other players. Keep in mind that a fresh out of school wrestler will never go up against the champ and win. Try it out though, it’s FREE!!!! Plus it is the best RPG wrestling system I’ve seen that isn’t WWE!

Brandon Dyer

Kame Hame Ha!!!

2008-03-10T10:45:00.000-07:00

I’ve been waiting to get answers about the DragonBall Z live action movie. I’m still not sure about if it is a “Dragon Ball Z” or “DragonBall” movie, but either way, judging by the rumor mills and comic book fan sites, there will be more movies if this one does well. I can’t imagine it not taking the box office by storm, though. DragonBall has a huge fan base, both here in the states and overseas. I mean, the last four video games have done extremely well, even without a whole lot of differences between them.
Stephen Chow, from the great movie Kung Fu Hustle, announced last year that that he was to produce in the live-action film of DragonBall. Also, a few weeks beforehand, a photo of a very green James Marsters (Spike, from Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel) surfaced and fans rejoiced!
Then James Wong, director of not-so-great films such as The One and Final Destination 3, was announced as the director of the DragonBall movie, and all together the fans got up and raised their eyebrows in confusion.
But beside that information, the film was also given a release date of April 3, 2008…but apparently everyone and their mom wanted that date because the animated movie Star Wars: The Clone Wars is set to release on that day as well as Wild Child, The International, and Tropic Thunder. Though really…nothing on that list looks anywhere near as popular as DBZ, I mean besides Star Wars, but it’s still only an animated film that leads into the TV series. I know loads of fanboys thinking twice about this feature. But because I am a geek, yes, I will spend my $10 and go watch as George Lucas most likely adds nothing and gives nothing new in the holy “tri-trilogy” (I hope Jar-Jar comes back though!)
Nevertheless, the new release date for this DragonBall movie is….drum roll….April 3! 2009!!!!! WHAT#$&^@*? How do you go from April 3 being done and to the next thing to April 3 of next fricken year!? I better see some damn good special effects on this thing!!!
So unbelievably, it’s gonna be a whole long year before we even see a single power blast on the big screen… listen as fanboys weep from miles around…

But I will end this on a happy note. I’m leaving you some very cool images of the new Watchmen live action movie set to be released!!! Next year as well…weep…On March 6, 2009.

Oh, and by the way, speaking of movies, let’s just say he already gets enough face time on this blog.

Clean that Keyboard!!!

2008-03-08T14:15:00.000-08:00

Now is a good time to clean that Keyboard if you haven't this year...or last...or never...

Good Bye Gary...

2008-03-07T04:32:00.000-08:00

On March 4, 2008 Gary Gygax the inventer of D&D and other games passed away I just wanted to let everyone know that we should all salute this man. So I give you his last roll...

God: Ok Gary make save vs poison
Gary: Ok...20
God: Ok Gary make will save
Gary: Ok...15
God: Good enough. Make save vs Death
Gary:Ok...damn...1
God: I'm sorry....

Brandon Dyer

Geek so to Speak

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be back soon...update next week!!!

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