Batman's still > than Spider-Man..

Ok seriously, what has happened since that supposed watershed moment in 2009 when Arkham City was released? This was supposed to bring in a huge renaissance of awesome super-hero based video games. We have had plenty of super-hero games in the last 2 years, and nothing has really changed, has it? Still one craptacular licensed game after another with no real sign of improvement. The one that stood out from the crowd was Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions. It actually got rave reviews. I am a huge Spider-Man fan, I would love for there to be a great Spidey game. Shattered Dimensions was far from it. The camera was awful, the dialogue a pale imitation of any of the Spider-Men in it and the controls were pretty sub-par. Especially the incredibly terrible, nearly unplayable "Noir" levels which were a pale imitation of Asylum's whole stealth motif.

So I'm not horribly excited about the same developer releasing another Spider-Man game, which comes out tomorrow. That being said, they certainly trimmed the fat here, only focusing on regular Spider-Man and the 2099 version, which seems to form a more cohesive story. I guess if they actually improved the camera and combat it might be worth a look. I might rent it if I have time and opportunity, if so I'll post a review.

The other big release this week is RAGE from shooter gods id Software. But a lot has changed since the glory days of Doom & Quake. The FPS landscape is ruled by the likes of Halo & Modern Warfare & Battlefield. Rage will have to be something really special to stand out in what is an incredibly crowded field. My hunch is it won't, and as I only play shooters once in blue moon as is, I doubt I'll get around to it anytime soon.

-That's pretty much it for today, I should almost certainly have another post up tomorrow, but til then, here's your TRAILER OF THE WEEK:  The Grey

My Top Ten RPGs of all time! For now...

Yup here it is, my totally flexible, ever-changing current favorite rpg list. I look at a lot of all time bests list and they seem so rigid, especially the ones seemingly completely stuck on previous eras as the only "golden age" of gaming. Also while I am a huge rpg nerd, I certainly have not played every game currently out there, so this is just a best of list of the ones I've played so far, which over the years is a fairly large amount.

#10. Kingdom Hearts: The second game might have been a lot more polished, but it's hard to top the original in terms of the wonder and wow factor that came along with the seemingly impossible but completely awesome merging of two universes like Disney & Square. Interacting with legendary characters from both never loses its appeal. I have gone through the game many many times and what it manages to really capture better than most is a pure sense of fun and imagination, Now if they'd just finally getting around to making another one for home consoles instead of releasing portable spin-offs...

#9. Lunar: The Silver Star: Now most probably played the very good re-release on the PS one but that was just a little extra polish to what was already a fantastic game and one of the few reasons to own a Sega CD. The battles were admittedly a tad simplistic and didn't require a whole lot of strategy overall, but what really makes the game stand out is the fantastic music and extremely fun and funny characters along with some of the funniest npc dialogue you'll ever run into.

#8. Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars: Mario in a rpg? Surely you must be joking! It's amazing to see that what probably started off as a novel experiment has become one of the great rpg franchises. I have played and loved every Mario rpg since the first, but the series wouldn't have gotten anywhere if the original hadn't been completely fantastic which it was with a great fun story and the really novel idea of actually teaming with Bowser to stop a common foe along with the introduction of a turn-based yet interactive battle system that was really innovative at the time and still implemented a lot to this day. I'd really love to see a full-on sequel incorporating favorites from this and the Paper Mario series someday, but that's probably too much awesome to hope for.

#7.  The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion : I have actually never beaten Oblivion. I probably could have done it quite easily, the main quest is very direct and not all that.... oooohhhh what is that fortress/cave/temple over there?!? As most who have played it can tell you, there's just so much to do in Oblivion that it could take you years to actually get around to doing the main quest. Who has time to stop invading demons from another dimension? I'm busy becoming the head of all the guilds! I seriously do not think there is another game I have poured so much time into, it easily clocked in at a couple hundred hours by the time I finally stopped playing. If Skyrim is actually better, I may never need another game ever again...

#6: Rogue Galaxy: The PS2 was host to a ton of fantastic rpgs, and IMHO Rogue Galaxy was the best of the lot. It had a fantastic and fun story about SPACE PIRATES! Which needs to be a theme more often. The battle system was just a lot of fun and you could lose tons of hours doing side stuff such as synthesizing equipment or hunting down bounties or even competing in insect tournaments. All balanced by a fun and memorable cast.

#5: Shining Force II: I love me a good turn-based strategy rpg. And while there have been plenty of great ones since the 16-bit days, none has really held me in it's thrall quite like SF II. The huge cast, tons of classes and unlike most games in this genre, you could bring a huge party into battle (where as most limit you to a small party no matter how many characters you have) making it really feel like you had an army at your hands.

#4. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic: The year was 2003. George Lucas had just tried his hardest to destroy any love for Star Wars with the absolutely terrible Episodes I & II. Star Wars was pretty much beginning to lose traction, something previously unthinkable. Then KOTOR happened. The history of Star Wars games is not great to say the least, but Bioware is pretty much like the Pixar of the gaming industry, and this was their Toy Story. Throwing out a lot of what fans were familiar with and placing it back in a time when Jedi were plentiful worked pretty brilliantly.  A great story with a fantastic twist few saw coming. This was also the first game to really go into the whole morality system that has anchored most Bioware games since, which really allowed for the feeling that you were truly driving the story rather than just along for the ride. Add in a cast that stands right up there with the best Star Wars characters and you've got an epic classic that's hard to top.

#3. Final Fantasy IX: No list of best rpgs is complete without a Final Fantasy in there. I've enjoyed nearly the entire series, but IX is my favorite, mainly because it does an excellent job of blending what the FF series was in the 16-bit days to what it was moving towards in the future at the time. I won't argue whether the FF games have gotten worse or better, but this was a fantastic mix of the old and the new, along with a really fun story and battle system, along with my favorite FF character, Vivi. Also one of the best endings I've ever seen in a game, period.

#2: Secret of Mana: Magical. There's really no other word to describe how playing Secret of Mana feels. To be fair it lacks the fantastic story and truly memorable characters of a lot of other great rpgs, but it manages to create a wondrous journey backed by a beautiful soundtrack and managed to do right a lot of things modern games still don't do like have multi-player in an rpg! Not to mention mostly competent A.I. partners that didn't get themselves knocked out every couple of minutes (I'm looking at you, Donald Duck, though that can apply to characters in KOTOR and Rogue Galaxy as well). A great weapon upgrading system and a battle system that never got boring. You can easily still see this game's influences to this day, even if it's not really given credit for it.

#1. Chrono Trigger: This shouldn't really be a surprise, but then it's hard to be surprised by pure perfection such as Chrono Trigger. The combo-attack system was revolutionary then and I haven't really seen anything that comes close. The huge number of possible endings was a first and is still rarely topped. The easter eggs added tons of extra hours to a game that was already pretty lengthy. It also manages to tell a touching story filled with all the comedy, action, drama and romance you could pretty much ask for. This is the perfect rpg, and while I remain open to the idea that something better may eventually come out, I seriously doubt it.

Ok that's the list, but it's not a statement of fact. Better games may and in fact will probably come along, so if I need to do a big update to this list at some point I will. I should mention I excluded games where you might actually argue that they aren't rpgs, such as Legend of Zelda & Mass Effect, otherwise those would definitely be near the top. I might have another post tomorrow, but most likely it'll be Monday. Until then, if there's a game on this list you haven't played, you really owe it to yourself to check it out however you can.

Too Mutant...

I rented X-Men: Destiny and played it for a few hours this morning, it's extremely reminiscent of Silicon Knights last effort, Too Human, which overall isn't a good thing. It's got some big positives, any X-Men will be thrilled at interacting with many minor and major characters from the comic series, and the customization that is allowed is fun and interesting, if a little simplistic. But the game just feels sloppy and unfinished in a lot of ways. The whole game looks like an original Xbox title with a slight HD upgrade. The combat is pretty sluggish, which makes you less effective at fighting than you really should be, and there's just not much variety to the combat. Admittedly I had fun with what I did play, but I was several hours in and nearly every other review clocks a playthrough at roughly 5 or 6 hours. This would be fine for a downloadable title, and frankly, if this were say a $20 downloadable title, I'd actually probably recommend it overall as it would be a fun romp for a few mindless hours, but as a full retail release this is pretty unacceptable. Maybe hardcore X-men nuts caan justify it, but everyone else should probably give it a pass and just wait a few weeks til a far superior super-hero game is due out (that'd be Arkham City).

That's really all I got for today, but I should have another post up either tomorrow or Friday. In the meantime, here's your BIG BANG OF THE WEEK:

Terra Nova needs TUROK!!!

Ok not really, but I'm watching the much-hyped Dino series Terra Nova, about people from the future going back to a time when Dinosaurs roamed the Earth, and it seems given all the giant reptiles that want to make a tasty snack out of humans, someone like Turok could've been very useful. What do I actually think of the show? The pilot works as a fun mindless action romp, but I'm not really sure it has any legs. It was entertaining enough for me to give it a chance, and it seems like Fox will give this at least a full season unlike many promising sci-fi shows.

The biggest video game release (at least that's a new game and not a re-release) this week is X-Men: Destiny. It seems on the surface to have some of the ingredients for Arkham Asylum, such as no movie or TV series tie-in and has a fairly original concept of having an original hero and choosing between either the X-Men or the Brotherhood. That being said, developer Silicon Knights doesn't have the greatest track record as of late, the 3 choices of characters seem like lame stereotypes instead of  custom character most games would let you make, and frankly it doesn't look very good graphically. I will probably still rent it and give opinions tomorrow, but until then, we'll probably chuck it up to another disappointing licensed game that probably could've been great.


That's pretty much it for today, should have another post up tomorrow or Thursday. Until then here's your FREE GAME OF THE WEEK: The King's League

What the hell has happened to Level 5?

Gah, sorry about only posting once last week, I've been working a ton and it's kind of left my creative batteries drained. I should be able to post 3 times this week, I'll see if I can do more to pick up the slack. Anyways, this is something I've been thinking about for a little while now, but Level 5 seems to be yet another great company that thrived in the PS2 era and inexplicably has pretty much lost it's magic in the PS3 era. I mean seriously, in the PS2 era, they were rpg superstars, they made several of my favorite rpgs on that system-Dark Cloud 2 (the original was decent enough, but 2 was a massive improvement), Dragon Quest VII (my favorite in the whole series) and Rogue Galaxy, which is one of my my favorite rpgs of all time (I should probably do that list sometime, maybe later this week if I can). Not to mention a little puzzle series on the DS called Professor Layton which is generally considered one of its best franchises.

So it was no wonder when the PS3 was about to launch, one of the most hotly anticipated titles was White Knight Chronicles from Level 5. It looked epic, with you being able to turn into a giant knight in order to fight giant demons. Of course, aside from the fact that it took freaking forever to actually come out (you were seeing footage of this game before the PS3 actually launched, it finally came out in North America just last year), it was pretty mediocre. Ok, no huge deal, Dark Cloud was fairly mediocre IMHO, but 2 was a massive improvement and remains a favorite to this day, they should have no issue making a decent sequel right? Well no as it turns out. White Knight Chronicles II was released earlier this month and the reviews are just as bad if not worse than for the first one. I've said several times this year that we seem to have a serious lack of solid console rpgs so for a great rpg company like this to be making big missteps is worrying. Granted, maybe all they need to do is realize that the whole concept isn't working, just drop it and move on to the next thing. Hopefully they have not lost their touch, because their next game due out here is a collaboration between themselves and the legendary Studio Ghibli.



No obviously the game looks incredible, and is already getting praise like "the most beautiful game I've ever played" thrown at it. So hopefully this is Level 5 getting their act together, because I don't think I will take it very well if a collaboration between these two awesome studios doesn't turn out well.

-Ok that's it for today, I should definitely be posting again tomorrow with thoughts on X-Men: Destiny (probably not a review, but Wednesday is a possibility for that). Until then, here's your TRAILER OF THE WEEK: Man on a Ledge

The Top Ten Videogame Villains that deserve their own game...

Video games used to be pretty simple. You were the hero, there was  bad guy, and you beat him and saved the day/princess/planet/whatever. It's taken awhile, but we are starting to just now really get games that to least allow you to choose to be the bad guy or at least morally ambivalent. But truly interesting villains should get their time in the spotlight s well, so here's 10 that are most deserving:

10. The Purple Tentacle: From the awesome Day of The Tentacle, Purple has all the makings of  classic villain. Created by toxic sludge, he's arrogant and a super-genius, and wants to enslave the world. With adventure games making a comeback, one starring Purple with the trademark Maniac Mansion humor involving executing such a world-conquering plot would be pretty awesome.

9. Psy-crow: Earthworm Jim's arch-enemy and most competent antagonist could do very well in a hardcore yet humorous action title that would be essentially the same as classic EWJ game play. It wouldn't even be that hard to make a concept for, just have him constantly thwarting Jim and his buddies.

8. Lechuck: The main villain of the Monkey Island series seems like he has a lot of potential for a great pirate-themed title, be it an adventure game or something along the lines of Pirates! or Age of Booty. Something that showed his rise from nobody to legendary pirate would be pretty interesting.

7. Dr. Robotnik: While Sonic has been damaged more or less beyond repair at this point, Robotnik getting his own title might stand a decent chance. He always has a wide variety of vehicles which could be very fun and interesting to actually use. The structure could be easily done as well-progress through levels scooping up adorable furry critters for your robot army and each stage boss is a lame friend of Sonic's you get to ultimately destroy which would be very cathartic for long-suffering fans.

6. Captain Qwark/Dr. Nefarious: Granted Qwark has evolved from egotistical villain to ego-driven sidekick but Dr. Nefarious is still full out villain and either would be great in their own game. For Qwark, something that allows you play as the hero Qwark actually thinks he is would be awesome. As for Nefarious, pretty much anything involving a scheme of conquering the universe will do.

5.  Magus: The initial (though not true) villain of the best rpg of all time (FACT), Chrono Trigger, Magus is probably the only one on this list who would work in  game where he isn't necessarily the villain. The quest to redeem himself after the events of Chrono Trigger would certainly be interesting but just as good would be his rise to power. We know he started off a spoiled brat in a technologically advanced society, his journey from the doom of that culture to the most powerful wizard of the Middle Ages would be something to see.

4. Frank Fontaine: The main villain of Bioshock, but also the leader of  huge class struggle between himself and Andrew Ryan, the founder of Rapture. It would be extremely interesting to see this class war erupt at Rapture's high and then see the volatile downfall, with you being Fontaine, causing it ll to come crashing down around you.

3. Saren: This one is so easy it pretty much writes itself. It's the tale of Saren's corruption, from heroic Spectre to agent of the Reapers. Was he always someone who played way outside the lines to get things done, like a renegade Shephard, or was he more of a paragon that was slowly turned by Sovereign? I think we deserve at least one game starring him to find out.

2. Bowser: It's actually really surprising Bowser doesn't have his own game by now. Sure he kidnaps the Princess eleventy-billion times, but former Mario adversaries Wario & DK have theirown series of awesome titles, and the Koopa King has been playable in some form in numerous off-shoot titles.  A platformer or rpg actually starring Bowser is long overdue.

1. Ganon: Nintendo's equivalent to Darth Vader would be a great inspiration for a game. We pretty much always see Ganon as a fully developed warrior to be reckoned with, but we know from OOT he started off as a petty thief. A God of War or even Prince of Persia-esque game about his quest to aqcuire the Triforce of power seems like such a no-brainer. Maybe it's to keep some of the mystery, but Ganon easily seems like the villain most worthy of a game to me.

Ok that's it for today, I should have another post up later in the week, in the meantime here's your TRAILER OF THE WEEK: J. Edgar

The Ten worst gaming peripherials/add-ons OF ALL TIME!!!

The 3DS thumbstick add-on looks terrible, and it will probably be terrible until it's actually incorporated into the next iteration of the hard ware. But frankly, it's hardly the worst thing companies have come out with. Here are 10 far worse ideas that probably shouldn't have gone past the pitch phase....

#10. The Sega CD: Some may argue that this is actually a system, but I'd argue otherwise, since it you cannot play it without the Genesis. Expensive, not heavily supported and a seemingly half-assed attempt to beat Nintendo out the gate before their  CD add-on that never really materialized was supposed to launch. Filled with craptacular ports and terrible FMV games (not there's ever really been such a thing as a good FMV game) the only redeeming thing about this was that there were several genuine classics on the system such as Sonic CD, the Lunar series and the definitive version of Eternal Champions.

#9. The 32x: Much like the ill-fated cd, the 32x was Sega's half-assed attempt to offer gamers 32-bit gaming without actually being 32-bit. It required the Genesis to use so again not a full console, was a bitch to setup and was really lacking in anything that would constitute a solid library, with tons of terrible ports and nothing that really seemed to true 32-bit.

#8. The PS2 Eyetoy: This just may have been technology that was ahead of it's time, what with Wii, Kinect and Move all doing to a greater extent. Doesn't mean it doesn't suck though. Support again was pretty much nil, and really not one of the titles was memorable. The only reason the PS3 version isn't a complete failure because they just integrated it into Move.

#7. The GBA E-reader: This bulky piece of junk was how you played overpriced old Nintendo games on the go. It was a stupid unnecessary format, But even worse was the add-on content, where it actually required another GBA and a link cable in order to download things like additional levels.

#6: Wii Wheel: It's a couple cents worth of plastic that does absolutely nothing, yet many casual gamers were convinced it was necessary, so tons were sold. Nearly any plastic add-on for the Wii would belong on the list. but the Wii Wheel was the most successful, so it pretty much represents the whole range.

#5:  R. O. B.: ROB has sort of a cool retro appeal these days thanks to his surprising appearances in the occasional video game, but those old enough to have actually owned one remember it was basically a highly-hyped POS with only 2 incredibly craptacular games ever even released for it. Some people claim it was part of  a "trojan horse" strategy by Nintendo so people would think the NES wasn't just another video game console, but I don't remember one kid who enjoyed ROB and many skipped the practically useless robot altogether.

#4: Sega Activator: In concept, this might have sounded kind of cool, fighting games were all the rage at the time, and actually being able to kick and punch your opponents seemed like a great idea. The execution was where this truly failed, as everything was needlessly complicated and worked terribly, with things like  high ceiling or a chandelier causing massive interference.

#3: The Super Scope: The NES zapper was pretty awesome, it worked surprisingly well and had a decent amount of solid games. The Super Scope by comparison only had a handful of games, none of which were very good, and also had issues even working properly. It also was constantly expensive, requiring a whopping SIX AA batteries to operate.

#2: The Power Glove: "I love the Power Glove" it's so bad. Truer words were never spoken. This might be the absolute worst controller ever made. Only 2 games were ever released for it specifically, and they were terrible. It was compatible with other titles, but good luck getting it to work even if you could figure out the controls.

#1: The Gameboy Camera/Printer: Most of these previous ideas listed at least have some logic behind the idea. The Gameboy Camera has none whatsoever. Sure it might have been one of the most portable "cameras" at the time it came out, but who the hell wanted monochrome low res pictures that you couldn't even tell what the pictures are of? This is absolutely the worst idea for a peripheral/add-on ever, no contest.

Ok that's it for today, with a little luck I should have another post up by Tuesday, until then, here's your BIG BANG OF THE WEEK:

Well it's not like Sony has their act together either...

So the 3DS lately seems doomed to fail, right? Poor sales, gimmicky atrocious add-ons, and a constant promise of of a killer library that has yet to materialize. Surely Sony has seen these mistakes, not to mention learned from their previous ones and will completely destroy Nintendo's stranglehold on the handheld market with Vita right? Clearly you have not been pay attention to Sony.

One of the biggest complaints about the PSP was it's shitty battery life. You were lucky if you got more than a few hours out of the damn thing. People have had similar complaints about the 3DS' battery life, since it's considerably shorter than the DS'. So surely Sony would fix that issue this time, right? Nope. The Vita has at best the same battery life as the 3DS. Sony of course is offering "optional" extended batteries.

The other big issue links to Sony's bone-headed insistence on proprietary media. Virtually everything these days uses an SD card, including the 3DS (hell it comes with a 2 gb that seems like it'll cover most of your needs).  And it's a relatively cheap storage medium. The Vita has no internal storage and has no memory included. While Sony has stated you'll be able to save games on their own cards, virtually any additional content such as movies, music or dlc will pretty much require it. And of course it only works with their cards, which are more than double the cost of  comparative SD card.

So throw in the shitty battery life, seemingly necessary extended battery and ridiculously overpriced memory cards the Vita just seems like the clusterfuck that was the PSP all over again, just with slightly improved graphics and front and back touch pads. Yay. Maybe I should just give in and start saving for an Iphone/Android....

Ok that's all for today, hopefully I should have another post up Sunday. Until then, here's your FREE GAME OF THE WEEK: Crystal Story

Just when you think it can't get worse...

So Nintendo's big conference was mostly a lot of nothing. They announced a new Monster Hunter title, a Pink 3DS and that Kid Icarus, which probably should've been  a launch title, was delayed yet again to next year. That wasn't enough to impress investors, as the stock dropped 5%. They didn't talk about the controller extension at the presentation, quite tellingly, they just revealed it on the show floor, and it's not just a second circular pad, it actually adds several buttons, which seems at least on the surface to add too much functionality to offer games that are merely compatible, which is worrying if for no other reason I doubt a lot of current owners have much intention of buying it. I mean seriously, maybe $20 for the add-on itself is mildly justifiable, but it also requires a separate battery, with no word on how long that lasts. Really? Another battery to deal with? Why is the 3DS so half-assed? Honestly if this becomes a forced add-on that all games require, I don't really see myself keeping my 3DS, but I don't see how anybody buys this thing separately in any significant amount unless it becomes mandatory or Nintendo offers it in a way that nearly everyone will end up owning it (i.e. packing it in free with a major title that uses it or possibly even several major titles). I really think Nintendo is in a no-win situation here, they may just have to admit they fucked up and dump the whole thing.

Ok that's it for today, sorry it's a little later than planned, but I've been a little under the weather the last couple of days, should have another post up either tomorrow or Saturday. In the meantime, here's your TRAILER OF THE WEEK: We Bought a Zoo

State of the Mushroom Kingdom address...

Ok before I get to talking about the Big N's pending press conference I did promise I'd say some stuff about Disgaea 4. I'm several hours in so far and enjoying it quite a bit. Everything seems a lot tighter and more refined than the somewhat lazy third entry and the new features like the cam-pain HQ make sure there's always something to do to take a break from the overall grind. And sure there's plenty of grinding, but the battles are lots of fun and very dynamic. I highly recommend it to any rpg gamer, especially with the severe lack of rpgs out for home consoles this year.

Now tomorrow is a big Nintendo conference specifically about the 3DS. They will most likely be showing off the holiday releases that will make this system a must-own such as Mario Kart, Super Mario 3D, Kid Icarus, etc. along with hopefully a look at some future titles (such as Monster Hunter G). They might officially announce the second circular pad, and frankly they better come up with something to offer the current install base. At the very least if the circular pad is real, it should be offered free to any current owners. But frankly given how bulky and ungainly the thing looks, current owners should probably be given a free voucher for the new design. This isn't like the original DS compared to any later iteration-nothing added in those designs drastically changed gameplay options or cut off a significant portion of owners from enjoying the games because they had an earlier design. I think Nintendo knows it really has to blow the doors off the the hinges tomorrow, so hopefully that's exactly what they will do. Otherwise they may soon find themselves relegated to the inconsequential 3rd place they were in the last couple of generations...

That is all for today, I should most definitely have a post up by Tuesday specifically about Nintendo's big press conference. Until then, here's your BIG BANG OF THE WEEK:

Yes, because creating a huge divide will save the system...

Nintendo seems to be in desperation mode with the 3DS still. I'm not completely sure why, the system hasn't even gone through it's first holiday season. But they've massively slashed the price and are now supposedly adding a rather drastic re-design that adds on another analog stick. Fair enough, dual analog sticks have been the norm for  long time now in controller schemes and should help immensely with control issues (also might be a big step towards porting Gamecube games, which has been rumored and would be awesome).

But what about those of us who already bought the system? Well like most things Nintendo brings out that add functionality, we can get one for our current system. Because that worked so well with the Motion+ add on and the small handful of games that even bothered to support it. Much like the Motion + the second analog is being touted s a good idea that should've been in the original design to begin with, but it instantly creates a significant portion of the audience who won't have this thing and won't buy it for a number of reasons, the main one probably the feeling of being screwed over just for buying the system early. And then you have developers, which Nintendo has a history or more or less leaving to their own devices when making games for the system, who certainly won't want to cut that portion off. If Nintendo wants this to work they will most likely have to mandate that all games actually use this second analog stick. But given Nintendo's history with third parties I don't really see that happening, plus it would absolutely look like a huge fuck you to anybody who bought the system prior. It's really starting to look like Nintendo is a rudderless ship here, and for their sake I hope they fix it at lest by the time the Wii U launches.

That's it for today I should be posting again tomorrow with thoughts on Disgaea 4 and maybe a couple other things. In the meantime here's your FREE GAME OF THE WEEK: Super Type

MMO'S Square, you're doing it wrong...

Dragon Quest is one of the biggest series in video game history, even if its not a gigantic hit here, in Japan, the nation practically shuts down when one is released, so it's a huge coup for Nintendo to be the one getting all the DQ games lately. And hey, the series has never relied on graphics to impress(IX could've been done on a SNES), so it's not really something that'd even necessarily benefit from being on the PS3 or 360 normally. Dragon Quest X is one of the few reasons to actually hold on to your Wii beyond this holiday season really. But possibly not anymore. Dragonquest X is indeed coming, but in a drastic series departure, will be an online MMO. An online MMO on the Wii? Surely you must be joking? Apparently not.

Though hey, Monster Hunter Tri did at least decent numbers despite the Wii's lack of anything resembling a coherent system. And it is slated for Wii U at some point so maybe this can almost be seen as a test run. Get the kinks worked out before the Wii U version hits and maybe it'll be something that helps differentiate Nintendo's online from something else. The big issue is that they plan charging a subscription fee in order to get online. Now of course this is not completely unusual for an MMO, but it seems to be a really poor idea with the trend for MMOs these days not only being free to play, but that Nintendo's online reputation is a joke at this point, and they'll need to come up with something really impressive to get anybody to really go online with their system. The Wii is already long a lost cause in this area. We've been promised whatever Nintendo has planned for the Wii U will be better, but without any real evidence of such so far. DQX could be a huge way to get Nintendo fans online and a jumping point for a strong online portfolio, but having a subscription fee for an unproven online iteration on a system who's online functionality is already suspect long before its out is the wrong move. Hopefully Square will fix this either before the release or not long after it's out, or I think they'll have missed out on a huge opportunity.

That's it for today, I should be back tomorrow or Thursday with another post. Until then, here's your TRAILER OF THE WEEK: Blackthorne

Let the game avalanche begin!

Now that we are pretty much at the end of Summer, it's time for gamers' wallets to get very, very afraid. Even with many big titles such as Mass Effect 3 & Twisted Metal pushed back to sometime next year, we still have a gigantic deluge of titles coming in the next few months, especially for those owning multiple consoles, and it begins here.One of the most exciting zombie games in a long while, Dead Island comes out, and we'll see if it lives up to the amazing trailer. I'm not a huge fan of zombie titles, but it certainly looks compelling and IGN describing it as "Fallout with zombies", sounds promising. The 3DS gets another N64 classic this Friday with the release of Star Fox 64, which much like the 3DS iteration of Ocarina of Time, is shaping up to be the definitive version, making the number of must-own titles for the system double to a whopping 2 (though that should increase shortly with several big titles due out by Christmas).

But as an rpg nut who has been dealing with a real lack of rpgs lately, I'm by far most interested in Disgaea 4 for the PS3. Sadly aside from Skyrim rpg gamers don't have a whole lot to look forward to. While I absolutely love most Nippon Ichi titles and really enjoyed the first two Disgaea titles, the third seemed like just a little too much of the same. This latest entry however looks to solve most of those issues with a whole ton of stuff to do along with online integration in ways you wouldn't see in any other series. Throw in the series trademark over the top insanity and humor and you might have the sleeper rpg of the year on your hands. Too bad it might get buried under all the bigger releases.

Ok that's all for today, I should have another post up by Tuesday. In the meantime here's your BIG BANG OF THE WEEK:

No Sony, you can't go Home again...

It's generally agreed that Sony's Home program, designed to be a virtual space for gamers is a interestingly muddled experiment at the best of times. It's cumbersome, pointless, filled with annoying ads, and no one really uses it. Yet Sony seems determined to try and turn it into something gamers actually give a shit about. Their latest "genius" revamp? Turning it into some kind of MMO theme park. Really, a virtual theme park? Who the hell cares? This just seems like they are desperate to please at this point. It just seems ridiculously complicated like Home has always been. XBox live works because it keeps things streamlined and simple. It's virtually effortless to find people to play with on your level or any level you want.  Now I have to go to some vaguely described section of a "theme park"? Why would I want to do that? And you plan on making it something else to play? If I wanted to be in a social MMO I would be in one, there's tons out there, all free to play, and better organized than anything Sony will come up with. Home is a lost cause, Sony should just dump it altogether and probably just try and ape Xbox live as best they can. People pay for that service because it's by far the best, Sony is free because no one in their right mind would pay for it, and shit like Home continues to re-enforce that fact.

That's all for today, I have a fairly packed weekend, but with a little luck I should have a post up Sunday. Until then, here's your FREE GAME OF THE WEEK: Infestor

Welcome Back Kevin Butler....

Yeah I wasn't completely aware he "left" either, but apparently he's back. Come to think of it though, Butler's been MIA since the whole hacking fiasco so it's good to see him back in action, because he's easily the most awesome thing Sony has ever come up with in terms of advertising.

Were you an early 3DS adopter? Well the sting of missing out on the sudden and massive price drop should be relieved a bit by the 10 Free NES games you get starting tomorrow. The full list has finally been revealed and as should be expected, it's  bit of  mixed bag, but with some genuine classics in there so nobody should really be complaining. Now if we could get a real date on the GBA titles not to mention be told what the last 5 are that'd be nice too.

Can Mass Effect continue without Commander Shepard? I guess we will find out, as Bioware has stated that while there will most likely be more titles set in the Mass Effect Universe, the third chapter wraps up Shepard's story and any new games would have a new protagonist. I'm sort of torn on this. It's good to not wear out a character, but on the other hand it's sort of like replacing any iconic character of a franchise, it feels weird. Plus it might be more personal for most, since each Shepard is unique to each person's decisions throughout the series, so it's someone that's grown with the player. But admittedly, assuming you beat Mass Effect 3 you just saved the whole goddamn universe, there's really nowhere to go but down with that character (although that could be something to explore as well). I guess we'll see if this decision pays off whenever the 4th Mass Effect title comes out.

That's really it for today, I should be back to a regular posting schedule so look for another post in the next day or two. In the meantime here's your TRAILER OF THE WEEK: Hunger Games

Short Hiatus time again...

Things have been going crazy this week with a new job opportunity (while still working my current job so I still have money to do basic things like buy food. I've been running ragged the whole week and it might not stop until I officially start at the new job so this blog is going dark til then. Hopefully shouldn't be more than a couple weeks, no more than a month tops.

Games are too expensive. Except of course our games...

The price debate on games has pretty much been going on since the advent of cds. People thought hey, cds cost mere pennies to manufacture, surely games won't be nearly as expensive now, right? And while we didn't see the occasional $80-100 game like we had during the cartridge era, the average price of games stayed fairly steady, and for the most part actually climbed to the $60 price point most major console games are now.

Developers & publishers have for years told the very plausible line of rising development and marketing costs. Big games can cost as much as a small budget movie to make these days, and obviously to make that money back they have to sell lots of copies. However with console cycles lasting much longer and digital distribution becoming a bigger piece of the pie shouldn't prices be going down? Surprisingly several developers have actually come out and said $60 is too much for game. Is their answer to lower prices? Of course not, their answer is too make sure that you get your $60 worth out of game. And sure, there are some titles that can probably easily make their case.

Take Skyrim, the latest Elder Scrolls title hitting in a few months. The Elder Scrolls titles literally have hundreds of hours of gameplay to offer, so that's a no-brainer to argue for the price point. What about games that don't offer nearly that many hours? Most games offer high enough production values of course, but the average length is far shorter, taking 10-15 hours. How do those justify a similar price tag? Some tack on pointless multi-player, but many who buy those games buy them for one or the other, not really both. Why should we pay for both? I'm pretty excited about Uncharted 3, but I have no interest in the multi-player content. If I was offered the single-player mode by itself for cheaper, I would snatch that up in a heartbeat. Everybody seems to be sharing these kind of sentiments-that games should in general be cheaper, possibly offering different options. But nobody seems to be willing to actually take that step. Hopefully someone will break that price barrier soon, as I believe it would benefit everybody.

That's all for today, I should have my next post up in the the next couple of days. In the meantime, here's your BIG BANG CLIP OF THE WEEK:

10 awesomely nerdy music videos

This is most definitely not some kind of list of best nerdy music videos, because there's so many out there I'm bound to not even really know half of them. But when extreme Nerdery and music combine, often it's a beautiful, beautiful thing, so here are 10 I just really like either for the song itself or something to do with the video:

#10: Bruno Mars-The Lazy Song



Bruno Mars is decidedly not nerdy in the least, but Leonard Nimoy is of course one of the great geek icons and is doing  brilliant send up of himself. If it was just any old guy in video it wouldn't be anything special of course, but Spock flipping people off, buying porn mags and practicing the Vulcan greeting in the mirror are just things only us nerds & geeks would find so ridiculously entertaining.

#9: Goldfish-We Come Together



I really shouldn't even have to explain why this video is so awesome and amazing when one viewing will say it all for me. The great animation paying homage to the 8 & 16-bit glory days combined with nods to so many classic characters and memes that you see something you missed every new viewing makes this a mandatory viewing for any geek.

#8-Jonathon Coulton-Re: Your Brains



Zombies have been all the rage lately but Jonathon Coulton had an anthem ready for the living impaired long before they were popping up in everything from hit cable shows to Jane Austen. Long  a geek favorite, it actually didn't really have a music video  til recently, but what an awesome video it is.

#7-Midichlorian Rhapsody



 A parody of nerdy music favorite Bohemian Rhapsody, and a completely brilliant one at that.  The prequels are a disgrace of of course, but when it can result in stuff like this, it becomes a little harder to hate (as long as I don't have to actually watch them again at any rate).

#6-The Guild-Game On



I only wanted to put one Guild video up, and admittedly it was a little hard to choose between this and "Do You Want to Date My Avatar", but the homage/mocking of Bollywood-style musicals gives Game On a slight edge in my nerdy opinion. Also the fact that it's basically all bout getting someone pumped to play a video game is a level of nerdiness few songs could hope to achieve.

#5-College Humor-Run this Raid



There are plenty of WoW videos out there, but this one is probably the best and funniest without being insulting or just plain lame since it accurately describes both what's awesome about the world's biggest MMO and what is really frustrating about it as well.

#4-Tonight I'm Frakking You



The capper of this celebration of many things nerd is that Raj from Big Bang Theory is in it. I'm also told the girl in the Leia bikini is from Caprica but since that was a terrible show I have no idea. It is also a pretty solid parody of the rather douchey Enrique Iglesias song.

#3-Broken Record Films: Roll a D6



No list like this would be complete without  a D & D tribute and this is definitely one of the better ones out there. I haven't even played old school D & D in over a decade and this song makes me want to gather a crew in my basement and roll some dice.

#2-Sam Hart: Mario Kart Love Song



This is easily my personal fave because it's so original, simple and beautiful while managing to be touchingly funny as well. Sam Hart is simply incredibly talented (seriously check out his other songs) and really deserves to be much more than the youtube celebrity he is at the moment.

#1-Weird Al: White and Nerdy



You know this list isn't complete without at least one Weird Al video, and "White & Nerdy" is considered by many to be the closest thing to a nerd anthem. Yankovic is of course  giant nerd himself and revels in it, but what really sells this video for me personally is Donny Osmond completely spazzing out, which I could watch for days on end.

Ok that's it for today but I should have another post up this weekend. Until then, here's your FREE GAME OF THE WEEK: Lee-Lee's Quest

How much should you be paying for a 3DS game?

One of the major flaws that has been brought up as a big reason for the 3DS not selling so hot is the seemingly high price of $40 across the board for all titles. With most mobile devices offering games for pennies many feel the $40 price tag is absolutely ridiculous, claiming 3DS games should run much lower, like in the $20-25 range/ Would this solve the issue? It might help, but I think it really needs a two-pronged approach. Premium AAA titles such as Ocarina of Time, Mario Kart, etc. Probably can justify the $40 price tag. Their production values are top notch and they offers tons of hours of playtime. But smaller or under the radar titles should be cheaper. There is no reason for me to be paying $40 for Pac-Man/Galaga Dimensions, especially when I can get those titles on my home console for half the price. As much as I enjoyed Ghost Recon, the production values on that game were terrible, it screamed budget title, yet still runs $40 brand new. The DS has a wide range of titles varying in price anywhere from $20-35, and many of the lower priced titles are of consistently good quality. There's really little reason 3DS games couldn't have similar pricing. It would give smaller profile titles a much better chance, and make the 3DS catalog a little more appealing overall. Of course at the end of the day having a wide range of quality titles will be one of the most important factors regardless of the price. Currently the 3DS has nothing close to that, and it has to change soon.

That's it for today, should have another post up tomorrow or Friday. Until then, here's your TRAILER OF THE WEEK: In Time

We need an actual network for gamers....

Anybody who has actually watched G4 over the last several years know it has de-volved into a Spike/MTV wannabe with a slight nerd edge, getting rid of the majority of their personalities and programming about gaming and just replacing them with pretty models and Dane Cook wannabes. Cops 2.0 and extreme lameness like Code Monkeys & Spaceballs the animated series (which looks like it costs about $5 an episode and is written by guys not good enough to get on Mad TV). Now the argument may be that gamers don't want to watch TV about gaming when they could be playing games, but given that the recent EVO tournament had over 2 million streams (which would be a decent number of watchers for most cable shows) and the fact that each console has wide range of programming it does to promote it's product shows that their is audience for this sort of thing.

Programming wouldn't be that difficult, just transplant most of the shows already on consoles like Quore and Major's minute, throw in some classically cheesy gamer TV like Nick Arcade and Captain N, current stuff people actually watch like The Guild and Mega 64. Then throw in some obvious original programming like a review show, news show and a competition show or two and you're pretty much set.

This is actually not that different from how G4 was at the beginning, arguably it's only real weakness was lack of variety which could've easily been fixed if it had actually been given a few years to grow into its own real network rather than the awkward merger with Tech TV then quickly turning into the abomination it is today.

Ok that's all for now, this was meant to be my weekend post but I worked a lot and didn't quite have the energy to finish. There may be another post later today but Tuesday is more likely. Until then, here's your BIG BANG CLIP OF THE WEEK:

Nintendo is ignoring its biggest weapon on the 3DS...

So Nintendo has more or less admitted that the 3DS is in critical condition, but to their credit they are taking fairly drastic steps to turn it around, namely with a huge price drop and an emphasis on what looks to be a pretty strong holiday lineup with the trio of Super Mario 3D Land, Mario Kart and Kid Icarus Uprising.

That's a pretty good start, but I really think that Nintendo is ignoring a major aspect of its system that they have barely mentioned even though the potential applications are huge. Much like the Wii, the 3DS has a Mii system, where you can make little simple avatars or you, your friends and family or even famous faces and characters. The new hitch to this is Mii Plaza combined with the 3DS' street pass feature. Essentially you carry your 3DS with you wherever you go and odds your 3DS will contact someone else's 3DS and you'll swap Mii's to be used in the simple but surprisingly addictive Find Mii RPG. It's a fun but limited application of what this feature could really be. With the right steps this could be a huge social media tool, right up there with facebook or twitter. Add in new games to play, incentives to meet people (you already can get hats for your Mii through playing Find Mii, getting more exclusive items for your Mii through playing new games or simply meeting enough Miis would add a lot of variety to this feature). The 3DS has internet capability as well, so integrating this into something like Facebook or Twitter could make it all the more appealing.

Social Media and networking is a huge thing. We know this. Nintendo has something that can really take advantage of that fact and they are virtually ignoring it. Don't get me wrong I'll prefer a slate of really solid software over social media bullshit any day but it doesn't change the fact that tons of people do similar stuff on facebook already and if Nintendo really pushed and marketed this right it could be one of the defining selling points of the system that really helps it stand out from all the portable competition. But odds are that won't happen because if there's one thing Nintendo's really known for, it's introducing a really cool new idea and then barely even bothering to support it...

That's all for today, I should theoretically have another post up this weekend. Until then, here's your free game of the week: Penguin Overlords

Will your new games start requiring a subscription?

So we already have Xbox live, Playstation +, and other various services where basically you pay a company money to use services that should arguably be free or mostly get stuff for free you never would've payed for anyways (as much as I enjoy and tout the value of PS+, at least half the games I've downloaded for free get little to no playtime, but it's still worth it IMHO). And now EA is really getting into the whole subscription game with their EA Sports Season Ticket, which essentially allows early access to games, dlc discounts and vague "premium content", whatever that means (you know, like the tip videos & cheats EA charged you for previously that should've been free to begin with). Now, there is definitely arguable value here. DLC can cost as much or more than the initial purchase, so for somebody who wants to get all or most of it that might be worth it alone (especially since it covers all of EA Sports, not just one game).

However, I think the realistic and likely worry is this will cause a have/have not situation that may worsen if more companies go in on it. There may be only a handful of mega-publishers these days, but everyone's trying to make that cash flow for as long as possible, that's already why DLC exists, getting you to pay more for a product you've already bought. Sometimes it's great stuff to help extend and add value but almost as often it's something that seems like a cheap cash grab or something that should've been in the game in the first place. Right now its perks like early access and discounts, which if somebody wants to pay a premium for, more power to them, it's really hard to argue how that's going to affect the guy brown bagging it to work so he can keep feeding his gaming habit and can't really afford to subscribe to all these premium services. But at some point it might become more than that. Stat boosts? Extra powerful in-game items? Online access and multi-player? The ending? Sure it's a slippery slope but we already have certain games that require constant online access to work even if they don't include online play, is other seemingly mandatory content next? I'm honestly not sure. It seems unlikely, but then You'd think no one would pay money just for the ability to go online with their system when the competitors allow you to do that for free....

That's all for today, sorry for no post over the weekend, I just honestly had a pretty bad case of writer's block. I should have another post up tomorrow or Thursday. In the meantime here's your TRAILER OF THE WEEK:  Tower Heist

Is the 3DS the new Virtual Boy?

Cancelled titles, flagging sales only 2 months in, a software lineup that even Atari Jaguar owners would laugh at. Is the 3DS doomed to be a quickly forgotten experiment? That's what some seem to be suggesting in the wake of not only the latest sales numbers, but Nintendo's big announcement this morning that they will be slashing the price of the 3DS a whopping $70 to a much more attractive $170. And just to be sure they don't piss off the early adopters, everybody who has or gets one before the price drop gets TWENTY free games. Sure they are downloadable old NES and GBA titles, but it's hard to be mad when I'm getting stuff like Ice Cimbers & Mario Kart: Super Circuit for free.

Does this move seem drastic and possibly desperate considering the PS Vita isn't even out yet? Maybe, but this is a very different time than when the DS launched. The economy was better and there weren't tons of portable phones and tablets and whatnot all vying for your time and your dollars. What this does IMHO is send a message that Nintendo is being extremely aggressive this time around and it'll most likely pay off come this holiday when the new low price is combined with the release of games like Mario Kart, Super Mario 3DS and Kid Icarus.

Now, in reference to the heading, many naysayers are claiming that the 3DS is already the next Virtual Boy, essentially a huge blunder best left forgotten. But there are quite a few differences here, namely that the Virtual Boy's biggest issues were all major design flaws (horrible red graphics, stupid helmet that was heavy and gave people headaches). You can turn off the 3D and you are still essentially left with something that's quite a visual step up from the DS which companies can make quality games for without having to shoehorn 3D into everything. Will the 3D remain a key component since the public seems kind of ambivalent at best about that technology? That's really up to Nintendo and 3rd party developers to decide. Making games that really use the 3D feature in new and innovative ways rather than just doing it because they can will make it a key feature and a differentiator from most competition, and it's really up to them to make that happen. I fully expect once solid titles really start rolling out (which they will in the coming months) sales will easily skyrocket with the new price point and a year from now everyone will wonder what the worry was about as they are playing Blast Corps in 3D (hopefully).

That's all for today, I should have another post up this weekend sometime. In the meantime, here's your FREE GAME OF THE WEEK: Sushi Boy Thunder

A legacy worth mentioning?

Admittedly as I've mentioned before, most DLC isn't even worth looking at and Bioware's is no exception as the large majority for previous titles has been overpriced short and uninteresting. Dragon Age II's Legacy is none of those things so far frankly. I'm a little over 90 minutes in (which is on average about as long as most previous Bioware DLC has been) and just seem to be getting into it. Granted, they could cut it short like they did with pretty much the third act, but I'm sensing there are at least a couple more hours here which certainly makes it well worth the $10. There's even some replay value there for not only new dialogue banter between party characters but also obviously depending where you are in the game, you may have a wider variety of characters to play through it with. The story is intriguing so far as well. Hopefully future DA II dlc will measure up to this very worthy first release.

Don't have DA II or looking for something new in the summer doldrums? Xbox's Summer of Arcade may have your answer yet again with the very original From Dust. I haven't downloaded the trial yet, but I should get a chance to play around with it this weekend. The early reviews are very positive. It'd be nice if XBLA releases could be regularly this kind of quality instead of being so inconsistent, especially with the prices on average going up.

That's really all I have for today, but I should have another post up tomorrow or Friday (if it's Friday I might have a Cowboys and Aliens review as I am planning on seeing it this weekend), until then, here's your TRAILER OF THE WEEK: The Knights of Badassdom

A man out of time....

Well actually I did happen to be able to go catch Captain America on Friday night and I really enjoyed it overall. Evans was damn good in the role and the action was spectacular. It does almost seem like a film that was lifted straight out of the early days of film making in its style and dialogue. It has that same serial vibe going for it that Lucas infused the Indiana Jones movies with. It doesn't take a lot of risks or try and be edgy, but it doesn't really need to be. My one minor complaint would be that both Peggy Carter and Cap's squadron of Howling Commandos don't get much screen time and since it seems like only the first movie will take place in WWII, there's a bit of missed opportunity there. I think the Howling Commandos could certainly make for a good film, but odds are they're a little too far down on the Marvel food chain for that to happen.

So the WiiU won't be compatible with Gamecube games but that doesn't necessarily mean we won't have any opportunity to play them as it's been suggested that they will probably be released on Wiiware once the WiiU is actually out. Depending on pricing this could be a pretty awesome prospect, though considering the huge leap in size of the games, it does make one wonder how we would store given Nintendo's rather half-assed storage measures to date. Hopefully they'll have something close to on par with the storage space the PS3 & 360 have now and it won't be an issue.

Finally in potentially awesome news, Lego has recently required the rights to make Marvel & DC Lego characters and sets. This is obviously awesome for any Lego fan, and while I haven't bought any Legos in years, the real exciting potential would be for a Marvel or DC-based lego videogame. Of course, Marvel & DC together in a Lego game would arguably be the biggest Nerdgasm of all time, but odds are that's not going to happen, so I'd just be pretty stoked to have something with the Avengers or the Justice League.

That's all for today, I should have another post up Monday or Tuesday. Until then, here's your BIG BANG CLIP OF THE WEEK:

Chris Evans can't be Captain America, he's already the Human Torch!!!

Admittedly there's been some joking of this sort since Evans was cast as Marvel's iconic all-American soldier. But,  possibly because the Fantastic 4 movies are considered some of the worst comic book films of the last couple years, the usual fans don't really seem bothered by it. It'd be different if say Hugh Jackman was cast in the role, not only would he probably be really wrong for it, the guy is so ingrained in fans' minds as Wolverine I think some people's heads would explode trying to comprehend that. There was also some doubt on Evans ability but aside from the really solid reviews, I've always found Evans a really solid and fun actor to watch from things like Sunshine & Push to more just fun stuff like Scott Pilgrim. Hopefully Captain America and the Avengers next year will push him into bigger stardom because he's actually been doing really solid work for a few years now and deserves it frankly. I'm excited to see the film, but my weekend's pretty packed already so I might not be seeing it til I have a day off next week. I'll be sure to post my thoughts then.

Ok Xbox's Summer of Arcade has started! Are you pumped? Why not? Could it be because nearly every year "SoA" seems like an apology for the fact that 3 months go by without any cool titles and even for the lowered expectations of digital titles these usually seem underwhelming? Well, obviously I can't speak for the rest of the SoA titles (except Fruit Ninja Kinect, just fuck you Microsoft on that one) because they haven't come out yet but the first one is actually pretty awesome. Bastion, best described as an isometric dungeon-crawler is just oozing style, creativity and coolness. The action is solid but fairly boiler-plater shooting and hitting the hell out of anything that moves with a decent array of weaponry,What really makes it fun is the clever narrator that tells you story, and not in a canned fashion, he actually adjusts on the fly. I don't own it yet as I'm saving my $$$ for the Dragon Age II: Legacy DLC set to hit next week but I pan to purchase it not long after and you should as well if you want to support good original downloadable titles.



So the new Spider-Man trailer is out, and everyone's biggest complaint seems to be "not another origin story!". Which given that the Sam Raimi films weren't all that long ago, seems like a somewhat valid complaint, but they've recast everybody, put Peter in High School and even given him back his old-school web shooters. While comic book fans and internet nerds might be able to just accept that, the general movie going-public will just be confused and think they are at the wrong movie. Besides, the last time they tried rebooting a series without an origin story, we got Superman Returns. Granted, maybe Sony should've waited a few more years so the last 3 films weren't so fresh in everyone's mind, but given that there's money to be made that just wasn't a realistic expectation. I for one am excited all over again.

Ok that's it for today I should have another post up tomorrow or Sunday. Until then, here's your TRAILER OF THE WEEK: War Horse

Could games get even shorter?

Now appropriate game length has always been a debatable issue, but the general consensus is that of you tell a compelling story and have well-paced gameplay, your game can be as long as you like. But there also seems to be a waning trend in particularly lengthy games. 25 hours used to be short for an rpg, now its pretty much the standard. Action titles and especially FPS games often run short of 10 or sometimes even 5 hours. Now in some cases, this is a good thing. Lord knows there are plenty of solid titles with what feels like completely boring filler. But I'm pretty sure anyone who paid $60 for a game and didn't even get 10 hours out of it feels pretty ripped off.

And now developers are coming out and saying that games these days are too long and gamers don't enjoy 10+ hour titles. Which I believe is a huge fucking crock. There are tons of games that provide top-notch story telling and lots of gameplay that sell incredibly well. It's all about delivering a truly compelling experience. If gamers don't bother to finish because it's just "too long," well that's their loss. If developers start making games even shorter than they already are, that just smacks of lazyness and most certainly putting the almighty dollar ahead of any creativity. Would you want a Mass Effect title that takes maybe 15 hours to beat? The next Uncharted game to only take 5? If that's where games are heading, maybe I should start buying more books....

That's it for today, but I should have another post up tomorrow. Until then, here's your FREE GAME OF THE WEEK: Murloc RPG:SF

The XStaton 720?

So a seemingly ludicrous, though if you really take a minute to think about it not that ludicrous rumor has popped up that Microsoft and Sony may actually team up in order to make one mega-powerful all-encompassing console, combining Sony's knack for great software with Microsoft's online expertise. It really isn't that far fetched really. It's sometimes hard to remember, especially with the legions of fanboys Sony & Microsoft both have, that they are at the end of the of the day major corporations out to make money, and if it makes really good business sense for this sort of partnership to happen, suddenly it doesn't seem like such an out there possibility. Between the mounting pressures of competing against not only the juggernaut that is Nintendo, but the casual gaming space as well, it might make perfect sense to unify in order to offer one high-end experience rather than continually make consumers choose, especially in an economy like we have now.

What do I personally think? Obviously it would be great not to have to try to afford separate consoles just so I can experience all the games, and one major high-end platform would mean no waiting on ports and also no inferior ports. Of course, this also means less choice for both gamers and developers. It may also mean no real price wars to take advantage of. Also you are looking at two very divergent philosophies that just may not mesh very well.

At the end of the day, I think the possibility of an MS/Sony team-up is possible, but very slim. Of course I could be proven completely wrong by such a thing being unveiled at E3 in the next year or two. It would be nice to hear a lot less fanboy bitching, that's for sure.

That's all for now, since this was what I meant to post Sunday (I was a little too tired after work and just crashed) I may have another post tonight, but most likely I'll do another one Tuesday. In the meantime, here's your BIG BANG CLIP OF THE WEEK:

Now I can watch Star Trek at McDonalds....

Ok so firstly I did see Deathly Hallows Part 2 last night. It's always very hard to deliver on a finale, expectations run extremely high and you need to tie up any loose ends and still deliver a finale that's thrilling and compelling. I think they managed to do that with this movie. It was a huge action-packed finale with lots of fun epic moments. Admittedly certain scenes might not have the same impact for those who have only seen the movies and not read the books but I can't imagine any fan being truly disapointed.

The other big Potter-related news is of the Dark Knight Rises trailer that premiered. While it's good to know the movie has a definitive release date, the trailer was pretty much a waste, with footage mostly culled together from the last 2 films and Gary Oldman barely understandable talking from a hospital bed. My guess is that rather than breaking Batman's back like he did in the comics he puts Gordon in the hospital. Which for the purposes of the movie would probably be way better, we don't want a Batman movie where he's probably out of action for at least half of it healing up his spine.

And yes, Netflix is now on the 3DS, though I sort of question why. I mean sure you can use it at hotspots, but frankly the smallish screen size and completely shitty battery power means you'd probably be lucky to get a 2-hour movie in, much less be able to watch a marathon of the recently acquired Star Trek shows.

That's it for today, but I should have another post up tomorrow or Sunday. In the meantime here's your TRAILER OF THE WEEK: Hugo

Spoiler: Potter kills Voldemort...

And even if you didn't read the books, you should've been able to guess that the grand finale will consist of Harry's victory over He who shall not be named. But of course that's not the real question. The real question after Deathly Hallows part 2 is, what's next? Is there another big franchise Warner Bros can bank on? They've said their next big money-maker is DC superheroes but really, we all know a Green Arrow film or the 40th Superman reboot is not going to bring in the numbers the Potter Franchise has. Another set of kids books? They've been trying to do that since the opening weekend of Philosopher's Stone with various series and met with middling success at best, but that doesn't mean that something won't come along. And of course will there be any more Potter books, movies, or video games? I think something actually starring The chosen one is long shot at best, but there's a whole universe here that is worthy of exploration. Something covering either Voldemort's original rise to power or the years after his defeat could be a great possibility for movies, books or games. I think not only the huge dollar potential but the fact that there is still plenty left to explore means that this will hardly be the last we see of the world of Harry Potter.

Catherine is a weird little game out of Japan that might normally not get much notice, but it's mature content and fact that it's published by Atlus, which usually makes fairly awesome games come stateside (the Persona series, Dark Souls, etc.) has gotten it a fair amount of coverage. Now it's finally due out later this month, and a demo was released today for the 360 & PS3. I tried out the demo and felt like I was playing a twisted game of Q*Bert with awful controls, as I would constantly pull the wrong block or pull it the wrong direction or even overshoot and be left hanging with nothing to do but fall to my death. Add in choppy animation and bad even by cheesy anime standards acting and you've got something that will probably only appeal to those who will buy this just because it's a quirky indie title rather than it actually being good.

No, I haven't been able to catch the premiere of Torchwood: Miracle Day yet, but I was able to watch the latest Superhero drama, Alphas, thanks to it being free on Xbox live. It certainly cribs quite a bit from X-men(which makes sense since it's from two of the writers on X-men), but it's got a mostly solid cast (I could see the slightly autistic kid getting really annoying after a few episodes) and well done action & plot while already hinting at bigger threads for the run of the season if not the whole show. It could be another stinker along the lines of No Ordinary family but first impressions are we could have the first good superhero show in a long, long while.

Ok that's all for today. I might have another post up tomorrow but more likely Friday with a review of Deathly Hallows part 2 along with a few other things. Until then, here is your FREE GAME OF THE WEEK: Dinosaur Zookeeper

Could the Wii U's online system actually be worse than the Wii's?

We are all pumped for Nintendo to move into the current times, having an HD-capable system and finally a decent online system! That's are what they are having, right, a decent online system. After all, Reggie promised us the end of friend codes! But wait, did he or anyone else at Nintendo even say anything else definitive about what the system would be like and how it would work? There's actually a very telling and potentially disturbing quote from Reggie himself here:

"...instead of a situation where a publisher has their own network and wants that to be the predominant platform, and having arguments with platform holders, we’re going to welcome that. We’re going to welcome that from the best and the brightest of the third party publishers".

Now, to me that sounds like they are just going to let developers and publishers try and set up their own network rather than have one standard universal setup like the 360 & PS3 have. Just think about that for a second. At a bare minimum you might need a username & password & friends list for nearly every major publisher out there, not a promising prospect at all. It also sounds like they might half-ass it at best with their own titles that could greatly benefit online. Nintendo has a ton of unique franchises that could provide experiences you couldn't get anywhere else in an online setting. Smash Bros. is the most obvious, but New Super Mario Bros, Wii Sports, Metroid, Pikmin and even Zelda (think 4 swords online) all have strong possibilities that could make Nintendo's online network the one to beat, and all it would really need is a competent setup. Easy to find and make friends, leaderboards, etc. Instead it sounds like we might very well be getting something that is actually far worse than friend codes ever were, and that's if publishers even bother. After all, setting up and maintaining servers ain't cheap, and I can't think of anybody who would go through this trouble just to play a few games...

That is all for today, I should have another post up by Tuesday. Until then, here's your BIG BANG CLIP OF THE WEEK:

An important PSA from Nathan Fillion....

Swamp ass, it's a serious problem. But together, we can beat it!



It seems like we've been waiting for awhile for even an announcement about any significant Dragon Age II DLC. Well it's finally been announced and it's not even that for off, coming out in a little under 3weeks! I am pumped, but cautiously so. IMHO the only worthwhile expansion released for Dragon Age was Awakenings (and nearly all Mass Effect DLC has been fairly worthless) which was a fairly meaty addition but was also $40. $10 will probably buy us a couple hours, tops. I'm not fond of DLC in can finish off in an afternoon. I'd gladly pay $10 for a sidequest that also brought a new party member to the mix as Sebastian was a fairly interesting addition that I really enjoyed.



Fnally, the long-awaited premiere of the Torchwood: Miracle Day is tonight. It's going to be extremely tough to match the insanely epic Children of Earth (seriously, if you haven't watched that DO IT NOW before the new season airs) but getting a bigger budget, a new setting and and potential exposure to a much wider audience should help. Sadly I don't have cable, so that leaves out watching it tonight, but there's a decent catch it'll turn up on Netflix or I can just stream it online in a day or so in which case I'll try and post my thoughts next time I post.

That's it for today, I should have another post up tomorrow or Sunday. In the meantime, here's your FREE GAME OF THE WEEK: Shop Empire

Parappa the Rapper: Final Fantasy Edition....

Yay! A new Final Fantasy game is on the way!  Is it the next main number? A spin-off action title? A Dress Up Game? Sadly, no. Instead it's one of their inane little experiments and they are just shoving the Final Fantasy name & characters on there in a desperate attempt to boost sales because the Final Fantasy faithful are like many other fanbases in that they will buy virtually anything with the name attached. But really, a rhythm game? Yes Final Fantasy has some extremely memorable and awesome music, I have a fair amount of it in my itunes library.

And hey, nothing is wrong with music-based or rhythm-based games, there have been some truly classic titles such as Parappa, Rez and Elite Beat Agents. But these are not two great tastes that taste great together. Not too mention Square's track record trying to shove Final Fantasy into games that are decidedly not rpgs is appallingly bad, not too mention something that really betrays the characters. It's not the same when somebody like Mario appears in a different type game, he's not a particularly deep and developed character. Characters who deal with deep emotional trauma while saving the world don't really belong in party titles or casual titles. What's next? A Metal Gear Solid game Mario Party style? Actually, Hideo Kajima is just crazy enough to try something like that frankly, but let's hope he never does.

Ok that is it for today, but I should have another post up sometime tomorrow. Until then, here's your TRAILER OF THE WEEK: Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol

We may be one step closer to a Guy Gardner film...

Well, depending on who you talk to, fast track sequel may or may not be happening to this summer's biggest box office bust so far, Green Lantern. I'll reiterate what I said before-I think it was a perfectly enjoyable flick, and I really, really don't get the hate. If Michael Bay can get 3 movies to ruin Transformers over and over again, I'm pretty sure we should get at least one more shot at a great Green Lantern film. It's a solid character with a diverse and just cool universe.

Do we need another one with Ryan Reynolds though? While I'd be perfectly fine with it, there have been several human Lanterns throughout the decades, so a continuation that wasn't necessarily a total reboot (after all, we don't need another movie where they hint at Sinestro's eventual turn to villany, he could just be the next villain) would certainly be other options. As awesome as it would be, a movie with Gardner is probably not going to happen because audiences don't like following a complete asshole for a whole movie. Kyle Rayner is just about as bland as it gets(though the studios could right a terrible wrong by making one with him and casting Nathan Fillion in the role). Realistically, Jon Stewart seems like the most reasonable choice, he's one of the more popular versions, and let's face it, there's a pretty severe lack of Black superheroes on the big screen, and that would certainly be a consideration. I also think there are several actors who could play him convincingly, Will Smith being near the top of the list if they wanted to try for the biggest star they could possibly land. Whatever they decide to do with the franchise, I seriously hope this one movie isn't the end of it, and that we never, ever EEEEVVVEEEERRRR see Jack Black sporting a Lantern Ring.


Ok, that's really all for today, with a little luck I should have another post up Tuesday at the latest. In the meantime, here's your BIG BANG CLIP OF THE WEEK:

Get the hint,DC Universe.....

Ok seriously, I know MMOs on consoles are still pretty much in their infancy, and maybe they have to go through some of the same growing pains PC ones did, but with everything from City of Heroes to Conan to LOTR to even WOW (in some limited capacity) being free to play and it being an extremely beneficial manuever every single time so far, the only one not even giving a hint of budging is DCU. DCU has opened a bare bones microtransaction store instead. Whoopee. Now, I have enjoyed DC Universe, but frankly it doesn't have any real long term appeal at the moment. It's fun for like a month, then you take a few months off, then come back for another month. But who wants to keep paying for that? I don't know about you but I have better things to spend my money on, And if the King of MMOs is starting to lean towards free2play, the new kid on the block that doesn't have nearly the same appeal. It would actually be great if DCU went this route before The Old Republic hits,because frankly it'd make make EA & Bioware look rather foolish to try wrangling $15 or so a month out of gamers when pretty much everybody else has jumped on the free2play bandwagon. Sure, throw in some kind of premium level, but it's pretty clear at this point that the free model with little things you can buy that may not even be all that useful in-game is much better for both the consumer and the developer/publisher.

Ok, that's really all I have for today, I should have another post up Saturday or Sunday. Until then, here is your FREE GAME OF THE WEEK: Snailiad