10 shows Netflix should ressurrect before Terra Nova...

Netflix seems determined to basically have its own slate of original programming, starting with bringing back Arrested Development and now there are already talks of them picking up the recently canceled Terra Nova. But frankly, Terra Nova isn't a good show and it's incredibly expensive. It ultimately seems like a bad investment. There are plenty of other shows that people actually liked that were canceled well before their time. Here's 10 I think Netflix could reasonably do (and no, Firefly is nowhere on this list, because Castle is awesome and it's honestly been too long):

#10: Boomtown-Arguably the best cop show of the last decade, but it didn't even manage two seasons. It's great Rashomon-style perspective, brilliant writing and acting made for truly compelling episodes. Most of the actors are doing other work, but as long as you could find a new great ensemble cast and keep the style and writing it would be awesome.

#9: Studio 60 on The Sunset Strip-A witty drama by Aaron Sorkin about the behind-the-scenes happenings at an SNL type show. It was engaging and original, but also up against the similar but more comedy-focused 30 Rock. You want a prestige drama to show off, this would be a really good choice.

#8: The 4400-You want a great epic sci-fi series that actually has fans and really needs to be brought back? The 4400 fits the bill pretty well, especially since the show ended in a cliffhanger with no resolution. Add to that the show was more a victim of the writer's strike than anything else and it is probably more deserving of a second chance than most.

#7: Torchwood-This Doctor Who spinoff is admittedly extremely uneven, but when it really works it makes for some of the best stuff on TV, and John Barrowman is always worth watching. Though not officially canceled, it would seem in limbo after the underwhelming 4th season, so it could be a smart move for Netflix to pick this cult sci-fi show up.

#6: Dollhouse-I am a huge Whedon fan, but I'll admit Dollhouse was a woefully uneven series. It does seem at least part of that was Fox's constant messing with the show. Granted, Whedon may be too busy to have more than a passing hand in any revival, but the show had a lot of potential that shined through in its better episodes, and anyone one of his regular crew of writers could probably make the show solid if given a chance.

#5: Reaper-Granted Bret Harrison is on "Breaking In", which just recently got rescued from cancellation itself, but he's hardly an essential element of that show. He'd be much better off continuing this supernatural comedy along with the hilarious Tyler Labine and the always fabulous Ray Wise as the Devil. Canceled way before its time, this would be a great quirky offbeat addition.

#4: Justice League Unlimited-One of the greatest animated shows of all time, and it had a ton of stories left to tell. Arguably the best feature of the show was that it could offer compelling and fun episodes about lesser known characters such as Vigilante and Booster Gold. If they were to resurrect this show, it could probably mostly do that and still be really good.

#3: Better Off Ted-Just as brilliant and offbeat as Arrested Development, and equally mishandled by its parent network. BOT was original, biting, uncompromising and just absolutely hilarious. Making this in a comedy block with the returning Arrested Development would make me all kinds of tingly all over, and it should be the same for the people who have managed to catch this brilliant show.

#2: Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles-In all reality, this show shouldn't have worked. The last 2 terminator films were pretty bad, and focusing and young John Connor and giving him a hot female Terminator to ogle seemed like really poor ideas. But it managed to be a really awesome show (even making Brian Austin Green of all people cool) and do justice to the first 2 Terminator films. It even got pretty solid ratings, but Fox canceled it anyways. Because they enjoy making nerds cry (seriously, take a look at the long list of awesome shows they have canceled anytime like Brisco County Jr, Firefly, the Lone Gunman, just to name a few). You want an epic sci-fi show that was just on Fox that was actually good? Take this instead of Terra Nova. PLEASE.

#1: Veronica Mars: This was a completely brilliant detective show, and it left a lot of unanswered maddening questions even after resolving it's initial premise of who killed Veronica's best friend. There were several pitches for a change of scenery that all sound great, either just Veronica in college and/or her interning for the FBI several years in the future. Most importantly it's a showcase for Kristen Bell who is one of the great TV actresses' out there, and is being completely wasted on crap like Gossip Girl and House of Lies.  Add in the always great Enrico Colantoni as her dad and that's pretty much all you need to keep this show a winner.

That's the list. Honestly even if Netflix doesn't decide to renew any of these actually great shows, I'd rather they keep Terra Nova dead altogether, because it's seems like they would just spend too much money to justify their investment on a mediocre show when they could either save it altogether or spend it on something original. I should have another post up Saturday or Sunday. Until then, here's your FREE GAME OF THE WEEK: The Love Letter

March Massness

Yeah there may be political rallies and college basketball and spring training starting up this month, but all us gamers really care about is the release of Mass Effect 3 and the conclusion of the greatest trilogy of this or possibly any console generation. It's a lot of heavy expectations to meet up to, and there's certainly been some controversy with them essentially shoe-horning in multi-player or daring to have dlc on launch day (and don't even get me started the literally hundreds of dollars of collectibles that also offer dlc). But take all that bullshit noise away, just focus on the actual game, does it deliver on its promise? Well maybe not if you were expecting something like massive space battles against giant Reaper ships, but this game is pretty much about gaining alliances, resources, and morale and doing it in an entertaining and compelling fashion, and at about 10 hours in, I can say so far they manage to do it in traditionally epic Bioware faction. Hell they even managed to make scanning incredibly tense, with reapers able to close in on your location.

Any complaints I have are pretty minor overall-Mainly that they still have limited ammo and especially fuel. It would be nice to be able to outfit your squad members with better armor and whatnot, but it's not a huge deal since they didn't have it in 2. Anyways. even with sky high expectations, I think ME3 would manage to impress anyone not determined to hate it for idiotic reasons like EA now owning Bioware and therefore suddenly making them "terrible".

Will this be the last Mass Effect game we see? Thankfully the odds are that will not as Bioware has repeatedly stated that while this is the end of Commander Shpehard's story, it definitely does not mean this would be the last game taking place in the Mass Effect universe. As long as they can make the stories this compelling and fun, I would love to see future iterations of this series that have a new story and protagonist to focus on.

That's all for today, I should have another post up by Friday. Until then, here's your TRAILER OF THE WEEK: A Thousand Words

What is the fastest selling system of all time?

That would be the 3DS, hitting the 5 million mark before any other console in history, and that's just in Japan by the way. Can the Vita even hope to catch up? Only time will tell of course but I'm thinking at best we'll see history repeat itself with the Vita doing respectable numbers but just completely dwarfed by its primary competitor.

And in response to Vita's launch, Nintendo had a little streaming conference where they mentioned a bunch of various little things, but the most exciting for me and many others is the announcement of The Last Story, a game that like Xenoblade Chronicles, American Nintendo fans campaigned to get released here, will in fact be hitting the US this Summer. This is probably the last year the Wii is going to have any sort of relevancy, and it's turning out to be a great one for core gamers that have gotten the short end of the stick on quality games.

Finally, Mass Effect 3 is just around the corner, but it's already causing controversy by having what some see as crucial day and date dlc. Not just because it's available on the launch day but because it contains an extra party member that's a member of the Protheans, which of course are supposed to have been wiped out/converted into the Collectors by the Reapers. I think this is a pretty silly reaction. First off, nothing in the DLC is going to be crucial to the main game so that's stupid. Second, this is a bonus for people who ordered the collector's edition so it's not like it's been a huge secret, just dumbasses not paying attention. Finally, offering it day and date frankly is a good thing for those of us who don't usually get collector's editions(i.e. me), as we can just buy it and save $10 over buying that edition just to get that content. I just really don't see how Bioware is supposedly robbing customers just because this is available launch day? Would they feel better if they waited a couple weeks? Several months? It's just a nonsensical overreaction.

That's it for today. I will try and get another post up this weekend, but until then, here's your FREE GAME OF THE WEEK: Gravity Duck 2

Snakes for breakfast...

While the PS Vita is easily the biggest thing out this week, there are still a couple major releases to for other consoles this week. Easily the biggest for 3DS owners being a remake of another "classic" with Metal Gear Solid 3D Snake Eater, which is a remake of Metal Gear Solid 3. Most gamers consider Metal Gear a classic series but honestly I've pretty much hated all their entries, with their shitty stealth gameplay and nonsensical stories that the writers must have dropped a whole lot of acid to come up with. The 3rd entry in the series adds a couple ridiculous "features" that virtually no game has used since, like having to hunt and eat wildlife (i.e. snakes) to survive, and needing some actual medical knowledge to heal yourself (instead of you know, medpacs which virtually ever other game uses) yet dealing with injuries that would realistically put you in a hospital for months. If that sounds fun to you, go ahead and pick it right up. I'll be waiting for a worthwhile release like Kid Icarus which is finally out next month.

And Capcom's first big title of 2012 drops with Asura's Wrath. While it's got a fun crazy "only in Japan" style to it, the demo clearly showed with the reviews backing this up that's it's little more than an interactive story with little actual gameplay involved, Hopefully for Capcom's sake Dragon's Dogma, their other big original release this year will fare better, or from what I hear Capcom could be in serious trouble.

That's really all I got for today, but I should get a post in by Friday. Until then, here's your TRAILER OF THE WEEK: Iron Sky

Is the Vita DOA?

The Vita was always going to be a hard sell to begin with. Though the PSP was actually pretty successful everywhere but the US, it was no serious challenger to the DS. It had a reputation of not being much more than a portable emulator. And it's terrible UMD media along with proprietary memory cards just seemed like a bunch of really obvious missteps. Sure it was a powerhouse that blew the DS away graphically, but that obviously ended up not having much impact.

History seems almost set to repeat itself unless Sony pulls out something pretty drastic even before the US launch this Wednesday. In most technical aspects, the Vita easily blows away the 3DS, but that hasn't stopped sales from plummeting in Japan, where the system should've had no trouble selling based on the PSP's numbers. There's even reports of Vita developers jumping ship in droves and the best response Sony had was essentially that it wasn't as bad as reported meaning that it was most certainly happening.

Looking at the launch line-up, sure they have some killer apps like Uncharted and Lumines, which the 3DS was certainly lacking at launch, but the biggest complaints about those titles all revolve around forced interaction with the touch screen, which I know I heard developers claiming would be an optional interface for those who wanted to experience it, so good on Sony for forcing them to shoehorn it in there. The one good aspect so far on the titles is that they do have a decent price range as opposed to 3DS titles which are all nearly in the $40 range.

But I think the real sticking point is the ridiculous memory cards. First off, for something that is very digitally focused (most retail titles are going to be available day-and-date with a discount along with smaller PSN titles), not having internal memory (or some basic memory card included) is pretty unforgivable. Then add to that Sony's proprietary cards cost more than double your standard memory like sd cards and who is going to want to waste money on that? Sounds like a huge and permanent deal-breaker to me.

Granted, Nintendo was able to turn things around on the 3DS, so maybe Sony will be able to do the same with Vita, but the 3DS' biggest issues were software-related, which it has now pretty much fixed. The Vita's go deeper, and will require a different approach and Sony is historically slow to act on these things.

That's all I got for today, but I should have another post up by Tuesday. Until then, here's your FREE GAME OF THE WEEK: Ace Pilot

Sony vs. Sony...

Yup, that's Sony in 2005, claiming that the touch screen on the DS was nothing more than a cheap gimmick that wouldn't have any long term appeal. And of course with Vita, Sony is going way out of their way to make sure that you see just how awesome touching your screen is, mostly to the detriment of the launch titles according to most reviews. They even have one on the back for... some reason. The thing that really bothers me is rather than merely offering it as an alternative form of control which is pretty much something Sony said they would do as not to piss off core gamers, they are forcing it with lame minigames and controls that would be served better under the traditional schemes. Hopefully these are just growing pains and soon developers will learn how to incorporate touch controls in a way that doesn't actually detract from the game. Until then, it really is just the gimmick Sony of 2005 believed it was.


And the long-awaited Mass Effect 3 demo finally hit today, and as expected it was a pretty awesome taste of what's to come is just a few weeks. Everything seems nicely fine-tuned and the little additions that the demo shows aren't revolutionary (oh my god I can climb ladders!), but they do add some decent new layers to the combat. Admittedly does make the wait seem even longer, so if you were already set on buying it, it might actually be better to skip the demo because it almost feels like a cruel tease...

That's really all for today, I should get another post up Friday. Until then, here's your TRAILER OF THE WEEK: Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter

Twisted Tales...

Love is in the air this week, but this week's biggest game release might have you thinking it's more like bloodlust with the long-awaited return of Twisted Metal for the PS3. Car combat seems to be something that other games have tried real hard to get right, but none have come close to what TM usually offers. It should be a fun time and a nice alternative from the usual FPS offerings that dominate online these days. That being said, I rarely venture online these days so I dunno if it'll be something I can get into myself.

Those looking for something their significant other who isn't really a gamer can enjoy Rhythm Heaven Fever on the Wii. Pretty much anyone who enjoys a good music game can get in on this series, it's right up there with games like Parappa the Rapper and  much better musical experience than crap like Just Dance which somehow sells millions.

3DS gamers get yet another re-release of a classic title this week with Tales of the Abyss. It is a really good game that hasn't been available on portable consoles and the 3ds is in need of some good rpgs; but it'll be nice when we start getting some original ones to play.

And you may notice that PSP Vita titles start popping into stores this week even though the system isn't officially out this week, though I believe there is a 3G bundle that's going to be available for early adopters. But I can't imagine too many people shelling out extra dough for 3G plus a data plan they'll need for it on top of the overpriced memory cards. The best thing I can say about the Vita is that if I had the cash to burn I would probably get one, which is more than I could say about the 3DS at launch.

That's all for today, I should have another post up Wednesday with impressions on the Mass Effect 3 demo. Until then, here's your BIG BANG OF THE WEEK:

More mindgames?

PSYCHONAUTS 2. IT MIGHT ACTUALLY HAPPEN. This would be like the greatest news ever. I don't even care what it is on, It can be an indie download,  full retail release, an ipad exclusive, just MAKE IT HAPPEN. If you don't understand my excitement (and shame on you) Psychonauts was much like Beyond Good and Evil, a massively brilliant game that was virtually ignored by the same gaming public that whines about there not being enough originality and innovation in gaming then ignores it when its right in front of your face (I'm looking at you, people who didn't buy Rayman Origins). Regardless, this most unlikely of possibilities for now seems to be actually happening, so let's hope the planets align correctly and we hear some real official details soon. In the meantime, if you are one of the uninitiated, the original is easily found on Xbox and PC for download so do yourself a favor and grab it.

In the "we like to fuck up our launches as much as possible" news: Sony, in their infinite "wisdom" has decided that for us lucky Americans there will be no UMD passport program. What is that? Well it's actually a fairly nifty program where for a nominal fee you can transfer UMD titles you own onto your shiny new PS Vita, thereby bolstering the Vita's library immensely and giving you a reason to ditch your old PSP in favor of the Vita. Granted, it's not likely to be a deal-breaker for those who were planning to get one, but it's a rather nice feature that was scrapped for no fathomable reason whatsoever. While it's getting better, the 3DS library only has a handful of worthy titles, but it can play DS games no problem, so you still have access to a rather large library to keep you busy in-between the release droughts. This is why at least at launch, backwards compatibility can be key, it more easily encourages gamers to invest in the next generation if your initial releases aren't all that impressive, which tends to be the trend for the first year or so while developers are still learning how to start taking advantage of the system. Sony abandoning virtually any form of that yet again kind of sends the message that they aren't all that interested in current PSP owners investing in the next generation.

That's all for today, I should get another post up Friday or Saturday. In the meantime, here's your FREE GAME OF THE WEEK: Burrito Bison Revenge

A Revelation and a Reckoning...

February is usually a fairly dead month gaming-wise but not in 2012. This week alone has a wide offering of something for nearly everybody along with the PS Vita due in just about 2 weeks (which I will talk about more as it gets closer to release). This week's biggest releases are easily Resident Evil: Revelations for the 3DS and Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning for the 360 and PS3.

Revelations has several important factors going for it. It's the first game that offers support for the unsightly analog pad add-on, but it's also the first big 3DS release of this year, and arguably the first game that really shows off the true graphical capabilities of the 3DS as its pretty stunning. Unfortunately, it's going back to pre-Resident Evil 4 methods with the clunky, tank-like controls and ridiculously limited ammo and resources. That may be some kind of welcome return for some but I have no interest in going back to that antiquated clumsy gameplay.

Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning is the first epic rpg release of this year, boasting a meaty 200+ hours of content if you include all the sidequests. And though the demo was pretty unimpressive, most recent previews and the first couple of reviews out have said that the final product is far more polished and fun, mixing an grand quest with much more competent combat than similar free-roaming rpgs like Fallout 3 and Skyrim. As I am admittedly still getting through most of the games I got for Christmas I'm in no huge rush to delve into some new rpg, but I'll probably pick it up somewhere down the line.

A more under-the-radar release is The Darkness II, a first person shooter with the rare emphasis on a solid single-player and being the rare FPS that doesn't take place in some kind of war, modern or futuristic. That alone is probably enough for anyone looking for something besides the CODs and GOWs and their countless look-alike competitors. I only get into FPS games myself once in a blue moon really, so I don't see myself getting it at any point.

That;s really all for today, with luck I should have another post up by Wednesday. Until then here's your TRAILER OF THE WEEK: Lockout

To demo or not to demo....

We seem to swarmed with tons of demos lately for all the biggest titles coming out now or in the near future. Demos are considered  key marketing tools and are almost expected these days of most titles. But should they be? demos are incomplete, early versions that offer a mere snapshot of the whole of the game. They distract from actually making the finished product better because it costs resources to make a workable demo.

Skyward Sword is an amazing game, but have you played the demo in stores? It's pretty terrible, you get thrown in with little to no explanation of how the game works, in scenarios where people who actually own the game have had hours to get familiar how the game works. The Final Fantasy XIII-2 demo isn't as bad but has a similar feel, throwing into a random part of a chapter with little idea of how everything works aside from the monster-catching feature which is introduced at the point.

Perhaps the biggest recent victim of the demo issue is Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, because people who have played the demo and people who have played the finished product seem to have played 2 drastically different games. The demo is buggy and seems like an uninspired WOW/Fable ripoff, and part of that is that was that you only got about 45 minutes to experience what is supposed to be an epic rpg with over a 100 hours of questing. Pretty much every preview (and the reviews that are just coming out now are backing this up) says it's a much better game than the demo implies.

So should demos stop altogether? I don't really think so, they can still be a powerful tool for getting buzz on a game, especially an under-the-radar title. But rpgs and adventure titles should probably never have them, and until people really get the idea that it's not necessarily representative of the finished product, they could do as much good as bad.

That's all for today, I'll hopefully get another post in this weekend, until then here is your TRAILER OF THE WEEK: Red Lights

Sony loves you, it really really loves you...

So the list of Playstation Plus perks for February have been released, and along with the usual discounts and free games, a couple of nice surprises are on the way. One is a completely free copy of Far Cry 2 on Valentine's Day, but far more exciting (at least for me and anyone in my age range really) is the confirmed release of THE SIMPSONS ARCADE GAME next week. And PS Plus members get it free! I don't even want to think about how many dollars worth of quarters I sunk into the game back in the day. I'd easily pay a premium to play it at home, so getting it for free is beyond awesome.

At least for now, fears that Nintendo will once again completely screw up online appear to be unfounded. They are actively investigating DLC, making full retail games available digitally, and being more open with developers making advantage of online. Of course, this just means that they hopefully might have something somewhat comparable to what Sony and MS are offering sometime soon, which doesn't hold much appeal to those already experiencing superior set ups and its basically a bone to those who remain steadfastly loyal to the Nintendo brand. I'm excited about the Wii U, but not for the online prospects and I doubt all this will change that.

And finally for today, a look at what a sequel to Wind Waker might look like on the Wii U, which is very a very tantalizing prospect:



And of course here's your FREE GAME OF THE WEEK: Mission in Space

A Final Word on Final Fantasy...

Tuesday, the last day of this month, is the first big release day for gamers, which actually kicks off a long slate of big releases like Kingdoms of Amalur, Twisted Metal and Mass Effect 3).

Soul Calibur makes a big return after Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat ushered in a whole new resurgence of the fighting game genre. Will it succeed on the same level as those two did? Reviews are solid so far, but I'm pretty sure II was the last one I got any enjoyment out of and this one seems to pretty much eliminate the formerly solid single-player experience of that. pushing mainly for online, which is a necessary component for fighting games but a solid solo experience that really built your skills would be good too.

And Final Fantasy XIII-2 comes out as well. The reviews are piling in, and the general consensus seems to be "better, but not enough". Granted. many of these outlets are the same ones who gave FFXIII high praise only to damn it later when the overall public consensus was that it was terrible, so take that with a grain of salt. It is generally agreed that it offers a lot more to do and a refinement to the highly-praised battle system. I admittedly suffered through the terrible story of FFX-2 because the battle system was amazing, so this my hold similar appeal. That being said, it will not be a day one buy for me, more likely a purchase down the road when and if there's a big drought going on (so most likely summer).

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

The name game...

There is a strong rumor going around that come E3, Nintendo's next system, the Wii U, will have a new name. Why? Well mainly because of the 3DS. Not surprisingly, part of the issue with the less than projected sales of Nintendo's newest handheld is the perception that it's merely yet another iteration of the DS only with a flashy new gimmick rather than it being an actual new system. And really, who can blame the general public? There are no less than 3 types of DS systems out right now, if I go into a store without prior knowledge, it'd be hard for me to tell the difference just looking at boxes. And though it would have more to do with the presentation, there is still a pretty big amount of confusion as to what Wii U is exactly. And again the average consumer just looking at boxes (especially at big box stores where associates tend to be either unavailable or poorly informed themselves) might have a hard time differentiating two consoles with only a letter between them.

So should Nintendo rename the Wii U? I think it's not a terrible idea, it could be as simple as naming it something that truly identifies as the next step like Wii 2. It admittedly might be important to identify it as still being a Wii so the casual consumer that gobbled it up last time can just look at it and know that's the continuation. A completely different name can obviously work as well but it would have to be marketed properly, probably with a stronger emphasis that it's from Nintendo, the makers of the Wii rather than the system itself depending on what audience they are striving to reach. Clearly Nintendo is making a lot of steps to draw in more core gamers with finally implementing a seemingly coherent online network, HD gaming and a controller that while unique, also has more traditional features like dual analog, so to emphasize that an entirely different name may be a better idea.

In all honesty, I doubt there's a whole ton of truth to this rumor. When "The Revolution" was officially unveiled as "Wii" pretty much everyone scoffed and thought no one would possibly want to buy anything with that name and yet it's the dominant console this generation. The Wii U with a good marketing strategy and strong launch will do the same regardless of how ridiculous some think the name is.

That's it for today, I should hopefully get another post up tomorrow or Sunday. Until then, here's your FREE GAME OF THE WEEK: Congress Chainsaw

Is Rocksteady about to dine on Turtle Soup?

This is  completely awesome rumor: Supposedly, the pizza-loving reptilian foursome known as the Ninja Turtles are the next target to get an Arkham City-esque makeover from Rocksteady. It would probably not be as dark as Arkham City, probably more of a balance between the Turtles' dark comic origins and their more goofy and family friendly TV shows but if you remember when I did a list of the top properties Rocksteady should do next this was my #1 choice so of course I'm very hopeful this is reality. The main thing that makes me doubt it is the original source is a blog no one has ever heard of, so it might easily be complete bull. Let's all hope come E3 we'll be seeing the first videos of this though.

Apparently Gamestop is offering classic pre-owned games to power-up reward members. But the are going about it in a very ass-backwards way. Ok, it's a nice perk for the card owners, but we can't just outright buy them? We have to accumulate points? And the point totals are incredibly high, you'd probably have to trade-in several recent current gen games just to get enough points for one old-school title. Plus, most old school games worth anything are much easier to get be it through digital means or going to stores like Slackers where you can just pay actual money and nowhere near what you'd need to spend to get them through Gamestop. It's a nice idea guys, but it needs some serious re-tooling.



It seems like Final Fantasy may have a competitor for most overexposed game franchise this year. Aside from yet another shitty movie that seems to even ignore it's own continuity, there are no less than 3 Resident Evil games hitting various systems this year, with the one officially titled "6" just being announced even though not counting re-makes and re-releases this is more like 20. This one almost seems like a far cry from what made RE 4 far and away the best game in the series, as frankly it looks like a Gears of War clone with zombies thrown in, which I'm not at all in favor of. Hopefully as we see more it will show that it is not the case.

Finally, on top of the awesome news not that long ago that we will be getting  Lego DC universe game (which for some reason is called Lego Batman 2 even though it stars pretty much all the major Justice Leaguers) comes this supposedly real promo pic of LORD OF THE RINGS LEGOS

Why is this important? Well aside from LOTR legos themselves being pretty awesome, this virtually guarantees a LOTR Lego video game somewhere down the line. 

Ok that's all I have for today, I should get another post up by Friday, Until then, here's your TRAILER OF THE WEEK: Jeff. Who Lives at Home

Nintendo will be dragged into the digital age kicking and screaming....

Ah Nintendo. A rare company that seems to be forward-thinking in a lot of ways, except when it comes to the ever encroaching digital space. They brought the industry back from the brink with the NES, they pioneered things liked connectivity. The DS, which everybody thought of as gimmicky and yet it's the second-best selling system of all time. And of course there is the Wii, which ushered in (for better or worse) an era of casual and motion-based gaming.

Yet when it comes to online, Nintendo almost seems downright draconian in their approach. Wiiware has pretty much been an afterthought, and their whole "Friend Code" system is just bizarre and nonsensical. They are finally making a couple of steps though. The 3DS at least uses a simplified Friend Code (one per system instead of one for every single game), but online support is still pretty weak at this point, with many games having multi-player, but not online multi-player.

At least they are finally trying to catch up in one area: Demos. Demos are something you can regularly access on either the 360 or the PS3. For some reason, Nintendo, while perfectly willing to do in-store demos for some of their biggest titles, has barely dipped their toes in as far as providing anything to try at home. But in hopefully what will be an ongoing-thing a slew of them are set to arrive on the 3DS starting with the first big title of the year, Resident Evil : Revelations, which is out now. Hopefully this is a sign Nintendo is really ready. A nicer sign would be demos of all their Wiiware titles but at least this is a step and also a hopeful indicator for the online future of the Wii U which Nintendo has claimed will have a much more robust online system.

That's it for today, hopefully I'll be able to get in another post tomorrow, until then, here's your TRAILER OF THE WEEK: Casa de mi Padre

Kingdoms of completely generic fantasy....

So two more big demos hit today, for The Darkness II and February's big rpg Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning.

First I'll talk about Darkness II. Anybody who knows me or reads this blog regularly knows that I'm not a huge fan of FPS games, but I'm certainly willing to give one with an interesting twist and the rare focus on a solid single-player story and the even more rare FPS that doesn't take place either in a historical war or futuristic one. I admittedly found the first game kind of blah and controlling the demon arms was kind of pain. This one makes controlling the arms very easy and the new twist of being able to wield both arms and dual weapons is interesting, but may get just a little too complex trying to juggle it all at once. But this is a lot of maybes. AAs someone who isn't really an FPS fan, It's not interesting enough to get me to buy it, but it looks like a solid alternative for anybody looking for something different from the Call of Duties and their various knockoffs.

Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, started out life as an MMO. And boy does it show, while the action is faster, this essentially looks like a gigantic WOW rip-off in style. Even most of the fantasy races and the world itself look like it, as does the skill tree system. This is sort of disappointing considered the likes of R.A. Salvatore and Todd McFarlane were involved. The combat is much faster and it's easy to manage switching up between your primary weapon, bows, and magic, but this is a game that offers nothing original in any aspect. It's not bad, it could probably be good filler, but it's certainly not something I would get over any other hotly anticipated title, and considering FFXIII-2 comes out just a week before and Mass Effect 3 not long after, this is one I'll probably pass on.

That's it for today, should get another post up before the weekend, until then, here's your FREE GAME OF THE WEEK: ABOBO'S BIG ADVENTURE

The14 worst Final Fantasy Characters...

Yeah there have been lots of "worst FF character lists" but hey I haven't done one, and being someone who has played FF since the NES days, I can certainly say I have enough experience to make a list. And while many characters who make other "worst" lists commit the mere crime of being boring, these run the gamut from whiny emo bitch to offensive stereotype to just completely useless on all fronts.

#14: Sephiroth (FFVII): The only reason he's not lower on the list is because he's not a party member, so you don't constantly have to deal with his whiny bullshit. He is laughably feminine, looking like something Twilight fans would go nuts over, he's laughable easy throughout the game, especially at the end. But really, most FF villains are forgettable enough douches just trying to take over the world. Sepiroth is a pure momma's boy at heart, even though really, he doesn't even have one.

#13. Barret (Final Fantasy VII): Final Fantasy doesn't have a lot of notable black characters, so it's pretty bad that their most notable is basically famous for swearing. A lot. He's a pretty good party member overall, just extremely poorly written. Saying "shit" every other sentence is not a good defining character trait and something clearly desperately thrown in at the time to try and show video games were getting more mature.

#12. Lulu (FFX): Pretty much the poster girl for over-sexualized females here. It's to such an extent that she comes off more silly than anything else. She is a pretty powerful party member but that just barely balances the fact that she was clearly made as nerdboy drool material.

#11: Squall (FFVIII): The only main FF game I was unable to finish. And not just because it had a fairly broken system. Hell I made it to the end of the third disc, I had invested plenty of time with this game. And I had come to truly despise the whiniest whiner there had ever been in Squall Leonhart. Whereas Cloud was just the right amount of sullen, Squall took it to an extreme with no rhyme or reason. And while the entire cast of FFVIII was pretty terrible, Squall was the terrible, terrible lead.

#10: Hope (FFXIII): Hope gets off  little easy because like many of the above people. he's an extremely useful party member, arguably the most versatile member of your crew if developed correctly. But in a series filled with annoying teens, Hope easily tops the list. Indecisive and whiny as hell, he just keeps grating on you for the 10s of hours anybody who managed to finish FFXIII put in and that is quite the endurance test.

#9: Payne (FFX-2): Granted, FFX-2 was a whole girl power game gone horribly, horribly wrong, but the epitome of this wrongness was probably Paine. Almost seemingly brought in to be the extreme (once again to a hilarious degree) opposite to Lulu, this ridiculously butch character was a walking joke in a game mostly considered a joke itself.

#8: Tellah (FFIV): Yes yes, everybody loves "You spoony bard!". But bad translations aside, Tellah was at some point a powerful mage, but really he's filled with knowledge of powerful spells he's never really powerful enough to use. His stats actually decrease as he levels! And when he finally does one? He dies in an extremely futile attempt to wipe out his enemy, which seems like something a guy who made it to his age wouldn't be stupid enough to do.

#7: Gau (FFVI): Seriously, who came up with this idiot? A character who can learn enemy attacks isn't a bad idea, but to behave like that enemy with no control over their actions is ridiculous. Basically it's a roll of the dice if he's any use at all, and he's really annoying with his caveman like speak where really he can only say his own name most of the time.

#6: Eiko (FFIX): My beloved FFIX doesn't escape from this list. While I love most of the characters, Eiko is like a useless weak version of Garnet, as they are both summoners, but she fills the whiny brat role along with mostly being a liability for your party.

#5: Relm (FFVI): Yep, another whiny useless brat. You see, she can "sketch things" and use their own attacks against them. The problem is that you have no control over what attacks they use and not surprisingly, most enemies are highly resistant or just plain immune to their own attacks. She also has pretty pathetic stats, making her a complete liability.

#4: Edward (FFIV): Ah yes, the spoony bard himself. You know when a guy's most useful skill is literally hiding (which he will actually do automatically if he gets damaged enough) he's going to to be a complete waste of your time. And he's a major whiner on top of that. Easily one of the most pathetic characters on FF history.

#3. Setzer (FFVI): Setzer would probably be at the top of this list, but personality-wise, he's actually pretty cool. But, as a party member, his "Slots" skill ranges all the way from completely useless (which is what happens most of time) to outright KILLING YOUR ENTIRE PARTY. That's right, he can randomly lose the entire battle for you. No other character on this list can claim that ridiculousness.

#2: Quina (FFIX): Blue Mages are generally considered the most useless class in all of FF, because while they can learn powerful attacks, they often get killed trying to do so. And in the history of this class, no character is worse than Quina. An absurdly bad attempt at comic relief, Quina spoke in complete nonsense and was just completely pointless and arguably the most useless character in recent FF history.

#1: Cat Sith (FFVII): The poster boy of completely useless WTF characters. What the hell is he? What does he do? And much like Setzer, his special abilities are completely random chance. This is the not just the worst FF character ever, it's one of the worst characters in video game history.

And that's the list.  I should be back Tuesday or Wednesday with impressions on the Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning demo that should be out on the 17th. Until then, here's your BIG BANG OF THE WEEK:

Goku's Wrath....

So 2 big demos were released yesterday, one for the first big rpg of the year, Final Fantasy XIII-2, and one for Asura's Wrath, which is one of the first big action titles of the year, due out next month.

FFXIII-2 has a lot of baggage behind it as FFXIII was one of the more divisive entries in the series, so making a direct sequel seems like an odd choice, but at least from the demo it does seem like a lot of the problems have been addressed. Random encounters are back and its easier to fight or flee than any previous game. Sidequests and more open exploration re much better implemented, and the battle system has been tweaked just a bit to feel more interactive, though those who didn't like the system in the first place won't find enough changed to give it a shot. I do think they picked a wise time to release as the only other rpg coming out in the next couple months is Mass Effect 3 and it seems like a solid pickup. It will not be  release day buy for me though unless I actually get through the games I',m currently working through-namely Skyward Sword and Disgaea 4 (I'm more or less done with Skyrim for awhile after tackling the main quest).

Asura's Wrath may seem like a God of War wannabe and in a some ways it's pretty similar (seemingly invincible hero takes revenge on gods or at least godlike beings), but it goes even more crazy over the top to make it seem more in the vein of something like the Dragonball series. This would all be well and good, but the demo I played was about 95% slightly interactive cut scenes which just felt silly and annoying after awhile. I was kind of hoping this'd be something worth checking out, but it's pretty disappointing frankly.

That;s all for today, I should hopefully get in another post this weekend, until then, here's your FREE GAME OF THE WEEK: Zombies in Your Backyard

The year of Final Fantasy?

Final Fantasy is somewhat like Square Enix's equivalent of Mario, they can slap the name on pretty much anything and it will sell even if it had little to do with the main franchise. This year especially seems to be FF heavy however, as we potentially have no less than 4 Final Fantasy games that should be out by year's end, covering every platform except the Wii.

The only one with a solid a fast-approaching release date is Final Fantasy XIII-2, due out at the very end of this month. It's probably a pretty solid time to release it, as the next big rpg, Mass Effect 3 isn't even due out til March and rpg gamers could probably really use something to fill that gap. It's already fairly divisive though, as a direct sequel to arguably the most hated entry yet in FF history. To their credit, Square Enix has said they have really listened to the fans' complaints and this sequel really addresses them. In a really rare move, they are offering up a free demo of the game coming out this week that will hopefully put any fears about it to rest.Which of course I will be sure to download and give impressions when I can.

Final Fantasy Type 0 for the PSP has already been released in Japan to pretty solid reviews, but given the focus is on the Vita already and the PSP was never much of a hit in the states, it may take a little bit of a miracle to get it out here. It would be a good final great release in the waning days of the PSP, maybe a digital launch on the Vita wouldn't be a terrible idea either.

Very little is really known about the seemingly forever in development Final Fantasy versus XIII. It takes place in the same universe as XIII, but has a completely different setting and characters, so it should being interesting to see if there is any references or crossover. Hopefully we will see something at E3.

Finally we actually have heard more bout the bizarre little spin-off title for the 3DS that was recently revealed, Theatrhythm Final Fantasy. Probably because as expected, the raging fanboys were up in arms over the "ridiculousness" of the title. But how ridiculous is it? The FF series is well known for its completely amazing music, as long as the gameplay is fairly compelling, I greatly anticipate it as a really fun 3DS title.

So as you can see, if you're a Final Fantasy nut or just an rpg nut, Square has got you pretty well covered all by themselves this year. Hopefully it'll be something of a renaissance for FF rather than a big degradation of a once great franchise.

That;s it for today, but I should definitely be back Wednesday or Thursday with my impressions of the FFXIII demo. Until then, here's your TRAILER OF THE WEEK: Thin Ice

U R NOT RED E

Remember this? I sure as hell do, ads claiming that we were not ready for the awesome leap in technology that was the original Playstation. And yes, it was a humongous leap as that was the first time for many switching to cds from bulky cartridges, 16-bit sprites to polygons, 2D to 3D. It was a truly stunning thing.

Now we are entering the time in the current generation where people are starting to talk about the next step, and I'm not sure we as gamers are all that ready for it, or that it is ready to be the leap it needs. Nintendo has already announced it's next big thing, the Wii U, and it could represent a big change in gaming just like the Wii did, but it's not very clear at this point what it'll do. It does represent Nintendo's much needed move into HD gaming, but Sony and Microsoft are already there, have been for years. The next generation needs to be a big leap in order for people to open their ever-tightening wallets, and more shiny won't really cut it. Besides, I have trouble seeing anything in the near future being a significant leap over stuff as graphically stunning as games like Uncharted 3 or Skyrim. The current generation is still going pretty strong and I'm not feeling any urge to leap into the next one unless it offers something I really can't already get. Hopefully Sony & Microsoft realize this before they show off a new system that ultimately impresses no one.

That's it for today, hopefully I will squeeze in one more post this weekend. Until then, here's your FREE GAME OF THE WEEK: Outpost: Haven

What a difference a few months makes...

Well as usual, Nintendo has proved the doomsayers wrong once again. Not that it didn't take some drastic action and a lot of hard work, but basically in the course of a few months they've managed to sell over 4 million 3DS units both here and in Japan. To compare that's actually more than the Wii sold in its first blockbuster year, though a  key difference may have been 3DS supplies being plentiful whereas Wiis were scarce for like the first 2 years. Hopefully Nintendo really keeps us this momentum with lots of key first and third party releases. And as I've said before, only top AAA titles should be at the $40 mark, keeping most other titles in the $20-$30 range would certainly help attachment rate for games that don't have "Mario" in the title.

The Wii actually sold half a million over that for the year as well, proving though everyone seems to be writing the system off in the pending release of the Wii U, there's still an audience if somebody actually wants to make games for the thing. Though frankly as long as Last Story gets a US release, that would be enough for me.

Speaking of the Wii U, let's hope they realize that it will not sell on concept alone. They tried that with the 3DS and quickly had to go back to the drawing board. To really succeed the Wii U will need to convince people it's something worth investing in so it will need an attractive price point (probably no more than $250 frankly) and compelling software that shows off the different capabilities right out the gate. And yes, clearly slapping "Mario" on at least one of those titles would be a safe move.

That's all for today, I should get another post up tomorrow or Friday. Until then, here's your TRAILER OF THE WEEK: The Innkeepers

A man out of time...

I hope everybody had a great Christmas, I finally got (in addition to  few other things) the killer apps for the 3DS, Super Mario Land 3D and Mario Kart 7. They are great games to be sure, classic examples of a near perfect formula Nintendo has been relying on for decades, but it also is a fairly blunt reminder that they haven't really tried anything truly new for awhile. Mario Land 3D is classic hop-n-bop play, but aside from some nifty 3D effects, it isn't any huge leap forward. Mario hasn't really had a huge leap forward since Super Mario 64. Galaxy was a refinement of that, and 2 was even more of that. Great games, but nothing truly new. This one actually takes a step further back by re-introducing a time limit on levels that actively discourages really playing around in the areas and exploring. Granted the areas aren't that big, but it's still annoying.

But Mario Kart 7 commits far bigger crime. Again it's a good game, a very fun game, but it's also an incredibly lazy game. The cast of racers is pretty small, the long overdue customization options fairly limited and the new tricks like gliding and going underwater don't do anything. I got Mario Kart DS 6 years ago and still play it to this day, it is arguably the best iteration of the series. Now it's always hard to top the high point, but this one doesn't even try. When Nintendo with "7" for this title, most people's reactions amounted to, "it's only the 7th game?" meaning fatigue was setting in and this title has done nothing to even really try and stop it.

Now these aren't bad games, far from it, but they are really showing Nintendo's reluctance to actually try new ideas. If they can't learn to do this, people will stop buying the same game with a new cover at some point, and they won't have any clue how to fix that...

That's all for today, I should have another post up in the next couple of days. Until then, here's your TRAILER OF THE WEEK: Prometheus

Vita=epic fail?

So the PS Vita launched in Japan. While the PSP wasn't a success worldwide, in Japan it was right up there with the DS, an essential thing for people to own. Now while it's turned things around with a solid library and a massive price cut, the 3DS was kind of a bust after the initial hot sales. Well, the PS Vita certainly avoided those issues right?


Well, not according to the initial launch figures. It actually did significantly worse than the 3DS performed, and considering it did have a solid launch lineup and came out during the crucial Christmas season (which if you aren't aware is just as big in Japan as it is here) that implies far worse trouble down the road. What was the problem? Well it pretty much boils down to price. At minimum buying a Vita, a game and a memory card would run you over $400! Did Sony learn absolutely nothing from the horribly botched PS3 launch? The ridiculous expense was cited as a major factor for no one buying it at first, and here we go again. Maybe they'll be able to pull a major u-turn much like the 3DS has been able to do. But, considering Sony as a company has been hemorrhaging money for several years and they have repeatedly shown a rather bull-headed approach to... well, everything; it's unlikely they'll get the message that in a world of a pretty savage economy and cheap mobile games, that a portable system costing more than a big screen TV isn't going fly.

That's it for today, I will try and get another post in before Christmas, but no promises. In the mean time, here's your TRAILER OF THE WEEK: The Hobbit

The Top Ten 2012 games I'm looking forward to.

Christmas is nearly upon us and most of us gamers will hopefully have a heaping pile of games to play with, but that's no reason to not already be thinking about all the awesome games we already know are due out next year. While there will certainly be some surprises coming, here's 10 that I'm really looking forward to checking out:

#10. Final Fantasy XIII-2: A lot of people were divided over FFXIII with it's very linear structure and the fact that about 90% of the game felt like a tutorial. I still enjoyed the story and battle system so this is something I'm really looking forward too. And seeing that it's coming out at the end of January it should be a good rpg fix to hold me over right until Mass Effect 3 hits in March.

#9: A Game of Thrones: I haven't watched the TV show yet, but I've spent the last couple months completely engrossed in the absolutely amazing fantasy series by George R.R. Martin, so I'm very potentially excited about an RPG based on it. Granted the margin for error is high, but hopefully the importance of the license will make the developers actually give a rat's ass. After all, this isn't something you can market to a wide audience to begin with given the subject matter.

#8: Xenoblade Chronicles: Aka a reason to turn on your Wii in 2012. In what will certainly be it's twilight year, with the Wii U on the horizon and releases slowing to a crawl, the Wii may still have one of it's best years for core gamers with a few rare gems coming out and Xenoblade Chronicles being one of them as it's one of the best reviewed Japanese rpgs of the last few years.

#7: Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time : As much as Ratchet & Clank are the definitive Sony platforming series, Sly Cooper had a series of completely awesome games and then seemed to be sadly forgotten. But then we got the Sly Cooper collection and the announcement of a new game for the PS3! It should easily be one of the most awesome platformers to come out this year.

#6: Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch: Level 5 hasn't had the greatest track record as of late but they made some of my favorite PS2 rpgs and this collaboration with the legendary Studio Ghibli looks absolutely gorgeous and promises to be a worthy and magical experience like most of their films.

#5: Luigi's Mansion 2: Luigi's Mansion on the Gamecube didn't really get a fair shake, but then again it was a good quirky title not a showcase title or killer app that sells a ssystem. It was a really fun game, and so I'm happy to see a much-expanded sequel happening, plus I've always been very partial to Luigi over Mario, so seeing him get some spotlight again is awesome.

#4: Bioshock Infinite: After the second Bioshock, I think most people thought the steam had run out and were wary of yet another adventure in the underwater utopia gone astray. Infinite went pretty much the opposite way. taking things to the sky, adding an actual protagonist and a skyline you can ride to boot. All the previews have looked incredibly stunning and this looks to be GOTY material already, I don't know who wouldn't be excited about it.

#3: Paper Mario 3DS:  Aside from a brief showing at E3, we don't know a whole lot about this newest Paper Mario game, but given all the previous ones have been completely excellent, the mere existence should be enough to excite any 3DS owner. The Paper Mario games always deliver compelling gameplay and humor, this one should be no different.

#2: Kid Icarus: Uprising: AKA the game that the 3DS should've launched with. I mean seriously, this is the game that got everybody excited, and they've been fine tuning it for goddamn ever. So it better be awesome. Luckily all the evidence points to it making another strong case that while the 3DS did have a rough first year, it's really turning things around in 2012.

#1. Mass Effect 3: Yeah it's an obvious choice, but that doesn't make it wrong. The epic final chapter of arguably the greatest franchise of this generation of consoles, can it possibly live up to the massive hype? My money is actually on yes and I can't wait to save the galaxy with Mordin, Garrus and the rest of the crew of the Normandy.

That's all for today. I should get another post up Tuesday. Until then, here's your FREE GAME OF THE WEEK: Santa Rockstar 4

SONIC BOOM

It's a well established fact that everyone's favorite speedy blue hedgehog has had a rough go overall this generation, his best game being a rather half-hearted attempt to mix the glory of his past with the shame of his present. In fact anyone who started with this generation might justifiably wonder why anybody ever held Sonic in high regard to begin with. If you want to show or see why, check out this week's XBLA release of Sonic CD. Few even played this as it was released on the very terrible Sega CD, but it was not only one of the few great games for that system, it is also generally regarded as the best Sonic game made so at a measly $5 it is well worth your time to download this classic, maybe as a gift to yourself or possibly even your kids who have only seen the terrible modern Sonic games.

And with the year almost out, we finally have a full list of the free GBA games for those of us who were early 3DS adopters. It isn't officially confirmed for the US, but it seems pretty likely we'll be able to download them tomorrow with everyone else in the world. I'm sure there will be some bitching, there always is, but I haven't gotten to play a lot of these games and they are all highly regarded so I'm pretty stoked, especially about Mario Kart Super Circuit (only Mario Kart game I've never owned) and Minish Cap. I know it was off to a pretty rocky start and the slide pad still seems awful and unnecessary but it's got some solid titles now with more on the way and is selling incredibly well so as usual the prophets of Nintendo's doom are way off.

That;s all for today, I will try to get another post up for tomorrow, until then here's your TRAILER OF THE WEEK: G.I. Joe: Retaliation

The week of half-assed updates

So if you own either a 3DS or a 360 there was a big update this week. That didn't seem fully fleshed out. The 3DS added a couple of nifty things like 3D video recording and a much evolved Find Mii sequel so that's cool, but how about some other games or more ways to collect coins to use in them? Nintendo Zone seems like an potentially interesting idea, but if it's a guessing game of us taking our 3DS' to various locales just hoping for content that's kind of lame. And where the hell are the last 10 free games? Nintendo has been swearing us early adopters should be getting them by the end of the year, and that's fast approaching with no set date.

But Nintendo's update wasn't a big deal to begin with so maybe we shouldn't expect so much. Microsoft's yearly update is considered a big del however and it has stumbled right out of the gate. Not even offering half of the promised content such as Youtube or HBO Go(which is now just coming at some point next year), bricking some 360s and maybe I'll get used to it, but the new "metro" design seems clumsy as hell. Pretty much the only good improvement I see is the Bing search feature which does make it easier to look for stuff. But it seems like Microsoft really dropped the ball here.

That's it for today, I'll hopefully get in another post this weekend. Until then, here's your FREE GAME OF THE WEEK: Mario Mini Golf

A little rainfall...

You can find petitions and causes for just about anything these days on the internet. Most of the time it's pretty pointless and nothing gets accomplished but once in a rare while the internet shows it does indeed have some pull. Firefly would not have gotten a feature film without the internet. Futurama would probably not have gotten a second life without the internet. And the future of the brilliant and criminally underwatched Community may hinge on the internet since that's the reason it's on the cover of TV guide this week.

There are many game petitions as well and with good reason since a lot of quality games never see the light of day over here. Of course 99% amount to nothing, but the folks over at Project Rainfall may have actually accomplished this rare feat, as one of the major games they are campaigning for, Xenoblade Chronicles, is now due for a stateside release next year, thus giving Wii owners an actual reason to turn on their Wiis next year. Sales of Xenoblade Chronicles may lead to the release of the other 2 titles Operation Rainfall is petitioning for, Pandora's Tower and The Last Story (which I have been salivating over and hoping for myself). I certainly plan to purchase Xenoblade Chronicles in April, and I hope the core Wii gamer speaks up for once and gets it too. It may prove there's a bit more life left in the system after all.

That's all for today. Here's your TRAILER OF THE WEEK: The Cabin in the Woods

The Top 10 actors who should be considered for the Doctor Who movie...

A Doctor Who movie is coming, no use whining about it. The fact that David Yates is the one directing gives me some faith because he managed to do a pretty awesome job with the last few Harry Potter films and could turn Doctor Who into the worldwide phenomenon it deserves to be if it's done correctly. Of course key will be casting someone who pull off the many facets of personality the make The Doctor. Someone who can be in turns funny and serious, goofy and terrifying, and above all insanely brilliant. Very few actors can fit that role nicely, but I've compiled a list of 10 I think could give it a very good go. I have stayed away from obvious top nerd picks like Nathan Fillion (He can't be in everything people!) and Simon Pegg (he could do goofy sure enough, but I would never think of him as a serious threat), but I think most nerds would be pretty pleased with this casting as well.

#10: Stephen Fry: Not a chance in hell, but British comedic legend Stephen Fry would absolutely kill in a off-kilter casting decision. Maybe as a more worn-down tired of saving humanity's ass time and time again and needs to find a reason to keep going. Fry has the ability to show the real brilliance that shines through in the best Doctor Who moments, and the acerbic with and lack of tolerance for idiocy the Doctor has when he's at his wit's end as well. Unfortunately I'm pretty sure Michael Bay has a better chance of winning best director than of Fry's name even being suggested.

#9: Eddie Izzard: Slightly more likely than Fry but not by much. Bitingly and savagely brilliant though, which would make him an unusual casting choice but a great fit with the right script. And he can do good serious drama as he's shown in a few roles over the years. I think if this was strictly a British affair he might at least get a serious audition if he was interested, but they are understandably going for a bigger worldwide audience.

#8: James Marsters: Already a huge sci-fi icon, and an actual Whoverse alum, playing Captain John Hart in the spin-off series Torchwood. He's shown huge range, namely in his longest running and most well known role as Spike the vampire in the Buffy and Angel shows. He went from terrifying killer to hero and being an occasional goofball in-between effortlessly. Also in keeping with the fact that the Doctor seems more ageless with each incarnation, he's nearly 50 and looks like he's in his late 20s. A bit of a dark horse because obviously he hasn't landed that huge breakthrough role, but this could be and should be it.

#7: Helen Mirren: The Doctor doesn't have to be a man, but has always been played as one. Mirren is easily at the top of the list of a few women who could bring every great nuance needed to the role of an ancient yet timeless soul. The best thing about Mirren and what makes her perfect for the role is that she is absolutely fearless and seems to get more so every year, which any real top choice for playing the Doctor should be a per-requisite. If they are going to go for the first female Doctor, Mirren should really be the only one they are even looking at.

#6: Robert Carlyle: As great as most of the previously named actors are at playing some of the more well-known facets of the Doctor, one thing any actor playing the Timelord needs to be able to do is show just how haunted he is. This is a man who makes difficult, universe-altering decisions on  regular basis, and not everything gets wrapped in a tidy bow, Friends have gotten hurt or killed, innocents get murdered, entire races are destroyed and never to the Doctor's enjoyment. He doesn't like destroying his enemies, and it weighs on him a lot. Few actors can do haunted like Robert Carlyle. So if you want to do something of a more serious time-traveler who has been weighed down by all the decisions he had to make over the centuries, Carlyle should be right at the top of the list.

#5: Chiwetel Ejiofor: Much like there has never been a woman Doctor, there has yet to be a Black Doctor, and there are few Black actors out there who would be able to pull off and not overshadow the role, because while Ejiofor is certainly a known face and respected actor he isn't a Denzel or a Smith. It could be the overdue breakout role for him (assuming he is not cast as Black Panther, which would be awesome).

#4: Gary Oldman : Whether it's as the one good cop in a corrupt city, or crazy villain in league with a sentient evil force, Gary Oldman is one of the most awesome actors living today, and a complex role like the Doctor is pretty much his bread and butter. He's got enough talent to do the role justice and enough star power that he might actually be considered, so let's hope he's at least in the running.

#3. Alan Rickman: But if there's someone more awesome than Oldman, it's Alan Rickman. And to date, he's never really played a big damn hero role, really Severus Snape is the closest thing, and that was obviously a tragic hero. This could be his long overdue chance. He can play to the Doctor's comedic, dramatic and brilliant sides with great ease. He;s probably almost too perfect for the role, so we probably won't get that lucky.

#2: Hugh Laurie: Though he's become famous for his role as brilliant jackass Dr, House, Laurie's roots are in comedy, and the fact that he can cover both so flawlessly and is a huge international star makes him an easy top contender. He'd probably play it closer to Christopher Eccleston's take and be a bit harder and jaded than most, but he'd do it well. He also recently stated that after House ends, he's pretty much done with TV, so this would be a great next project for him.

#1: James McAvoy: Ok, this being Hollywood, they will want a franchise, arguably with some hot up and comer. You want someone who will do the role justice and yet meet those criteria? I give you James McAvoy. He already has played roles he's nerdy and a little goofy or a bit of prick yet serious threat, and of course he's hot of practically re-inventing Professor X from the surprisingly excellent X-Men: First Class film. Arguably if you want someone Hollywood suits can get behind without ruining the Doctor Who name, James McAvoy should be at the top of everyone's list.

That's it for today, I should have another post up this weekend, until then here's your FREE GAME OF THE WEEK: Fall Damage

Sony Smash Bros?

So the latest crazy, yet seemingly likely rumor is that Sony is developing a fighting game featuring its stable of characters, much like Nintendo's Smash Bros series. Some may scoff at the sheer insanity of pitting Nathan Drake against Cole MacGrath or Sweet Tooth against Captain Qwark, but it's no crazier than Solid Snake mixing it up with Nintendo's stable of characters. I'm willing to take the cautiously optimistic approach here, it could be fantastic if done right, and hopefully it will.

In incredibly stupid ideas, rumors have started flying about the next systems from Sony & Microsoft, and sadly the most seemingly concrete one is that for the next Xbox, Microsoft is again going the multiple sku route of one completely bare bones model and one aimed at the hardcore gamer that actually has a hard drive and probably a few other bells and whistles as well. While from some financial perspective this probably makes sense, it's still a really bad idea for developers, because they more or less have to work on the assumption that the audience doesn't have a hard drive less they cut off a potential section of the audience. This obviously also cuts people off from being able to access the growing digital space that Microsoft pretty much has always touted as their strongest weapon in the console war. This means a significant portion of developers won't be able to readily rely on it and that's handicapping them right out of the gate.

That's all for today, I honestly didn't mean to not update for a week, but the holiday was busy and exhausting, I should be back to regular posting this week. Until next time, here's your TRAILER OF THE WEEK: Journey 2: The Mysterious Island

The Legacy of Zelda...

Today is the day Wii owners and Nintendo loyalists have been waiting for as Skyward Sword finally releases, being the shining example that the Wii can do amazing core games that truly incorporate motion without being in a wagglefest. I've pretty much already touched on the fact that there is really no excuse for this, we should have been getting a regular stream of games like this from years, but frankly we didn't either from Nintendo or their biggest supporters. This is why the Wii is basically done and the 360 and PS3 both still have a lot of life left in them.

Lately this seems to be the Legacy of Zelda. If you look at the N64, the Gamecube, and now the Wii, Mario probably (deservedly) got the spotlight, but Zelda has always been a core showcase, a lengthy challenging fun adventure that really shows off what the system is capable of. And often it's too little too late. Maybe it's just the trap of the long developmental cycle to make games this good, but that's one team in one company. Hopefully they really have learned their lesson and strive for longevity with the Wii U, because a cash-in fad won't work a second time.

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

To buy or not to buy at launch....

Gaming has always been a expensive hobby, but with more and more quality titles coming out virtually every year around the same time with fancy collector's editions (and bugs to boot), it does beg the question, why do we all buy games at launch? If we wait, we can get the bugs fixed, the price dropped and hell eventually usually some game of the year edition with most if not all of the bugs fixed and all the dlc included for probably half the price it was when it originally came out. So why? Well it may be irrational, but me personally, if I don't get a game right when it's launched, I usually don't end up getting it. Wait a few months and there's something else vying for and usually worthy of my attention over some game that clearly wasn't important enough for me to buy when it came out so it can wait longer, probably forever. Also, even with a wife and a job I'm a pretty regular gamer so my backlog usually isn't very big so usually I don't have a ton of different games to play at any given time. Also, I rarely pay full price for a game, usually I'm trading something in and trade-in values can decrease rapidly.

But also a game is treated very much like an opening weekend for a movie or a premiere night for a TV show. If it doesn't hit right out of the gate, it's pretty much considered a failure. Now there are games that build a steady audience over time and succeed that way, but that is the exception, not the rule. So if you want the games you like to continue to appear on shelves, you should probably buy them as soon as you re financially able.

This really isn't a pro-buying games at launch argument, times are tight and gaming is a luxury some of us are lucky to be able to afford at all. Just keep in mind if everyone waited til games were bargain bin prices, bargain bin games might be all we get.

That's all I have for today, I hopefully should get another post up this weekend. Until then, here's your TRAILER OF THE WEEK: Hunger Games

That old familiar feeling...

Arguably the biggest complaint you can have against Skyrim is that's it's not any kind of massive improvement from Oblivion despite the 4-year gap between games. Combat is intense but clunky and while the character models look better, they still are awkward. That being said, the little touches that they have made make the difference. Combat is more varied and visceral with the ability to dual wield just about anything. There's a ton more stuff to do and all of it as easy as having the right items whether it be smithing, cooking or alchemy. Lock-picking, which seemed nearly impossible to do manually in previous titles, is easy to understand. And waypoints are much clearer. I've gotten about 12 hours in already, more than enough to beat your standard action game, and I've barely scratched the surface. So this should keep me busy through the rest of the year and possibly beyond quite easily. There's a growing sentiment that games are giving you less and less bang for your initial buck especially when it comes to single player. Skyrim is a big strike against that argument.

So the demos for 2 other big games dropped this last week and I did get some time in with those before Skyrim. That being Lego Harry Potter years 5-7 which came out Friday and Rayman: Origins, which comes out this week. The newest Lego Harry Potter suffers from pretty much the same issue many of the latest Lego games have been suffering from, it's all too familiar. I think they really need to go somewhere fresh and possibly unexpected for their next game if they want to keep at least somewhat entertaining. Granted maybe the young kids who play this won't care, but the Lego games initially were true family entertainment and with so little of that in gaming it'd be sad to lose it.

Rayman: Origins is absolutely beautiful game. That is also a complete rip-off of New Super Mario Bros. Wii. I mean, c'mon you can even "bubble up" in it (anyone who has played Mario Bros. Wii knows exactly what I'm talking about). That being said, if you don't own a Wii it's a great way too experience that insanely fun game without buying a Wii. But this is another game that seems like it shouldn't be released in a huge holiday season because it will be virtually ignored. Too bad, because supposedly if it does well that bodes well for Beyond Good & Evil 2. But given that the wonderful critically acclaimed original Beyond Good & Evil also released during a huge holiday season and was virtually ignored you'd think Ubisoft & Mr. Ancel would've learned their lesson.

That's it for today, with a little luck I should've have another post up tomorrow. In the meantime here's your FREE GAME OF THE WEEK: Kit & The Octopod

Too little, too late?

So yes, Skyrim is out today. I plan to talk all about it in my next post, because it's 7:30 am right now and my Gamestop doesn't open til 10. So let's talk about two other huge games that aren't even out yet, but the reviews are coming in, most extremely positive, showing examples of what the unique hardware can do. Those titles are Super Mario 3D Land and The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword. Mario finally provides an original game for the 3DS that actually makes the 3D more than a nifty gimmick, and Skyward Sword may just be the best Zelda game to date, making great use of the motion + and proving the Wii hardware is capable of more than just gimmicky minigame collections.

So, for both the 3DS and the Wii, but especially the Wii, the question arises, why are these experiences so few and far between? It's like console business 101.  You can start off a little rough but a continuous flow of quality software is pretty much necessary to keep the system going. This is the real reason why this far into this generation of consoles the 360 & PS3 are still gaining steam while the Wii is pretty much done. It really might not have been had a stream of steady, quality releases been a constant. There are a number of quality titles on the system to be sure, but infinitesimal to the number you find on the competition. How excited am I supposed to be about a system that got maybe 4-5 top quality games a year? Sure that's good for my wallet, but not for the gamer in me.

Now obviously the 3DS has not even been out a year, so it's in a slightly different boat, but a lot of the signs are there. A gimmick over quality gameplay, unnecessary add-ons that are confusing and again a serious lack of quality software. Ok Mario is almost here. What else? Mario Kart in December and... yeah, that's what I thought. We have Kid Icarus sometime in future and that's really about it. Nintendo claims the quality games are coming, but we seem to be having a similar issue here to the Wii, where quality is a far distant second to cashing in on gimmickry. And if that's the path the 3DS follows, it's going to fall a lot quicker than the Wii did.

That's it for today, hopefully I will get one more post in this weekend with Skyrim impressions. Until then, here's your BIG BANG OF THE WEEK:

An age of Dragons...

We are a mere two days away from arguably the biggest release of the year and easily the biggest rpg in several. I am beyond excited as I easily spent a few hundred hours on Oblivion, its predecessor, and never even got anywhere near finishing the main quest. That is my big worry, actually, that if Skyrim is a little too similar to its predecessor. I tried to get back into Oblivion recently and was bored because I guess I spent too much time on it previously. It's why I couldn't really get into Fallout: New Vegas, frankly. It wasn't different enough from Fallout 3 and frankly the modern Fallout games share a lot in common with the Elder Scrolls games as well, so they feel pretty similar too. If all Bethesda is throwing in is fancier graphics and Dragons, I probably still enjoy it, but not on the multi-hundred hour length I enjoyed Oblivion. Either way, this is the last rpg release until well into next year, and it should actually have the content to keep most players busy that long.

That's pretty much it for today, but I should have another post up either Friday or Saturday with impressions of the Lego Harry Potter: Years 5-7 and Rayman Origins demos and thoughts on Super Mario Land 3D. And maybe some Skyrim impressions if I've gotten enough time in on it. Until then, here's your FREE GAME OF THE WEEK: Xenosquad

Call of the Battlefield...

Sorry for no other posts this past weekend, but it just seemed to get away from me with work, a relative in town, and my mother-in-law's birthday. I should be able to get in at least 3 posts this week pretty easy.

I have gotten through a solid chunk of Uncharted 3 and I can honestly say it ups the ante on set pieces to completely insane levels. Most of the time this is insanely fun. But occasionally its just insanely cheap and difficult, especially dealing with snipers, armored agents with sawed-off shotguns and guys with rocket-launchers all at the same time. As fun s the game is, stuff like this is almost enough to make me quit and it's been  constant issue in the series. I hope they work on making them a little more balanced next time.

The other big shooter of the year comes out this week as Call of Duty 3: Modern Warfare finally comes out after all that controversy surrounding it. Is it better primary competitor Battlefield 3? Can the magic of 2 be recaptured after the defect of so many key members? I've repeatedly stated I'm not a huge shooter fan, In fact the last shooter I seriously got into was the original Modern Warfare. I think if this wasn't such a huge month game-wise I might be willing to give it a try but frankly Skyrim, out Friday, should be enough to scare just about any other game releasing anywhere close to it.

That's it for today. I should have another post up tomorrow hopefully. Until then, here's your TRAILER OF THE WEEK: Safe House

Playstation+: Still worth it...

Yup, I just re-upped my Playstation plus membership. While I continue to question and seriously doubt the value of my Xbox live membership, I have no qualms about re-upping my Plus. I mean seriously, is a slicker interface truly worth $60? Because that is literally all they offer over the competition. Thanks to plus I've enjoyed betas, themes, discounts and most importantly, free games. And not shitty games no one cares about. Back to the Future, Sega classics, great indie gems. And just for re-upping I will get Telltale's Jurassic Park, which already nearly covers half the membership. This is one of the best things on PS3 and MS would be wise to take some lessons from.

I have not played War in the North or Sonic Generations nor do I really plan to. The reviews have been mixed at best and my schedule barely allows time to play the games I already have. I've really barely scratched the surface of Uncharted 3. It did get me thinking about a quote from Naughty Dog, the developers.  Saying in essence that they have no intention of stopping at a trilogy and will keep making Uncharted games as long as fans want them. It makes me wonder how many will be interesting though. I mean they've done just about every place you can have a huge Indiana Jones-type adventure. You can't do another Jungle or Desert or Snow romp, it's been done. They might be able to do something with Atlantis or some lost underwater city, that's about all I can really think of.

Ok that is pretty much it for today, I should have another post up tomorrow though. Until then, here's your TRAILER OF THE WEEK:  21 Jumpstreet