Pinoy Couch Warrior

Quick Links: Better Book Titles

2010-08-16T10:08:00.000-07:00

Head on over to Better Book Titles for more.

The Flux Capacitor... How Does it Work?

2010-08-15T09:14:00.000-07:00

In 1985, two momentous occasions happened -- The most important being I turned two that year and the other, less significant event was the release of Back to the Future. The film is about Marty McFly, a teenager who is accidentally sent back to 1955. While trying to find a way back to the present, he must try to undo the damage his done to history by making his parents fall in love. Back to the Future grossed nearly $400 million and went on to become the most successful film of that year.

Not bad for a movie about kid who almost did it with his mom.

In the film, time travel was made possible by a Y-shaped, plutonium powered device called the "Flux Capacitor." But do you know how this device works?

Worry no more -- The good folks at SloshSpot have put together an infographic that does just that:

(click to enlarge)

[via SloshSpot]

Sunday Madness: School for Gifted Youngsters this ain't...

2010-08-15T08:31:00.000-07:00

The Expendables -- Who's the Biggest Badass?

2010-08-15T00:50:00.000-07:00

We've all heard about how Jean Claude Van Damme turned down a part in "The Expendables" because he felt there was no story... But leaked top-secret information reveals that a cabal of top scientists discovered that having those action heroes in close proximity of one another would give rise to an "Awesomeness Singularity" and result in a devastating and irreversible rupture in the fabric of space-time. Someone had to be a hero and Van Damme decided it would be him.

The movie may have been less awesome but at least your head didn't explode.

Even without Van Damme, "The Expendables" still boasts of an entire cast made up of the who's who of the Badass Hall of Fame, making this the most hairy-chested manly epic of manliness EVER.

But who do you think is the biggest badass in the cast? Popwatch on Entertainment Weekly is wondering along the same lines but specifically asks, "which of these men would win a no holds barred bar fight?"

My money's on Randy Couture. All of these other guys PRETEND to fight. Randy does it for a living.

Who would you pick?

Scott Pilgrim vs. The Animation

2010-08-14T20:28:00.000-07:00

The "Scott Pilgrim vs. The Animation" has debuted on Adult Swim. The short acts as a prologue of sorts to the movie and is a flashback to Scott's early life in High School and the origins of his friendship with Kim Pine.

If you are Cartoon Network-less, fear not because the entire animation is now up and you can view it via Slashfilm.

What happens in Vegas...

2010-08-14T19:02:00.000-07:00

Fallout 2 was the game that got me into RPGs. Many nights were spent combing what was left of California after it was devastated by nuclear war in search of the GECK. I tried to talk my way out of most situations but kept ready to kick some ass if it came to that. I made friends, got married and pimped my wife. I saved the wasteland and became a hero to its people. And when that was done, I replayed the game following an entirely different path this time.

Fallout showed me the joy of playing in a non-linear, open-ended environment. I was introduced to a world where the future was not all bright and shiny; where morality is rarely found in black and white but usually in shades of gray. The kind of depth that this game presented was not anything I've encountered before. And I was hooked.

Fallout also taught me what "fluffer" meant.

When Fallout 3 was released a decade after I finished the first two games, I was ecstatic. It was a chance for me to revisit the wasteland and see it in an even grander scale. Sure, there were some departures from the mechanics we had all gotten used to but in the end, everyone will agree that the third game in the series was an improvement and a welcome continuation of the Fallout saga. Now, Fallout fans everywhere are rejoicing again as the series is getting another addition in October -- Fallout: New Vegas.

While not a direct sequel, Fallout: New Vegas is set three years after the events of Fallout 3. Unlike other cities that have been introduced in the series, Vegas was not struck directly by a nuclear attack, leaving most of its buildings intact and mutation at a minimum. Fans of the original games may be pleased to know that it is developed by Obsidian Entertainment, a group that includes many veterans behind Fallout 1 and 2.

The game also places the player not in the role of a vault-dweller but of an unknown courier. While delivering a package with unknown contents, the courier is shot and left in a shallow grave in the outskirts of the city where he is found and treated a local caregiver named Doc Mitchell. Part of the game will be about finding out who you are and what they took from you.

Head on over to IGN for a highly detailed recap of an hour-long play session that will make Fallout fans October would come a whole lot sooner.

100 Recommended Amazing iPhone Games

2010-08-14T09:05:00.000-07:00

After just recently finishing the "Adventure Mode" on Plants vs. Zombies (yes, it took me that long), I've been looking for new games to try on my iPhone. Luckily, I stumbled upon a compilation of some of the best games that are out there right now on Tech Philippines. The list was originally compiled by Appstorm but Tech Philippines had such a nice icon tile image showing all the games on the list.

I haven't even played half of these games yet... Maybe I'll finally give Chaos Rings a try.

Scott Pilgrim vs. the Delayed Manila Showing

2010-08-14T06:57:00.000-07:00

"Scott Pilgrim vs. The World" recently premiered and based on reviews that have trickled in, the hype around it was well-deserved -- the visually-dazzling, and oftentimes funny, film did not disappoint. The movie is chock-full of nudges and winks to the gamer-comic-pop culture. And people who fall into that group will most certainly chuckle in appreciation at each one of them.

The movie is based on a comic book featuring the titular character Scott Pilgrim, the Canadian bassist for the band Sex Bomb-omb (points to those who get the references of the band name). Scott Pilgrim has fallen in love with the delivery girl Ramona V. Flowers... but must defeat her seven evil exes before he can date her.

...and two of those exes just happen to be Captain America AND Superman

Scott Pilgrim and his eccentric adventures have captured the attention of the pop-culture world. Aside from the comic book and critically acclaimed movie, a highly-anticipated multi-platform game and animated shorts on Adult Swim are soon to be part of this phenomenon, ensuring a maintained high-profile for the franchise. Not bad for an indie comic about a slacker.

Unfortunately, with no release date yet for the Manila, local fans who are eagerly awaiting the movie will have to continue waiting with bated breath. Reviews like the one from Slant Magazine describing the film's director Edgar Wright an "inspired mash-up artist, and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World may be his finest hybridization to date" and Slashfilm, claiming that it will be remembered as the "defining movie of its respective generation," definitely won't make the wait easy.

Freakonomics... The Movie

2010-08-14T05:12:00.000-07:00

Steven D. Levitt is an economist who has gained a reputation for using economic theory to explain different (and very diverse) subjects not usually considered within the scope of "traditional" economists. In 2005, wiith the help of journalist Stephen J. Dubner, Levitt collected and released several of his economic articles in the book "Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist explores the Hidden Side of Everything."

The book was a success and has gone on to sell over 4 million copies and has spawned a sequel called "SuperFreakonomics". And now, Magnolia Pictures has just released the first trailer for the film adaptation of the first book.

The film will be the combined work of some of the best documentarians in Hollywood today:

Alex Gibney (Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room) - Cheating in sumo wrestling wherein competitors allow their opponents to win in order to meet the eight win requirement
Morgan Spurlock (Super Size Me) - The socio-economic impact of baby names
Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady (Jesus Camp) - Underachieving children incentived to learn with money
Eugene Jarecki (Why We Fight) - How the Roe v. Wade ruling on abortion in 1973 had a significant impact on the drop in crime during the 90s
Seth Gordon (The King of Kong) - will bring the entire film together by providing commentary from the authors

After reading the book, I was amazed at how Levitt and Dubner were able to find correlations between the most seemingly disparate subjects and provide sensible explanations behind these. I am excited to see how each filmmaker will interpret and translate these studies to film.

Head on over to Collider for the trailer.

Apple Files Patent for a "Game Changing" Concept

2010-08-14T03:48:00.000-07:00

Apple is looking at creating a system that will automatically create a book describing a user's videogame performance. The official patent application states:

Systems and methods are provided that record data in a videogame, such as a user's character and performance in the videogame, and generate a book, e-book, or comic book based on the recorded data. A narrative data structure generated from the recorded data may include pregenerated text and images, and may provide for insertion of the recorded data into the narrative data structure. The recorded data may be converted into natural-language text for insertion into the narrative data structure. In some embodiments, the system may record screenshots of the videogame and insert the screenshots into the narrative data structure as illustrations. The narrative data structure may be provided to a location for printing as a book or other publication or may be electronically formatted and provided as an e-book.

While a patent is not a guarantee that we'll see a marketable product anytime soon, it's exciting to know that a dependable industry innovator such as Apple has set their sights on something that would further enhance the overall gaming experience.

Get to see how badly you screwed up before you saved... in sequential art style!

Since most games nowadays are unique experiences due to the myriad choices offered in-game, it seems like a pretty cool idea to be able to revisit these adventures with a personalized comic book. I would personally love to have this functionality on epic RPGs such as Mass Effect or action games like Gears of War.

Head over to ComicsAlliance to see more of the visual aides and more details or here for the official patent filing.

Toy Story 3 Now Highest-Grossing Animated Movie of All Time

2010-08-13T23:27:00.000-07:00

It's official. With a gross of more than $920 million wordlwide, Pixar's latest installment to the Toy Story franchise has surpassed Shrek 2 ($919.8 million worldwide) as the highest grossing animated film of all time.

"Wow. Look at all that shiny money..."

Released worldiwde in June, July and August, the film broke Shrek the Third's record as the biggest single day domestic (North American) gross for an animated film with an unadjusted gross of $110 million. Toy Story 3 also holds the record for the highest grossing opening weekend for a Pixar Film.

For more details and for the official press release, head over to Collider.

Hailing Frequencies Open...

2010-08-13T22:42:00.000-07:00

Greetings, fellow couch warrior!

You're looking for news on that big new action movie? Or what features that hot new gadget is promising? Maybe you were interested in knowing how the new writer and artist \were going to re-imagine the characters of your favorite comic book? Or maybe an RPG with a new game changing mechanic?

Whatever string of words you typed in Google that brought you here, I hope you found what you were looking for. Pinoy Couch Warrior aims to give you interesting news, stories and reviews on games, movies, comics, and all the other good stuff that matter to couch warriors like us.

Welcome to Pinoy Couch Warrior.