The Great Blog

Kick-Ass 2 The Movie

2013-08-17T10:54:00.001-04:00

Ah, yes. Yet another gold delivery. There was really no doubt that this would turn out great, after the awesomeness of the first movie. That's actually what got me into indie comics in the first place, although it did lose a bit of credibility after I went to read the comic. The ending of the comic was just sooo much better.

The movie opens pretty much like the comic, Dave just monologuing to himself, describing some of his adventures as Kick-Ass, informing the audience about how new heroes have been popping up, blah, blah, blah. Something a little interesting they did though was certain details from the Hit-Girl side-story, where she trained Kick-Ass for a bit. Unfortunately though they didn't manage to get the full story in with her solo adventure, but that definitely would've been a bit much.

The story's actually pretty faithful to the comics, and actually does a better job at it than the first one. Of course certain things had to be cut out, because there was no way it was gonna make it into theaters, (Not even sure how they allowed some of it in the comics.) but there were also some things that had to be added, not only due to the changes in the first movie, but also add to the comedy. Speaking of which, the comedy's pretty excessive, but it's welcome due to some of the tragedies that occur. Overall, I didn't nerd rage too much and annoy my friends. I also really loved all the ads for Mark Millar's other works. (Go read Superior!!!)

If you like the comics, or at least the first movie, you're definitely gonna enjoy this one. If you haven't seen any of, but like super heroes, why not give it a try? That is, unless you're sensitive to gore, profanity, violence, and nudity, theeen you might wanna turn away. I hear Planes is pretty good! Tch, forget that. Just go watch Pacific Rim again!

Pacific Rim

2013-08-15T09:49:00.002-04:00

Giant robots! There you go. Review over. Honestly, what more is there to say really? Any science fiction love should appreciate the movie just for that. Admittedly though, I was very reluctant to go see this movie at first. It just looked like it was ripping off some of my favorite anime's and putting an American twist on it. Funny enough, it literally took Hideo Kojima's approval for me to finally decide to go see it.

The movie starts off pretty quickly, going into detail about how the whole conflict with the monsters got started. Honestly, I just thought it was another preview for another movie. It all goes by pretty quick too, but not so much that you miss the gist of it. Monsters randomly appear out of the ocean one day, Godzilla style and start attacking our cities. The UN funds a project to build giant robots in order to fight against said monsters, but things don't go so well in the beginning, because it turns out the mechs are too much for one person to pilot. That's why they need pilots in the cockpit, unlike what we see in anime's like Gundam and Robotech.

The visuals in this movie are beyond amazing. I remember seeing Transformers for the first time, and thinking "This is CG at its peak. There's no way things can ever get better." Boy was I wrong. As someone who's studied computer animation, I couldn't help but try to figure out how some of these affects were done. Designing and moving the mechs, sure. You've got a ton of teamsaround who specialize in this stuff, but most of the fights take place in the water. Ask just about any computer animator. CG water is work! But somehow they had everything down pact. When these monsters rise up from the water, and the mechs are dropped in there and run through it, the water just reacts so well, giving you just a clear idea these things are HUGE!

The fights are really good as well. Most reviews complain that there's not a good enough balance between the fights and downtime for the story, but these fights are pretty long. You'd think it'd a simple jump in, punch, and there fight's over, but there's a lot that goes into these fights. Things get smashed, arms are ripped off, and bodies go flying. Even after all that, there's still more to come, just cause.

The story's pretty darn dramatic too, which really isn't something to expect from a summer blockbuster. Seriously. Nothing goes well for the humans, straight from the start.There is still some good humor though, some perfect delivery here and there, while other times a bit forced, but it all blends really well in the end. I've never actually seen any movies with any of these actors before, except for Idris Elba in Thor and Ron Perlman in Blade II, but I found every performance to be great. Often there's that one actor I'm just anxious to see die, just because their performance is so dull, but everyone did really well.

Guillermo del Toro is just a genious, and clearly loves the material he's working with. People need to start taking hints from this guy! This is how you make a sci-fi movie. Not only that, but an original one! How many movies do we get nowadays that's not just a remake, adaption, or a sequel? How many of them actually turn out to be good!? Yeah, not that many. We need more! Preferebly some with more giant robots? Well whatever we get, good luck trying to make better than this.

Oh yeah.There's a tie-in videogame, buuuut, it's not so good.

Interview with Cosplay Model Cin' Von Quinzel

2013-08-12T10:42:00.000-04:00

Had a great time shooting with Cin' Von Quinzel, and I figured I'd ask her a few questions. Unfortunately the mosquitoes were going crazy. Not even insects can resist her presence.

Be sure to check out the full gallery here: Link

And of course, see more of her here: Link

SpringFest 2013

2013-03-20T11:03:00.000-04:00

I had no idea what this was until a little while ago. Just a couple of people I knew mentioning it here and there. The name says nothing, so I pretty much just brushed it off. Finally I heard it was an anime convention that was pretty much right next door to me. (A good three mile jog really, but you get the picture.) Now I'm not much of an anime fan anymore, but a convention in that sense could only mean one thing. Cosplay! One problem though. I've got no money... Soo, I was forced to become a volunteer if I wanted to get in, meaning I'd have to work. Sigh...

I got a pretty easy job though, monitoring the top floor, making sure everyone knew where they were going, and not blocking the halls. Little did I know however, was that this floor was the main attraction for a lot of the attendees. Why? Well one room dedicated to cosplay photoshoots, so I guess that was a thing, but another one was reserved for the Hentai Panels. Seriously. Soon as most of the people who made it to that floor, asking for directions wanted to know where it was. Ah, otakus... Can't play innocent myself though, I made sure to check it out a few times myself.

Funny thing was, it wasn't even the hentai that kept me interested. It was the hilarious dubs people kept giving to them, during the Dubbing session. No scene could be taken seriously at all by these people. Oh so grand. Unfortunately though, from what I heard, some scenes were a little much for some, one person actually had to leave the room in tears. Otherwise, I hear it was a total success.

Another panel that actually caught my interest was on Why Ash Ketchum Sucks. Very informative that one. If you think he's terrible in current seasons, take a look way back in the first. He's been really bad from since the start. I like the old school stuff, so Gundam Legacy was another that caught my eye. Pretty much a retrospective from the start of the series, up until now. Just makes me hype to see a new series.

Other than those I didn't get to check on much else. I wanted to visit the Maid Cafe, to see what that was about, but some friends who actually visited said it wasn't really much. food was bad, entertainment was cliche, and admission prices were high, although I probably could've gotten in free as staff.

At the end of the day, I just stuck around to get what I came for. Cosplay pics. This time around, I have a much better camera. A Sony NEX 5R, instead of my old poin and shoot Canon, but I kept getting out-shined by everyone with their big expensive equipment. Every pic I took inside didn't really turn out as I desired, though everyone I met loved them. Sooner or later though, I'll make sure to get my hands on much better equipment, instead of having to drag so many people outside in the cold like I did.

So overall I enjoyed my time at this event. I kinda wish it wasn't so anime orientated, being more of a comic book fan myself, but that's what NYCC is for, since they finally got rid of Anime Festival. They did a pretty good job, for a student run convention. Best part about it being in a college though, was that you didn't have to rely on venders, selling over priced snacks for food. The school cafeteria had some reasonably price food, and lucky for us volunteers, we got vouchers, so meals were practically free. Win!

Superman Unbound Trailer

2013-01-31T12:13:00.001-05:00

It's no surprise that I'm not much of a DC fan, but man do I love their animations. Really looking forward to this one.

Gantz

2012-11-06T11:19:00.000-05:00

By far, the absolute most trippiest thing I've ever read. I'm really not so into manga and anime anymore, last thing I followed was Fullmetal Alchemist, and I watched HSOD as a joke, but a while back I was reading this masterpiece, since it continued on, where the anime left off. I stopped for a good while, after 08, cause they we're going on a hiatus, and kept forgetting to pick it up again. Couple of days ago, I decided to try it again. Where I left off, all the secrets of the Gantz ball were revealed, and it turned out, there were multiple ones all around the world. Now I came back, and the story just blew up into all this craziness, with these super government conspiracies, an alien invasion, and now we've been introduced to some god-like creature, who tells us that humans are nothing but data. Data! Nothing but electrical currents, stored within a rather complex device.... What. The Eff.....? Worst part is, the series is still going. Where the heck's everything supposed to even go from here? Just gotta find out.

If you're looking for something new to read, and you don't mind a ton of gore, boobies, and being mindscrewed, be sure to check it out. The anime was good too, but pulled off a Fullmetal Alchemist, and started making up their own stuff, and ended differently. Animation was top notch though.

Wreck It Ralph Review

2012-11-02T18:01:00.001-04:00

Amazing. Simply amazing. I don't even know where to start. I, like many, was pretty skeptical when I heard some of my favorite videogame character was gonna appear in a Disney movie. I haven't seen too many of their stuff recently, but rarely do I hear too much good coming out of Disney. I dare anyone to say something negative about this one though. There's just so much win!

Okay, so of course we all know the basic story. Ralph's a "bad guy", but would really like some more appreciation. He goes out of his way to get it, but things go wrong, and he's gotta go on some adventure to earn his respect, making some friends along the way. Yeah, the story's really nothing original, but what is these days? When is a movie ever gonna pull off a big M Night twist these days? Just put that aside, and lets enjoy everything else that's going on.

It's REALLY clear that Disney was target the gamer crowd. Old and young. There was literally something there for gamers of all ages. From the old days of Kubert, to today's Call of Duty crowd. Speaking of COD, there's another original game in there, which basically combines it with Halo and Gears of War. Seriously, the gaming references were just over the top. They even had the Konami code. The cameos were really fun. Sonic, Chun-Li, Ryu, Kano. There was even a nice indirect one from Metal Gear Solid. The only thing I'm dissappointed in was that there was no Megaman.... Come on Capcom! There nothing but a mere sound bite of MMX's buster charging up, but that's it. Do you really hate the guy that bad guys?

Agh. Anyways. So the comedy was really good. Great really. All the ones with, and without the gaming references. Just perfect. Something that just makes me so mad though, is there was a scene that made me nearly cry. How dare they!? There is a scene in there that I actually found sadder than when Ash got turned to stone in the first Pokemon movie. I was overly hyped throughout the entire thing, until that came on. Just why!? I'm sure anyone who finally sees it will know exactly what I'm talking about. Just make sure to bring tissue.

So yeah, that's about it. This is literally the best movie I've seen in a long time. Possibly the best, ever. I joked with my friend, saying I wasn't gonna care at all for it, other than the Sonic The Hedgehog cameos, but turns out, I was in for a surprise. Kudos to to whoever came up with this crazy idea.

New York Comic Con 2012

2012-10-15T19:58:00.000-04:00

So finally, the biggest event of the year for me arrived, and I must say, I am disappoint. Not that I didn't have fun, but it's all that went down in between the fun. First off, it was actually a hassle, just to get tickets for the convention itself. These ticket prices are too damn high! My first time going to NYCC was back in 2010, and three day tickets were just a measly 50 bucks. Shouldn't be too hard to save up that much. The year right after, the price spikes up to $65. Of course you may thing, well what's an extra fiteen bucks? Everything! That extra $15 should be going to metrocards to you can actually get to the blasted place. New York's not cheap to travel around in you know.

Luckily though, I won a raffle and got a free three day pass. After three tries mind you. I would've tried going for press passes, but that was another hassle in itself. You had to sign up for an account on their website and give all your info, only for them to send you some form you had to print and give in the SAME EXACT INFORMATION!!! They apparently don't even like independent producers like me, cause they ask for an assignment letter from your boss. Who the heck am I gonna get a letter from? Eric Schmidt!? So I said screw it, and decided to look into other methods. So all that's out of the way, now it's just time to prepare for the day of.

Friday comes, I'm walking along 34th street, to the main entrance, I'm told to head over to 38th street. "S'cuse me?" Well, I figured, maybe it's just construction. Happens. No. They've blocked off all but entrances, just so it'd be easier for them to monitor who's coming in with a pass or not. Not a smart move, when you've got tens of thousands of people coming in and out of here guys! Honestly, you couldn't think of something better? Come on. Get with the time. Install scanners or something! Not like you don't have the money!!!! Geez! I understand, it's been way too easy to get into these things. There are even videos on youtube and online forums on how to get in no problem, but this was ridiculous. Thing is, according to what I heard, people were still able to get in. So, FAIL!!!!!

Anyways, rant done, no onto the important part. Like I said, the convention was great. The cosplay keeps getting better and better, though there are still some oversaturations. I tried to get as few mainstream comic book super heroes and anime characters as possible. Sure some look greater than other, but we've already seen it. Come on. Where are my Limbo kids, and Superior's. How about some classics, like Ronin Warriors? Unfortunately, my camera broke, and I wasn't able to get too many pictures, especially on Saturday. Wound up having to borrow a cousins for Sunday, and just took pics of whatever.

I got to play the Wii U a little. I can't see myself using the tablet controller for action games, like Ninja Gaiden, and Monster Hunter, but slower games, like Pikmin, or games that make it a necessity are fine. It totally feels natual in your hand though. You don't really notice at first that you're holding this huge tablet in your hand, compared to your typical controller. The graphics didn't wow me at all, but neither did PS3 and 360 when they first launched. Just gotta take time for developers to get used to the new technology, so they can take better advantage of it.

I played Marvel Heroes. It's just Diablo. Nuff said. That Avengers game is still atrocious. Injustice looks great, though it's still a re-skinned Mortal Kombat. Lines were waaaay too long for DMC and GOW Ascension, though I'm show they weren't really show stoppers. Darkstalkers looks absolutely terrible in high resolution. Seriously. You might as well just emulate it on your PC. Otherwise, everything was just the same old same old. The ones that actually caught my eye at least.

I went there, really hoping to find a job as a colorist for whatever comic book company would have me, so I spent a good portion of the time in Artist Alley, looking to some of my favorite artists for tips. Let me tell you about finding the damn place though! It's not on any map, and some of the workers didn't even know where it was themselves. This year, it was actually on the ground floor, in some random corner by the entrance. Who the heck is gonna find that, considering that area is normally non-accessible? Well, of course a lot of people did, but still. Why keep moving it? 2010 it on one side of the second floor, and then the moved it to the complete opposite end. Why!? But anyways. Got to meet a bunch of artists.

No one really had anything bad to say about my work. Paulo Rivera's always one of my go to guys, since he's pretty much the second coming of Alex Ross. He didn't have much to say, just that Marvel typically prefers cel-shading, as opposed to the digital airbrushing I do, but they're not really looking for any colorists at the moment, so I'd probably have a tough time getting a call from them. Honeslty, I pretty much told him, screw Marvel and DC, and I wanted to see some independents. So he just wished me the best of luck. Met with a few other people, but I was most glad to see Stanley Lau a.k.a "Artgerm" I really get most of my coloring inspiration from him. He actually told me I was too influenced by typical comic book work, and basically put my lights and shadows wherever. Wasn't 100 percent sure what he meant, but I'll take it all into consideration.

Food was too expensive as always, and this time they totally forced you buy from them, since you were pretty much trapped inside, unless you wanted to wait in a long line, just to get outside, then to go through the hassle of coming back in. No thanks! Didn't really check too many panels. I used to check all the ones from Marvel, but all the nonsense that going on, I couldn't care less. At the end of the day, it all came to me and some friends hanging out, which turned out to be more fun than some of the stuff that went down at the con.

So for my final verdict, I'd have to say the con was mediocre at best. I'd still go back of course. Not like there's anything at all better to do in New York anyways. Everyone has their parties and nightclubs. I have my Con. 'Nuff said.

For more photos, check my full album on G+ https://plus.google.com/photos/112592061344713212836/albums/5798626337973239873

Nintendo's Wii U Press Event 9/13/2012

2012-09-13T11:07:00.004-04:00

So FINALLY we got some details on Wii U today. Release date, price, and new added features. Bout bloody Time.

Price: There are two versions. Basic will be $300, comes in white, with 8GB internal storage, and comes with all your essentials. Premium will be $350, and comes in black, with 32GB, Nintendo Land, charging stand, and two year subscription to Nintendo Network Premium.

U.S. Release Date: November 18th, just in time for Black Friday. Ironically, that's before the Japanese release date, which will be Dec 3rd.

Nintendo TVii: Basically an app that turns your system into a cable box, much like what Microsoft's been doing with the 360. "Yawn..."

New Super Mario Bros U: Just some added modes, like Rush mode, which is pretty much a co-op speed-run mode, where everything speeds up, depending on how many coins you collect.

Platiunum Games: We already new about "Project P-100"from Platinum Games, which doesn't look like much at first glance, but once you see the gameplay, it's pure epicness. Now it's got a new name, "The Wonderful 100" and new trailer, but there was also another surprise. "Bayonetta 2"! It's an exclusive! Win!!!!

Some Activision Games...: Yeah, I really don't care. Skylanders Giants, 007 Legends, Transformers Prime, Wipeout, and Blops 2. Yay....

So there you have it. Can't say I'm too fond of the pricing, but considering all it can do, I'm surprised it doesn't cost more. Who can even complain anyways, when everybody's already lining up to get their new $500 dollar Apple products right now. The Basic edition seems pointless, since with the Premium, you're not only paying for more memory, but a full $50 game, and added accessories. I'd definitely be willing to get it at launch, if I actually have some cash at the time. How bout you guys? Worth it? Overglamorized? Or should Nintendo just quit? (Hint: Never!)

Yatagarasu: An Indie Fight Game, Coming to 3DS

2012-09-06T14:25:00.001-04:00

Game Logo

When the 3DS came out last year, there was a quite an oversaturation of fighting games coming to the handheld. From Street Fighter, to Tekken. Seemed like pretty much everyone wanted to get there fighter on the device. Why not? It's was the perfect system for it at the time, considering you can walk around without and just challenge people you meet, without having to worry about internet lag, or some thirteen hiding behind their screen, trying to trash talk you.

All that died down though, when the Vita was getting ready to release, allowing for higher quality visuals, and probably better online support. Sucks, cause we're missing out on Street Fighter X Tekken. Flawed as the game's been upon release, I really enjoy, and would've loved to see it on 3DS. No Skullgirls, or Persona 4 Arena either. Biggest dump was the announcenment of Marvel VS Capcom Origins, with absolutely no Nintendo support whatsoever. Totally unfair, no matter how I look at it, cause MVC 1 is my favorite in the vs series.

But Yeah. Finally, the 3DS is getting a new fighting game, from an indie developer, Edge Circle, and produced by Cave Story developer, Nicalis. Best part is, they're comprised of three EX-SNK members, and is based on the Street Fighter 3 Third Strike engine, so you'll have parry's, ex's, and multi-level supers. Sounds very promising to me. The character designs look pretty awesome too. Still has that anime look that nobody can seem to get out of, but still good none-the-less.

I wonder if it'll have have shortcut options, like in SSF4 3D. A little cheap to some people, I know, but some of those moves are pretty difficult to pull off with the circle pad. It's a four button fighter though, so maybe that'll help in some way. Definitely be on the lookout for this one when it hits the eShop sometime later this year. For more details, check out Nicalis' Blog.

Here's an interview with one of the developers.

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3DS trailer

Artist Spotlight: Hylajaponica

2012-09-05T17:54:00.000-04:00

So I happened to stumble upon this artist yesterday, while browsing Da. Looked at just one of his pics, and it was an instant follow. He specializes in vehicle art, mainly aircrafts, and they are all just stunning. So naturally when I saw his underwhelming view-counts, I was disappointed. Then I got pretty upset as I went on, and checked out the rest of his amazing work.

He's been on DA, for about 4 years now, and the first piece in his gallery, has only 761 views. Excuse me. What!? Why are people paying this guy no mind? I understand he doesn't take advantage of the groups feature, which is to help show your work to a specific audience, but still. Why in the world does this: Link, a simple screenshot, get more veiws than this: Link!? I just don't understand.

I've had my rants with the DA community in the past, with some friends, but looking at this situation, makes realize it's even more out of hand. Apparently, unless you're doing some pop culture fan-art, or taking pics of tits and vagina's, you're not getting anywhere on the site. It's been the case with me, but I always figure that I'm not that good, though some would argue otherwise. This really should not be.

Anyways, back to the artist. Well, what more can I say about him? The work's amazing, and really needs more recognition. Check out the rest of his gallery.

Lostintheecho.com

2012-08-29T23:38:00.001-04:00

So the other day, I believe Sunday it was, Linkin Park fans got word that the music video for Lost In the Echo, was set to debut the following Wednsday, August 29th. I already spoke of the awesomeness that was that song in my album review, so of course I was pretty interested. I didn't expect much though, considering, I never really cared for the bands last few videos, starting from Burning in the Skies. Seems like Joe Hahn just lost his touch, or something, but I still show my support.

Annoyingly, you have to add an app to your face to get the video to work, so first I tried looking on youtube to see if someone else uploaded it, but apprently not, so I wound up using my facebook. Naturally, I still wound up disappointed. This is a heavy and uptempo song, so I figured there should be a lot of crazineess going on. Maybe war, riots, people running... Nope, just some guy walking into a building. So I was like, "eh, alright, maybe it picks up during the chorus or something." Nope. Just people gathering around the guy, grabbing pictures... Now they're looking at the pictures... "Holy crap, that's me!"

Yes, completely out of nowhere, a picture of me and some friends show up in one of the pictures that the people in the video are holding up. They literally took pics of me and my "friends" from off my facebook, and automatically edit them into the video. I was wondering what was up with that random picture of food. Apparently something a "friend" has. I made sure to watch a second time, to make sure it wasn't a one time deal, and indeed the pictures were different. No wonder they said "interactive video."

As for the rest of the video though, it was still a disappointment. I guess what's happening is that the pictures reveal some hidden truth about the person that's standing across from the holder, and they're totally distraught, and just "shatter", but for the pace of the song, I really don'd feel it works. In any case, it's still worth a look, at least for the effects.

She-Hulk v.s. Wonder Woman

2012-08-13T19:42:00.001-04:00

Power of the gods, versus the power of gamma radiation. Which would win?

Final Fight X Resident Evil

2012-08-05T19:36:00.000-04:00

Sprite by Steamboy33

So this totally came out of Nowhere, but think about it. A Final Fight style beat-em-up, where in all the civilians and Mad Gear gang members have been infected with the T-Virus. It'll take place right after the Raccoon city incident, which isn't so far away from Metro, so possible a few infected animals, or humans escaped there, before the place got nuked.

The story would start off with an Outbreak in Metro City, and all things to to hell. Cody, while in Jail, see's the chaos going on outside, and figures it looks like "some fun" and breaks out of his cell. Naturally, he runs into Guy, and they team up.

Chris and Jill, on their journey to expose Umbrella for their crimes, find their way to the city, and find themselves caught within the outbreak. They run into Poison and Hugo, who are deathly terrified of the zombies, and are unable to do a thing. They're saved by the pair, and agree to act as guides, who can possibly lead them to a hidden umbrella facility.

Both teams would later on meet up, Guy and Cody not too willing to trust Poison and Hugo, but agree to help out anyways. They later run into Rolento, who sees the outbreak as the perfect oppurtunity to create his "Utopia". He tries fighting the team at first, but realizing he has no way to control the zombies, joins them, stating they will need a "good tactical leader" if they want to survive, and that if they do "well enough" he may recruit them into his army. Figuring they'll need all the help they can get, and not wanting to leave any survivor behind, they agree to let him tag along.

So these are just a few ideas from off the top of my head. Things can be improved, but tell me this concept wouldn't work. Things in Capcom games don't really get to far-fetched for this to not be impossible. Come on guys, lets get this story out into the wild! Final Fight needs to be revived, and Resident Evil's possibly about to finish soon, and fans are gonna be dying for more, so why not!?

Oculus Rift Makes Virtual Reality... A Reality

2012-08-01T22:26:00.003-04:00

So we've all seen it. This inevitable future in gaming. It's in like ever science fiction flick ever. Back to the Future, Tron, and even an episode of Captain Planet. The tech's always been way ahead of our time, but it's already 2012 dammit! BTTF promised we were supposed to get it at least two years ago, but no. It's also rather annoying, considering how the big names don't wanna give us anything new, except better graphics and performance, but with less freedom. Now, from one lone hobbyist, comes the start of the invention we've ALL been waiting for.

The Oculus Rift is the first ever virtual reality headset design for videogames. We've already got the technology, out in the wild, but they don't exactly work too well, considering the low resolution, and latency in motion tracking, but finally, the OR is here to do some justice. Best part is we've already got some big names, the biggest outside of Japan really, already backing it. Valve, ID, and Epic are all putting work into this device, dying to see this baby come to life.

Despite this though, it's still gonna need your support. I mean of course. Where will the device be without its audience? There's a Kickstarter up, (Yes, that again.) asking for a goal of $250,000 by Sept 1st. Of course, like all awesome projects that go up there, it's already surpassed double it's goal in just a few hours, but don't let that discourage you. The more cash they get may help speed development, improve the technology, or maybe even keep the price down. Come on guys, lets make the happen!

Avengers by Egoraptor

2012-07-16T20:43:00.000-04:00

I always said he needed to be careful when summoning that thing...

EVO 2012

2012-07-10T10:57:00.001-04:00

So this was my first time actually ever streaming EVO. Never knew much about it before, except the infamous Daigo vs Justin Wong match from way back. This time, I was finally able to follow up on it, due to constant reminders by some of my favorite youtubers, namely the announcement of fighterpedia's Woolie being pitted against Daigo in round one. (He lost of course.)

I must say, it was quite enjoyable, from what I did catch (Bad internet is bad!) I didn't exactly know who to route for, considering practically all of these guys were new to me. I wanted to root for Justin Wong, considering he did make it his start here in NYC, but I couldn't say the other performers didn't do well themselves. He didn't win any of the tournaments though, but still did great.

Something sparked while watching the King of Fighters matches though, and I found myself getting really excited watching. I really wanted to root and cheer, but figured there wasn't much point since I was merely watching from a computer screen, plus I didn't want to draw attention from my family. (Not that they really give it much though...) It was just so exciting, seeing all those combos performed, and with such amazing precision. Finally I realized what went on through peoples heads whenever they watched a sports game. They really aren't all crazy. Though that's still up to debate. Honestly. I went to some wrestling a little while back with a friend, ( i was dragged) and I had to say, it really was not worth it. The show was pretty decent and all, but it was so not worth standing out in the hot sun for two hours, listening to the fans bicker on and on about nothing.

I think events like this should actually be considered a sport, really. I mean, there were teams, like Cafe ID, a group of Korean KOF players, and the Street Fighter X Tekken matches were all team-based. There was some great sportsmanship going on, unlike what I've seen and heard about of other "official" sports leagues, and its already got its audience, so why not? You can't say these people aren't athletes eithes either. Movements like those take immense skill, and the brain's the best muscle we've got, so come on! Anyone with me?

Overall, it was a great experience. Like I said King of Fighters was my favorite match. Unfortunately, Super Street Fighter 4, and Street Fighter X Tekken, despite being my favorites to play, didn't do much for me. The matches were okay, but just didn't have that great a level of excitement. Mortal Kombat was okay, Marvel vs Cap was okay, and surprisingly Virtua Fighter 5 was pretty good. I was never into the series before, not having a console to play it on, seeing those matches really makes me want to get into the series. I wish they had Skullgirls though, and I can't wait to see Injustice, and Tekken Tag 2 next year. What did you guys think?

Everyday Hulk: In the Bathroom

2012-07-01T21:48:00.000-04:00

So, what if Banner ever ran out of toilet paper, while on the can? I'm pretty sure we'd all have the same reaction.

Be sure to check out more animations by the creator on their youtube!

The Avengers: Earths Mightiest Heroes

2012-06-27T20:44:00.000-04:00

I remember hearing about this series back in 2010, just thinking, "great, just another big budget movie ad for the kids." In any case, I was definitely gonna watch, considering my obsession with animation at the time, plus I'd been getting more into The Avenger's books during Dark Reign. I didn't expect much though, looking at the blocky animation style, and there was no way it could top Spectacular Spider-Man season 2. In any case, it had to be better than the original Avengers cartoon they had back in the day.

Just from the theme song, I was instantly hooked on the first episode. I don't even know why really. The lyrics pretty cliche, but the tune was really catchy. Of course a theme song's not gonna make the show, but it an important first impression. Now for the episode. Awesome. Just awesome. Pretty nice twist to the origin story. I never read the original story Stan Lee did, but Joe Casey did an origins series early that year, which I'm pretty sure stays fairly true to the original, but with a lot extra. The original team was there and everything, and of course Loki was the cause of all the trouble, but instead of having The Hulk being the center of all their attention, it was a whole bunch of villains who escaped from a bunch of different prisons, especially one in particular who was made for the show that could control gravity.

After all that's done and taken care of, they'gotta catch the rest of the villains, revive Captain America, and recruit the rest of the team. The season then ends with the revelation of the Skrull's. That, mixed with the little brush-in with the Kree, naturally you've gotta suspect a Secret Wars storyline coming in next season, right? Nope. Jump about 20 years, and we have Secret Invasion. That was actually quite the surprise, considering it was such a recent story, and it was pretty well played out, possibly even better than Bendis' version. Quite a bit of other big jumps in the story came about as well, like the Ant-Man/Giant-Man mantle being passed on, Yellowjacket being introduced, (Minus the woman abuse of course. Still is something of a kids show after all.) bunch of cameos, even from that of Luke Cage. (Much better than their Ultimate Spider-Man counterparts.)

Now, more recently we got the Kree invasion, which is pretty good for those, reading Avengers vs X-Men, trying to get up to speed about them, and the Supreme Intelligence. Biggest surprise was the introduction of the New Avengers, who were lead by Spider-Man, who actually didn't look like a total fool within a team for once. Finally the season ends in a one-parter with Galactus. Seemed rather out of place for me, since I feel he should only be left to the Fantastic Four 4, but seeing as Marvel vs Capcom 3 broke that rule, it's fine. Another off thing though was the fact that Silver Surfer wasn't his herald, instead he just used four elemental beings. Ah well. This forced a massive team-up of practically every character introduced in the show, including the Fantastic Four. Of course the geniuses, Iron-Man, Mr. Fantastic, and Black Panther took care of him, and the earth was saved! The only thing missing though, were the X-Men, but I guess they were too busy off on their little island, trying to fight for mutant rights, and making a name for themselves.

Obviously this series far exceeded my expectations, and I really hope it gets a third season. It's definitely on the level of the 90's X-Men cartoon, and Spectacular Spider-Man. It should probably focus on the Infinity Gauntlet, introduce the fans to Thanos a little, before the next Avengers movie comes out. We need to see Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch, along with Wonderman and Spider-Woman. Heck, with the rate they're going, they should even bring in Sentry! Come on guys, let Marvel know that this is what we want, instead of that mediocre Ultimate Spider-Man cartoon that just got cleared for another season.

Living Things

2012-06-19T12:40:00.000-04:00

I can't believe it... They really did it! They really really did it! They've once again defined a decade!
This has go to be one of the most amazing albums I've heard in the longest. I don't even know where to start. Well, first off at least, lets just get the biggest (dumbest) question out of the way.

No, this is not Hybrid Theory, or Meteora, so clingy fanboys and girls can leave already. Does it share similar elements though? Yeah, definitely. Just like Minutes To Midnight, the band has done a complete 180 with their sound. Of course, we all had our disappointments with that album. "It was too soft", "where's the rapping?" "Where the heck is Mr. Hahn?" It was a radical change, and was a lot to take in, for all of us. A Thousand Sun's did some things better, but not so much. I especially liked the call out they made to all the winy fans in When They Come For Me, but then you reach the end of the album, and have to sit through The Messanger...

Not saying those albums were bad though, but if they weren't attached to the name, I probably would not have picked them up so easily. This time though, they really did it right. The sound of this album, from start to finish is just insane! Actually, the start's rather unique this time around, considering there's no intro. It just goes straight into the first song, something they haven't done since Hybrid Theory.

Speaking of the first song though... Wow. Freakin amazing! Lost in the Echo is catchy, energetic, yet powerful. It's got the perfect blend of everything the band has ever had to offer. Electronic, heavy guitars, kicking bass, soft vocals, screams, and Mike just really outdoes himself on the rap. It's pretty much a "$%#^ you" song to anyone who's ever put you down or something before. In the end, you've gotta tell that person person off, give em the finger, and go about your business. I know I'll definitely be rehearsing the lines in my head, for whenever something like that happens to me again. That's actually pretty much the same message throughout the whole album really. Words of wisdom, comfort and motivation.

We've already heard Burn It Down, which is all about human stupidity, and how we're constantly repeating the same crimes. Lies, Greed, Misery is a revenge song, but with an upbeat tune, as if one is saying "#$&% you" while on their happy pills. Castle Of Glass actually has something of an old western feel to it. I can totally see a video for it! Mike's the conductor of a train, while the rest of the band are cowboys or something, and maybe one of them (Phoenix) is a robber.

Roads Untraveled has a fun winter chime to it. (Seriously. Listen to this, and tell me you don't think of wandering through a snowfield.) It's something of a break up song, with Mike doing clean vocals on the first verse. The clear message is that we shouldn't dwell too much on our broken hearts, since the pain can't last forever. The chorus is really easy to get into, being a basic set of "whoa's". The last verse though is was really gets me, where Chester comes in, stating that even if the situation's tough, there's a "seat right beside him." Just that extra assurance from a friend is something we all need during our down times.

I find the song rather ironic though, considering it can be looked at as the tragic aftermath of one of their older songs My December, which was pretty a love song, where the singer was willing to give up all his good fortunes, just to be with the one he loved. How awful it would be if this were the same exact relationship, and this bitch done went and left him after all that? Thing is though, if the word "heart" and "love" were taken out, the song could have an even broader meaning, pertaining to all past mistakes.

The album ends with Tinfoil, leading into Powerless, which always has me confused at the start. First it sounds like Burning In The Skies, but then you've got a little of Isho Ni. It's about a friends foolish betrayal, and how they wound up paying the price in the end. It's not the greatest ending, but it's certainly is enjoyable this time around.

Overall, this is a great album. Best thing I've heard in a while. Does it beat Hybrid Theory? No, not to me, but it's certainly up there. Lost In The Echo is my favorite track out of them all, but it certainly doesn't beat Points of Authority, my favorite song of all time. This is a must listen, for everyone, no matter what your tastes. It's literally got something for everyone, and certainly speak all of us as well. My only issue with the thing would be its short length, something that also plagued Hybrid Theory and Meteora. Seriously. You just know they had a ton of other tracks laying around, why not add some more?

Be sure to pick up the album in stores, or download it off Amazon and the Zune Marketplace on June 26th! Oh yeah, and that iTunes thing too I guess.

The Avengers Movie Review

2012-05-04T23:53:00.001-04:00

So the other day, a buddy texts me, asking if I wanted to go with him him to see the Avengers. Now, I'm not really much of movie buff anymore anymore, actually having not even gone since like what? 08, 09? I dunno, it's just not my thing anymore, specially considering some of the terrible things that have making it on screen, specially when it comes to adaptions, *ahem* Green Lantern *cough* but I reluctantly said alright, and everything was set. Boy do I regret not planning to go sooner.

No, tickets weren't sold out or anything. It was just that damn good. Honestly, it was not at all what I suspected. Yeah, I saw all the lead up movies on DVD, Iron Man, Thor, Hulk, and Captain America, Thor probably being my personal favorite, and I enjoyed them all, but I never really regretted not going out to see a theatrical release, but this. This was sweet. I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it, not even noticing the two and a half hour clock in time.

The thing didn't even betray it's comic book counter part at all, except of course, the replacement of Giant Man and Wasp, with Hawkeye and Black Widow, but it was fine, although Hawkeye could've really used a whole lot more screen time. I'm not really of him in the comics, Ultimate or 616, but they could've really portrayed the reasons as to why I felt that way, but oh well. The reasoning behind that loss did benefit the story. Oh yeah, about that story...

Well, I don't want to spoil a thing, but basically it all just starts up where Thor left off, Loki being up to his old tricks, which of course, how can you have an Avengers Mythos start off any other way? Ultron, or Aliens? Nah. It's gotta be Loki. Cap is trying to adjust to the grand new reality he's found himself in, while Stark is just being Stark. Thor doesn't come in til later, looking for his brother, while Hawkeye and Widow are just doing their jobs. If you saw Thor and Iron Man 2, there's nothing new there, and Fury was Sam Jackson. Nuff Said.

What, and who is new however was the new Bruce Banner, Mark Ruffalo . I wasn't really too sure how to take in the new guy really. He was nothing at all like the past two, being more soft-spoken, and confident, thought it worked, considering how at that point, he really would've been in more control of his counterpart, who admittedly, I was rather too excited to see. Took a while for him to finally change, the first time not under the prettiest conditions.

The action was truly on point. Every time Cap swung his shield, I felt it. Thors struck his hammer, boom. You get the idea. The Effects were amazing, rivaling that of Transformers. (Yes, they at least deserve that kind of credit.) Sometimes I literally had to remind myself that "no Iron Man's not really flying through the city like that, it's just CGI". The comedy was perfect. Very subtle, and never forced. Stark makes a funny, you laugh, and it's back to the action.

A little quip I did have with the thing though was the constant bickering, though that's kind inevitable when you put so many powerful men in one room. It was actually a pretty nice set up one time to show off Cap's leadership capabilities, which I loved most about his portrayal. I was also very worried about the lack of the Stan Lee cameo around the first act. Trust me, when you see it, you'd have completely forgotten about it.

Overall, this was an awesome movie. Nothing intense and graphic. No yucky stuff going on on top of someones car, or in a broom closet or something. Just straight fun. Bring your friends, bring your family, anyone. At the end of the day, it will be a great experience.

Avenger VS X-Men #1

2012-04-05T17:06:00.000-04:00

So with another year, comes another Marvel event. This time, it's The Avengers Vs The X-men. This one actually gets started due to the incidents of a previous event "House of M." Since that time, the mutant race has severely declined, after the Scarlet Witch wiped away the powers of most mutants on the planet. Mind you, it was their powers that were lost, not their lives. Their POWERS! That's gonna come up as a huge point later on.

For a while now, we've been following the development of the young mutant Hope. She's literally the only mutant who's been born since Hous of M. It's believed that she is literally the last "Hope" for mutankind, and was adopted and raised in the future by Cable. Of course things went screwy, and is back in the present as a teenager, under the care of the X-Men.

The Phoenix Force, which has plagued the X-Men many times, ultimately forcing its host Jean Grey to kill herself, has been seen manifesting within her, and has the team worried. Finally, a huge force of it slips out, and this is where the tension finally begins. The team has no idea what to do about this, but Scott somehow convinces himself that this can be an opportunity for mutant-kind, since the Phoenix not only means death, but also rebirth, and we all know what he wants most.

Up in New York, a fireball is seen falling out of the sky, and hits a plane. The Avengers manage to the aircraft, and upon investigation of the fireball, discovers a severely injured Nova. We then cut to the team discussing the incident with the president, revealing that they found energies similar to the Phoenix force radiating off of Nova's body. Clearly it's heading towards us, and is looking for a host. Just then they get a huge signature of the same energy, coming from Utopia, as Hope has just awakened some of the energy that was withing her. So wait, there's two? Ah whatever.

The team consults Wolverine about what might have happened, and he reveals that it was definitely Hope, but he knows that of course, Scott being Scott, definitely will not hand her over to them. They arrive on the island, explaining the situation to Cyclops, but he proves Wolverine right, and refuses, arguing they need her, and an take care of the situation themselves. Captain America does not take this well, refuses to leave without her. They both call war, and here our even begins.

Can't say I actually appreciate this book. Everything that went was predictable since it was announced way back. I'm tired of stories that are only started over some misunderstanding. So of course I'm not a fan of Cyclops, due to his constant irrational behavior. One would think he'd have learned from the events of Schism, but of course "Character development? What's that? Derp." All these years dude? Really?

And now back to my point about the fact that the mutants only lost their powers and not their lives. Seriously. Why does it matter? First off, there are so many of them who've benefited from this, since many of them didn't even want their powers and can appreciate the effect, and also others who've bodies were very unstable, and could not even live a normal life. Also, they're all still alive! Literally there's been no harm done to anyone in this case. The evolutionary track has been slowed down due to this, but it really wasn't even stable enough to keep going anyways. What in the world would The Avengers even do to Hope anyways? Cyc clearly doesn't even know what he wants to do with Hope anyways. The whole idea of The Phoenix being used for rebirth was just a spur of the moment thing, and there's no way anyone else was going to agree to it anyways. He's literally the only fool looking into things in such a light.

I dunno. Maybe this thing will improve drastically within coming issues, but I can't see myself religiously anticipating every issue, and tie-in.

Google Prepares To Make Way For The Future With Project Glass

2012-04-05T00:47:00.000-04:00

So yeah, we all heard about it and everything already, but now we get a demonstration. Damn! I want this!!! Seriously. Growing up on video games and comic books, I've seen tech like this all the time, but it's so disappointing that we've yet to have it in the real world.

Having recently gone through Heavy Rain, I was introduced to the possibilities of the tech again, in the form of Norman Jayden, an FBI agent who uses experimental augmented reality glasses to help in his crime investigations. Unfortunately they caused terrible side-effects which forced him to go on a special drug, which he grew addicted to. Of course designers will have to make sure those side-effects are never a factor when this comes to real life.

Imagine what else can be done with these things. We wouldn't need computer moniters, since we can run everything through the glasses, or hey, maybe no computers in general, and just let everything run in the cloud. Who the heck would need to go to a physical school? Just throw on your glasses, and you're right in the classroom. Forget buying the latest and greatest flat-screen for your movies and video games, when the entertainment's right in your face!

Ah, the possibilities... Too bad this probably wont come to pass as nicely as the video suggests, but hey. Someday! Be sure to follow the project on Google Plus for constant updates.

Optimal Gaming

2012-03-05T19:15:00.000-05:00

Not sure how this blog suddenly exploded recently, but hey, can't complain. Except for the fact that I've moved most of my attention to another blog. Realizing that I've had such a big focus on game on this blog, I figured, I start one for such a thing, exclusively, thus Optimalgaming.blogspot.com was born. Basically, there I report gaming news, whatever I find most interesting out of the day. I'm also planning on starting a Lets Play series with some friends, and maybe do a few skits, if any of them get their act together and start helping out. So, for anyone interesting, please check us out, comment, share with your friends, and most importantly, enjoy!

I'll definitely be back, soon as things pick up there though.

Wow

2012-01-09T17:43:00.000-05:00

So CES started today, and already I'm impressed. Intel showed off their new tech, which looks like they're going the Nintendo route with motion controls. They claim this is gonna be the standard in how we operate everything, but I really don't see that happening outside of games. What interested me was the Ultra book designs. A fault i always saw in tablet PC's were it's bulk, but damn these things are thin! Then came the hollow sensor on the other one. Man I'd love to get my hands on these.