Thoughts on Star Wars: The Phantom Menace 3D

What’s better than Star Wars? Star Wars in 3D! Yes, I actually paid money to see a film that I already own on VHS/DVD/Blu-ray. In fact I went to see this 3D version in theaters twice. Now I know the Phantom Menace has gotten a lot of hate, but I think this film has scenes that make it one of the more solid films in the prequel trilogy (yes…I know that’s not saying much). The 3D actually had me enjoying the film much more than I originally had. The film is pretty much exactly the same. It’s been cleaned up, like the Blu-ray version. The sound is on point as always. Sound has always been top notch when it comes to George Lucas.

3D Lightsaber Battle!

Now about the 3D… I thought this was a fantastic addition to Star Wars. The 3D was clear, and the picture had great depth to it. The best part of the 3D was the final battle scene with Qui-Gon Jinn, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Darth Maul. The scene was fluid and sharp and I had no issues focusing on it in 3D. The extra depth from the 3D really had the lightsaber scene pulling in the viewer. Having that scene in 3D justified paying the price to see it.

Of course the film has it’s problems, as it always did. But honestly as a whole I will always believe that this is a very solid film. Excellent fighting scenes, and a great intro into the Star Wars saga, this movie in 3D is worth seeing.

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Doctor Who: Season 7 Companion

Big news has been confirmed for the anticipated new season of Doctor Who. Many have been speculating which direction Steven Moffat, lead writer/Executive producer of Doctor Who, would take the series this fall.

Warning, Spoilers Ahead!

Moffat has announced the new companion for season 7. Jenna-Louise Coleman has been confirmed to be taking the role opposite Matt Smith (Eleventh Doctor) as the Doctor’s companion.

The announcement also confirmed that during the 7^th season current companions, played by Arthur Darvill (Rory Williams) and Karen Gillan (Amy Pond) would make their departure. As a Whovian, the changing of the companions and the doctor has always been a tough part of the series. I’ve grown so attached to Amy and Rory. They both work so well with the current doctor and I hate to see such a beautiful relationship end. But change has always been an important part of this series, and every companion will end up leaving.

I am a bit nervous for how Amy and Rory will leave the show. Speculation has been all over the Internet about their impending departure. My wish is that Amy and Rory don’t get killed off or something terrible happens to separate them from the Doctor. I’m not sure that this Whovian can handle another Rose, or worse, Donna departure. For this new companion, I’d love for her to just be a normal girl the Doctor happens to stumble upon during one of his travels. But who knows when it comes to Moffat. He loves to keep Whovians on their toes.

All I know is, I can’t wait to see what the new season, and new companion, have in store for us.

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ICON Comics: Super Crooks

 

This week we get the first issue of a new series written by Mark Millar and drawn by Leinil Yu. If you haven't heard of Mark Millar or his "Millarworld" books, maybe you should go check them out. He's written some great gems, such as "Wanted", "Kick-Ass", "Superior", and "Nemesis". He's also written some stories for Marvel and DC, notably Marvel's superhero "Civil War". Don't go by the movies, although he had a role in them his graphic novels are a must-have. This week and month he starts off his Super Crooks series, and if you haven't all ready gone to your local comic shop, you might want to soon.

[SPOILERS BELOW]

Super Crooks is a book based on the villains. We start the book off showing a bank robbery, and as the four suspects escape onto a subway, a hero known as Gladiator arrives and gets on the train and stops them. The criminals are taken to jail, and by the conversations inmates have there we know that they've been there before, and many times at that. What you're supposed to get out of this? That for every criminal, there's a hero. I'm only telling you this because the rest of the book really doesn't include any character from these first few pages, but it helps to keep it in mind for a later conversation.

The next scene we are given is based in Las Vegas at a casino. We find a man, Carmine, cheating with the help of a psychic, Walt. Their cover is blown, and the owners of the casino apprehend the two. They kill Walt in front of Carmine, and tell him that they want close to 10x what he stole from them back. Roughly 12 million dollars. And they want it in a month. 

Finally we're at a diner where a girl, Kasey, is visited by her ex-fiance Johnny, both of which are previous criminals. Previous because Johnny had gotten arrested in a jewelry heist gone wrong on the day of his wedding, hence the ex status. Carmine appears, beaten, and goes to the two for help, explaining the predicament. Apparently Carmine was a previous mentor to the two, and they agree to help in what way they can. 

The plan?They're going to be criminals. However, as the opening of this book showed, there are too many heroes for this to be a good plan. So Johnny has an idea- what if they went to a place where there were no heroes? Like Spain? And that is where the book ends. You leave this book in good shape, you have a decent plot, an unrevealed past, plenty of room for character development, and one of the best authors I've ever had the pleasure of reading from. I feel this book is a good jumping on point for a new Millar reader, as it is not too graphic (but it is graphic) and unlike his previous titles you don't end the book with either "What did I just read..." or "Oh no he didn't!". You see, Mark Millar has no boundaries in his writing, and the idea that you're given a visual representation of this is just one of the pure enjoyments I have reading his work. There's no killing in Spider-man, no cursing in Superman, and no blood in the Fantastic four. Mark Millar doesn't care, he'll have all three over a span of two pages. When you pick up his self-made titles, you'll agree- go into them without a sense of morals. 

So do you get this book? The answer is easy- Yes. It's Millar, a book from the perspective of bad guys, and you can easily get hooked. After all, there's plenty of room for jaw-dropping later.

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Book Review: The Hunger Games

NOTE: SPOILERS POSSIBLE

So with The Hunger Games coming out tonight/tomorrow if you haven't read the book, I only ask why the hell not?!? I for one must hand it to Mrs. Collins, who delivered an epic tale geared towards a young adult audience yet made it quite adult all at the same time. Unlike the Twilight Saga (which was a saga just to finish an individual page) Collins was able to capture the essence of a young 16 year old girl written from first person point of view, and not make them completely annoying.

Katniss was a girl who was relate-able, love-able, caring, and still very independent. Peeta captures the hearts of girls everywhere all while giving us gentlemen that painful reminder of what it can be like to be head over heels for a girl, who might not even know you exist. Gale is that guy who all men have been at least once, and put hard into the "friend zone" yet is he more than a friend? Even people with no siblings (myself included) will feel heart torn for Prim as she watches her sister volunteer for certain death just to protect her.

Characters like Cinna provide a very unique look into a world that is surrounded by child mayhem and murder. He gives us an insight that not all who live in the Capitol are heinous evil people who take pride in children fighting to the death. President Snow gives us a chilling feeling of watching a love-able Hitler rule with an iron fist. The prep-team are there more for comic relief than anything else, yet it is comedy that we all know isn't that funny. They are ignorant upper-class citizens who worry about cake while children starve to death in the slums. Mysterious doesn't begin to describe Haymitch. He is one character that is extremely vile and easy to hate, yet without him you wouldn't be alive yourself. He is the definition of a Hunger Games anti-hero.

The relationship between these characters and the reader gives you an insight into the world of the future where America is no more, Panem is the new nation, and slums exist as prisons. The Hunger Games is a book where no hostages are taken, you will probably want to cry, and at other times be overcome with a blood lust that you won't be able to contain it. This book is an excellent beginning to an excellent series. If I were to warn you about anything it would be starting it will lead to speed reading and the hunger to read on through the trilogy. At this point I only hope the movie will keep faithful enough to the book where I won't want to hurl a spear through the screen impaling those who blasphemed this work of art. I hope you all enjoy both, and if you didn't read it yet...what are you waiting for?

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WWE Raw Wrapup 3/19/2012

Monday Night Raw – March 19^th, 2012

The final stretch to Wrestlemania approaches:  13 short days.  Only three more shows (at least what gets shown on television) until the biggest one of the year.  A graphic reminding us that Shawn Michaels, Triple H and Undertaker will be face-to-face is shown and our WWE champion enters to start the show off strong.

CM Punk is formally announced and receives the now-expected big ovation.  A quick recap of Jericho explaining to Punk that alcoholism is in his blood from the announcers and Punk informs us that Jericho is not in the building tonight.  Punk says this shows the kind of man Jericho is.  Punk reflects on talking about his father and waits out a “CM PUNK” chant.  Punk has come to terms with his father and has accepted what he was, but it wasn’t at all Jericho’s place to bring it to the public light.  Alcoholism, as a disease, touches everyone.  Punk explains that Jericho has let loose a monster inside Punk, and now that monster is Jericho’s problem.  Punk says that our past nightmares do not cloud our future dreams.  Punk’s dad overcame alcoholism; he bested that obstacle.  Now, Jericho is Punk’s obstacle.  Punk won’t go over, around or under him; he’s going to go right through him.  Jericho appears on the Titantron, live via satellite, and apologizes for being out of line about Punk’s father.  He vows he won’t do it again.  He will, however, point out that Punk’s sister has a substance abuse problem.  He says this is all in Punk’s blood and that he will drive Punk to drink.  Punk might overcome drinking and alcoholism, but he can’t overcome Jericho defeating him at ‘Mania.  Punk yells at Jericho and the censors hit the dump button – Punk yelled to Jericho that the comment was “bullshit”, and that’s what he’s going to beat out of him at Wrestlemania.

Excellent energy to open the show and the crowd was wholeheartedly invested – booing the alcoholism, cheering Punk’s father overcoming and being disgusted with Jericho’s accusations at Punk’s sister.  This promo has me sold on this being a personal issue now, whereas in previous weeks I wasn’t entirely into it.

Back from a commercial break, Kane is mid-ring and mid-entrance, setting off his pyro.

Match 1 – Kane vs Big Show

As Big Show hits the ring, Cody Rhodes’ music immediately hits.  A goofy video of the Big Show Wrestlemania moments from the last few weeks plays as a montage.  Back in the ring, Show and Kane lock up and Show opens with body blows in the corner.  Kane throws a big boot to the head and both men grab each other for a chokeslam, resulting in them hitting the ropes and Show landing a spear.  Big Show gets on the middle rope and Cody hops on the apron, but gets shoved off.  This is enough distraction for Kane to grab Show by the neck and chokeslam him off the middle rope for the win.

Winner: Kane via pinfall

Cody quickly enters the ring and delivers the Beautiful Disaster kick to the head and then handcuffs big show in the ropes.  Cody then dons a pair of boxing gloves and absolutely lights up the Big Show, finishing with a few stomps for good measure.  When the refs break out the bolt cutters to release Show, Cody bails as Show screams after him “RUN!”.  As Show stands, he’s on spaghetti legs, selling the results of the onslaught.  Not only does Cody cost Show a quick match, he beats the hell out of him.  By the laws of professional wrestling, along with the promos Cody has run, sets him up for a loss at ‘Mania.  I said last week that I don’t see Show holding the Intercontinental Title in 2012, and I stand by that.  Please surprise me, WWE.

Match 2 – David Otunga vs Santino Marella (United States Champion), non title match

Otunga for some reason does a facsimile of Wade Barrett’s jacket-tossing entrance, but manages to get it caught around both feet up to the calves as he poses.  Please leave that spot to the professionals.  Both men are out with their respective GM’s.  Santino doesn’t take his usual lap around the ring, and heads right in – he must mean business tonight.  Or not, as Santino has painted abs on himself so he can have a pose down with Otunga.  Santino gets a charliehorse on the third pose and Otunga attacks.  Santino quickly comes back with jabs, a split dodge, a hip toss and the jumping headbutt.  The cobra comes out, but Lauranaitis slides his blackberry into the ring, which Santino lays boots to.  Santino turns around into The Verdict and eats a loss 2 weeks out from ‘Mania

Winner: David Otunga via pinfall

Long checks on Santino and Ace jaws at him, resulting in Teddy paintbrushing him and high tailing it up the ramp with Santino.  Then Teddy dances.  Not quite sure what he’s celebrating – his captain losing, or him being a sissy.  This entire thing has zero focus on the wrestlers involved, and that’s really not good for anybody, considering Dolph Ziggler is involved, who should by all rights be a top star this year and the US champion.

Quick rewind to HHH proposing Hell in a Cell at ‘Mania and a reminder that all three men will be in the ring 

together tonight.

A spot for Lord Tensai plays – he is coming soon.  As it turns out, this is going to be A-Train/Giant Bernard, who has had an excellent run in NJPW and is apparently being repackaged here.  He’s a very good big man, so welcome back.

The Rock is shown on the Titantron in front of the Rocky Balboa statue, talking about Philly being the city of ass-kickers.  He shows a picture of himself at 12 in front of the statue and self-deprecates.  He then begins to talk about the biggest stars of Wrestlemania – Hogan at WMI, Ultimate Warrior at WM6, even himself and Stone Cold Steve Austin, a match he lost.  Rock did eventually defeat Austin.  He defeated Hogan.  Now all that’s left is Cena.  If this promo accomplishes nothing else, this is a conscious effort to escalate Cena in the fan’s minds.  Rock is going to go to Pat’s (cheap pop!), get a big cheesesteak and stick it up Cena’s ass, then apparently the greats of Wrestlemania (unnamed but distinguished with a “Bang Bang!”, a “Wooooooooo!” and a “Ohhhhhh yeah, dig it!”) will thank Rock for doing this.  These are the parts of Rock’s promos that lose my attention.  That said, this was the best promo from Rock in this ‘back for Wrestlemania’ series, so all negativity aside, thumbs up from me.

Match 3 – Zack Ryder vs Daniel Bryan (World Heavyweight Champion) w/ AJ, non title match

AJ, for all her disappointed faces on Smackdown, is back to all smiles and lovey-dovey eyes for Bryan.  A clip of Ryder lobbying to join Team Teddy is shown.  Also, hell of a recovery from being in three different back braces in the last month or so, Zack.  Bryan requests (demands) a kiss for good luck and AJ obliges.  Quick chain wrestling, leading to Ryder running Bryan over, but soon after taking a knee to the gut, a kick to the back and a knee drop to the face.  Bryan stretches Ryder in the ropes, then puts pressure on his throat across the bottom rope.  Ryder fights out of the following headlock and puts Bryan in the corner for the Broski Boot.  Zack readies for the Rough Ryder, but Bryan counters, pancaking Zack down and immediately applying the Labell Lock for the win.

Winner: Daniel Bryan (World Heavyweight Champion) via submission

Bryan goes into his usual “YES!” celebration to finish the segment.  Ryder looks good for a guy who was crippled a couple of weeks ago.  The little things, like stretching Ryder the way he did, harkens back to the Daniel Bryan of old (Read: Bryan Danielson) and shows this is welcome.  If he’s going to embrace the heel run, a bit of a vicious streak is excellent.

The commentators make quick mention of Cena being in a car accident earlier in the day, selling that he might be hiding pain/aches/etc.  The fact that story broke on WWE.com raises an eyebrow, but nothing seems to be wrong with Cena.

Match 4 – John Cena vs Mark Henry

As the Philadelphia crowd usually does, Cena is met with a chorus of boos.  Cena opens by tying up with Henry, who tosses him backwards.  Cena tries a headlock, with the same result.  Henry runs Cena over with a shoulder block and lays into him in the corner.  Henry tosses Cena outside and then into the barrier.  Cena tries to roll into the ring as we go to break, but Henry stops him.  Coming back, Cena is fighting out of a hold, but eats a clothesline from Henry.  Henry lands a splash for a two count.  Henry hits a body shot in one corner and then an avalanche in the opposite one.  Henry misses the next attempt and Cena drops him with a belly-to-back suplex, followed by the Five Knuckle Shuffle.  Cena can’t quite get Henry up for the AA and tries a running cross body, but gets caught.  Henry goes for the World’s Strongest Slam, but Cena goes up and over, landing behind and lifts Henry for the Attitude Adjustment, landing it for the three.

Winner: John Cena via pinfall

Rock’s music immediately hits, he paces the stage and hits the ring, delivering Rock Bottom to Mark Henry, then leaving.  This is the big message he had in store for Cena?  I can beat up a guy you just beat up?  Cena played a good babyface in peril in this match, which is a nice change of pace from the usual “Superman” routine.  The AA bump that Henry took looked painful – Cena didn’t quite get the arm wrapped around his head, so he took it pretty high on the back.

A recap of HBK/HHH from two weeks ago plays and we’re again reminded they and Undertaker are here tonight.

A clip from “Extra” runs, which breaks down to Eve and Beth Phoenix being jealous that Maria Menounos is interviewing Kelly Kelly.  It gets physical and a tag match at Wrestlemania is set.  Last time Maria was in the ring, she pinned Beth; hopefully this year is her comeuppance, as the Divas division could really stand for their champion to NOT be beaten by a non-wrestler celebrity.

Back in the ring, Miz is already out to speak his mind – He wants to be at Wrestlemania.  He doesn’t want to headline 27 and no-show 28.  He refuses to drop off that far.  He has issued an open challenge, to show Johnny that he’s Wrestlemania material.

Match 5 – The Miz vs Sheamus

Sheamus gets to the ring faster than I’ve ever seen him move, all smiles.  Miz opens with blows to the head and Sheamus begs for more.  Miz kicks at Sheamus’ leg, going for his signature DDT, but Sheamus stands up out of it, lifts Miz in front of him, then throws him up over his head onto his shoulders for a rolling fireman’s carry.  Miz makes a short come back with his backbreaker/neckbreaker combo and then puts pressure on Sheamus in the ropes, followed by a boot to the face.  Miz applies a chinlock, which of course affords Sheamus the opening to power out.  Sheamus beats Miz in the corner and delivers a powerslam.  Sheamus readies and calls for the Brough Kick, which Miz dodges, only to turn around into another one for the loss.

Winner: Sheamus via pinfall

So far tonight, Ryder has lobbied to join Team Teddy, been booked in a match and lost, which Miz has repeated.  Hopefully something comes of it for one of them, otherwise they got beat up for no reason.

A short video recaps Jericho’s accusations of Punk’s sister from earlier tonight and we are told that Randy Orton will be out next.

Josh Matthews introduces Randy Orton, who comes out onto the stage for a quick interview.  When asked how he will defeat a monster, he responds with “How will the monster beat me?”  Well that wasn’t informative, Randy.  In the span of about 90 seconds, Orton basically lays out that he’ll be able to defeat Kane because his name is Randy Orton.  Almost too basic of a promo for someone who’s been around as long as Orton.

Vickie Guerrero is out to announce the two newest members of Team Johnny, who just so happen to have a tag match next:  Jack Swagger and Dolph Ziggler

Match 6 – Jack Swagger and Dolph Ziggler vs Kofi Kingston and R-Truth

A commercial plays, and back from break, Aksana and Vickie are being separated by their respective teams (Kofi/Truth’ entrances were not shown on TV).  Kofi starts the match against Swagger, laying into him with kicks.  Kofi stops an attempted double team and lands a crossbody.  Ziggler lands a blow and Swagger lands a swaggerbomb.  Kofi is hammered in the corner and Ziggler tags in.  Kofi counters an attempted neckbreaker into a backslide, but Ziggler lands a dropkick to the face for two.  Swagger tags in and lands elbows into the ribs of Kofi, then does pushups on him.  The show-off is rubbing off on his partner.  Kofi fights out of a surfboard stretch and dives for a tag to R-Truth, but Swagger counters him.  Kofi turns this into a big elevated DDT and both teams make the tag.  Truth is all over Ziggler and lands the Lie Detector, followed by his sitout gourdbuster.  Swagger breaks up a pin attempt after the flurry.  Ziggler dodges an Axe Kick from Truth then lands a kick to the knee and his version of the Fameasser (Ziggler really needs a name for this, as the commentators never know what to call it).  Truth gets his foot on the ropes, but Vickie knocks it off, resulting in a pin.

Winners:  Jack Swagger and Dolph Ziggler via (admittedly dirty) pinfall

Aksana does not take kindly to this result and gets in Vickie’s face, resulting in a cat fight that Joey Styles must have been dying to call.  So at this point, there’s more focus on Aksana/Vickie and the GM’s themselves than the multiple talented guys in this 12 man tag match.  That’s irksome.

A clip from a house show at Madison Square Garden plays, showing HHH back in the ring, readying the Pedigree on Ziggler, but opting to lift him up for a Tombstone and pin him Undertaker-style.  Good message to Taker and a good call to show it on Raw, but I feel this would be way more impactful if we didn’t see HHH Tombstone Undertaker himself last year for the closest two count I’ve ever seen.

Following the clip, we’re greeted with Shawn Michaels making his full entrance.  Shawn is happy to report that even though he’s only the special referee, everyone is talking about him.  He holds the end of an era in the palm of his hand.  He asks rhetorically “Can I be impartial?” and is answered with the gong of the Undertaker’s entrance.  ‘Taker reiterates that the result of this match must remain “pure” which is ‘Taker code for “no bullshit”.  Triple H approaches the ring, making his full water bottle entrance.  HHH tells Undertaker not to worry about Shawn; it’s not about him.  It’s about HHH and ‘Taker.  Triple H explains that of the 24 Hell in a Cell matches in WWE history, 19 of them have involved Hunter and/or Undertaker.  The Cell is where HHH learned, where he thrives, where he excels.  Undertaker asks if Hunter will put it all on the line – family, career, life?  Triple H is more than happy to agree.   Before leaving the ring, Undertaker asks Triple H if he remembers a couple weeks ago when he proposed the question of whether Shawn Michaels was the better of the two men.  “He is”.  Cheap shot from Undertaker, drawing ire from Triple H and a top-notch shit eating grin from HBK.

Two weeks out from the show, this is a bit of a weak Raw.  The first hour’s wrestling action was entirely minimal.  Punk and Jericho’s promo absolutely helped to push their match forward to the forefront.  Multiple segments are dedicated to the General Managers on a weekly basis, with the focus on them and their valets, but barely on the wrestlers involved.  Cena/Rock was given a slightly different focus: Rock “needing” to beat Cena, when the verbiage was the opposite until recently.  Sheamus is still looking incredibly strong heading into Wrestlemania and they haven’t taken any silly or unnecessary missteps with his run to the title match.  Egos abound in the HHH/Taker match, which is expected and not at all unwelcome.

Coming up soon, The Geek Asylum will have some Wrestlemania predictions.  We welcome your contributions in the comments!

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[Poll] Should Bioware redo the ending to Mass Effect 3? You decide.

I'm sick of this talk about Mass Effect's ending, I really am. I'm not done with the game quite yet, but when I do, I'll make sure that I hate it. Then I'll boycott Bioware and EA's products as a form of protest. Why? Because that's what you do when you don't like a creative property, you throw a bitch fit and a frivolous FTC filing at a fool. Like a boss.

Joking aside, it's absurd, to me at least, for fans to be up in arms about an ending. I hate the ending to Indiana Jones and The Crytsal Skull, but I'm not having a stroke over it. You just hate it and move on. However, Bioware co-founder Dr. Ray Muzyka does make some valid points about how the Mass Effect fan base does have the right to be upset. After all they've made all of this possible by supporting the game.

"I believe passionately that games are an art form, and that the power of our medium flows from our audience, who are deeply involved in how the story unfolds, and who have the uncontested right to provide constructive criticism. At the same time, I also believe in and support the artistic choices made by the development team.  The team and I have been thinking hard about how to best address the comments on ME3’s endings from players, while still maintaining the artistic integrity of the game." ---Dr. Ray Muzyka

Regardless of what you may think, it still astounds me that this issue has gone this far. As Muzyka stated, fans have the right to make provide "constructive criticism". There is no need for an all out revolt. What I think isn't important though, what do you think? Check out the poll and comment below. 

Source: Bioware

Should Bioware redo the ending for Mass Effect 3?



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[Video] First Look at Battlestar: Blood and Chrome

I remember Battlestar Galactica being this epic story driven, character rich television sci-fi drama. Hell, it might arguably be the best sci-fi drama that has ever been on television. I watched that bad boy from beginning to end, without stopping. I think I killed that entire show in about 2-3 weeks. Watching Starbuck kick cylon ass up and down different solar systems throughout the galaxy gave me chills. Watching Lee Adama slowly, but surely climb the ranks of what was left of the military. In sort, it is one of my favorite shows to date. 

Then when I woke up this morning and booted my computer up I saw something that brought back those galactic chills and those electric shivers, there is a prequel to the re-imagination series in the works and the trailer was just released today. I will post it below so those of you who haven’t seen it yet can watch it in awe. I warn you though; the trailer will remind some of you of “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.” That’s not in a bad way though, because this trailer actually pulls it off quite well.

The new series, entitled Battlestar: Blood and Chrome, will take place prior to the event in Battlestar: Galactica. It will focus on William Adama (father of Lee Adama, aka: Apollo) and his adventures throughout the Human/Cylon war. I think that this new spin off has the potential to be fantastic, however, like BSG it will need exactly the right execution to nail the hardcore fans right in between the eyes.

Let me know when you guys think in the comments below.

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Review: Welcome....to TWISTED METAL!

Twisted Metal is a contest held by Calypso, where cars are suited with various weapons and everyone tries to kill each other. You advance through the levels by wiping out the competition, and when you're all done the driver gets one wish granted.

How it works: As with every Twisted Metal game, you assume the role of a driver in the contest and advance through levels. You have various weapon pickups, special attacks, machine guns, etc. You can even kill pedestrians in the level or destroy scenery if you so choose. In this installment, the cars are much faster (seriously, my first few choices left me completely in awe) and there are many more vehicles that have various armor, speed, and special weapon values; in short, there's a vehicle for every kind of player, with no single vehicle that just completely outclasses the rest.

Graphics: Graphics are killer! If you ever played Twisted Metal 2, then moved on through the timeline (TM3, TM4, TM:Black, this) you know the graphics just get better and better. The cars are so smooth, there's barely any pixel-style graphics, and even with the incredible speed nothing is too confusing. So then there's that other thing you're probably wondering about- Cutscenes.

They are there, and they're in the story, and they're mostly live action. That's right, there are live action cutscenes. Now keep this in mind- there are only 11 of these bad boys, but that's ok. You didn't turn on a game to watch some acting, you turned it on to kick some Twisted Metal Ass. So enjoy the cutscenes, they're beautiful, but remember you're enjoying a game, not a theater production.

Gameplay: I'll admit, it was tough. I got through the story on normal difficulty, and it still left me running to a guide. Unlike previous games, this isn't just your simple "Kill them all" game. There are some levels like that, but then there are some not so much. There's a cage-style level, where you have to stay inside a cage or you begin to lose health...and the cage occasionally moves to a different part of the arena. There's races, so if you're a fan of Death Race you'll enjoy this- you have to travel through gates or checkpoints to the finish, which usually blows up the other vehicles, or to get a 4-way free for all at the end.

There's the Juggernaut levels, where there are large 18-wheelers that pack massive hit points and armor, and every 90 seconds release a new combatant onto the field, adding to your total targets. Last but certainly not least, there are bosses, but telling you anything about them will ruin them, so just get that far and be prepared to hit "Retry" a few times, it will happen. I think this is a big jump from previous Twisted Metal games, having a variety of levels doesn't make it "just another Twisted Metal Game", it's special.

Characters: In previous games, you had a selection of characters with unique vehicles for each, the same levels, and different endings. In this game, you have three characters for the Story mode, four overall- Sweet Tooth, Mr Grimm, Dollface, and Preacher (Preacher being solely for multi-player). However, the vehicles are not limited- in this game, you choose a driver, THEN a vehicle. So you start the game as Sweet Tooth, but you can drive the Sweet Tooth car, or you can drive say Death Warrant. As you progress through the story, different vehicles are unlocked, including a helicopter. What's more is that since you can drive different vehicles, the story modes can be played with those vehicles.

So let's say you beat the first level with the Sweet Tooth Ice Cream Truck. But you don't like it. So on Level two, you choose Death Warrant. And so forth as you choose. After all, who cares who is behind the wheel, you're going to kill them anyway. For multiplayer and the stages, enemy vehicles aren't necessarily characters like Sweet Tooth, but his minions, named Clowns. There's a faction for Mr Grimm, Dollface, and Preacher too. Each vehicle has two special weapon options, simply switching by going to your special and hitting Triangle (Such as switching to the Sweet Bot mode for Sweet Tooth).

Multiplayer: Don't be fooled- there's a code inside the game for online multiplayer. This isn't a bad thing, it's so that you don't do one of two things- first it prevents you from creating multiple accounts to achieve the best ranking, since you have to purchase (or get free from the game code inside the packaging) the online pass. Secondly, it prevents people from just going out to a Gamestop or PlayNTrade, spending $20 in due time on a used copy, and getting all of the perks of someone who spent top dollar.

In short, you get what you deserve. Multiplayer though is exactly how it sounds in the other paragraphs- solid. You have easily obtainable goals, teams or free for all, and the graphics and playability is smooth and fast-paced. The max players in 16, and trust me any more would just be a bloodbath; 16 is a nice sound number keeping a decent level of competition will not cluttering the field with vehicles.It probably also affects connections, but since I don't know spit about all that technical crap I won't go into it.

Upgrades from previous games: There's just too many Okay, so there's less cutscenes, but like I said, you're here to kick ass, not watch wishes be granted. First, there is no Minion. That's right. NO MINION. Now that means simply there is no character everyone runs to and beats the crap out of everyone. No, it's actually pretty fair now. You might say differently when you see the helicopter for the first time, also a new addition, but with the weak armor and easy targeting, Helicopter players are few and far between.

The game adds two new weapons- Shotgun and Sniper, the latter of which can score a OHKO. There are also upgrades to the Sidearms. No longer do you have to sit behind a slow moving machine gun- you can no choose a Shotgun, Magnum, Rocket Launchers...as you unlock them of course. Lastly, the directional buttons are now your shortcut keys- no more combos to do a freeze attack, mine drop, or temp. shield; they're assigned to the Up, Left, and Right buttons respectively. 

Also, the soundtrack is disgusting. There's a little something for everyone, and if there isn't, you have a solution- grab a CD of your favorite crap, upload it to your ps3. Then, from the options menu, you select "Custom" for the soundtrack, which prompts your uploaded songs section, and you make a playlist. How can you go wrong!? Also, there's some original stuff too...

If you've ever played a Twisted Metal game before, you're going to get EVERYTHING you want out of this game. If you've never played a Twisted Metal game before, aside from the utter shame I wish upon you, you're in luck- included in the Limited Edition of the game is a code for Twisted Metal: Black as Downloadable Content. I just love bonuses.

GA Verdict: 10/10

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WWE Smackdown Lowdown 3/16/2012

Friday Night Smackdown – March 16th, 2012

WWE seems to have given up on the countdown to Wrestlemania (although, I’m currently taking bets on how many times they remind it’s in 6 and 2 days on the last Raw and Smackdown respectively), but I have not!  Sixteen days, just over two weeks until the biggest show of year.  The time to elevate new talent and revive returning talent.  And on that note, Smackdown starts with the return of Christian and the Peep Show.

Christian receives a warm reaction, especially for someone we saw as a whiny heel a short time ago.  Christian mentions the General Manager 12-man tag match and then introduces John Lauranaitis, who walks the ramp doing his best politician wave.  Mr. Excitement and Captain Charisma share the ring before Teddy Long makes his entrance.  In the interim, the announcers fill us in on the fact that R-Truth joined Team Teddy Long via Twitter.  Such a tiny announcement for someone who gets as much of a reaction as Truth does. 

Christian, being the fair man that he is, tells both GM’s that he’s a free agent for ‘Mania and they can each make their case to recruit him.  Long makes no effort and Johnny showers Christian with praise, so another heel joins the fold of Team John Lauranaitis.  Teddy Long, not to be outdone, announces that Kofi Kingston has joined his team and announces that Kofi will face David Otunga next.  Santino escorts Kofi out to the ring and is desperately frightened by Kofi’s pyro.  Always good for a chuckle, that Santino.

Match 1 – Kofi Kingston vs David Otunga

Otunga was out with Johnny as usual, but was in his usual lawyer garb, so he’ll wrestle this match in dress pants and shoes.  Not very nice, Mr. Long.  A quick back and forth exchange leads Otunga to a corner, where Kofi looks to land a monkey flip, but Otunga shoves him off.  Otunga clubs the back and settles into a dragon sleeper, allowing him to deliver forearms to Kofi’s chest.  Out of the sleeper, Otunga goes back to clubbing Kofi’s back.  Long and Ace are on commentary during the match and the back and forth is nothing shy of painful; the exchange is infantile and nobody looks or sounds good. 

Kofi begins to fight back on Otunga with a kick, but runs into a powerslam and clotheslines in opposite corners.  Kofi hits a signature springboard crossbody for two and follows with signature chops and a dropkick.  Kofi sets up for the Boomdrop, but Christian hooks his leg to trip him.  Kofi eats a huge lariat from Otunga and both men are down in the ring. 

Long tells the ref what Christian did and the ref ejects him.  Shouldn’t that have just been a DQ?  The GM’s get into it on the floor for what seems like the tenth week in a row and Otunga uses the distraction to ready his belt as a weapon.  Santino hops onto the apron and stops him, only to take a punch for his efforts.  Otunga turns around into the Trouble in Paradise and it’s good for a three count.

Winner: Kofi Kingston via pinfall

The focus quickly shifts to the back, which is fine, considering I think everyone is tired of the GM’s antics at this point.  We see the World Heavyweight Champion Daniel Bryan waiting outside a locker room for AJ to emerge.  Bryan explains to her that the dress he bought her looked better on the mannequin, but he arranged a match for her tonight, which could lead to a title shot, so she better get ready.  I get the ego-driven jerk boyfriend angle, but I don’t quite understand the cruelty Bryan has shown lately.  My early prediction:  AJ escorts Bryan to the ring at ‘Mania, he jaws with her during the match, he gets slapped and walks into a Brough Kick.

Match 2 – Nikki Bella (w/Brie Bella) vs AJ

After the ladies make their entrance (The Bellas always seem to get their full entrance), Bryan enters separately to stand in AJ’s corner.  As he makes his entrance, for the match he arranged just for AJ, you can see a bit of exasperation on AJ’s face.  The ability to show an emotion puts her a few steps above most of the divas already.  Nikki gets on her knees to mock –fight AJ, and she eats a front dropkick in the mush for it.  Nikki takes over and settles into a submission hold in the middle of the ring, drawing some screams of pain from AJ and words of “encouragement” from Bryan at ringside. 

AJ fights out and lands a spin kick to the head of Nikki and follows with a top rope crossbody.  The Bellas attempt some twin magic, but are caught by Bryan, who brings it to the attention of the ref.  While the ref is distracted, Brie yanks AJ down to the mat by her hair and Nikki lifts her for a pendulum backbreaker or side slam, but AJ flips up and around, landing in a schoolgirl for the pin.

Winner: AJ via pinfall

Bryan celebrates as if he picked up the win, which we all expect from him at this point, drawing a bit more ire from his girlfriend.  The commentary in this match needs mentioning – it was absolutely atrocious.  Throughout the match, Booker T complains that Bryan said this would lead to a Divas title shot and who is he to make that decree?  Thing is, Bryan said this “could” lead her towards a Divas title shot, so Booker has his feathers ruffled for no reason. 
Also, Booker pointed out that with the flip over and roll through, this wasn’t a “real” win for AJ.  So that’s the assessment from the former wrestler turned commentator, ladies and gents: Rollups don’t count.  It’s a shame, really; that means that half of the wins in WWE, TNA and ROH don’t count for shit.  Thanks for more quality noise pollution, Booker.

We follow the divas match with a Raw Rebound to Monday’s Rock concert.

Returning to the show, we see Cody Rhodes in the back, and he is asked how he plans to defend against and defeat someone the size of Big Show.  Cody explains that while Show is a dominating monster all year, he faces him on the one day of the year where he falters:  Wrestlemania.  “How will I defeat a giant?  Just watch.”

Match 3 – The Great Kahli vs Cody Rhodes (Intercontinental Champion); non-title match

Rhodes opens with an attempted boot to the gut, which Kahli effortlessly catches and uses to toss Rhodes back.  Rhodes chops Kahli’s chest, but Kahli ignores it and takes over.  Rhodes hits the ropes, but runs into a big overhead right.  Rhodes answers with dropkicks to the knee of Kahli.  Once down to one knee, Rhodes tries to lock an armbar on Kahli, but he powers out. 

Rhodes takes Kahli down again and drops elbows on the knee and locks the leg.  Khali clubs his way out of the hold and Cody heads up top.  Cody takes to the skies, but jumps into a big chest chop, followed by clotheslines.  Cody ends up on the apron, and this affords him the chance to drop Kahli throat first across the top rope, followed by a kick to the head, a quick hop into the ring and a second rope missile dropkick to the knee.  While Kahli struggles to get to his feet, Cody lands the Beautiful Disaster kick for a clean win.

Winner: Cody Rhodes via pinfall

I would like to point out that I’m thrilled to see Cody Rhodes get a clean win over Kahli.  No bullshit, no shenanigans – he knocked the man down and kicked his head off.  Of course, going by the laws of professional wrestling, this sets him up to lose to Big Show, but I have a hard time believing they put the IC title on Big Show at this point, considering how well Rhodes has done with it.

Randy Orton is heading out to the ring.  Randy reminds us that his name is indeed Randy Orton.  Orton tells us that he doesn’t usually talk about his problems; he hunts them down.  Lately he feels that he is the hunted – hunted by Kane.  Orton is fine with a fight, he just wants to know why.  Unlike Cena, he embraces hate, and hate embraces him.  He calls Kane out to explain the last couple of weeks.  Kane enters to pyro and music, but stops on the stage. 

Kane’s explanation is that last summer, Orton defeated him in a street fight.  After the match, Kane offered a hand shake and Orton obliged.  Kane felt at his lowest at this point; his most human.  Kane has now shed his humanity and feels WWE isn’t big enough for both of them. 

Kane wants closure, and he wants to get it by decimating Orton.  Orton invites him to the ring, but Kane says he wants to do it at Wrestlemania.  So long and short, Kane wants to destroy Randy Orton, but wants to do it with a big audience.  Ok, that makes wrestling sense.  ‘Mania it is.

The same “hire David Otunga via Twitter” spot airs from Raw.  What’s scary is some people will probably actually do this for legal counsel.

Drew McIntyre makes a full entrance into the ring and is greeted with Teddy Long on the Titantron.  Teddy welcomes Drew back…with a match against Big Show.

Match 4 – Drew McIntyre vs Big Show

Show forces Drew into the corner with body shots.  Drew takes a big slap to the chest and a pair of scoop 

slams, but answers back with a boot to the face and a chop block.  McIntyre looks to wrap Show up for the Future Shock, but Show pushes him off and delivers a spear, a chokeslam and the Weapon of Mass Destruction.  Drew is out cold and the referee stops the match

Winner: Big Show via referee stoppage

This sets up Show to look like a major threat to Cody heading into Wrestlemania - he doesn’t even have to defeat the man, he’ll just knock him out.  Also a nice touch that Drew won his ‘welcome back’ match against Hornswoggle via referee stoppage.  Drew barely pulled any offense against Big Show, but Cody Rhodes, who is 4 inches shorter and probably 30-40 pounds lighter beat Khali clean.  Makes you wonder why D Mac has that big money contract in the first place…

Match 5 – Mark Henry vs Yoshi Tatsu

Tatsu opens with a dropkick, kicks and chops, all of which have no effect.  Henry headbutts Tatsu down and screams at him to get up, as he picks him up.  Henry delivers a Bulldog-style running powerslam and the World’s Strongest Slam for the three.

Winner: Mark Henry via pinfall

Nice to see Yoshi on TV, I guess; better than Henry squashing a ‘Mania participant and making someone look weak going into their big match.  Every wrestling program can get away with a squash match – couple signature spots and a big slam to make the crowd happy.  Two right in a row seems a bit lazy.

We see a clip of Zack Ryder’s Z! True Long Island Story, asking Teddy Long to be on his Wrestlemania team.  Ryder has also organized a “Ryder Riot” for the Raw to follow.  Doesn’t say much for him if he has to beg this much to get on the team; he was the assistant to the SD GM for a while there, after all.

Match 6 – Chris Jericho vs Sheamus

The number one contenders to the top titles face off.  Sheamus overpowers Jericho out of the initial tie up.  Important to point out that this has a foundation other than “the two number one contenders”; these were the final two participants in this year’s Royal Rumble.  Sheamus runs Jericho over with a shoulder block and Jericho bails to the outside.  Sheamus follows and jettisons himself over the top rope for a shoulder block as Jericho comes off the ropes, back in the ring. 

Jericho starts to come back but misses a dive into the corner and rolls out, ending up on the apron to take Sheamus’ rope-tied forearms to the chest, which Booker T dubs “Musical Chairs”.  Even his broadcast colleagues had nothing to say to this.  If you have nothing nice to say, say nothing at all, I guess.  Following the forearms, Sheamus lifts Jericho into a stalling suplex.  Sheamus rushes Jericho, but he forces Sheamus to the outside.  Heading into the break, Daniel Bryan and AJ approach ringside.

Back from the break, Jericho is in charge and lifts Sheamus for a belly to back for a one count.  Again, Jericho seems to be the only person in WWE using this suplex as an offensive move and not just a counter at this point.  Sheamus fights back from his knees, but Jericho cuts him off with a front dropkick to keep control.  Sheamus starts his comeback and counters Jericho’s one handed bulldog into the corner.  Sheamus lands axe handles and a clothesline in the corner, leading to the usual powerslam, but Jericho slips out and hits the ropes.  Unfortunately, he runs right into the Irish Curse backbreaker. 

After a reset, Sheamus catches Jericho on his shoulder for what looked like another powerslam attempt, but Jericho was in an awkward position, so Sheamus puts him in a fireman’s carry and does a roll through slam.  That’s the second time this week Sheamus called a good audible mid-match; good for him. 

Jericho goes for the Codebreaker, but Sheamus puts him in the corner and attempts a Brough kick, getting his leg stuck on the top rope in the process.  Jericho hits a triangle jump dropkick and the Lionsault for two.  Sheamus fights out of the seated corner position he finds himself in, reaches up to the top rope and flips himself up to the top, but Jericho crotches him.  Chops to Sheamus while he is seated up top, but Sheamus fights out with strikes and lands a flying shoulder block for two.  Sheamus calls for the Celtic Cross, but Jericho counters into the Walls of Jericho. 

Sheamus reaches the ropes and tries for the Celtic Cross again, but Jericho wriggles out and gets clotheslined over the top rope.  Sheamus follows and throws Jericho at Bryan and AJ.  They move out of the way – to note here, Bryan got himself a nice comfy chair, while AJ stood behind him.  He’s got the ‘dick heel’ down to a science.  Sheamus is knocked off the apron by Jericho and while Jericho ties up the ref’s attention, Bryan sneaks in a low dropkick to the head.  Thanks to this, Sheamus gets counted out.

Winner: Chris Jericho via countout

Sheamus is less than thrilled with the result and the circumstances and goes after Bryan, who hightails it up the ramp, AJ at the rear.  Again, minimal concern for her well being.  Sheamus is visibly irate and delivers a Brough Kick to Jericho in the ring to vent.

A lot of advancement of the GM storyline, with multiple additions to the two teams announced and facing one another.  If they continue down the path of AJ getting matches, perhaps she will get a slow build toward a divas title match.  If you saw any of her in FCW, she really plays the ‘bitch heel’ very well and is solid in the ring.  They have two options aside from the usual “do nothing”: She finally gets frustrated with Bryan and turns on him, somehow costing him the title, or she turns heel to match him and helps him retain in some fashion. 

She has a good array of kicks to compliment Bryan’s, and it would be a nice change of pace, given that everyone expects Sheamus to beat Bryan (most expecting this to open the show).  Cody Rhodes and Big Show were both shown to be strong competitors, which is a better lead in than your typical “one guy sucks for three weeks but overcomes and wins at the PPV” scenario. 

I still predict Cody somehow leaving ‘Mania with the IC title.  Jericho got a cheap heel win, but Sheamus looked very strong in the match.  And of course we got a silly explanation for Orton/Kane – by wrestling standards, it’s good enough, but I predict some kind of stipulation added to the match before April 1^st arrives.  With Kane talking about closure, perhaps a loser leaves town type of match?

Coming up will be next week’s Raw and a look into the Geek Asylum’s Wrestlemania predictions.  How much will we be in line with one another, and more importantly with the show?  We shall see.

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Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City - A First Look

Operation: Raccoon City takes place during the events of Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 3: Nemesis - a time where the residents were turning into zombies due to the outbreak of the T-virus. As the player, you have a choice to be a part of the USS - the Umbrella Security Service, where you destroy all evidence of Umbrella's illegal actions, including killing survivors of the outbreak, or you can choose to play as a SpecOps officer, where you try to expose Umbrella for who they really are. Whoever you decide has major consequences and turns of events that will test your loyalty to your respective team.

The name says it all, guys. It's not the typical Resident Evil game that we all know. This is a team-based shooter with very familiar shooter elements (pardon me, I think I just yawned). We do have a few issues that need to be addressed. Don't believe me? Play the game for a half hour and you'll understand exactly where I'm coming from.

Let's first go over what this game is. This is NOT a survival horror. This is not even a survival game. The only element of horror in this game are the zombies which aren't scary to begin with. All it is, is just being able to have fast reflexes, quick thinking, and paying attention to how much ammo you're using. This game features a plethora of ammo due to either finding it or picking up spare ammo from guys you've killed. Also new to the Resident Evil series is how much of those godly Green Herbs are available.

THEY'RE EVERYWHERE. You find more green herbs in this game than you do medipacks in Tomb Raider, and believe me, they were everywhere. It's a third person shooter multiplayer campaign, whether you want to play with your friends, open your game to the public, or you can ride solo. Whatever's clever.

PROS

This is a pick up and play game - no serious strategy involved, no complicated controls. The same buttons for aim and shoot are the same as in most other shooters, left pad button for healing spray and your right button for your grenades. Run up to an object to crouch behind it, press down on the left analog stick to run, and TADA! You have your controls for the game.

As stated earlier, there are a lot of herbs, ammo, and weapons to be found.

Objectives are clearly marked. I'm one of those people that need bright, flashy, neon lights screaming at me to go to a particular area or what I need to do next. Don't judge me. This game was designed for people like that, noting a giant compass rose symbol on the mini map and also in the terrain itself.

If it's something important, it'll glow and have light extending off of the item to ensure that it's not missed. I don't know about you guys, but I kind of like when I have to do some scavenger hunting. Nevertheless, it's there, and it certainly helps when you're in a bind and you need some healing spray right quick.

You have a pretty good amount of characters to choose from. It'll give you a brief history on the character and have in parenthesis that character's role. I chose to be Assault, but you can choose to be a Medic, Recon, Field Scientist and a few others. The tutorials on the characters are simple enough. There's nothing complicated about this game. Not to say that it's without challenges, but it's not intricate.

CONS

The teammate AI is a bit... glitchy, to say the least. They don't always like to follow you for whatever reason, or they'll stay in their firing position and not move, ya know, things like that.

The game itself is kind of blocky. Kind of like I'm playing Modern Warfare 2 all over again. I felt like with today's graphic design abilities that a lot more could have been done with it and they were just lazy. They HAD to get this game out. It feels as if it were a bit rushed during the production process, but you know, I can't really do any better so I should probably keep my mouth shut.




It's a bit on the bland-ish side. Like, I just want to throw some pepper and garlic on it and make it sizzle a bit more than it is. I also haven't beaten this game yet so this is pure speculation. Take this with a grain of salt, people. The environment is nothing to truly brag about, the set pieces are kinda boring... I know Umbrella Corporation is a lot cooler than some steampunk laboratory. It has to be. To do what they do, I'm thinking state-of-the-art equipment, you know? But what do I know, I'm a girl and I like pretty things.

If you are a hardcore Resident Evil fan, like since the very beginning and can write a novel on what all the hub-bub is about, I don't recommend this game for you. This game is more like a spin off of Resident Evil than a Resident Evil title itself - like an authorized user of the title than the genuine series itself.

IGN isn't giving this game good reviews, unfortunately. I haven't gotten to the multiplayer yet, but from what they're saying, it's not really any better than single player campaign. I could imagine that this is a really fun multiplayer game if you're playing with your boyfriend or girlfriend or drinking at your house, but as far as I'm concerned, that's the only thing it's got going for it right now.

So why all the hate for the game if it's Resident Evil? Well, who developed the game? Sure, Capcom's name is on it, but Slant Six Games developed it; the same developers of the SOCOM games and... oh wait, no, that's all they created. I don't know whose idea it was to hand over such a classic title to such a crap-tastic development team should be turned into a zombie and be damned for eternity. I'm extremely disappointed on that decision, but alas, c'est la vie, and the only thing us Resident Evil fans can do is sit, play, cut our wrists and cry.

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Kickstarting Creativity: The Double Fine Adventure Continues

If you guys have no clue what this is, hop on the bandwagon! Or, to make it easier, just refer to either mine or Vin's previous articles. For those of you who know what the real deal is right now with Double Fine and 2 Player Productions, the fun has just started.

Double Fine Productions, a studio that has officially begun its newest project a few days ago, Double Fine Adventure (name to be determined later) has raised $3,336,371 - a whopping 834% of what they originally asked for, which was $400,000 in total. All of this comes from a nifty site called Kickstarter.com - a site where people like you and I can start an idea and have people donate to your idea. It can be anything from videogames to movies to inventions... anything and everything.

Tim Schafer, the mastermind behind Double Fine Adventure wanted to cut out publishers altogether and use the fans help with the fundraising, but it doesn't stop there. Once you donate, you're a backer, and when you're a backer, you now have a say in everything that's going to go down in this game - simply, you're teaming up with Double Fine Productions. And if you think the fan base was small, you're dead wrong. Amounting to a ridiculous 87,142 sponsors, from people that donated as little as $15 to those who donated $50,000, the voices were heard and now the fun begins.

So what are they up to now? They're just getting all the forums set up, the email databases, and to those who did donate, there will be a video update coming in tomorrow, but for the rest of us, we just kick back and enjoy the ride.

If you ever want to hop on and see what the guy are up to, click on the link: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/double-fine-adventure - It's a live stream of what's going on in the studio.

To check out the updates, check out www.doublefine.com and keep up to date while a bunch of dorky guys try to organize themselves and get this party started.

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[Video] Final Fantasy VII music mash-up

Some people love Final Fantasy VII with an affection that can only be described as disturbing, while others loathe it just to loathe it. I happen to be in the former group. I love Final Fantasy VII for a lot of reasons, mostly because of the nostalgic factor. It brings back a lot of good memories for me, so I tend to get all weird and giddy when it comes to FFVII. Thankfully, I'm not alone in my love of the game as YouTube user AxnJxn31 brings us an awesome musical mash-up from the beloved series. This is some great stuff. Thanks for letting us share Jackson.

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Hallelujah for Halo

I just recently purchased Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary, and started playing my through my childhood all over again. Sniping Covenant’s domes and needling my way through each and every grunt and I smile and am granted a sense of satisfaction that no other game could possibly provide me, thank you Bungie for all the good times, by the way.

Then when 343 industries took over the franchise I was very skeptical about how future Halos are to turn out. Fortunately for all of us, and for 343 they did a surprisingly good job at the anniversary edition of Halo 1, and most importantly they didn't butcher the Halo 1 pistol which is the crown jewel of the first Halo game. At least for me (and every other Halo fan out there).

However, with all those awesome things aside the one thing that literally brought shivers to my spine and a tear to my eye was the score of the Halo franchise. Now I really don't screw around when it comes to my gadgets and gear that I own. So this means for my Xbox alone I have the Turtle Beach Ear Force Deltas , the Klipsch Pro Media speaker with a huge sub-woofer to shake my house into the ground.

I know you might be thinking, "Dan!? Why do you have these great speakers along with the Ear Force Deltas?" Well, I'm glad you asked. This is because when I'm playing my Xbox very late at night I don't wake everybody up, and on top of that I get awesome surround sound for all of my glorious games. When I'm not using my headset I am blasting the audio though my sweet Klipsch speakers and shaking the very foundation of my home.

So, yesterday, when I was playing Halo Anniversary with my brother and waiting for him to get something to eat at the co-op lobby, I was contently listening to the Halo theme song while waiting for him. I really couldn't help myself, so I reached over to my speaker and literally turned the volume all the way up. Next thing you know I was rocking out to the Halo theme song. I really must hand it to Martin O'Donnell and Michael Salvatori. They managed to create arguably the most recognizable score in video game history.

Next to Zelda and Mario, of course. At the beginning, middle, and end of the song I was ready to pick up an assault rifle and charge straight into battle with my fellow marines and slay some Covenant scum! Then, once you listen to the Halo theme in its entirety, you need to listen to the Mjolnir mix of Halo 3 then , once you poop yourself, you can come back to comment and tell me what you think about the score.

For those of you who have never heard the original theme for Halo, do yourself and the rest of the world a favor and listen to it. The second video down is the Halo 2/3 Mjolnir Mix of the theme song that made an entire generation of gamer cry out in a passionate glory for Halo.

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