MIT looks to create the future of the user interface

Remember how gorgeous the interactive UI system that Tom Cruise used in "Minority Report" in order to track escapees? Remember how it flowed beautifully as he quickly transitioned through files, pulled video feeds, and used real time GPS tracking all with the flick of a wrist?

MIT is now in the process of making science-fiction a reality by "manipulating real floating objects in 3-D space to create a truly tactile user interface", pretty awesome stuff is going on at the MIT media lab.

Jinha Lee, who is a part of the Tangible Media Group at MIT, has collaborated with Rehmi Post and Hiroshi Ishii in an effort to create a truly interactive 3-D user interface. The prototype is known as ZeroN. All of those cool things that we would see in the movies that we usually dismissed as an impossibility are now on the verge of becoming a reality.

“There is something fundamental behind motivations to liberate physical matter from gravity and enable control. The motivation has existed as a shared dream amongst humans for millennia. It is an idea found in mythologies, desired by alchemists, and visualized in science fiction movies,” Lee tells Co.Design. “I have aspired to create a space where we can experience a glimpse of this future. A space where materials are free from gravitational constraints and controllable through computing technologies.”

Alchemy, physics, and philosophy are all parts of an ambitious project that looks to revolutionize the concept of the UI. Check the video below for a demo of what has been accomplished so far.



via: Co.Design

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[Video] Unofficial Harry Potter web series 'Auror's Tale' coming this Summer

The love for Harry Potter seems as if it will never die. Take the fan-made series "Auror's Tale" for example, at first glance you would assume that this an official spin-off story, and yet it's just a group of fans who decided to take fan-fiction into an entirely new level .

The production values are pretty impressive for a low budget affair. The series is set to begin this Summer. Check out the teaser.




Source: Auror's Tale Via: i09

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Samsung Galaxy S3 Hits 9 Million Pre-Orders

Well it appears the iPhone is no longer the only pre-order juggernaut. Accordning to the Korea Economic Daily Samsung has taken 9 million pre-orders for the Galaxy S3. The Galaxy series of Samsung phones has been their flagship Android set since 2010. This is a major achievement for Samsung as it took almost half a year for them to reach the 10 million unit mark with the Galaxy S2.

This bodes well not only for Samsung but Android as well. There have been few breakout Android devices and none that can compare with this kind of reception. The Galaxy S3 doesn't go on sale until may 29th so we could see this number increase significantly. iPhone is still the biggest baddest dog on the block in terms of single device sales, but if Android manufacturers can replicate Samsungs model Apple better watch out. 


 Via: Reuters

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James Bond 'Skyfall' teaser poster revealed, Bond fans rejoice

We've been waiting for this for a while now. It appears the world's favorite spy is getting closer to release. MGM is now financially solvent after being on the verge of bankruptcy for quite some time, and has been hard at work at releasing the next installment in the James Bond franchise.

Daniel Craig will reprise his roll as Bond for the third time (hopefully he plays Bond for the foreseeable future. Arguably the best Bond since Connery) and the movie will be directed by the very capable Sam Mendes (American Beauty, Road to Perdition, Jarhead), so we can expect another dark take of Mr.Bond.

I like the minimalistic approach to the poster, it goes with the iconic gun barrel shot that the series is renowned for. It's nothing flashy, but it does make you feel as if Craig is thinking "I'm Bond and I'm back...with a vengeance." Skyfall is slated for release on October 26th, 2012 .

via: First Showing

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My Diablo 3 Launch Woes

Despite Blizzards best efforts to ensure a completely smooth launch for Diablo 3 it just didn’t go their way. They did they best they could issuing a long beta period for a few lucky gamers and also the open beta weekend stress test. Even with all of that combined effort they could not manage the onslaught of anxious Diablo fans waiting to log in at 3:01 AM EST.

Almost immediately there were connection issues and delays. I was unable to log on at all. I went ahead and went to bed and decided to wait until morning. As I was leaving my house around 7:30 AM for work I tried to log on just to see if it was up…AT LAST IT WAS! I let out a sigh of relief as I knew I would be able to play as soon as I got home from work…FALSE.

I got back to the house around quarter to 6 yesterday evening, and battle.net was down AGAIN! As it turns out after reading through several blizzard forums that this had been going on since about 2 pm. They had to take the servers down for emergency maintenance. When attempting to login you would receive Error 3003 or Error 37 for all intent and purposes their meanings do not really matter. All that matters is you cannot play.

Around 6:45 I tried to log back in. AT LAST IT WORKS! I can now begin my journey through the realms of Sanctuary! So I hurriedly created my new character. I chose the Wizard class and named him Destructo. Now let the questing begin. I went ahead and played until about 9:30 PM and decided it was time to get off for awhile. Around 11:30 I decided to get back on and continue my way through the world of Sanctuary. DENIED! It seems in my two hour absence Blizzard once again had to take all the servers offline for maintenance. They weren’t restored until after 2 AM and I was fast asleep.

I logged on around 9 AM this morning and all seemed to be well again. I was able to quickly log in and start a game with no issues at all. Hopefully Blizzard worked out all the kinks yesterday and we now can all enjoy Diablo 3. The real test will come tonight when people return home from school and work and start logging in en mass. 

All these issues did not come without a price for Blizzard. I learned most of what was going on through the forums. The community was quite angry, some to the point of absurdity. It was suggested to boycott the game and spread the word. Many went on to MetaCritic and slammed the game out of pure anger without having even clicked the mouse yet in Sanctuary. This is unfortunate; troubles like these should almost be expected with such a massive launch. People tend to have unrealistic expectations, especially hardcore online gamers.

Though there were many issues at launch it shouldn’t deter people from purchasing the game. Blizzard always gets things right in the end and typically does so in a reasonable amount of time. As far as I can tell the game is excellent and I look forward to many more hours spent enjoying Diablo 3.  

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WWE Roundup - 5/11-5/14

WWE Smackdown and Raw - May 11th and May 14th, 2012

We'll try something a bit different for this week - a bit of a roundup for the shows surrounding the weekend.  This means we start with Smackdown, which itself starts with a recap of how we've come to have a Fatal Fourway for the World Heavyweight Championship.

Sheamus comes out; once again, we have the Champ opening a show.

Match 1 - Sheamus and Randy Orton vs Chris Jericho and Alberto del Rio
Winners: No contest

The match runs as a standard tag, but eventually ends up with all four men in the ring and the ref throws the match out.  What we saw was ok; the norm, but nothing special.  What this does, however is set up two matches for later tonight:  Sheamus vs Jericho and Orton vs ADR.  Eve brings this decree to us because...well...they put her in this position, so might as well use her.  Highlight of this one for me was Cole telling us that Sheamus has a 25% chance of winning at Over the Limit and that it's mathematically impossible for him to win.  Nothing about that sentence was correct.

Match 2 - AJ vs Kaitlyn
Winner: AJ via pinfall

I'm so happy to get to type that - AJ hasn't seen proper action for at least a month at this point.  There was no back and forth here:  AJ dropkicked Kaitlyn low then landed something that rests between a Shining Wizard and Shining Apprentice for the three (Which coincidentally was her finish from FCW).  AJ continues to be aggressive after the match and continues to wail on Kaitlyn.  Daniel Bryan comes out and says that he's impressed; this was the passion he felt AJ was missing.  He continues to be the emotionally abusive ex and tells AJ that he's ready to move on...to Kaitlyn.  AJ makes a face that would make Psycho Sid go "this bitch crazy" and storms out.

Still holding out on her lashing out at Bryan; if they continue in this direction and eventually have her explode on Bryan and be a heelish little devil, I'm all for it.  If they drop it and forget about it like WWE are so apt to do, I'll be disappointed; AJ is one of the best female talents they have.

Match 3 - Daniel Bryan vs Big Show
Winner: Daniel Bryan via "submission"

"Submission" because Big Johnny gave Big Show the ol' Montreal Screwjob on this one.  Bryan slaps on the Yes!lock and Johnny immediately rings the bell from out of nowhere; there was no indication to the TV audience that he was even at ringside.  Ace is holding Big Show mocking his voice against him and wants a "damn good" apology on Monday.  I'd much rather see Bryan look strong leading into the PPV rather than a cheap heel win thanks to the heel boss, but we still have Raw for that to happen...

Match 4 - Heath Slater vs Ryback
Winner: Ryback via pinfall

Slater is in the ring before Ryback enters, jawing about Ryback having beaten nobodies so far.  Then Ryback comes out and does the same old shtick: Decapitating lariat and the hanging Fisherman's Buster Samoan Drop.  Nothing else of note here.  Ryback can continue this style for a while, as squashes are a cornerstone of pro wrestling, but people will eventually get tired of it, so I hope something is planned for him moving forward.

Match 5 - Alex Riley vs Antonio Cesaro
Winner: Antonio Cesaro via pinfall

Cesaro still has the ludicrously generic music and Titantron he had in his 'tryout'; here's hoping he gets something a bit more character-specific in the near future.  Cesaro comes out with Aksana.  Quick back and forth action until Cesaro catches Riley in the Gotch Style Neutralizer (still not sure where this name came from aside from the Internet) and wins it.

Aksana tells Long that she and Cesaro are lovers.  That was unnecessary.  The implication was there; a bit of subtlety goes a long way.  More from Cesaro moving forward, I hope; he has the potential to be a great WWE talent.  Possibly the best chance of the 'indy' guys that went through FCW.

Match 6 - Randy Orton vs Alberto del Rio
Winner: Randy Orton via DQ

Normally I'd piss and moan here that the entrances were not shown; we already saw them tonight, so it's ok to skip them to save time here.  Ricardo attack's Orton's arm without getting caught then eventually climbs the top turnbuckle to stop Orton coiling for the RKO.  He flies at Orton, who catches him with the RKO, but gets wrapped in the Cross Armbreaker from ADR.  At this rate, everyone in WWE is going to have a busted arm.  This is the second time recently that Ricardo has interfered this way; he's wrestled in FCW, perhaps they're going to let him stretch his wrestling muscles in WWE sometime soon.  Or at the very least, touch on the fact that he's not JUST an announcer.  Either way, he's one of the best on screen personalities we have right now.

Match 7 - R-Truth vs Jack Swagger
Winner: R-Truth via pinfall

The usual Little Jimmy nonsense goes down, with Kofi confused by Truth.  The match ends with both partners (Ziggler and Kofi) with shenanigans on the outside and Swagger taking a Trouble in Paradise from the floor and stumbling into the Little Jimmy jumping reverse STO.  Now the teams are 1-1 in wins going into Over the Limit.  WWE, please let that record stand and have both teams do something else until the PPV; maybe have the heels interfere on the faces in another match, but no more direct matches between the four men.

Match 8 - Santino Marella and Zack Ryder vs Darren Young and Titus O'Neil
Winners: Young and O'Neil via pinfall

Pretty standard tag, which is not a bad thing.  The new guys continue to look strong by beating guys with pinfalls and the shenanigans kept to a minimum.  The best part of this team right now is their after-match promos and songs.  They're silly, they're fun and they're entertaining.  Just let these guys continue to show their personality and be smug and beat opponents in the middle of the ring; that's all it takes, WWE.  The team finished the match off with a sidewinder elbow drop (backbreaker -> elbow drop) combination.  It's been different every week - Hart Attack from the top, Powerbomb/Clothesline combo and now the sidewinder (Which Booker T called the "Ghettoblaster").  I have a feeling they'll settle on the the sidewinder, but no idea if Booker's name will stick.

 
Damien Sandow has a short interview and vows to expose the false prophets of enlightenment, as well as apologize to Matt Striker for frightening the former teacher with his vernacular.  The verbiage is there; we need to see him get in the ring eventually.

Match 9 - Brodus Clay vs Hunico
Winner: Brodus Clay via pinfall

Hunico and Camacho attack before the bell.  Clay still wants to fight.  He does.  An exploder and a splash.  We all know how this goes at this point.  The kids still enjoy the shtick, as do quite a number of fans, which is fine.  Personally, I'm entirely burnt out on it.  There's only so many ways to say "I want to see something new" from the guy; as of now, there's no indication of a change pending.

Match 10 - Chris Jericho vs Sheamus (World Heavyweight Champion), non-title
Winner: No contest OR Chris Jericho via DQ

As usual, no announcement is made after bedlam breaks out, but Jericho was thrown into the stairs by del Rio, which by all rights makes him the winner via DQ.  The match itself was fine; Chris Jericho always stands to have a good match.  After the match's breakdown, del Rio slaps the Cross Armbreaker on Sheamus' bad arm, then Orton slides in and breaks it up.  Sheamus and Orton fight over who's going to fight ADR and Jericho sneaks in to deliver a Codebreaker to ADR.  Del Rio then takes an RKO and a Brough Kick.  Poor guy.

Normally this would be a bit odd, but ADR slammed Jericho into the stairs to end the match, so this is why the heels are at odds here.  There's tension between all the men for the match at Over the Limit, so the odds of some temporary alliances are pretty slim.  Sheamus will go into the match with a hurt arm, so we'll see how that plays out.  Sometimes he's unable to lift a guy; other times he can do the Irish Curse with that same bad arm.

This leads us the weekend, which leads us to Raw

HHH tells Ace that he'll head to the ring and tell the world how he feels about the current goings on.  In a very long winded fashion, HHH tells us that Lesnar has offended himself, the WWE Universe and the legends of the sport.  HHH takes a pot shot at Lesnar and says that Cena never quits.  Lesnar's music hits and outcomes Paul Heyman.  He has a lawyer with him, serves HHH with papers and readies to leave.  He tells HHH that he should have expected this when he brought a "fighter" into an "entertainment company".  It's not Heyman's fault, but this is the worst possible verbiage to use in professional wrestling.  Way to suck that legitimacy that Lesnar was supposed to bring right back out.  He delivers a message to HHH from Lesnar that on a personal level, he's disappointed in how things turned out.  HHH slaps the mic out of Heyman's hand and grabs him by the face and Heyman is able to squeak out "what are you doing" over and over , which is hilarious.  Now HHH has two lawsuits on his hands.

Heyman plays the part of a sneak and sleazy creep so incredibly well, on top of being solid on the mic.  The more time Heyman spends in front of the crowd with a mic in his hands, the better.  He will continue to keep Lesnar's name fresh in people's heads without Lesnar being physically present.

Match 1 - CM Punk and Santino Marella vs Cody Rhodes and Daniel Bryan
Winners: CM Punk and Santino Marella via pinfall

Two shows in a row with the respective champ jerking the curtain.  An all around solid and fun tag match.  Three of WWE's champions are in the ring and everyone looks solid in their roles.  Santino plays the comedy man as good as anybody, and one of the visual highlights of the match is his attempt at the hot tag coming up short.

The end with Cody being scared of the Cobra and stumbling into the GTS is another great spot, but more importantly, Punk gets a win over the IC champ and never takes his eyes of Bryan who leaves Rhodes to rot.  The match between Punk and Bryan at Over the Limit has all the potential in the world to be a top notch match.

Match 2 - Alicia Fox vs Beth Phoenix
Winner: Beth Phoenix via pinfall

Standard Beth squash - a press slam, a Glamslam and a solid win.  Layla watches from the stage to assess her next opponent, but when Beth continues to attack Fox after the match, Layla hits the ring and protects her, sending Phoenix scampering away.

 
Layla's been gone for a while, but she's a solid worker and if WWE just gives them a few minutes at OtL, they should be able to put on a good showing for us. 

Match 3 - Big Show vs Kane
Winner: Kane via pinfall

A video package is shown concerning Show's voice-related transgression from last week, so we know right away that will play in.  Mid match, Ace demands Show's apology, causing him to walk into a Kane Chokeslam and lose.  Ace demands a damn good apology from Show and eventually tells him to hit his knees and beg.  Show fights it, and spills his heart to Ace, who eventually leaves and says he'll reconsider.  When he reaches the stage, he gives his decision; after Show has begged on his knees to keep his job because he loves it so much, Ace wishes him his best in his future endeavors.  This dragged on a bit, but it's alright; they gave Show time to express his passion for the business.  He was willing to never have another title shot just to continue coming out for the kids.  Very Cena-esque here.  Ultimately, he's made to look like a crybaby, even if he does have a huge passion for what he does.  For now, bye-bye Big Show.

Match 4 - Brodus Clay, Kofi Kingston and R-Truth vs The Miz, Dolph Ziggler and Jack Swagger
Winners: Clay, Kingston and Truth via pinfall

What an atrocious juxtoposition.  An icon of pro wrestling for nearly 20 years just cried to keep his job and we follow it with the Funkasaurus.  We get standard tag fare until Ziggler runs into a headbutt from Clay on the apron, followed by a brutal looking Trouble in Paradise to Miz and the big Funkasaurus Splash.

   
Abraham Washington, the Colons, Rosa and Mason Ryan watch from a skybox.  One more week of establishing that these people exist, but doing nothing productive with them.  Mason Ryan just keeps coming back like a big bulky boomerang.

The WWE Rewind: Smackdown's main event breaking down and more reason for the Fatal Four Way at Over the Limit for Sheamus' World Heavyweight Title.

Match 5 - Chris Jericho vs Randy Orton
Winner: Chris Jericho via DQ

Sheamus is on commentary and repeatedly tells Michael Cole what a dingus he is; I'm fine with this.  Orton starts his usual ending sequence, but Jericho and he wind up on the floor.  Jericho whips Orton into Sheamus and rolls Orton back into the ring, but ends up in the second rope DDT.  Orton coils for the RKO, but Sheamus drags Jericho out and levels him.  The ref calls for the bell and Orton is none too happy about it.  I like this; it gives the men all the more reason to all be at odds with one another come Sunday and it's that rare reinforcement that wins matter.  Orton is mad at Sheamus specifically because he cost him what was soon to be a victory.  The two want to fight, but it gets broken up, which is another good choice here.

During the commercial, Eve tweets that Orton and Sheamus will wrestle on Smackdown.  There goes that good decision.  And it was done via Twitter.  Then announced on TV.  That's so unnecessary.

We end Raw with a painfully drawn out John Lauranatis and John Cena promo.  Ace tells us that Cena and all his fans are losers.  Cena comes out and mocks Ace's voice; apparently this is no longer a punishable offense.  Cena says Ace was a scumbag before but now he's the "king of all douchebags".  Just leaving it there would have been fine, but we get 10 minutes of Cena trying to channel Jim Carrey and calling Ace a loser everytime he tries to speak.  It's just WAY too much.  The happy go lucky Cena is back when just a week ago, he was all intensity, all focus, all drive, all business.  Now he's just altogether annoying.  To top it all off, Cena goes for the cheap Pittsburgh Penguin pops from the crowd.  Cena then pulls a puck out of his pocket, tosses it at Ace and tells him to "go puck himself".  Ace tells Cena he's taller and better looking than Cena, then gets a memo from Eve.  Cena rips it out of Ace's hands and reads aloud that the match on Sunday will be one on one and no shenanigans are to ensue:  No special refs, nobody allowed at ringside, can only win by pin or submission and if any superstar interferes, they're to be immediately terminated.  On top of all that, if Cena wins, Lauranaitis is fired.  Ace slaps Cena and leaves.

"Superstar" is the key word here.  This is a dead give away that OTL will either see a non-superstar appear or a recently departed ex-superstart interfere.  How badly does Big Show want his job back?  Enough to screw John Cena?  I hope not; the 'captive' heel thing was done with Cena a while back and it was awful.  Either a setup where Ace and Show were in cahoots all night or someone else interfering could come as well.  WWE seems to like changing things at the last minute when something seems 'too' obvious.  Most of the time that's a bad call.  A bit of predictability isn't bad; it's just important to find that balance. 

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What next? A look into comic book movies in a post-Avengers world - Prologue

Prologue
By now everyone and their mother has seen The Avengers. That's not a joke, my own mother saw the Avengers opening weekend and wants to know who "the purple Hulk guy" at the end credits was. It's made over a billion bones worldwide and stands to make more as the weeks go on. Why? Because it was that damn good.

About a year ago I wrote an article showcasing how Christopher Nolan and The Dark Knight has changed the comic book movie landscape forever. With it's down to earth, gritty portrayal of one of comics darkest heroes, it stood out as one of, if not the greatest comic book movie of all time.

With the release and subsequent success of The Avengers, where does this leave movies like The Amazing Spiderman and The Dark Knight Rises? The latest reboot of Spiderman seems to be taking a cue from Batman Begins and The Dark Knight with a darker kind of storytelling. To me, these movies aren't made to be "blockbusters".

Granted, they will attract massive crowds and make boatloads of cash but when you think blockbuster you think lavish CGI special effects and a larger-than-life story. Batman isn't a blockbuster, Nolan has created a superb retelling of The Caped Crusader as a crime drama.

It's about the philosophy of crime and the odyssey of one man crawling from grief and fear into a modern day savior. Each installment in these Batman movies showcases the evolution of Bruce Wayne and Batman as he struggles to grasp the concept of being a hero, to face true corruption, and how to rise above it.

Spiderman is the ultimate underdog. A kid that is blessed/cursed with amazing abilities and having wisdom beyond his years to utilize these powers for the greater good. With no parents, and no huge bank roll to back him up, he struggles to balance the everyday mundane life of a college student with the titanic weight of a hero on his shoulders.

After The Avengers, I feel like audiences now are waiting to be wowed by a spectacle, but I feel if you go to these films with that mindset you are not only missing the point but you are cheating yourself from a equally fantastic experience.  These two films are taking two iconic characters and making them bleed, making them hurt, and bringing them down to their knees.

It makes for a much more compelling story when you can relate to these characters, or when a director and  writer can bring these characters down to our level. We see what makes them tick and what they are up against.

In the next few days we will be dissecting the first two installments of Nolan's Batman trilogy as well as speculate about the Spiderman reboot and The Dark Knight Rises in hopes that you can enjoy these two potentially great films for what they were meant to be, or at least measure them with the correct measuring stick.

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Rumor: iCloud upgrade could lead to photo and video sharing with iOS 6

The Rumor mill has been going crazy over the new iPhone, or anything Apple related for that matter. Well, this particular rumor doesn't seem nearly as outlandish as some other claims (7 inch iPad anyone? Not going to happen), but the talk on the street is that in the next iOS update iCloud will feature photo and video sharing capability.

The news would also seem to support rumors that iPhoto 12 for for Mac is coming at the same time. That redesign is expected to align with iPhoto on Apple’s mobile OS. So clearly we have the cloud — iCloud namely — playing a starring role in Apple’s future as it gears up to compete with Facebook and Google. With iCloud set to be featured in the upcoming OS X Lion, the cloud is set for the big screen for sure with iOS so dominant.

If this is true, it would mean that Apple plans to get agressive in the increasingly competive cloud-based services arena. With the massive aquisition of Instagram by Facebook, Google Drive launching, and Micorsoft announcing some recent upgrades to their Skydrive cloud service, this move makes sense.

Source: Wall Street Journal Via: Wired News

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[Video] Watch the pilot episode of 'Tron Uprising'

So the Disney XD YouTube page has decided to share the pilot episode of Tron Uprising with the rest of the world (well unless the uploader has made it unavailable in your country) before its June 7th premiere.  I had the chance to watch the episode, and I was impressed by the shows animation and story.

This is something I could see turning into a series of direct-to-DVD feature length movies, or hell, maybe an actual theatrical release.

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This is ROH - 5/12/2012

Ring of Honor - May 12, 2012
Courtesy of Adam Iorio, @adamshaska

We open the show with a recap of Kevin Steen's attack on Kyle O'Reilly from last week’s main event. We're only hours away from Border Wars and a championship match actually seems important; am I really watching professional wrestling?

Match 1: Bodysnatcher and Black Ice "D-Line" vs. Shelton Benjamin and Charlie Haas "Wrestling’s Greatest Tag Team"

Winner: Wrestling’s Greatest Tag Team via submission, length:  5 minutes 54 seconds, Code of Honor: Denied

It was an impressive debut showing from D-Line, especially considering it’s against WGTT. The match was a little short by RoH tag team standards but as I said D-Line was rather impressive, put up a good fight but eventually fell victim to the Haas of Pain.

A short "serious" interview involving "the Prodigy" Mike Bennett with "The First Lady of RoH" Maria making fun of Lance Storm.

Match 2: El Hijo del Ice Cream & Ice Cream Jr "Los Ice Creams" with Ophidian vs Soldier Ant Fire Ant & Green Ant "The Colony"

Winner: "The Colony" via pinfall, length: 13:28 - 18:06 4 minutes 38 seconds, Code Of Honor: N/A

This was an interesting match to say the least. I'm not too familiar with Chikara Pro but I have seen enough of it to know the basic rules (luchador). Very fast paced, and honestly who doesn’t love a good six man tag? 

The anthill finish was a very nice move and that’s the kind of action Chikara offers on a regular basis I wouldn't mind seeing more of it.

Match 3:  Ricky Reyes vs Jay Lethal

Winner: Jay Lethal via Pinfall, length: 3 minutes 22 seconds, Code of Honor: No

I won't lie Jay Lethal isn’t one of my favorite wrestlers, I know he's loved by a lot of people but something about him just screams, or whispers, boring to me. And this match was no exception, clocking in at just under an impressive 3 and half minutes one might see why. Solid finish, which is rare form for Lethal, but Reyes, could have taken it little better.  

Short Interview with Davey Richards about his upcoming match with Rhino

Promo with Eddie Edwards and Mike Bennett on their match next week

Promo with The Young Bucks and the All Night Express about their match next week

Promo with "The Wrestling Greatest Tag Team" about their match with The Briscoes at Border Wars

Promo with Rhino about his upcoming match with Davey Richards

Match 4:  "The Man Beast" Rhino vs Davey Richards

Winner: Davey Richards via Pinfall, length: 14 minutes 39 seconds, Code of Honor: No

Rhino dominates Richards for the majority of this match, which I wasn't surprised by at all. Richards tries too hard with his submissions against Rhino which wouldn’t be a problem if he didn't win with a sunset flip. After the match Strong attacks Richards from behind then Truth jumps in with a few kicks to Richards before Jay Lethal comes out to save the day, I guess he wants the TV title back more than breaking Ciampa's undefeated streak.

Not as great as last weeks show but still entertaining; my only gripe is the promo/interview placements, one or two back to back is fine, but not five or six. I know you're only working with about 45 minutes of air time, but you could space them out a little bit. Having both main event promos right before the match is a little stale, opening up the show with one of them would work well.

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Internet Explorer Coming to an Xbox 360 Near You

Rumor has it that Microsoft is releasing a special version of Internet Explorer for the Xbox 360 as reported by the folks at The Verge. It would appear that this version of IE would be mostly controlled through the Kinect with gesture and voice commands. I will say that I personally think this is something the Xbox has really been lacking and if it’s true it will be another step forward in the Xbox’s complete entertainment dominance. 

Source: The Verge

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Project M: Super Smash Bros Melee Revived for a New Generation

Super Smash Bros Melee.  Arguably one of  the best multiplayer games of the last two video game generations.  The customization that could be done with the game allowed it to run the gamut between "amazing party game to play with three buddies" and "fiercely competitive fighter".  Now I'll stop you purists right here - This isn't about IF Melee could be viewed as a competitive game and the huge rift created between people when they discuss it.  It's about a group of people that have collectively taken Super Smash Bros Brawl and combined the best parts of it and Melee into a splendidly nostalgic chimera of fun and competition.

We are here to discuss Project: M, a look at what Super Smash Bros Brawl could have been had it continued down the same path that Melee's gameplay took.  When Brawl was released, it was met with quite a bit of contention; the design was to bring the series back to its happy-go-lucky fun for all roots, and this didn't sit well with the many players that had spent years creating a competitive tournament scene with Melee. 

I happily took part in the Melee scene in the Long Island/NYC area, along with many friends.  When Brawl came out, I was a touch disappointed by the physics changes made to the system, since it entirely changed the way the game was played.  I didn't raise the same complaints that many of my fellow players raised, however.  I still saw it as a game you can grab three friends and play the night away with.  Tournaments arose for it, but they just have not had the prevalence that the Melee scene had.  The introduction of fun (but admittedly unbalanced) Final Smash moves was just one of many changes made to the game that were considered better and worse, depending on with whom you spoke.

Project: M is the fruits of the labor of a team of 50+ fans across the globe.  The game itself is still technically in it's "Demo 2" stage, but there are enough completed characters and stages for the demo to stand on its own merits.  The most important aspect to note in reviewing this mod is that it can be played on a perfectly vanilla, un-modified Wii.  The website (http://projectm.dantarion.com/) provides quite a few options to install the files necessary to launch the game.  These include choices for those of you with unmodified systems, as well as users of homebrew.  All of these are simple and straight forward. 

The team at work has gone through extensive analysis and trials of the physics they've employed, and the characters that you know from Melee feel like their old selves, and the Brawl new comers all fit in well.  As you play, you'll discover that the dodges, ledge grabs and wavelands you remember from your Melee glory days are back in full force.  That first wavedash with Luigi is the sweetest you'll feel.

The current roster includes a mix of veterans and Brawl newcomers, with the Brawl roster planned to be filled out.  There are rumors of additional characters to be added later on (Mewtwo's name has been thrown around often), but they have said that they do not wish to add things just for the sake of adding them; they'll need to make sense in terms of the changes at hand.  As per the Project M Dev Team: "Right now we're focused on working on the base 39 characters Brawl offers us...We'll let everyone know about our plans for this when we reach that point and hopefully, things will pan out for it as well".  We'll take a look at a few characters with a bit of depth, but the Team had this to say as far as general character design for the mod.

Their approach on Brawl new-comers differs a bit, taking a "blank slate" approach:  

"More often than not, we tend to not look at how they played in Brawl. Instead, we try to think of them as if they are on a clean slate. We also draw inspiration for moves from the games they came from. Wario is a great example of this, we thought about what would happen if Wario had been in Melee. If he were in Melee, he likely would have had a more Wario Land-inspired move set. So, we looked at what moves could be changed to fill the space of "canonizing" Wario more to Wario Land." 

We'll visit Wario shortly, as one of our character analyses.  The details given won't be frame-specific break downs, so as not to bore many of you to tears, but we will have a look at new combo opportunities and the imagination that has gone into re-imagining some of your Brawl favorites.

Let's start with Lucario, who has gone through arguably one of the biggest changes in the game.  In "vanilla" Brawl, Lucario has a back-end mechanic that increases his damage and knockback as his own damage increases.  This allows a risk-reward style of play; if you can keep yourself alive and on the offensive, you possess a much improved chance to take out opponents.  In Project:M, this mechanic is entirely reworked:  Instead of taking into account Lucario's own damage, there is an invisible "super meter" akin to most mainstream fighting games. 

As Lucario deals out hits, combos and damage, this meter grows.  Once it reaches a certain point, Lucario's hands will glow, alerting the player that he has a 'charge' for his new Super Specials.  Much like the meter, these are very much "EX" moves by comparison.  With a charge, you can perform any of Lucario's special attacks in conjunction with the A button to execute the EX version.  Aura Sphere becomes Aura Bomb, in the most blatant example.

Lucario charges his new Aura Bomb EX move - a slow but powerful tool.

Aura Bomb will travel slowly in a straight line out from Lucario, possessing huge damage and knockback opportunity.  Some might scoff at a slow moving projectile, but the distance it covers and time it spends out allow one quite a bit of time to jab, tilt or throw the opponent into it, not to mention it being a potentially useful edgeguard tool.  Lucario's forward B, Force Palm, increases in power, much like the EX Aura Sphere, and with the other large change to Lucario's play style (discussed below), makes for a great combo and kill tool.  Extremespeed, Lucario's Up B recovery tool, remains the same, but with a Super charge, you can cancel the animation into an aerial, helping to recover more safely.  Down B has now become a shadow step tool - with good timing, one can step through a projectile or attack to begin a new combo.  When used in its EX form, this move can be cancelled in much the same manner as Extremespeed, allowing great movement.

As for the above mentioned play style change, Lucario borrows one more aspect from those traditional fighters:  Attack cancelling.  Lucario has two built in "magic combos", one for the ground and one in the air.  In the air, on contact, you can cancel any aerial into a special attack, for a quick force palm grab in mid air (Yes, it grabs in mid air now) to jettison the opponent down or to chase upward with an EX Extremespeed.  On the ground, you have a bit more creativity. 

You can effectively cancel a jab into a tilt, into a smash, into a special, provided you make contact.  You can also skip any step therein.  Want to jab and immediately grab with an EX Force Palm?  Go for it, it's a great kill tool.  These changes, coupled with Lucario's respectable wavedash distance (great for wavelanding platforms and continuing combos) makes him an even bigger threat than he was in the original Brawl.  There are other animation changes for Lucario, but these should be discovered for yourself.

Next, we'll have a look at Pit, Brawl's resident chatty cherub.  If anyone hated any move in Brawl, it was Pit's Angel Ring, with his annoying yelps as he performed it.  If you fall into this sect of fans, rejoice:  Angel Ring is no more.  It is now replaced with a command glide (In fact, gliding is entirely done via commands now - no more jump button gliding).  When performed, Pit will rush a short distance with a quick burst in the gliding position, and you can perform any aerial out of the glide.  This is a great chase tool to keep combos going.  You should get used to the glide command; you'll be using it a lot for attacking and recovering.  Pit's ability to fly with Up B has been replaced with a powerful upward bash with his Mirror Shield.  The upward movement is a bit limited, so you'll want to get good at gliding effectively to recover, as Mirror Shield will give you about as much lift as Mario's Up B, but with a bit less horizontal movement built in.

 Mirror Shield - Great to kill with in the air or from under a platform, but not ideal for recovery.  Learn to glide!

Pit's arrows, an already great spacing and attacking (and annoying) tool are a tad more mobile in the Melee-fied Brawl.  Always a handy edgeguard tool, be sure to get good at curving these.  And always feel free to show off by looping them around a stage; I'm sure all your friends will be happy to not attack you while you showboat.  The increased mobility with the command glide speed burst coupled with some modified attack properties on the ground and in the air make Pit a character you'll be happy to play as both up close and far away from your opponent.

Let's take a trip back to my Melee favorite, Ganondorf for our next look.  The Project:M team has done Ganondorf fans a great service in their work with him:  They've left his Flame Choke in his moveset.  Essentially what this gives us is Melee's deceptively quick and agile Ganondorf with an excellent spacing and approach tool added in.  Ganondorf's attacks retain many of their Brawl animations, but the properties and hitboxes are more akin to this Melee incarnation.  Your jab will launch enemies away, your down tilt will pop enemies up for follow up with your strong aerial game, your smashes will decimate opponents and that wonderful, wonderful forward air is just as strong as you remember. 

Mixing Flame Chokes into all of these is a great mix up:  On approach, opponents could often shield grab you if your spacing was less than stellar but you can now play mindgames by using a Flame Choke in place of a strike.  If they predict poorly, you'll grab them and place them on the ground, and a quick Ganondorf can follow up with a down tilt or a well placed short hop down air attack, which in and of itself is capable of combos and kills.  Tech chasing and spacing are your best friends with Ganondorf, so get reacquainted with the Flame Choke and your old tactics.

  If you don't follow this with at least a down tilt, you are squandering opportunities.

Finally, we'll take a look at a character with significant changes from his Brawl incarnation:  Wario.  Much of the inspiration for Brawl's Wario came from a mix of the Warioland series and the Warioware series.  His default costume was from the microgame compilations and his specials were geared in that direction as well.  Using that "blank slate" philosophy, the Project:M team has reworked his moveset to draw far more from the Warioland series.  Wairo retains his strong air game from Brawl:  His movements allow him to hop in, attack and pull out all before landing on the ground, so once again, spacing is key. 

Wario's neutral B Bite remains, but is a bit different.  The priority on this move has been toned down significantly, so it's not a catch all "take damage but guarantee reciprocation" counter any longer.  A strong attack will tear right through his open mouth without getting caught.  The positive change, however, is you can now throw your opponent backwards after successfully catching them in your teeth; this opens up edge guarding possibilities.  Wario's down smash is now a quick punch to the ground to disrupt enemies around you; the wind down time is shorter than his previous breakdance spin down smash, so you can be a bit more liberal with it's application.  Down air is entirely different - It's now a ground rushing ground pound.  Miss, and you'll plummet; connect, and you'll spike your opponent and hop off their head.  Risk is always exciting!

Vintage Wario, realized by the Project:M team.

One of the key changes made by the team is Wario's side B.  Gone are the days of riding your motorcycle into opponents.  Now, you'll be able to quickly ram them with Wario's signature Shoulder Bash.  Done on the ground or in the air, Wario will rush forward, ready to knock opponents out of his way.  Keep in mind that in the air, you will go into free fall, so don't use this for recovery unless you've got some height and a trajectory in mind.  After a short distance, you'll stop rushing. 

"When designing new move sets, it usually depends on the character...Most Melee veterans don't receive large move set overhauls, but some have received some move additions.  Donkey Kong, for example, needed a forward-facing approach option so we looked at some of his moves and thought of ways to either improve upon them...We noticed Neutral Air would be a great approaching tool if its hitboxes were slightly better...We looked at what else we could do and then the idea of Donkey Kong's well-known Donkey Kong Country roll came into fruition. We decided to replace his dash attack which has almost always been a bad move. Now, on top of having a wonderful looking and canon attack, one of DK's main issues in competitive Melee was dealt with, making him a much more formidable opponent."

This distance is key; the later in the attack you make contact, the stronger it is.  Be careful with shield-happy opponents, though; if you bounce off of someone's shield, you're likely to eat a quick smash or grab.  Spaced out after hits or throws, this can be a great way to extend combos, and when performed on the ground, you can jump after opponents, just like in the Warioland games.  And as an added bonus, Wario's dash grab starts out looking just like the Shoulder Bash, so mixing the two up can force the opponent to predict and take grab/attack damage accordingly.

Honorable mentions for character information go to Zelda, Charizard and Luigi.  Zelda's Din's Fire attack now hangs in the air for a short time after releasing the button:  This lets you control the stage to a degree akin to Snake and it's incredibly satisfying to set a mid-air minefield and throw an opponent into it, watching them bounce between each as they explode.  Charizard, now separated from its trainer (As will Squirtle and Ivysaur be) has embraced its Flying dual type.  Since there is no need to switch Pokemon, down B is now Fly.  On the ground, it's a quick high jump to continue combos off of the Fire type's many launchers and in the air, it is now your command glide.  Charizard's glide isn't quite as quick as Pit's and he is a huge target, so be conservative in its use.  And then there's Luigi...The wavedash is back and oh so satisfying.  Up B is also back to its Melee potency, so combo, get in and PING your opponents high into the sky.

Super Smash Bros Melee had a strong sub-sect of fans that embraced the unique gameplay tweaks available and those same people have spread the love to Brawl.  Some local tournaments are already using Project:M as a side event to standard Brawl brackets, and if P:M is widespread enough, it could garner its own strong following.  The project has been featured in its demo 1 and 2 incarnations all around the net so far, but as a dedicated fan of the series, I was thrilled to take a bit more of an in depth look than what has been published thus far.  Please visit the team's project site HERE (or tweet with the hashtag #projectmelee) and read up on the changes made to all your favorite characters and keep an eye there and of course here at The Geek Asylum for any updates.

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BioShock Infinite Release Pushed to February 2013

Well another delay has come upon BioShock Infinite. It looks like the much anticipated game has now been pushed back until February 23^rd 2013. According to Ken Levine creative director of Irrational Games, "Since then, we've uncovered opportunities to make Infinite into something even more extraordinary”. Whatever the reason for the holdup let's just hope this doesn’t spell trouble for BioShock Infinite and we get the game we’ve all been waiting for.

Source: PCMAG

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Netherlands first country in Europe to gain net neutrality,confirms the Dutch are awesome

With all kinds of craziness going on over net neutrality here in the states with the CISPAS, pippa, sipppa, or whatever, the Netherlands was all like, nah we're good. As of May 8th, 2012 the Netherlands was the first country in Europe to pass significant legislation leading to net neutrality.

There are also provisions in place that protect users from wiretapping and disconnection.

The net neutrality law prohibits Internet providers from interfering with the traffic of their users. The law allows for traffic management in case of congestion and for network security, as long as these measures serve the interests of the Internet user. A technical error in the law might still be corrected in a vote on 15 May. In addition, the law includes an anti-wiretapping provision, restricting internetproviders from using invasive wiretapping technologies, such as deep packet inspection (DPI). They may only do so under limited circumstances, or with explicit consent of the user, which the user may withdraw at any time.

So ISP's can only disconnect users under a very specific set of circumstances.This is the kind of progressive thought process should be applauded. Let's hope this trend continues, and the entire world can be treated to the same fair and open internet policy.

Via: Bits of Freedom

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Galaxy Next Door: Insomniac Games to create Facebook game

Our pals over at Galaxy Next Door got the goods on Insomniac Games venturing into the inexplicably popular Facebook game arena.

Combining Insomniac’s immersive storytelling with a unique art style and sense of wit, Outernauts is an adventure role-playing game that casts players as members of United Earth’s elite Outernaut force. The Outernauts are charged with capturing and training exotic alien beasts as they uncover the riddle behind mysterious “ancients” while battling pirates and evil corporations seeking to control the galaxy. Players will explore planets, harvest loot, and fight asynchronously alongside or against friends to master a wild, untamed universe. Outernauts launches this Summer on Facebook and like all Facebook games will be FREE 2 PLAY, to a point that is. 

The Free 2 Play aspect is the interesting thing here. Sure it's free to play, but we shouldn't be shocked if grossly overpriced micro-tansactions come into play. Either way, Insominiac obviously sees Facebook as a viable platform for a new title. It should be interesting if any other developers follow suit.

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This Is ROH - 5/5/2012

Courtesy of Adam Iorio, @adamshaska

Ring of Honor Wrestling - May 5th, 2012

It's one week from Border Wars. The show opens with highlights from last week's match with The Briscoes vs. Cedric Alexander & Caprice Coleman

Match 1 - "The Dominant Male." Tommaso Ciampa vs Matt Taven.

Winner: Tommaso Ciampa via pinfall, length: 7 minutes, 37 seconds.

The match starts without the code of honor. Much to everyone's surprise, Taven gave Ciampa a run for his and The Embassy's money in this match. Ciampa tried to end the match early by giving Taven a full nelson suplex as soon as he entered the ring, and following it up with a knee to the skull in the corner before Taven slides out to the apron. They take the action to the floor as Jay Lethal comes down for a ringside seat. Ciampa hits Taven with an Air Raid Crash on the mat and has a staredown with Lethal.

 

After Taven reverses a suplex on the exposed concrete, both men climb back into the ring and exhange some blows. Taven gets a few 2 counts but Ciampa eventually hits the knee to the face followed by Project Ciampa for the three count.

Short interview with TJ Perkins about his match with Mike Mondo; The Young Bucks interrupt him with a few jokes.

Match 2 - "Technical Lightning." TJ Perkins vs "No Fear" Mike Mondo

Winner: Mike Mondo via pinfall, length: 7 minutes, 29 seconds

Both men adhere to the code of honor to start the match. After a nice exchange of grapples, Perkins hits Mondo with a neckbreaker and follows it with a weak looking hurricanrana through the ropes.

Perkins follows Mondo outside the ring, gives a small chase, and returns to the ring in the hopes of outsmarting his opponent. Mondo comes from behind and dominates Perkins for the majority of the match. Perkins starts building a little momentum after Mondo tries to bite the exposed eyeball. The Young Bucks come down to the ring after Perkins hits a missile dropkick from the top rope. Perkins leaves the ring to confront The Young Bucks, but they throw him back into the ring. Perkins tosses Mondo out to the floor, and as he regroups with the Young Bucks, Perkins jumps over the ropes, landing on all three men. Mondo hits a double arm ddt off the ropes because of the distraction caused by The Young Bucks to pick up the victory.

After the match, The Young Bucks and Mondo start to beat up on Perkins, and The All Night Express come to his aid and to get a peice of The Young Bucks.

Match 3 - Kyle O'Reilly vs "Wrestling's Worst Nightmare" Kevin Steen

Winner: Kevin Steen via pinfall

O'Reilly starts the match with some stiff kicks to Steen. Steen rolls out of the ring early, catches one of O'Reilly's kicks, and slams his knee into the ring post. After Steen powerbombs O'Reilly onto the ring apron, we cut to commercial. We come back to Steen mocking a limping O'Reilly. Steen goes for a spear into the corner but O'Reilly moves out of the way, and Steen goes shoulder first into the ring post. O'Reilly uses this time to his advantage by giving a dropkick off the apron to the floor, and then another from the top rope after Steen gets back in the ring. Steen DDTs O'Reilly through the ropes and follows it up with a cannonball, goes for a pin, and gets a 2 count. Steen goes for the F-Cinq, but O'Reilly locks his arm and brings him down into an armbar and Steen gets to the ropes. After some more kicks from O'Reilly, Steen spits in his face. After some kicks, O'Reilly runs the ropes, but Steen catches him with a powerbomb and then applies an anklelock which O'Reilly quickly gets out of. Steen hits the F-Cinq and pins O'Reilly for the one-two-three. 

 

After the match, Steen hits O'Reilly with his tennis racket and applies another ankle lock before World Champion Davey Richards comes down to the ring and attacks Steen and Jimmy Jacobs. Richards puts Steen in an ankle lock right before Jacobs hits Richards with a low blow and security comes out to stop Steen and Richards.

Richards grabs a mic and tells Steen that at Border Wars there will be no more "American Strong Style"; he's bringing back the Wolf.

All in all, a solid show, matches were well paced, not too much mic time for the wrestlers, and the commentary was great, even if Nigel McGuiness did mistake Richards for O'Reilly. Maybe thats why he's not wrestling anymore!

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[Video] Bioshock Infinite: The people behind Booker and Elizabeth

Irrational Games continues to release more and more behind the scenes footage of the developement process for Bioshock Infiinite. This time around Ken Levine discusses the development of characters Booker and Elizabeth, and the voice actors behind them. It gives you an idea of how much work really goes into the scripting and acting side of video games. Bioshock Infinite is slated for an October release.

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WWE Raw Wrapup - 5/7/2012

WWE Monday Night Raw - May 7th, 2012

We open another Monday night with Big Johnny.  He goes on a tirade about having undisputed authority and wounding John Cena's pride, but most importantly, he declares that nobody may mock his voice.  He shows pictures of his time as Johnny Ace in Japan, trying to gain credibility as an opponent for Cena in two weeks.  After telling us that Lauranaitis vs Cena will be bigger than Rock/Cena and Brock/Cena, CM Punk comes out to interrupt.  Punk tells the boss that he's bold, but he hasn't a clue about "people power".  Punk reminds Ace that the fans don't want to see him.  Punk continues and tells Ace that he's just mad that he put all his chips on Lesnar and he lost.  Punk digs in deeper and tells him that he only went to Japan because nobody in the US would pay to see him wrestle.  Ace asks Punk if he's finished and the people tell him "No."  Punk goes on to tell Ace he's ugly, stupid and has no friends.  Punk asks the people if he's finished and they still say "No."  Punk calls Ace a toolbox.  Ace says he'd pummel Punk, but he's in training; instead, Punk will face Tensai tonight.

The opening seemed to be designed to lead to the main event instead of pushing a feud forward, which isn't a great design.

Big Show will get his rematch for the IC title tonight, even though Smackdown told us that he would get it over the weekend.  Johnny walks into Big Show and yells at him; Show mocks his voice.  Uh-oh.  Eve walks in to the scene and has a disappointed look on her face.

Match 1 - Big Show vs Cody Rhodes (c), Intercontinental Championship

Show opens strong, like he does every match.  Frying pan slap, big biel and another frying pan.  Rhodes fights back and lands a Beautiful Disasater, but Show gets his hand up.  Rhodes goes for a boot, but Show grabs the foot and flips him backwards.  Rhodes ends up outside, grabs his belt and goes to leave, but is caught by Show, who rolls him in.  Rhodes is too quick and leaves another side of the ring and splits.

Winner: Big Show via count-out

Eve enters to a shower of "Hoeski" chants and demands Big Show apologize for mocking Johnny before.  She explains there's no call for a giant freak with no life skills besides wrestling, so it's in his best interested to say sorry.  Show does.  That's it.  Some "severe consequence".

We rewind to Kofi and R-Truth winning the Tag Titles last week, so one of them must have a match next.

Match 2 - Kofi Kingston vs Dolph Ziggler

Kofi opens with an arm wrench, and Ziggler counters into his own.  Kofi whiffs an attack in the corner and Ziggler rolls him up for two.  Ziggler follows with a dropkick for another two.  It's Ziggler's turn to airball in the corner, which leads to Kofi's clothesline, double chop, dropkick and jumping clothesline, leading to the Boomdrop.  Jack Swagger hops on the apron to run interference, but Kofi shakes off the Zigzag then hits the SOS for a very close two.  Behind the ref's back, Swagger trips Kofi off the second rope, allowing Ziggler to hit the Zigzag for the three.

Winner: Dolph Ziggler via pinfall

Dirty win, but a better direction for Ziggler than the one he has been heading in lately.  Swagger/Ziggler and Kofi/Truth could have good tag matches if given the time, so maybe we'll get that moving forward.

Michael Cole interviews John Cena via satellite.  Cena's elbow has no permanent damage, and he will be at Over the Limit, despite his doctors' suggestion.  The Board of Directors, rather than contact (and fire) Lauranaitis apparently reached out to Cena first, and that's why Ace hasn't been fired; Cena requested it.  That's not good corporate structure or practice, but hey, it's wrestling.  Cena shows a fire here and no goofy smirks, so this gets a pass from me.

Match 3 - Natalya and Maxine vs Layla and Kelly Kelly

Once again, no entrance for Natalya, but Kelly Kelly and Layla each make an individual one.  Beth Phoenix is on commentary and doesn't say anything particularly useful; she gets her rematch at OTL.  No tags are made in this match at all - Maxine starts in with Layla, they have a short back and forth and Layla hits the Layout for the win.

Winners: Layla and Kelly Kelly via pinfall

Why not just have had a singles match with Layla and Maxine, other than an excuse to parade Kelly out?  Ugh.  Phoenix made one point - What did Layla do to deserve a title shot?  She's been gone for a year.  Lawler tries to justify it, somehow, by repeating that she was gone for a year.  I agree with Phoenix - You should earn a title shot.



Match 4 - Alberto del Rio and Chris Jericho vs Randy Orton and Sheamus

I don't know what it is with WWE and Randy Orton being in random tag matches.  A lot of good back and forth tag action here.  Michael Cole flub of the night:  Orton lands a dropkick and Cole says "You don't see Randy throw many of those!"  Really?  Because he does it every match and has one of the best dropkicks in the business.  Goof.  As we progress to the end of the match, Sheamus finally gets the hot tag and runs wild on Jericho.  He tries the Celtic Cross, but his still injured shoulder gives out, though he manages to land the Irish Curse with that arm seconds later.  Del Rio breaks up the pin attempt here and gets an RKO for his trouble.  Sheamus lines up for the Brough Kick and Jericho dodges, causing Sheamus to hit Orton by mistake.  Sheamus turns around into a Codebreaker for the three.

Winners: Alberto del Rio and Chris Jericho via pinfall

Sheamus tries to help Orton up, and as he gets to his feet, he RKOs Sheamus.

A nice change of pace from the usual Sheamus and/or Orton tag matches we see on a weekly basis.  It opens up rivalries and Jericho has just pinned the champion, usually meaning he's going to get a title shot soon.  The number one contender, del Rio, will probably have something to say about that.

Ace and Eve are in the back and agree Big Show's apology was insincere.  Jericho barges in and says he deserves the next title shot.  Alberto disagrees.  Orton heads in and says he should get the shot (now really, he has the least claim here).  A fight breaks out and Sheamus runs in to even the odds.  Orton is less than gracious and Sheamus tells him as much.  Ace makes the title match at Over the Limit a Fatal Four Way.  We all hate him, but Big Johnny makes way more interesting matches than Teddy Long ever did.

Match 5 - Brodus Clay vs The Miz

Well I guess it's better than no TV time at all for Miz.  Miz compares Brodus to King Hippo from Punchout!, which was obviously a line fed to him.  Miz gets knocked out of the ring, Brodus' ladies laugh at him, he moves toward them and Brodus gets mad.  After a quick exchange and a DDT in the ring, Brodus gets back to his feet and we end up with the usual headbutt, t-bone and splash.

Winner: Brodus Clay via pinfall

Better than the recent Brodus Clay matches, as there was a bit more back and forth, and the kids seem to love the Funkasaurus, so we may as well all get used to seeing this on a weekly basis.  Miz still cuts promos about being the most must see blah blah in blah, even though he hasn't been relevant all year.  Miz needs new shtick as bad as Brodus.

Replay of HHH getting his arm broken by Brock Lesnar.

Brock Lesnar's music hits and out comes...Paul Heyman!  I don't think anyone expected him to appear during this Lesnar run, so this is actually a legitimate and interesting surprise for once.  Heyman will be representing Lesnar here tonight.  He reminds us that Lesnar did what he said he would:  Kick asses and hurt people.

Reading a statement from Lesnar, Heyman tells us that Brock brought legitimacy to the WWE and was rewarded with corporate BS.  HHH was jealous; he lasted an hour in a cage with Undertaker and couldn't last a minute in a ring with Lesnar.  Lesnar is never coming back; he quits!

And just like that, Heyman returns on the side of Lesnar, the seeds of a HHH/Lesnar fight around Summerslam are planted and the hardcore fans got to mark out for their favorite bald-ponytail.  And it didn't drag on.  Definition of a good segment right here.

Big Show is in the back with the stars of Common Law airing on USA soon.  Or tonight.  Whatever.  They mock Ace's voice, Big Show laughs and Eve walks in with disappointed face again.  Her being upset is going to lead to something, and the fact that Show got caught twice makes him the prime target.

CM Punk enters for the main event, followed by Ace - "This is going to be a handicap match - against Tensai and Daniel Bryan!"

Match 6 - CM Punk vs Lord Tensai and Daniel Bryan

Back from a break, with no entrances for anyone, Tensai opens up by running Punk over.  Bryan and Tensai tag in and out on Punk early on.  Tensai hits his stalling butterfly suplex, preceded by knees and tosses Punk out to the floor.  Punk fights, but gets slammed into the ring post.  Back in the ring, Tensai slaps on a nerve hold and then suffers a Tensai senton.  Bryan tags back in and comes up empty on a diving headbutt.  Punk slingshots Bryan into the corner, then hits a leg lariat, swinging neckbreaker and the knee/bulldog combo.  Bryan escapes the GTS and tags out.  Bryan gets clotheslined over the top and Tensai clotheslines Punk.  Tensai misses a body attack in the corner and takes a kick to the skull.  Punk gets distracted by Bryan and Sakamoto and walks into a chokebomb attempt from Tensai - he lands it, but there was a miscommunication on the timing and Punk barely leaves the ground.  Tensai sprays the mist on his hand and Claws Punk's head.  Tensai lands the Claw STO and pins Punk.

Winners: Lord Tensai and Daniel Bryan via pinfall

Why is that mist legal exactly?  After the match or to draw a DQ is fine, but there's no logical reason why Tensai can spray green goop on his hand and rub it in a guy's eyes on a consistent basis.  Regardless, Bryan follows up on the carnage and locks in the Yes!lock twice on his opponent at OTL.  So both champions have hurt arms going into the PPV?

Not a bad Raw - Ziggler/Kofi played nice together, the tag and handicap matches were both entertaining, with outcomes that aren't the bog standard that we're always subjected to and Paul Heyman cut a good, succinct promo, furthering a storyline.  That's all we ask, guys.  Just do this on a weekly basis.

Starting next week, we may roll the Friday's Smackdown and the next Monday's Raw into a single article - let us know what you think about that! 

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