Posted by Tim Sheehy on Oct 19, 2010 in Videogames
Why is it that Wii’s accessories seem so much cooler than its actual games? Last week, I mentioned a nifty Lego Wiimote that recently went on sale over at ToysRUs. This week, we’re taking a look at Shinobii Technologies TT Champion Bat — a Wiimote fashioned after a real ping pong paddle. Suddenly, I find myself wanting to give one of these a try — even if I know I’ll be disappointed by the Wii itself. of course, there are those of us who still manage to find the Wii enjoyable, so I wouldn’t blame you guys for being excited about the prospect. So what’s so unique about this paddle? Well, aside from being compatible with Wii Motion Plus, it’ll feature “Xtra Motion Technology” that supposedly translates the torque, spin control and more. Oh, and it has a built-in rechargeable battery for added convenience. It sounds really promising, and for the $69.99 price tag, I really hope it delivers. While they’re not quite ready to ship, I imagine it’ll probably end up on Amazon at some point, so keep your eyes peeled. Read more…
As if on cue, StarWarsShop.com began listing their Christmas items in anticipation of the upcoming holiday season. I’m sure everyone’s probably tired of hearing people gripe about seasonal merchandise hitting the shelves earlier and earlier each year, but I do kinda find it funny that Halloween hasn’t even passed and people can already order their R2D2 Christmas lights. Once you buy enough of those to decorate your tree and house, you can pick up one of these eight-and-a-half inch “Yodaclause” table pieces. Of course, if you’d rather dress up like Yodaclause yourself, they sell Santa hats with Yoda’s ears attached. Now, if only they had a lightsaber menorah.
I have a good week or so to reflect on the New York Comic Con and I have to say that if they play their cards right the convention has everything that it takes to not just rival San Diego, but to beat them. However before hat happens they need to make the otaku and the fanboy cultures better mesh together to take the show to the next level. Read more…
I’m not sure if I could ever forgive Hollywood for their shlock epic Dragonball Evolution which nearly ruined the franchise for me! However these authentic Dragon Ball denim jeans might make might up for it. These jeans will be released by Cospa in late December just in time Christmas. Sadly overweight otaku need not apply as the jeans will range from a 30 to 36 inch waste size, but this is a martial arts anime series after all so we’d expect you to be in good shape: Read more…
Yes if you had the cash and spare time you cold fly many all the way to Japan to experience a maid cafe in person — but what’s a poor ramen-eating non-passport holding fanboy suppose to do? Well with the Akiba Maid Welcome Sensor you can replicate the sounds of maid cafe without the maids, amazing desserts and well stocked manga library. When you enter a room you’ll be greeted by cutely voiced phrases like “Irashaimase” or “Arigatou Gozaimasu”. Plus the magic microphone also works with a CD-ROM which will let you customize your faux cafe experience: Read more…
Bill Bixby and Lou Ferrigno played Bruce Banner and his musclebound alter ego, respectively, in the 70s television version of classic comic book series The Incredible Hulk. It ran for a good while, and was probably the most well-known and successful comic book-related TV series ever made. It looks like Marvel is hoping lightning will strike twice — they’ve announced plans to bring the green giant back to television. Stan Lee is excited, and you should be too, because guess who’s thrown his hat into the ring as a possible show runner? None either than Hellboy director and visionary filmmaker Guillermo Del Toro. We figure if there’s anybody who knows how to humanize monsters, it’s that guy. Read more…
Posted by Michael Sacco on Oct 17, 2010 in Star Trek
Apparently this couple loves Picard as much as they love each other (and that’s fine; there’s room for a little Jean-Luc in any relationship). Their friend made them this edible cake bust of the Enterprise’s venerable captain; additionally, he made you jealous that you didn’t have this as your wedding cake. First pizza cutters, now this? What’s the next piece of food-related Star Trek paraphernalia we’ll see? A jello mold of Deanna Troi?
NASA, in conjunction with Etsy, is running a contest. The parameters: make something really cool by hand, and theme it around space exploration! There are already some really neat entries, like the above necktie based on the recently-declassified Apollo lander manual. The winner gets a $500 Etsy shopping spree and, presumably, the brag-worthy title of Artisan NASA Thought Was The Best.
Official rules are here — you have until November 2nd to turn in your entry. If you’re not the crafty type, you can always just keep an eye on the page and see what awesome space-y stuff the Etsians have come up with. Read more…
Bilbo Baggins famously said “Not all who wander are lost,” and the axiom appears to be true even where movies are concerned. The two films based on The Hobbit, considered to be the prequel to the Lord of the Rings trilogy, are now finally greenlit despite what appeared to be insurmountable issues with nearly every facet of production. Peter Jackson is set to direct both films (replacing a frustrated Guillermo Del Toro), which will start preliminary filming back-to-back in February of 2011.
As for casting, Ian McKellen is set to return as the wizard Gandalf, and Martin Freeman is rumored to be playing Bilbo Baggins. We should expect to hear more casting news now that the film finally has its greenlight. Read more…
Sillof & Glorbes, makers of countless other incredible custom action figures, did this awesome WWII-themed Star Wars reimagining! There’s a lot to love here, from Darth Vader’s technological downgrade to Han Solo’s Millenium Falcon bomber jacket. The Stormtrooper figure above is “the most literal fusion of WWII and Star Wars imagery,” but other characters deviate a bit. Boba Fett, for example, now has a flamethrower arm. Can’t really argue with that. Read more…
Sony is officially rebooting the Spiderman franchise, and they have their Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield) and their Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone). But the question on everyone’s mind isn’t who Spiderman is smoochin’ on, it’s who he’s swingin’ at! And it looks like we may finally have our answer. Actor Rhys Ifans was recently added to the cast in the role of the film’s villain, but we didn’t have any idea as to who he was playing until now. The Wrap reports that Ifans, a Welsh actor perhaps best known in America for his role in Notting Hill, will be playing classic Spidey villain The Lizard, a.k.a. Doc Connors. We haven’t heard anything from Sony yet, so take the news with a grain of salt, but it does seem like a pretty good fit. Read more…
Posted by Tim Sheehy on Oct 14, 2010 in Videogames
With Halloween creeping up on us, many of you probably have your costumes already picked out. Some of us, on the other hand, like to procrastinate till the last minute. Well, here’s your chance to be proactive and hilarious at the same time without having to rely on your wit. That’s right, not only does this awesome Pac-Man costume look fantastic, but I’m pretty sure everyone in your office will find it hilarious to some degree. Of course, if you’d rather go as something lame like a ghost, you may as well make it oneofthese. It’s way better than a bed sheet — just don’t get mad if someone tries to eat you.
Posted by Tim Sheehy on Oct 14, 2010 in Videogames
BDA Gamer recently teamed up with Lego to produce a line of customizable Wiimotes for the ever-so popular Nintendo Wii. It’s a shame that these controllers are being released now as I imagine they probably would have sold far more during the launch craze a few years back. If it weren’t for the fact that my Wii collects more dust than a swiffer, I might have even considered picking up a pair of them myself. Of course, I’m sure there are still plenty of gamers out there who will want one, even if the only thing they’ll ever be playing on that console are titles developed by Nintendo themselves. If you’re in the market for one, you can order them through Toys’R’Us and you’ll receive a free Lego Halloween bucket as well.
I had written that I wasn’t entirely sure how they’d go about creating a sequel to Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, but after viewing the trailer, I had a basic grasp of the premise. You play a clone of the previous hero who scrafices himself to save the rebellion. Subsequently, this extended production dairy delves a little deeper, giving us a better understanding of exactly what they have in mind for this upcoming sequel, from introducing narrative to characters we’ve seen before, such as Yoda and Boba Fett. If this piques your interest, the demo is now available for download on both Xbox Live! and Playstation Network.
There are those of us out there who can’t get enough Star Trek. We’ve seen every episode and own every film — even the director’s cut of The Motion Picture, don’t ask why — and yet we crave more. With J.J. Abrams running the show, god only knows how long it’ll be until we see the next film hit the big screen. On top of that, many of us, myself included are still coming to terms with his alternate universe and what that means for the future of the series we’ve all known and loved. Thankfully, a place still exists where we can hide from the changes that have warped our precious universe — the novels. Read more…
At first, I found myself wondering how they managed to create a sequel seeing as the first Star Wars: The Force Unleashed had such a definitive pair of endings. Not to spoil anything — Episode IV pretty much does that for you, seeing as it takes place between episodes III and IV — but it’s either you or Vader at the end, and we all know how that turns out. So, naturally you’d think the game would be a sequel in name only — guess again. The game apparently takes place after the first, and as this trailer reveals, you play a clone of the previous hero. Again, you can probably guess the ending, but on the bright side, you’ll get more of that over-the-top gameplay we experienced the first time around. Of course, I don’t think anything is as over the top as using the force to crash a Star Destroyer, but who am I to judge.
Ever since the latest episode of The Simpsons aired this past Sunday, the Internet has been abuzz about British political activist and graffiti king Banksy’s contribution to the opening sequence — most notably its extended couch-gag. While I’m not able to actually post the couch-gag here, I can link to Fox who currently has the episode in question available for streaming free of charge.
Sadly New York Comic Con 2010 has come to an end — but what impressed me is that I think in the long term this may turn out to be the one show that can rival the San Diego Comic Con. Part of my evidence for this was the sheer scale of the number of quality cosplayers that could be spotted at the con. Here is our collection of our top 100 photos that we captured this past weekend:
Posted by Michael Sacco on Oct 10, 2010 in Star Wars
Franco Bambrilla has this great image, titled “Imperial Minigolf Final Exam,” available in giclee print form. I’m trying to figure out what exactly’s going on. Maybe that stormtrooper’s about to make a free throw. I can’t see the hoop, but I imagine that armor has to augment you somehow, right? It’s probably just off-camera. That would probably be a three-pointer, though. Wait, no, this is mini-golf, not basketball. Maybe you have to make a putt through a two-meter exhaust vent? Read more…
Bucking the trend completely, Warner Bros. has officially backed out of plans to release Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part One in 3D, citing that time constraints wouldn’t allow for a quality conversion. Believe it or not, this actually bodes well for 3D cinema on the whole — it’s the first time a studio has come out in favor of quality over quantity where 3D is concerned. However, Warner Bros. still plans to release the second Deathly Hallows film in 3D, so I’m not sure if we can chalk this up as a win for 3D cinema just yet. Read more…
I see it time after time again: A new film opens packed with hype, does poor box office and then fades away within a week. A good pulse check of this is if you see any cosplay related to said property even a month after the film is heading to video — so I was very pleased to see the above Scott Pilgrim cosplayer at New York Comic Con on Friday. I think too many reviewer got lost with the videogame story telling style and lost fact that Pilgrim is really an A+ geeky romance film that speaks to a generation (or two).
I’ve got to say that I’m very impressed at how in a short amount of time that Reni Mimur has really perfected her Japanese maid show act — and has won over so many fans in the process. This year Reni returned to the New York Comic Con and I think what’s great is that this will give her an opportunity to win over non-anime fanboys while warming the hearts of the local otaku community. Read more…
