IGN’s given us the first good look at Batman: Arkham City, the follow-up to 2009’s critically acclaimed Arkham Asylum. Until now, we’ve only seen a live-action teaser introducing Dr.Hugo Strange, however this new trailer features quite a bit more. Not only do we get a glimpse at the actual gameplay, but we’ve been given our first look at Catwoman, and Two-Face. I’m also pleased to see The Joker — Mark Hamil — making his return after having been the focus of the last game. In recent weeks the developer has stated that they’ve opted to avoid an online mode — a feature that has been heavily requested for whatever reason — in favor of focusing on the single player aspect, and making sure it’s nicely polished when the game hits stores later this year. Personally, I can’t wait.
Posted by Tim Sheehy on Mar 15, 2011 in Videogames
This probably isn’t welcome news to any of you who play Final Fantasy XI and Final Fantasy XIV, but Square-Enix has decided to suspended their online services for the next week. The decision was made as an effort to conserve energy following the recent earthquakes. I’m actually not surprised that they’d be willing to shut down operations. Many Japanese publishers have also been making sacrafices by delaying their releases — one even going as far as to cancel a disaster-themed game. Others have been donating their proceeds to relief efforts. It should be noted that Square-Enix will be allowing Final Fantasy XI users free play for the month of April in appreciation for their understanding. Read more…
As far as toy makers go, Hots Toys has a reputation of being among the best. The company may charge us an arm and a leg, but their attention to detail is second to none. Each figure they produce is painstaking crafted with photorealism in mind, making them frighteningly accurate. One could easily find themselves confusing a photo of a toy for the real thing — their 2009 The Dark Knight Joker comes to mind. They recently unveiled two new designs for their Bruce Lee line, and both are absolutely stunning. One features Lee in casual attire, the other in a suit. While neither figure are available for preorder quite yet — they’re scheduled for Fall — the Enter the Dragonversion will available for preorder on April 1st.
Prior to the availability of Youtube, there is little to no chance that viewers can see foreign commercials that well known people can be involved in. Certainly in the United States, unless with a right fee, you really wouldn’t catch popular and established celebrities selling commercials. However if you are in a country like Japan, you’ll see many celebrities selling Japanese products. Like Bill Murray in the movie Lost in Translation. You can see Arnold Schwarzenegger selling instant cup ramen, Leonardo DiCaprio selling a car, Brad Pitt selling a cell phone, with enough money, the choice is clear. Consider these following commercials starring George Lucas. Read more…
Posted by Linda Yau on Mar 14, 2011 in Comic Books
Given the stress on the market, it’s been hard times for the manga publishing industry here in the States. Firstly you now have am established discerning generation of fans who want the latest; secondly you have more competition than ever to grab the best licenses from Japan; and lastly many chain stores which use to be booming are now closing their doors. Yet one publisher has met all of these challenges the old fashioned way — by focusing on quality, quality and oh yes quality. It’s for the reason that Vertical, Inc. while many other publishers have faded from the scene. If you’re new to manga (or want to introduce a friend) here is a selection of our favorites from Vertical: Read more…
You may think you’re a sci-fi expert, but can you navigate this fittingly tentacular map of the history of the genre? Artist Ward Shelley created it for Places and Spaces: Mapping Science. Almost every important event or genre piece is here, though you may find that your pet series or favorite novel isn’t on there if you look hard enough. Click on the image for a super-huge version, well worth the few seconds to download. Read more…
Fresh on the heels of the news that Universal passed on Guillermo Del Toro’s adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft’s “At the Mountains of Madness,” we’re now hearing that the studio is pushing forward a $150 million 3D film reboot of Doom. That’s right, the first-person shooter that’s about a million years old. There was a pretty bad Doom movie just a few years ago, with Karl Urban and The Rock, and after that one I’m not sure anybody was really clamoring for another one. At least in 3D they can make another incredibly dumb first-person camera sequence even more gimmicky. Read more…
Posted by Michael Sacco on Mar 12, 2011 in Pulp Fiction
We consider the genre a staple nowadays, but back in the 30s, science fiction was still a relatively new thing. It hadn’t even been coined “science fiction” yet — “science romance” was a popular term, along with “pseudo-scientific” and “scientifiction” (which sounds like some kind of chemical reaction). Time Magazine reported on the very first World Science Fiction Convention in 1939, and now, thanks to the miracle of the internet, you can read the original article. It’s a doozy, an openly condescending take on the “shamo-scientifics” that were so popular in the pulp fiction world at the time. It directly refers to the venerable Hugo Gernsback as a “shrewd, fat old man.” Don’t miss it. Read more…
Posted by Michael Sacco on Mar 11, 2011 in Star Wars
If there’s one truism of good hardware modders, it’s that they never stop with just one awesome mod. To prove it, Mark of Major League Mods followed up his far-out Millenium Falcon Xbox mod with this: an almost life-size R2-D2 that’s also an Xbox 360 and projector. Artoo projects the 360’s video output from the lens on his forehead on surfaces up to fifty inches diagonal. But that’s not all — he also has auxiliary ports for all the other game consoles as well. Even the controllers received the droid’s paint job. That’s one cool robot. You might say he’s the droid you’re looking for. Read more…
Posted by Michael Sacco on Mar 11, 2011 in Star Trek
This shouldn’t come as a surprise to any adult, but there’s been a candy tie-in for pretty much everything. Spongebob has Krabby Patty gummies nowadays, Nintendo had Game Boy bubble gum when I was growing up, and apparently before that, there were candy bars “based on” the short-lived Star Trek animated series. And not just any candy bars, but cream-flavo(u)red candy bars with sugar crisps! Fans could collect wrappers with each of their favorite Enterprise crew members, including the rather smug-looking Captain Kirk shown above. Big props to Jason Liebig for programming the replicator to spit these out and putting them on his Flickr page. Read more…
Beautiful isn’t it? This deadly insect was crafted by English designer, and steampunk enthusiast Tom Hardwidge. It’s one of many he’s created over the years — an interesting hobby to say the least. The components he uses to craft these wonders are merely used parts from pocket watches, a nut, bolt, or a piece of copper here and there — oh, and old ammunition. I’m sure something could be said for creating art so beautiful from something so deadly.
Every time Mr.Spock peered at that scanner by his station, I always found myself wondering what he was looking at. Well, this fan-edit by BlackMoonCGI lets us get our peek. It never occured to me that he’d spend all his time on Facebook, but that would probably explain the need for the added privacy. After all, it’s always worksafe if nobody else ever gets to look through your scanner. The video seems to be the first of what may become an ongoing series, so let’s hope for more of these hilarious edits in the future.
A remake of the arcade classic, Double Dragon, hit the app store last week. Brizo Interactive teamed up with Aksys Games to revive the license from the grave with fresh graphics, revamped gameplay and a remastered soundtrack. I had a chance to sit down and give it try and while the touch controls can be difficult to master, especially with the newly added move-sets, but otherwise it plays well. Unfortunately, I still find myself asking why they couldn’t just post the title to Xbox Live!, Playstation Network, or Wiiware for that matter. It’s a fantastic remake, but it’d be nice to have an actual controller. The app’s current price of $3.99 is a limited time offer. I can’t imagine them pricing it much higher, though. Still, if you loved the original, you’ll definitely want this app.
Earlier today, Sideshow Collectibles debuted their upcoming G.I.Joe Cobra Commander premium format figure. This fantastic sculpt includes an interchangeable hood/helmet just in case you’re partial to his Marvel comics counterpart. In addition, the cape is also removable — though, I’m sure you’ll agree that any good villain needs a cape. The level of detail on these premium figures is absolutely exquisite, but that comes at a price — $300 with only 500 units being produced. In order to secure you preorder you’ll need to sign up for their newslettter and log in on March 10th to have your shot. It kind of makes you wonder who the real terrorists are. Could Sideshow Collectibles just be a front for Cobra? We’ll never know.
I never thought I’d need a Starfleet-issued bathrobe — that is, until I saw one. Fashioned after their Star Trek original series counterparts, these terrycloth robes come designed with fanboys in mind. For instance, “Command Gold” comes em captain’s rank properly embroidered on the sleeves, along with a command insignia on the left breast. “Sciences Blue” features a commander rank and sciences insignia. For now, those are the only colors available. If you’d rather hold out in hopes of picking up Scotty’s red, those should be available by April. The robes cost a hefty $49.99 via ThinkGeek, but something tells me it’s worth it.
The Bruce Lee classic Fist of Fury — or The Chinese Connection, for those of you who remember — recently received a proper sequel after nearly 4 decades. The 2010 film Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen, starring Donnie Yen as Lee’s replacement, will have its limited theatrical release in North America next month. Some of you might be wondering why Zhen is rocking the Kato costume, but don’t worry, there’s a reason for it aside from giving a nod to Lee who, as you should know, played the Hornet’s masked sidekick on the original TV series.
Shojo titles target audience is the opposite to Shonen Jump‘s target audience. Literally translated from Japanese, shojo means little girl, and titles are fashioned for females to appreciate. Themes in shojo titles cover romance, self-discovery, and friendship. For a period of time in the United States, Viz Media did release a sister magazine publication to Shonen Jump in Shojo Beat, however citing financial reasons the magazine ended its print run in 2009. Viz Media though, still uses the imprint of Shojo Beat to sustain its branding for releasing titles toward female fans. Consider this list of shojo recommendations in titles and creators, do you dare to see if you’re interested in this genre? Read more…
For hobby enthusiasts, developing a passion and devotion to an industry takes time, and while it can be visually measured with how much you own (thus bringing in the materialism and consumerism aspect). There is more to the limited examples for what was presented in Tokyopop’s search for the Greatest Otaku. Otaku can be defined as being loving all things Japanese anime, or obsessive introverts, but to be a devoted fan really is have the knowledge and sincere passion for it. Similar to uncovering the layers of an onion are identities and fandoms of this niche cultures that is worth exploring and considering. Before getting to the list, I have to mention that some of the labels I have used is an approximation of how a certain fandom treats aspects of the anime hobby. Read more…
Posted by Michael Sacco on Mar 6, 2011 in Videogames
Okay, technically I don’t know for certain whether it’s actually the world’s smallest, but this laser-cut acrylic Space Invaders cabinet is pretty darn small at five inches tall. There’s even a little in-progress game on it! If you’re keen on making your own out of 3mm acrylic, you can grab the pattern for it, but bear in mind you do need a laser cutter to do it. Though, admittedly, it’s easier to get a laser cutter than it is to get an actual Space Invaders cabinet, use a shrink ray to make it five inches tall, and convert it to acrylic at the molecular level. Ostensibly, anyway. Read more…
Alcon Entertainment, an investment group owned by Warner Brothers, recently acquired the rights to create new Blade Runner films, though it appears the films must be prequels or sequels, thus ruling out unnecessary remakes. This could be good news for fans of the original Blade Runner, or it could put you into a state of abject terror. Sequels to older movies generally don’t work that well. The good news is, there’s still a lot of time for popular opinion to coalesce — it doesn’t appear that the rights-owners have the slightest idea what kind of film they want to make right now, what material it would feature, anything like that. It’s almost comforting that no one involved with the project has yet piped up and said “I was thinking the best way to make this movie would be to add GIANT REPLICANTS. Squid replicants, dinosaur replicants. Transforming car replicants. That’s Blade Runner, man.” Read more…
Han Solo has already shown us the results of crossing bounty hunters and galactic crime lords, but now we finally know what happens to those who cross Shawna, the manager at Jo-Ann Fabrics. Xanadoodle created this 16-inch throw pillow, which is a fairly faithful (as yarn goes) recreation of Han Solo’s famous carbonite imprisonment. At least this Han looks comfortable. Well, comfortable to lounge on, anyway. His face tells a slightly different story. Read more…
Posted by Michael Sacco on Mar 4, 2011 in Pulp Fiction
The next book in George R. R. Martin’s much-loved A Song of Ice and Fire series, A Dance with Dragons, has been due for quite a while. It’s had release dates from 2007 all the way through this year! But fans of the series can now rejoice — a hard release date of July 12th, 2011 has been set for Dance. Judging by Martin’s rate of producing work, it’ll be some time before you get the next book in the series, so you should enjoy this one while it lasts. And at 900+ pages, that should be quite a while. Read more…
Got anywhere to be eleven-and-a-half months from now? I hope so, because that’s when Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace is returning to theaters in 3D. Specifically, it’s scheduled for theatrical release on February 10th, 2012. The good news is that you can avoid the whole thing by just holing yourself up in a secluded cabin that weekend and throwing your cell phone and laptop into the ocean so none of your friends can get a hold of you and convince you to go see it out of some misguided notion that it was “still an okay movie, just not a good Star Wars movie.” On the other hand, Lucasfilm does say that the 3D conversion is “meticulous”… Read more…
It’s still far from a confirmation, but during his 2011 Game Developers Conference panel, Sega producer Yu Suzuki shocked everyone by stating that he believes Sega will finally let him finish the Shenmue saga with the third and final installment of the trilogy. While the original titles were considered ground breaking both terms of gameplay and aesthetics, a number of factors ultimately led Sega to the cancel their plans for a third entry in the series. Read more…
Prior to the availability of Youtube, there is little to no chance that viewers can see foreign commercials that well known people can be involved in. Certainly in the United States, unless with a right fee, you really wouldn’t catch popular and established celebrities selling commercials. However if you are in a country like Japan, you’ll see many celebrities selling Japanese products. Like Bill Murray in the movie Lost in Translation. You can see Arnold Schwarzenegger selling instant cup ramen, Leonardo DiCaprio selling a car, Brad Pitt selling a cell phone, with enough money, the choice is clear. Consider these following commercials starring George Lucas. 
