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Posted by Bob Muir on Jul 30, 2013 in Videogames 
Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina are pokemon that control time, space, and antimatter, which is pretty powerful, as far as pokemon go. These were the box mascots for Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum, the fourth generation of Pokemon games, and haven’t really been available outside of those games barring a special event in HeartGold and SoulSilver that not many players could access. Since they’re difficult to get in the current fifth generation and we’re on the edge of a sixth generation (Pokemon X & Y release on October 12), Nintendo will be giving them out free over the next few months. Even better, these are rare “shiny” versions, which means they have an alternate color scheme that is astoundingly rare to find without hacking! Read more…
Tags: Nintendo, Nintendo DS, Pokémon
Posted by Bob Muir on Jul 30, 2013 in Cinema 
Where to go now that the Harry Potter films are finished? There’s a gap that studios are trying to fill with other book-to-film adaptations like Percy Jackson. Cue a press release from Disney: they’ll be adapting Eoin Cofler’s Artemis Fowl series — specifically the first two books — into a movie. The first book’s story involves the titular character, a genius, billionaire, and criminal, kidnapping a fairy and dealing with the results. The script is coming from Michael Goldenberg, who also wrote the script for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix; he managed to take the slowest and most bloated Harry Potter book and turn it into a solid film, so that’s a good sign. Robert DeNiro and Jane Rosenthal will executive produce the film. Read more…
Tags: Disney, Fantasy, Sci-Fi
Posted by Bob Muir on Jul 25, 2013 in Animation, Anime, Cinema 
Okay, so Japan’s CG isn’t quite on Hollywood’s level. But this trailer for Space Pirate Captain Harlock looks pretty awesome, possibly because of its $30 million budget, the highest ever for Toei Animation. I’ve never seen the original anime of the same name, but I have always loved the look of the titular character (designed by Leiji Matsumoto). So for me, this trailer hits all the important bits — namely, Harlock looking bad-ass and piloting his giant, bad-ass ship the Arcadia. The movie opens in Japan on September 7, and while a US release hasn’t been announced, GFM Films (located in London) is working on a dub. Read more…
Tags: Captain Harlock
Posted by Bob Muir on Jul 25, 2013 in Fandom, Videogames 
Sometimes fans do crazy things. This time, it concerns Kanye “Yeezus” West. They’re making Kanye Quest 3030, a PC game made in RPG Maker VX that sends Kanye West through a wormhole to a future ruled by Lil B, The Based God, another rapper. To get back, Kanye West must fight and team up with clones of other rappers like 2Pac, Jay Z, Eminem, and more. Battles play out in RPG style, with rappers dissing each other to do damage. It’s as ridiculous older fan-RPG Barkley, Shut Up and Jam: Gaiden, but I’d imagine this one depends more on a love of hip-hop. Still, it’s worth checking out the trailer below, or grabbing the free PC download here. Read more…
Tags: Music, RPG
Posted by Bob Muir on Jul 24, 2013 in Comic Books, Videogames 
Despite selling over three million copies, March’s Tomb Raider prequel-reboot still failed to meet publisher Square Enix’s (apparently astronomical) sales expectations. However, that doesn’t mean the game is a failure, at least if this news is to be believed. Dark Horse is working on a new Tomb Raider comic that serves as a canonical sequel to the recent game’s origin story. Writer Gail Simone noted that the story occurs a few week’s after the game ends, but most interestingly will lead “directly” into a sequel. Read more…
Tags: square enix, Tomb Raider
Posted by Bob Muir on Jul 24, 2013 in Anime, Cinema 
I remember everyone clamoring for a Persona 3 anime after the game came out. I’d have to imagine all those fans were disappointed by Persona: Trinity Soul, which was actually a sequel (though now considered non-canon) with none of the likable characters from the game. But hey, Persona 4: The Animation did well enough, so now Persona 3 is getting an anime adaptation, starting with Persona 3 The Movie: #1 Spring of Birth. The first actual trailer has been released, and it’s looking great! Read more…
Tags: Atlus, Persona 3
Posted by Bob Muir on Jul 23, 2013 in Cinema 
Pacific Rim is one of the best summer movies this year, and it’s sadly underperforming from poor marketing. (When Grown Ups 2 beats your film, you’ve got a problem.) It hasn’t earned back enough money yet, which is generally a poor sign for those who want a sequel, but it hasn’t opened in markets like Japan yet, so there’s still hope for more international revenue to roll in. Despite this, apparently director/co-writer Guillermo del Toro and co-writer Travis Beacham have been given the go-ahead to start writing Pacific Rim 2! Del Toro is even dropping hints about where the sequel may go. It goes without saying, but spoilers follow! Read more…
Tags: guillermo del toro, Pacific Rim, Robots
Posted by Bob Muir on Jul 23, 2013 in Animation, Anime, Cinema 
Though Ghibli has put out two films in the past few years, but while both were written by Hayao Miyazaki, neither were directed by him. His first film since 2008’s Ponyo is Kaze Tachinu, or The Wind Rises. It’s based on a manga that Miyazaki made in 2009, which is loosely based on Tatsuo Hori’s short ’30s novel The Wind Has Risen. It tells the story of Jiro Horikoshi, the man designed the Mitsubishi A6M Zero plane, one of the top fighters in World War II. But from watching this four-minute trailer, the movie seems to prioritize the joy of flight over pro-war statements. Read more…
Tags: Hayao Miyazaki, Studio Ghibli
Posted by Bob Muir on Jul 18, 2013 in Cinema, Comic Books 
When looking at the comics that made the medium more respected in the 80s and 90s, one of the most notable titles was Neil Gaiman’s Sandman, a complete reinterpretation of an ancient DC comic book. I’ve only read the first volume, but I loved the dark, dreamy atmosphere. So I think it’s a little strange that Diane Nelson, the current president of DC, says her first choice for a new movie was a Sandman adaptation, saying “it could be as rich as the Harry Potter universe.” Read more…
Tags: DC Comics, sandman, Warner Brothers
Posted by Bob Muir on Jul 18, 2013 in Animation, Videogames 
The first footage of Cartoon Network’s next Adventure Time and Regular Show games is out! Both Adventure Time: Explore the Dungeon Because I DON’T KNOW and Regular Show: Mordecai and Rigby in 8-Bit Land are being made by WayForward, the 2D masters who also made the previous Adventure Time game Hey Ice King! Why’d You Steal Our Garbage?! However, the new AT game isn’t a 2D sidescroller with an overworld (a la Zelda II) like the previous one was. The new game is a multiplayer dungeon crawler, where you can play as Finn, Jake, Marceline, and Cinnamon Bun — yes, Cinnamon Bun! But of course, it’s got that Adventure Time charm, so I’d expect it to me more than just another Gauntlet game. Read more…
Tags: 3DS, Adventure Time, Cartoon Network, PS3, Regular Show, Wii U, Xbox 360
Posted by Bob Muir on Jul 17, 2013 in Cinema, Comic Books 
Bill Watterson’s Calvin and Hobbes is one of the best newspaper comics ever, up there with the likes of Peanuts. The Kickstarter-funded documentary Dear Mr. Watterson examines the comic with the help of fellow comic creators and notable fans, including Seth Green and Foxtrot‘s Bill Amend. And now, you’ll be able to see it in theaters come November 15! Check out the latest trailer and then look for more updates on the website. Read more…
Tags: Calvin & Hobbes, Kickstarter
Posted by Bob Muir on Jul 17, 2013 in Cinema, Comic Books 
[Note: This article vaguely references spoilers if you still haven’t seen Man of Steel.] I’ll admit to enjoying Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel, though I still prefer the first two Superman films by Richard Donner. But the climax of the film felt like the still-in-the-works “DC Cinematic Universe” had blown its load before its actual creation; by comparison, the Marvel Cinematic Universe didn’t trash New York City until the sixth film, keeping its origin-story threats small yet reasonably formidable. The long-running How It Should Have Ended (HISHE) YouTube series took special note of Man of Steel‘s ending, and they’ve crafted a more sensible ending for the film. Sure, it would be anticlimatic, and it doesn’t adequately establish Superman’s desire for peace before violence, but considering how much destruction there was in the finale, this may have been preferable for the inhabitants of Metropolis. Read more…
Tags: DC Comics, Man of Steel, Superman, Warner Brothers
Posted by Bob Muir on Jul 16, 2013 in Comic Books 
If you’re into webcomics, you may have heard of Kris Straub. The man has been working in webcomics for years, with one of his earliest projects being Checkerboard Nightmare, a meta-commentary on webcomics. Chainsawsuit is a near-daily loose parody of poorly drawn gag-a-day comics, and last year he wrapped up his seven-year sci-fi comic Starslip. But his latest project, in my opinion, is his finest work yet, easily surpassing anything else he’s done. Starting last year, Broodhollow is a story of a neurotic encyclopedia salesman traveling to a quaint town to receive the inheritance of a distant relative. Soon, he is begins to uncover dark secrets after strange events occur around him. As Straub puts it, it’s “Tintin goes to Innsmouth,” referencing both the adventure comic series by Herge and H.P. Lovecraft’s quiet town with sinister secrets in the Cthulhu Mythos. Read more…
Tags: Horror, webcomics
Posted by Bob Muir on Jul 16, 2013 in Comic Books, Videogames 
If you were watching EVO 2013 over the weekend — which had a ton of intense, fun-t0-watch matches! — then you’ll have already heard about several fighting game announcements. But if you didn’t (and shame on you), then here’s some news: Super Street Fighter IV will be getting another update, supplanting the current version (Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition – Version 2012). This new version replaces the long name and simply goes by Ultra Street Fighter IV. Along with the usual game rebalancing and other tweaks, five new characters will be added: Hugo, Poison, Elena, Rolento, and a fifth character who is supposedly all-new, having never appeared in a Street Fighter game before. Read more…
Tags: Capcom, DC Comics, Mortal Kombat, Street Fighter, Warner Brothers
Posted by Bob Muir on Jul 11, 2013 in Cinema 
Many people have heard of it, even at international film festivals, but in case you’ve somehow missed it, here’s something crazy. Sharknado is the latest b-movie from The Asylum, and it’s airing tonight (Thursday, July 11, 2013) on SyFy at 9PM EST. It’s a movie about a tornado — of sharks. There’s not much more can be said about without spoiling bits! There’s a lot of hype surrounding this for a TV movie. I’ve personally seen some early segments, and Sharknado embraces the schlock wholeheartedly. But if you’re not yet convinced, try watching this trailer to prepare you for the premiere! Read more…
Tags: Syfy
Posted by Bob Muir on Jul 11, 2013 in Comic Books, Television 
Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. will start airing Tuesdays this September on ABC. Clark Gregg’s Marvel Cinematic Universe character Phil Coulson is back as a main character, showing that rumors (or outright depictions) of his death were greatly exaggerated, and I couldn’t be happier. Check out this new featurette to see why. Sure, Grant Ward looks alright, but what’s great is when he shares a scene with Coulson. Here’s hoping the writing remains as good as the pilot written by Joss Whedon, Jed Whedon, and Maurissa Tancharoen seems to be. Read more…
Tags: Agents of SHIELD, Disney, Marvel
Posted by Bob Muir on Jul 10, 2013 in Videogames 
If you haven’t heard, Grand Theft Auto V is going to have three main characters, all playable as you rampage around an HD version of GTA: San Andreas‘s Los Santos (a.k.a. Los Angeles). That’s pretty cool! What’s cooler is how you can play as them. In this new trailer, you’ll see how you can pick one character to play as, then switch over to another character who is living their life independent of your actions. You might even catch them in the middle of some trouble! Or, start a mission with one character, pop out to give support as another character, then pop back in to your first character. Even cooler! Read more…
Tags: Grand Theft Auto, PS3, Xbox 360
Posted by Bob Muir on Jul 10, 2013 in Videogames 
There’s a lot of ways to do an HD rerelease of a classic videogame. Do you go through and make sure everything looks and runs great, then make even further improvements like Bluepoint did for Sony’s Shadow of the Colossus? Or do you basically just tell the game to rerender at a higher resolution and call it a day like Capcom’s Devil May Cry? Square Enix thankfully put more effort into their upcoming rerelease of Final Fantasy X and Final Fantasy X-2. (Admittedly, they had lost a bunch of source files and had to redo a bunch anyway, but whatever.) Check out this comparison video between the original SD version and the new HD remaster, making sure to bump the video quality up to 720p or 1080p. Read more…
Tags: Final Fantasy, PS3, square enix
Posted by Bob Muir on Jul 9, 2013 in Animation, Comic Books 
DC’s latest reboot, “The New 52,” didn’t pop up overnight. Even if they were discarding all that pesky old continuity (sort of), DC had to build up to it and give an in-universe reason why the reboot occurred. Hence, Flashpoint, a storyline where the Flash wakes up in an alternate universe and must fix things, leading to The New 52 universe which made changes and merged the Vertigo and Wildstorm lines into the main DC continuity. There’s an animated adaptation by Warner Brothers coming out July 30 on Blu-ray, DVD, and digital. It’s called Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox, and WB has put out this preview! Read more…
Tags: DC Comics, Flash, Warner Brothers
Posted by Bob Muir on Jul 9, 2013 in Videogames 
Bit.Trip Presents: Runner2 Future Legend of Rhythm Alien (or just Runner2) will get seven new “well-loved” characters, according to Gaijin Games. The characters will be coming as DLC to the Steam version this Thursday, while console versions will get the characters at an unspecified later date. Five of the characters remain a mystery, but two have been revealed: Razputin (“Raz”) from Psychonauts and Quote from Cave Story! Read more…
Tags: PS3, Wii U, Xbox 360
Posted by Bob Muir on Jul 4, 2013 in Videogames 
With echoes of Independence Day, Volition and new publisher Deep Silver put out this patriotic trailer for this fall’s Saints Row IV. It promotes American values such as liberty, freedom, and kicking alien butt. The leader of the Third Street Saints has now become president of the US and must defend the country from an alien invasion led by Emperor Zinyak. Plus, it’s another game where the president rides around in a giant mech. It doesn’t quite make up for Metal Wolf Chaos never being released on the original Xbox, but at least Saints Row IV has a dubstep gun, which counts for something. Read more…
Tags: Saints Row IV
Posted by Bob Muir on Jul 4, 2013 in Star Wars 
People will do crazy things for Guinness World Records, even when you can make up a record for almost anything these days. Case in point: Jonathan Rice decided to run in Death Valley, the hottest place on Earth, dressed up as Darth Vader. He’s the creator of the Darth Valley Challenge, which requires participants to run a mile through Death Valley dressed as their favorite Star Wars character. Rice has been running the past three years, with his fourth run occurring a few days ago on June 30. This year, Rice was joined by supporters dressed up as other Star Wars characters, as well as a support driver dressed as Chewbacca.
So how did Rice do? Not only did he manage to finish his mile in 6 minutes and 36 seconds, he did it at 4PM, during which the National Weather Service recorded a temperature of 129 degrees, the hottest day ever recorded in June. Even for that short time, that’s a pretty incredible feat, considering how fast you need to run for a time like that. (For reference, as a member of my high school track team, my fastest time was a rather average 5 minutes and 15 seconds, on a regulation flat track, wearing extremely light clothing in very temperate weather.) Here’s hoping he didn’t have to spend time in a bacta tank afterwards!
Source: CNET
Tags: Darth Vader
Posted by Bob Muir on Jul 3, 2013 in Videogames 
When the first trailers for Final Fantasy XIII came out, showing main character Lightning riding on a train, everyone immediately drew comparisons to the opening of Final Fantasy VII, with Cloud riding on a train. Connections were also made between the weather-based names and their demeanor. So how fitting is it that preordering Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII, the third and final game of the FFXIII trilogy, will grant players Cloud’s outfit and massive Buster Sword? Read more…
Tags: Final Fantasy, PS3, square enix, Xbox 360
Posted by Bob Muir on Jul 3, 2013 in Cinema, Comic Books 
We had already heard that Christian Bale wasn’t returning to the role of Batman after The Dark Knight Rises. He doesn’t want to play Batman again unless it’s under Christopher Nolan’s direction, and Man of Steel screenwriter/Dark Knight trilogy co-story writer David S. Goyer has said that the Batman appearing in the nebulous Justice League film will be a rebooted character. But on the other hand, Man of Steel, co-produced by Christopher Nolan, did pretty well for Warner Brothers, and rumors began to swirl. So what does Bale have to say on the matter?
As you’d expect, he’s made up his mind on the matter. “We were incredibly fortunate to get to make three [Batman films]. That’s enough. Let’s not get greedy,” he told Entertainment Weekly. “Chris [Nolan] always said he wanted to make it one film at a time. And we ended up sitting there looking at each other, saying ‘We’re about to make the third.’ We never really knew if we were going to get to be there, but if that was how it was going to be, this was where it should end as well.” Well put!
To dispel rumors even further, Bale stated that he hasn’t even been involved in any talks about a Justice League movie. “I have no information, no knowledge about anything. I’ve literally not had a conversation with a living soul. I understand that they may be making a Justice League movie, that’s it.” Since he’s completely done with Batman, Bale has no issue with anyone else playing the role. “It’s a torch that should be handed from one actor to another. So I enjoy looking forward to what somebody else will come up with.”
It was a good run, but I think it’s fine to let Bale retire his cowl. Besides, if he returned, it would tie Nolan’s more realistic Batman to a most likely hyper-realistic Justice League film. For all that was said about making a more realistic Superman, it would be very hard to fit Nolan’s Batman into the world of Man of Steel. Did you see the end of that movie? While Green Lantern or Wonder Woman or even the Flash would work in this world, a Batman film would be rather boring and ordinary compared to what is going on around him. (Disclaimer: I believe Batman works best alone and don’t really like the dynamics of the Justice League due to power disparities. I think what Marvel did with the Avengers, making every team member viable in some way, works far better than a team with nigh-invincible characters like Superman. The only reason Batman is in the Justice League is because he was popular, but he’s basically relegated to “the brains.” In short, I think Marvel’s shared universe and prominent headliners work better together than DC’s.)
Source: Entertainment Weekly
Tags: Batman, Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, The Dark Knight Rises, Warner Brothers
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