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Posted by Bob Muir on Jan 22, 2013 in Videogames 
Against all odds, XSEED will be releasing Pandora’s Tower in North America. That’s right, a JRPG Wii game published by Nintendo in Japan is getting a 2013 release, after the system is all but dead following the release of the Wii U. This isn’t the first time XSEED has picked up after Nintendo’s remains, having taken similar measures with fellow Wii JRPG The Last Story, which performed well for them. There’s also a tentative release date, and it’s as early as this spring. Read more…
Tags: Nintendo, RPG, Wii
Posted by Bob Muir on Jan 17, 2013 in Videogames 
Confession time: I only played Metal Gear Solid — the PS1 classic — for the first time last year. I liked it and plan to play more, but that’s just to establish where I’m coming from. Consider it a disclaimer for when I post that Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, the action game spin-off starring Raiden, looks absolutely insane in the best possible way. It helps that Platinum Games, makers of fine, yet crazy action games, is developing it on behalf of Konami. The latest trailer looks like it’s from the opening of the game and…well, give it a watch. Read more…
Tags: Konami, Metal Gear Solid, PS3, Xbox 360
Posted by Bob Muir on Jan 17, 2013 in Star Trek, Television 
As any good Star Trek fan knows, the original captain before James T. Kirk was Captain Christopher Pike. He starred in the failed pilot “The Cage,” which was salvaged for the two-part episode “The Menagerie.” But at the time, it seemed as though actor Jeffrey Hunter would be sticking with the series. And while his vision of what Star Trek would be was somewhat close to what it ultimately turned out to be, there was a key difference about what the show was actually about. Read more…
Tags: Star Trek
Posted by Bob Muir on Jan 16, 2013 in Videogames 
Hardcore Devil May Cry fans may have balked at Dante’s redesign in Capcom and Ninja Theory’s franchise reboot, but whining aside, the game is looking pretty awesome. The aesthetics may be different, but DmC: Devil May Cry seems like the same crazy, stylized action that the series is known for. Capcom put out a new trailer to promote the launch, and if you haven’t seen the game in a while, give it a watch. There’s a lot of cool stuff going down. Plus, Dante even has white hair at one point. That’s all anyone wanted, right?
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Tags: Capcom, Devil May Cry
Posted by Bob Muir on Jan 16, 2013 in Star Wars 
Internet denizens can sometimes be silly, yet awesome. Almost 35,000 people signed a petition on the White House’s website asking the Obama Administration to secure funding to build a Death Star by 2016. They argued that it would bolster national security and also create much-needed jobs. Hitting 25,000 signatures requires an official response, but it was unlikely that the response would be much more than a humorless “No, stop fooling around.” Imagine my surprise when the White House — one of the most important bureaucratic offices in the world — gave this statement. Read more…
Tags: Death Star, Star Wars
Posted by Bob Muir on Jan 15, 2013 in Cinema, Star Wars 
With Star Wars becoming such a phenomenon over the years and possessing such a rabid fanbase, it’s really fun to see how things might have turned out if, say, the casting had gone differently. At one point, Lucas had offered the role of Obi-Wan Kenobi to Toshiro Mifune, well-known for his roles in Akira Kurosawa’s films like Seven Samurai and Yojimbo. Star Wars itself was heavily influenced by Kurosawa’s The Hidden Fortress (among other films), so it’s not surprising. But apparently, Lucas may have offered Mifune an additional role: Darth Vader. Read more…
Tags: Akira Kurosawa, Darth Vader
Posted by Bob Muir on Jan 15, 2013 in Videogames 
For most people, Pokemon is a light-hearted game or cartoon about obsessively collecting weird animals and making friends. But of course, those who grew up with Pokemon are now old, and they’ve been deconstructing all the strange parts with simple logic and often a good dose of dark speculation. So here’s a question: what does Professor Oak do with the pokemon you leave and your rival leave behind at the beginning of the game? Read more…
Tags: Pokémon
Posted by Bob Muir on Jan 10, 2013 in Cinema 
Jurassic Park is celebrating its 20th anniversary with a 3D rerelease in theaters starting April 5. Of course, the movie wasn’t originally shot in 3D, so the film will undergo a conversion process that better be well done, unlike most films converted to 3D after the fact. But if you’re up for watching the landmark film in the biggest way possible, you may want to consider the newly announced one-week engagement in IMAX 3D. Read more…
Tags: Dinosaurs
Posted by Bob Muir on Jan 10, 2013 in Videogames 
Did you love Three Dog, the DJ in Bethesda’s Fallout 3? His voice actor Erik Todd Dellums is hinting at something new for the post-apocalyptic videogame franchise. And since he was actually “given permission” to leak the info, it has to be fairly factual. Read more…
Tags: Bethesda, Fallout
Posted by Bob Muir on Jan 9, 2013 in Tech, Videogames 
The rumors were true! At CES, Valve confirmed they are making their own videogame console — well, sort of. The as-of-yet unnamed “Steam Box” (codenamed “Piston”) will run their already-existing Steam game delivery system, which is by far the market leader when it comes to PC gaming due to solid service, simple DRM, and ridiculously cheap sales and vast bundle deals. Valve has recently introduced “Big Picture” mode, a menu system designed to be viewed on HDTVs instead of PC monitors, so it made sense that Valve was eyeing the couch gaming market. Read more…
Tags: CES, Steam, Valve
Posted by Bob Muir on Jan 9, 2013 in Videogames 
Nintendo was teasing a major Pokemon announcement, and the latest Nintendo Direct delivered. Despite the 3DS being out for almost two years, Nintendo hasn’t made a main Pokemon game for it yet, with Pokemon Black 2 & White 2 getting a DS release. Now, Nintendo has confirmed an October 2013 release for Pokemon X and Pokemon Y, which features the main games’ first ever 3D world, more dynamic 3D battles, and of course a slew of new pokemon to make up Generation 6. Read more…
Tags: 3DS, Nintendo, Pokémon
Posted by Bob Muir on Jan 8, 2013 in Star Wars 
It’s easily assumed that Darth Vader’s helmet has some sort of hearing aid to help him hear inside that claustrophobic helmet. But what if he didn’t? What if he had no idea what anyone around him was saying? That’s the premise of this edited video.
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Tags: Darth Vader, Star Wars
Posted by Bob Muir on Jan 8, 2013 in Tech, Videogames 
CES is running right now, and Nvidia just revealed a new handheld device they’re calling Project Shield, at least for now. With a 5 inch touchscreen, the device runs Android on Nvidia’s newly announced Tegra 4 mobile chip and features an actual controller in the clamshell about the size of an Xbox 360 controller. Read more…
Tags: Handhelds, Nvidia
Posted by Bob Muir on Jan 3, 2013 in Cinema, Comic Books 
If you saw The Dark Knight Rises, you’d know Joseph Gordon-Levitt as a certain Bat-related character. There are hints that he’s being considered to play Batman in Warner Brothers’ Justice League movie. But according to Deadline, he may be opting for another, lesser-known superhero role on the other side of the fence. Read more…
Tags: Marvel
Posted by Bob Muir on Jan 3, 2013 in Anime, Cinema, Videogames 
Dang, Atlus, slow down! Just yesterday I’m writing about the Devil Survivor 2 anime, and now there’s a teaser trailer for a Persona 3 anime adaptation! Read more…
Tags: Atlus, Persona 3
Posted by Bob Muir on Jan 2, 2013 in Videogames 
Howard Phillips was one of the most important at Nintendo, but after he left, he eventually wound up working for Microsoft during the launch of the original Xbox. Now he’s selling his Xbox launch package, featuring a translucent green Xbox with Bill Gate’s signature on the logo. Also included are two matching controllers, a “Ship-It” chip on commemorative plaque, a replica of the original Xbox prototype (the big “X” in the picture), and a variety of other launch items like a full set of Xbox trading cards. But there’s one very unique item for collectors in this package. Read more…
Tags: Xbox
Posted by Bob Muir on Jan 2, 2013 in Anime, Videogames 
Bravo on Atlus for having the guts to retain the original name of a game when it’s adapted into an anime. Even though Persona 4: The Animation was the first Persona anime actually based on the games (we don’t talk about Persona: Trinity Soul), it didn’t shy away from keeping the “4” in the title, despite the fact that it may alienate potential viewers a bit. Now they’re doing the same with the Devil Survivor 2 anime, and here’s the trailer to prove it. Read more…
Tags: Atlus
Posted by Bob Muir on Jan 1, 2013 in Anime 
Bakemonogatari is one of the best anime of the previous decade, with a striking visual style and unusually smart dialogue. Shaft, the studio that has been adapting author Nisio Isin’s light novels, has previously announced plans to continue adapting his follow-up stories. Nisemonogatari aired earlier this year, and now we have a preview for even more. Read more…
Tags: Bakemonogatari
Posted by Bob Muir on Jan 1, 2013 in Cinema 
With The Hobbit still fresh in everyone’s minds, there’s still plenty of time for fan parodies. In the vein of Epic Rap Battles of History, we see Smeagol taking on Gollum in a battle of words. If only things were this simple in all of Middle-Earth. While I won’t spoil who wins, they both receive a little help from a famous pop singer (not really).
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Tags: Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit
Posted by Bob Muir on Dec 27, 2012 in Anime 
I love well-done marketing stunts, and since Evangelion is so big in Japan, it’s had its fair share over the years. The third Rebuild of Evangelion movie has been out for a bit, but that doesn’t mean they can’t put a giant Lance of Longinus in the ground at Tokyo Sky Tree Town. Read more…
Tags: Evangelion
Posted by Bob Muir on Dec 27, 2012 in Videogames 
You wouldn’t normally look for the spirit of Christmas to be expressed in Dark Souls, one of the most punishing, hardcore RPG experiences in recent memories. A major feature of the game involves the ability of players to invade each other’s games, practically endorsing griefing! But one man decided to dress up and play Santa for the good little boys and girls of Lordran. But for those on the naughty list…
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Tags: Dark Souls, PS3, Xbox 360
Posted by Bob Muir on Dec 26, 2012 in Anime 
Though it’s old hat by now, Dragon Ball (or for the portion that American fans like, Dragon Ball Z) is one of the biggest, most popular manga ever released in Japan. It’s always in print, with a new definitive version, but now a new version is finally adding something to make it even more palatable for anyone turned off by manga’s black-and-white style: color. Read more…
Tags: Dragonball, manga
Posted by Bob Muir on Dec 26, 2012 in Anime, Videogames 
One Piece: Pirate Warriors could have used some more polished gameplay and it was pretty dumb, but it was also dumb fun. I had hoped for a sequel that would improve and hopefully add some major arcs that were previously skipped over. Now that One Piece: Pirate Warriors 2 is coming out, it looks like Omega Force and Namco Bandai are doing that…sort of. Read more…
Tags: One Piece, PS3
Posted by Bob Muir on Dec 25, 2012 in Videogames 
Hopefully you all remember the viral video in which a hyperactive boy goes crazy with happiness after getting a Nintendo 64 for Christmas. (If not, it’s posted below.) The screaming is pretty nuts, but a recent video animates the event and reinterprets it in a particularly sinister light. I can think of no better video to post on Christmas morning. Happy holidays, everyone!
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Tags: Christmas, Nintendo
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