Hallmark’s official Star Wars Darth Vader pinata is quite possibly the coolest pinata money can buy. It’s not quite the Deathstar, but you’d have to make one yourself. This bad boy measures 10.5 inches in width and hight while being nearly a foot deep — plenty of room for candy. If, on the other hand, you want to pull a fast one on your friend, you might be able to hide his picture behind the mask to freak him out when he knocks it open just to freak him out a little. Worked for Yoda, didn’t it? The pinata should run you about $22 on Amazon and comes packed with safety strings in case you’re not fond of swinging a lightsaber around. Read more…
If you want a blast from the past, the official Star Blazers website has posted scans of the original Star Blazers fanzine from the early 80’s. Over 30 years ago, our Fanboy.com founder Michael Pinto started the fanzine in an attempt to see the series renewed after networks had dropped the show in New York. With the series returning to television later this month, these newsletters give us an opportunity to see the passion that fuled Star Blazers’ fandom. It’s a shame that they’ve had to wait three decades, but for those of us who were late to that party, we’ll be able to catch the series the second time around when it airs on SyFy starting April 21st.
Unlike The Book of Mormon, Predator isn’t quite broadway material. However, if someone told me Schwarzenegger planned on making one, I’d be there any way. Rather than waiting for that fantasy to come true, we can settle for the Kaplan brothers’ latest musical parody — and, regrettably, the final one featuring Arnold — Predator: the Musical. Like their previous videos, some of which are pretty fantastic, we’re treated to a cast of impersonators singing along to a pretty convincing soundalike of the actual score for the film. Even if you’re not fond of musicals, you’ll probably end up loving it.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t Romulan Ale suppose to be alcoholic? I thought as much — which is why I’ve found myself wondering why anyone would ever consider making it an energy drink. Maybe someone thought blueberry soda would be a great idea and realized it actually tastes pretty nasty so they upped the caffine and slapped the term “energy drink” on it. That’s one theory, at least. The last time I had something claiming to be Romulan Ale, it was actually German beer with some food blue coloring — not the best beer I’ve ever had, but the novelty was certainly there. Any way, if you’re interested in trying some, ThinkGeek is selling a six-pack for $15. Expensive, right?
It would appear that NBC’s Wonder Woman has had an official wardrobe change. Apparently, enough people complained about the bright blue vinyl to make a difference. In addition to ditching the shiny pants in favor of a darker spandex, it looks as though they’ve decided to do away with her glossy red lipstick, and blue high-heels as well. While the changes are arguably for the best, I can’t help but feel the costume still seems a bit off. Perhaps I’m just not used to seeing Wonder Woman in anything but shorts. Maybe it’ll grow on me. Read more…
In case you’ve been waiting, Telltale Games has finally released the third installment of Back to the Future: The Game for PC & Mac. For those of you with consoles, the PS3 release of chapter two should be available tomorrow as well, via Playstation Network. The iPad & European releases should follow in coming weeks, but so far there’s no official date. In other news, the first episode of their Jurrasic Park adventure series should be out sometime next month. Unfortunately, if you’d rather own a console version you’ll be stuck waiting until Fall. I can’t imagine why they’d wait so long to port it, but I’m sure they have a good reason. Besides, there’s really nothing like playing a point-and-click adventure with a mouse. Read more…
This video has been making the rounds on twitter for the past few days, and while I don’t exactly find it humorous — especially considering how many people are still suffering overseas — I found it very interesting watch. For those of you who don’t speak Japanese, it’s a government sponsored propaganda cartoon that insists that plutonium is not as harmful as activists may have led you to believe. I’m not sure when this film was drawn, but judging by the fact that it’s completely hand-drawn, I’m sure it’s safe to assume it wasn’t recent. I certainly hope any kid ever exposed to this would know better by now.
Posted by Tim Sheehy on Mar 29, 2011 in Videogames
For those of you who’ve been waiting, Square Enix’s Final Fantasy III hitthe app store last week. The game appears to be a port of the 2006 Nintendo DS remake with upgraded visuals and obvious tweaks to the gameplay, accounting for the touch-based interface. Both this, and the 2006 remake feature a number of enhancements over the original Famicom title, including a revamped story, developed characters, added scenes, an overhauled job system, and much more. While all of this sounds pretty awesome, I should note the app is fairly expensive at $15.99. That said, if you’re a fan of Japanese RPGs, it’s probably worth the price.
Like many of you, I spent last weekend wondering why I saw Zack Synder’s Sucker Punch and subsequently worrying about his upcoming Superman reboot. I tried to convince myself that the film really wasn’t so bad but I’d just be lying. It really seemed like the film had an attention deficit disorder. The poorly paced, terribly written script mixed with Snyder’s inability to direct had me wanting to lobtimize myself halfway through. Unfortunately, I’m not the only one who felt this way. So, what does this mean for The Man of Steel? Read more…
Posted by Tim Sheehy on Mar 24, 2011 in Videogames
ThinkGeek recently updated their stock with this awesome Space Invaders hoodie. Not only does it speak to my inner-gamer, but it’s actually fashionable. I love a good argyle — top that off with some 8-bit prints and I’m sold. With those April showers less than a month away, picking one of these up might not be such a bad idea. Normally they retail for roughly $60, but ThinkGeek actually has them on sale for 50% off list price for a limited time. That means only $30 before shipping. Head over and order yours today.
This Star Wars-themed Wampa pound cake was recently designed by Star Wars fan & professional illustrator Alica Policia for her 30th birthday. Pretty amazing, right? Made with her mother’s classic sour cream pound cake recipe and featuring some fantastic buttercream icing, one might wonder why she didn’t bother going all the way by adding a layer of ice cream. After all, Hoth has plenty of ice — you’d think it’d be a necessity.
With the upcoming release of Captain America: The First Avenger, I felt we should take a moment to reflect on the Captain’s previous bid for box office gold — probably because it wasn’t much of a box office bid in the first place. Few of you probably remember 1990’s Captain America, seeing as it it never receieved a domestic theatrical release. those of you who have seen it probably were unlucky enough to stumble across a copy at your local Blockbuster — you know, those places people used to go to rent films.
Like many of you, I found Resident Evil 5 to be a bit underwhelming — especially after having played through 4 — so you can imagine my frustration when they decided to release additional DLC for that latest title in lieu of simply moving on to a bigger and better sequel. That said, I had no objections when Capcom recently announced their latest project, Resident Evil Revival Selection — an HD remake of Resident Evil 4, and it’s predacessor of sorts, Resident Evil: Code Veronica for the PS3 and Xbox 360.
Posted by Tim Sheehy on Mar 22, 2011 in Videogames
If you don’t mind waiting for the game to ship when it’s released next month, Amazon has a special promotion for anyone who’s interested in pre-ordering a copy of Valve’s Portal 2. In addition to only costing you $55 on your console of choice — Valve recommends the PS3, though I personally prefer the PC for any FPS — you’ll get an extra $20 in Amazon credit to spend on whatever you like. Every other retailer currently has the title listed for $59 , so why not save some cash and a pick up a virtual giftcard while you’re at it?
We’ve been hearing about it for years, but it seems Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit has finally started production. Things had been looking pretty grim when the Tolkien Estate & British publisher HarperCollins filed suit against New Line cinema over a breach of contract. Following that debacle, Guillermo del Toro had been attached to direct the project, only to pull out when MGM’s financial issues had sidelined the project indefinitely. Thankfully, those issues have been resolved, and Jackson looks to be directing the project once again.
Posted by Tim Sheehy on Mar 17, 2011 in Videogames
Both Capcom and Sega have announced plans to donate a portion of their profits to disaster relief efforts in Japan. For the rest of the week through Monday, Capcom has discounted the iOS version of Street Fighter 4 to just $0.99, and will donate all sales — this is in addition to the 100 million yen they’ve already contributed. Sega has also discounted all theirSonic the Hedgehog iOS titles, along with their Football Manager 2011 app, and are likewise offering all proceeds to disaster relief through Tuesday. For their part, Sega has already contributed 200 million yen to the Red Cross.
One of the girls from GamingAngels.com — fantastic site, by the way — caught this amazing video of William Shatner’s Q&A session at this years Emerald City Comiccon. An audience member asked Shatner if George Takei is a giving lover, and if he’s interested in men with beards. Shatner’s reply was priceless. It’s fairly common knowledge that Takei isn’t fond of his old co-star, but what amazes me is that Shatner still isn’t quite sure why. Takei, for his part, has mentioned plenty of reasons over the years.
Initially Kotobukiya had limited their Bishoujo line to the Marvel license, featuring popular superheros and mutants like Rogue, Psylocke, and Black Widow. Eventually they expanded their offerings to include heroines from the DC universe, and now it seems like they’re taking it in a whole new direction. Several months ago, they debuted a sketch by artist Shunya Yamashita depicting an original character dressed in Ghostbusters attire. It had a few people scratching their heads since it appeared to be an original design, but shortly after, Kotobukiya confirmed the design is being produced as the latest entry in their Bishoujo line, “Ghostbusters Lucy.” Amazing, right?
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.
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.
