Some of my favorite video game GUNS!

I'm ready, man, check it out. I am the ultimate badass! State of the badass art! You do NOT wanna fuck with me. Check it out! Hey Ripley, don't worry. Me and my squad of ultimate badasses will protect you! Check it out! Independently targeting particle beam phalanx. Vwap! Fry half a city with this puppy. We got tactical smart missiles, phase-plasma pulse rifles, RPGs, we got sonic electronic ball breakers! We got nukes, we got knives, sharp sticks...
Private Hudson
Aliens

Guns, I love guns as you know,it's no real secret and sometimes video games give us some seriously awesome weapons of destruction to play with. I've been inspired by Destin's armory on Screwattack and so I decided to do up my own list of weapons of destruction that I feel deserve mention.

So let's lock and load and see what would be in Birdman's armory of awesome of firepower or as I call them toys....

The M41A Pulse Rifle from various Aliens games

If there ever was a gun that I was more thrilled to fire in a game, it was this gun from ALIENS. I am just a huge fan of this design built from a FRANCI SPAS 12 and a Thompson SMG and it screams of a used future that you DO NOT fuck with. The first time I played with this was in the PS1 Aliens trilogy game and then later on in the very cool Aliens vs Predator game for the PC. Every game where I get to play as a marine I play with this gun as my default and even above the Smartgun or the Flame thrower simply because of the SOUND, it makes when it fires. The sound that the Pulse rifle makes is unmistakable and just one that lays waste to xenomorphs wherever they hide.10mm explosive tipped caseless never tasted so good when firing off a full clip!
I am looking really forward to using this in the new AVP game this winter.


RC-P90 from 007:Goldeneye n64

This weapon was so overpowered that it was insane but also one of my absolute favorites in Goldeneye. I remember the first time I got this gun and heard it cycle up to full firing capacity and it literally ripped bad guys to shreds. One of the things that I used to do was use this gun in multi player to shred body armor and spray from cover to lure people into proxy mine traps. This gun is absolutely bad ass in terms of what it can do for your game and can tip the balance of play if used in the right hands. The RC-P90 is one of the guns that I think really defined what a machine gun could do in a game. Seriously Rare created one of the coolest guns ever in a video game and is my favorite weapon of the N64 era.
Using it's spiritual successor in games like Modern Warfare is still satisfying but not as cool as the N64 era gun.

The Laptop gun from Perfect Dark/Zero

Now this is a gun that I found out it's secondary function by accident and never looked back on what it could do for me after that. Perfect Dark introduced alot of really cool weapons but this was one that just stood out to me because it was a strategic weapon if used in sentry mode. Joanna Dark had herself a really excellent weapon when it came to this gun and it deserves mention on this list. This gun also kind of reminds me of the sentry guns used in the director's cut of Aliens :) However I almost put on the PSEC pistols but the Laptop gun was just cooler because it could hide in plain sight. I'm really looking forward to the Xbox Live port next year and it'll be pretty awesome.

The Needler-HALO (all games)


The pink death that is the Needler! There is something tremendously satisfying about sending exploding shards into an enemy and watch him flail helplessly before death. This is one weapon that I thought absolutely sucked at first but as I played more and more matches online I got into it more and more and began to love the pink mist. The thing that I used to love was dual wielding in Halo 2 and leaping down from a ledge and letting it all go flying into one target. I think the Needler gets a bad rap because I haven't seen it used too much online but then again I don't play much online due to the 11-teen year olds.

The Lancer from Gears of War 1/2

So someone got a brilliant idea and crossed a machine run with a chainsaw...and it kicked ass! I've been playing GoW for a few years now and I never get over just how cool it is and love chainsawing Locust in half. The COG forces certainly armed themselves with one of the most memorable weapons in video game history and there is even a prop replica of it available for sale. The reason this makes my list is become it can be multi functional such as busting open doors and other areas but pumping people full of lead and then dismembering them.

Well guys, these are some of my fav video game weapons but I'd love to hear some of your pics for weapons and why they are.
Anyway, next blog post will be after Christmas so until then, have a happy holiday and most of all make sure you have a safe holiday

Live free or die hard guys!

Birdman's Holiday gift guide-The Final chapter

Christmas aka free stuff day!

Well boys and girls, here is my last entry into my holiday gift before I post my other choices in our annual TWIG holiday gift guide which will be up later on this week @ http://www.thisweekingeek.net

So over the last few entries, the stuff has been pretty cheap and easy to find so now we're gonna ramp it up and we're gonna hit the big boys and some of the harder to find stuff but trust me, it's awesome and so totally worth it in the end. So crack open the wallets and get the credit cards ready for a shopping spree of the nerdiest kind!

Let's rock and roll!

First up.... DVD box sets

YO JOE!
The battle cry of the top secret organization who saved the world many times over, GI Joe. Shout Factory recently compiled one of the best box sets I have ever had the pleasure of owning. The box set spans 17 discs and has tons of special features from documentaries to behind the scenes with the voice actors and my personal favorite, old toy commercials. This set is tremendously well put together in presentation because it's a small military foot locker made from metal and wood and includes a fake GI Joe control panel. Other cool things include a flash drive that has extras on it and it's shaped like a dog tag and it's a nice touch to overall feeling of the set. The set includes everything except the GI Joe movie but to Shout Factory's credit; they actually left a spot open in set for you to put your copy in. Seriously GI Joe:The complete series is one of the best buys available right now if your into the classic era of 80's animation.
Click here to buy from Amazon

"Autobots,Transform and roll out!"
The immortal words of Optimus Prime have echoed across a generation and finally we have the best version of the 80's toon available to own in one set. Shout Factory has once again done a kick ass job of bringing this adventure home to you. The series is spread across 16 discs and enclosed within an openable Matrix of Leadership box which is kinda bad ass; also included are magnets and a booklet. There are some pretty informative documentaries included with some of the producers and voice actors from the series and thats what I really wanted because I love learning more about the series. The video and audio are better then what has been previously released via Rhino and Shout Factory really wanted to make sure the fans were happy and well, they did an awesome job. If you want the best version of the series then this is a really good investment for your time and money.
Click here to buy from Amazon

Collectibles

I am a huge fan of things that look awesome and movie accurate in detail or just things that look very pleasing to the eye. I collect a few things that are high end and here are some of my pics for this year's gift guide that I think should be in your collection


"This is the weapon of a Jedi Knight. Not as clumsy or random as a blaster; an elegant weapon for a more civilized age"

Hasbro acquired one of the coolest things of all time when it got the Force FX line from Master Replicas. A Force FX lightsaber is a in scale prop replica that actually ignites like a lightsaber with sequential LEDs and you can actually do some light dueling if you know someone with another FX saber. I've collected them when they were with MR and was impressed and I have to say that HASBRO has continued on the quality that I have come to expect. The MR saber that I received for consideration was the Darth Vader Episode 5 Empire Strikes back version but according to my knowledge, the saber was actually a new hope model but thats a simple misprint. The saber details are still pretty spot on and make for an excellent addition to your collection, you have to love the response these things get when your show them off for the first time. The Hasbro Force FX saber is a worthy addition to your collection and definitely should be under the tree and make sure you make your choice wisely and own a piece of the Star Wars universe.
Click here to see a selection from Amazon



While Terminator:Salvation may not have been the best movie of the summer, it did produce some fantastic items from Sideshow Collectibles. This little bad boy is quite impressive and it pretty bad ass because it's the T-600 and part of the machine force that helped exterminate humanity. Sideshow's attention to detail is second to none when it comes to their 12 inch figure line. Terminator is the perfect starter collector for many because it looks awesome and is easy to maintain and relatively easy to find as well. There are alot of options within this line such as the T-600 with battle damaged and John Connor and Marcus and other Terminators. Seriously collecting Sideshow is well worth it and this should be under your tree.
Check out Sideshow for more options

Misc collectible of the year!


Yes, the Bumblebee voice changer helmet!
I had a blast with this toy because it made roleplaying toys fun again and is alot more comfortable then the previous offering of Optimus Prime. It's a nice sculpt from the ROTF line and has ALOT of voice options like random clips but none from the movie itself which is odd. The main reason I am recommending this is because it's alot of fun to play with your kids or goof around with your college buddies. I could see alot of kids having fun with this as well and that doesn't mean it should not go into your nerd lair of awesome, just don't do anything weird with this helmet on that would make Bumbleebee cry okay?
Click here to buy from the Hasbro Toyshop

So guys that does it for my blog edition of the holiday gift guide!
Take it from what you will and enjoy this holiday season!

Video game music: A creation of love,memories and more

One of the things that I've come to appreciate in the last generation of consoles is really the music of video games and especially the theme songs thereof.

Video game music has really come into it's own in the last few years especially with websites like OCRemix and the like really showcasing to the world what alot of gamers have known for years. My first real musical experience within a video game comes from the SNES classic, Chrono Trigger and the theme of Zeal and how much I would play that over and over again. I really started to pay attention to what was going on and so here are some musical pieces I'd love to share with you.

One of the themes that really struck me as actually beautiful is the theme from EA's Mirror's Edge called "Still alive" sung by Swedish pop star Lisa Miskovsky.Its just such a pleasant song to listen to and infact is song that I used to listen to every night to fall asleep when I was college. It's rare that a song catches like "Still alive" and instruments especially the piano really make the piece for me. I get so many mixed feelings when listening to it and thats what I think really makes the song unforgettable because it has that power to conjure up so many emotions and memories.
Take a listen this and enjoy something a little different


Another great tune is the theme song from Hideo Kojima's Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater. Snake Eater is a throw back to the 60's era musical ballads that are similar in tone to the James Bond themes of the day and really hits it out of the park. Singer Cythia Harrel belts this theme song and while some of the lyrics are references to the game such as "feed on a tree frog" but occasionally some really heartfelt lyrics such as "I give my life, not for honor, but for you.". The aspect that really brings "Snake Eater" as a video game classic song is the feeling that it really invokes about the game and it's context of themes. Snake Eater has one of the best soundtracks of the series and this vocal theme song really set it apart from the other entries in the series and thats why it's up on my list of tunes. If you haven't had a chance to play Snake Eater and experience that then I highly recommend that you do.
Take a listen and see what you think


I have never thought of the Street Fighter series that particularly strong music when I was younger and alot of the changed when I heard some of the themes remixed such as this GREAT version of Ryu's theme Seriously check that out. I had all of but forgot about Street Fighter till Street Fighter 4 came out this year and my love of all things Hadoken came back a thousand times stronger then before. The Japanese band EXILE got the gig to do the SF4 theme song and when it came out and i saw the intro movie to go with it, it was like going back to the arcades and days of "I've got next". The theme is definately into that whole J pop / rock thing and I honestly love letting the game play it out everytime before I start into fighting with SF4 and rawking my Ken out on XBL or PSN.


Lastly on my list is one that will likely not be expected at all. I love alot of licensed games because I love playing as my favorite characters and one of those universes that I absolutely go nuts over still to this very day is Dragonball Z. Last year we got our first next generation Dragonball Z game called Burst Limit. Burst Limit wasn't anything super special and wasn't particularly great but I did think it had a cool theme song. Its funny how much I still enjoy alot of the Japanese music and occasionally even the English version still sounds pretty solid. However I will also love and dig the "Rock the dragon" DBZ style song used in the intro of the show
Still, this is fun little song and feels like it totally belongs the Dragonball universe


I'd love to hear what other suggestions are out there and grab some great new video game music.
On my next blog entry, the last installment of my holiday gift where we go all out and break the bank across all sorts of madness!

Birdman Holiday gift guide part 2: Electric bugaloo

ZOMG!
It's Christmas time and of course that means spending money we don't have on loved ones, ourselves and getting some really cool stuff. In my last edition, I talked about toys and clothes and some electronics and this time we're coming back with digital fun of all sorts before I do the big close out next week sometime.

So without any more screwing around, let's get into this and get started with DVD's and Blu rays!


Star Wars: The Clone wars the complete first season on Blu ray
I'll be the first to admit that I misjudged this series when it first came out and now that I've had to chance over see some stuff,it's bad ass. The series is a continuation of the movie that came out last year with Anakin Skywalker and Obi Wan Kenobi fighting pre Episode 3 battles with alot more of the SW universe explored. I've always been a fan of the Clone wars era from the battle droids to the way that galaxy is torn apart by Count Dooku and his armies and it's great fun all together as well. The thing that really makes this set awesome and worth your $$ is the sheer amount of extras your getting such as TONS of featurettes and behind the scenes stuff and a pretty cool little booklet if you go with the Blu ray version. However Asoka still sucks and that is the only real downside of the series itself but if you can move past that, then it's worth adding to your own jedi temple this holiday season
Click here to buy on Amazon.com


It's no lie that I am a huge Dragonball Z fan and boy was I surprised when this arrived in my mailbox a few weeks ago. The Dragonbox is available for the first time in North America and is originally from Japan from the uncut masters of the original series and it looks fantastic. This is the way the series was meant to be seen, uncut and in the original Japanese audio (dub is included as well) and everything left intact like openings and closings and more. I've only ever seen the dubs before and this was certainly a new experience for me as a DBZ fan. The thing that really makes the set complete in my eyes is the Dragonbook that is included that has all kinds of neat background information on the characters. It's a little strange to see the series in it's original aspect ratio but, it still looks great as the day it was broadcast.
This is a recommend if you didn't get the orange sets from a few years ago or if your a DBZ purist at heart!
Click here to buy from Amazon



Yes, I am recommended this for my Holiday gift because It's Transformers BUT one of the best blu rays I've seen this year. There's enough reviews out there that I'll leave the movie summaries to the pros but let me talk about why you should get this movie who is a info buff. The features across this two disc set really make it worth for someone who is a transformers nut such as info gallery on the characters which includes clips from the G1 cartoon and toy galleries spanning from g1 to current incarnations. There are also HOURS of extras and they are in glorious HD as well which was a real surprise, the Michael Bay featurettes on the making of the movie is really indepth and interesting.There is also quite the wealth of knowledge of what this movie could have been coming from the writers during the features as well which really surprised me.The usual commentaries are there as well and are worth a listen to if your a fan of movie making.
Trust me, its worth it when you get a chance to dig into this movie and it's even got a feature where you can make your own Transformer.
Click here to buy from Amazon

Now we're moving onto something else entirely and something that you know me well for, video games :)
I'll be taking a look at a variety of games from the past year and some ones that are definitely worth checking out.


Well, this is the pink elephant in the room that we all need to talk about and well, it's AWESOME!
Seriously, Modern Warfare 2 is a game that really takes what an FPS can be and improves upon the perfection that was Modern Warfare. The action pretty much grabs you right by the bits and never lets up at all. The mulitplayer is where this game really shines and will make a gamer out of you damned right if you play online and are dedicated to learning but beware, you will get bitch slapped if your not ready for serious online play. The sheer amount of enjoyment you'll get from the firefights in this game will really make you appreciate quick reactions and killstreaks when you can make them happen.There are also quite number of licensed controllers and headsets from Mad Catz and they really do enhance the experience and besides they glow green and thats just cool :) I'll talk more about this in my next gift guide installment.
However in closing Modern Warfare 2 is a great addition to your collection and even if you don't like playing online, it's an experience that should not be missed.
Click here to buy from Amazon


This was an unexpected surprise in this year's entry into the racing genre. Dirt 2 is a rally racer that puts you on and off road and really makes the whole experience akin in my opinion to Tony Hawk but with cars.The driving in this game really feels natural and all the cars and trucks have their own distinct handling and that really adds to the experience.The soundtrack really stood out to me and make the game come alive that much more to me. I had alot more fun with this game then I thought I would and I think if your looking for a new racing experience for someone this Christmas then you can't do much better then this. Give Dirt 2 a try and I seriously think you'll make someone super happy
Click here to buy from Amazon


Its no secret that I'm not a huge Wii fan but this was one that surprised me when it came out. Dead Space:Extraction happens before the first Deadspace game and act as a prequel to the first game but as an on the rails shooter. The game looks really good for a wii game and that says something that the hardware can be pushed to do more. The Deadspace game really lays on thick with atmosphere and really does do it's part to make you feel isolated, alone and most of all somewhat helpless in the face of danger. Its one of the best rail shooters experiences you can have on the wii right now and is totally worth it for someone who has a wii and loves action. I'd recommend getting a Nyko perfect shot to go along with the experience because it'll add layers of more fun to the game play experience.
Click here to buy the game from amazon

I recommend this to go with the game

Click here to buy from Amazon

Well that does it for Part 2 of the gift guide. There's alot of stuff I didnt mention but you likely already have it like Batman:Arkham Aslyum or Halo:ODST so thats why I didn't include it. However the next edition of the Gift guide will include my personal picks and picks for the collector and will be of a higher end of stuff so prepared to have your credit card's maxed out.
Till next time!

Birdman's Holiday Gift guide-Part 1

"Ho, ho, but no matter. Christmas was on its way. Lovely, glorious, beautiful Christmas, upon which the entire kid year revolved. "
Ralphie

So boys and girls, its that time of year again and it's time to raid the shelves of all sorts of cool stuff and hope it makes it under the tree for Christmas day. I've decided to do an audio and blog post for what I think kicks ass and what you should check out this holiday season. Let's start some with some kick ass toys!

TOYS!
One of the coolest RC vehicles I've ever had the privilege to own, The NKOK Halo RC Warthog. Sure, it's not super high powered and not gonna easily cross your backyard but for chasing the cat around in style, it's perfect :) Nicely detailed and comes with a Master Chief and another Spartan,it's pretty bad ass all things considered and runs off 4 Double A batteries. Get this for the Halo fanboy in your life!
Check it out from Amazon.com

What kid didn't want this when they were younger and who didn't regret when we lost this vehicle to childhood garage sales or destruction? Playmates toys brought this back for the 25th Anniversary of our heroes on the half shell and thank God, cause now can truly appreciate how awesome this actually was. It's already got the stickers pre applied so no worrying about messing it up and making not show accurate. Make sure to pick up the 25th anniversary turtles to go with it. This is a total must be if your into Turtles and want to relive some childhood memories
Check it out to buy it from Amazon


I've been wanting an HK since the Terminator 2 toys came out in the 90's and finally my wishes were made true. The thing that really makes this toy kick ass is the amount of detail put into the mold and it's a nice display piece on it's own or could be part of an awesome diorama if you have the time. It also shoots missiles and has it's fans able to rotate and a little t-700 included as a pilot as well. It's pretty cool and definitely a cool thing to have this holiday to run around the house shouting "Pew! Pew!"
Check it out from Amazon

ELECTRONICS

Electronics power my life in almost every aspect to the point where I wonder if I am apart of the Matrix or a cyborg. Here are some of my picks for this holiday season for the gadget freak in your shopping list

Who doesn't want to see in the dark? Seriously NIGHT VISION goggles that work and at an affordable price...well technically its a toy but it's seriously bad ass. There was a version included with Modern Warfare 2 that looks more like a military version but still it actually works. This could actually have some neat applications for you in practicality like power outages or seeing around your car if it's dark and it breaks down or something similar. I want a pair of these so bad I can taste it
Check it out on Amazon

GP2X Wiz MAME/Amiga/Console Emulator
Now this sound tremendously cool because of what it can do. This thing can be play so many ROMs and other things that it's pretty amazing and is something that I'd love to see other companies put into their handhelds. This thing can play....Atari ST games, Commodore 64, NES, SNES, Gameboy, Gameboy Advance, NeoGeo, Flash Games and more. The fact that I could bring Super Metroid or something like Megaman 3 makes me jones for this something awful :)
Now here is something directly from Thinkgeek.com's site description on this item
Important Note
The Wiz does not come with any emulator software or game roms pre-installed. Out of the box you can play some built in Flash games, but that's it. You'll need to download the freeware emulator for the console or computer system you want to emulate. Then you'll need to unzip the emulator software, and copy it to an SD card along with some game roms you've downloaded. Then start-up the Wiz, go into the "launcher" option and run the emulator. Inside the emulator you'll choose the rom you want to load and then the game can begin. Each emulator software interface is a bit different and most give you the option to overclock the Wiz to get the best performance. Remember you are running emulator software... most games work perfectly, but some may run slow or be glitchy. You may have to configure the controls to work well with the game you want to play. Documentation is not always the best, so you might need to put in a bit of effort to figure things out. If any of this scares you, then you may want to reconsider your purchase.
Check this out on Thinkgeek.com

The Nzxt Avatar gaming mouse is a surpringly little entry into my gift guide because I thought all mouses were built the same but I was dead wrong. I got my hands on this a few months ago and been playing games like Left 4 Dead and Fallout 3 and it works like a dream. It's got adjustable sensitivity and all sorts of other customization options so if your FPS or a MMO player, it's got you covered. One of the things I like about it how comfortable it is in your hand and since I do alot of audio editing on my PC, it's nice to have something that won't cramp your hand. Totally worth it for your work or gaming needs.
Buy directly from Nzxt

Apparel

Without clothes we would be naked and while I enjoy naked people, we do need clothes to go outside or less we be arrested. So I looked around the web and found some cool clothes for the nerd in your shopping list
I normally don't care about shoes but seriously after seeing this posted over at Carol Zara's website, I had to know more.
These shoes are customized or off the rack awesome sauce, seriously having a pair of Megman shoes or something like that just adds oodles of nerd cred.
They are expensive but hey, its the price of cool
Check it out here and order a pair

Want to be ready when the zombie apocalypse hits? Well you'll be set with these threads on your back. I am most impressed by these shirts simply because they look awesome and especially with the little in-universe nods like the health pack slapped onto the back of them. The website Glitchgear has some pretty cool stuff like hats, wristbands and all sorts of other shirts from Left 4 dead and some other cool shirts as well. Totally worth a browse around the site
Check out the website and see all sorts of cool stuff

So guys thats my first part of my Holiday gift guide and in the next installments will include video games and movies and some other items that you may not expect.
Feel free to comment and let me know what YOUR picks are

Games that'll put you in a bad mood: Nintendo Movie Games

"...If there is any game that'll put you in a bad mood, it's Castlevania 3."
James Rolfe aka The Angry video game nerd

We've all had games that are endless frustrating and that kick our collective asses there and eventually end us swearing or "rage quitting" and walking away.

In the last few years I've had quite a few games put me off in frustration and I'm sure you have to and thats why we're gonna take a look a few games across a few consoles and why they piss us off and put us in a bad mood.

NES

"Did you know a young boy drowned the year before those two others were killed? The counselors weren't paying any attention... They were making love while that young boy drowned. His name was Jason."
Pamela Voorhes

This was one of the first games for the NES based on an R rated horror movie and boy was it a piece of garbage. LJN, the publisher for this game was beginning it's history of taking an established franchise like X men or Nightmare on Elm Street and turning into a cash grab game that was almost unplayable and endless frustrating. Awkward weapon use and some of the most annoying sounds ever put into a video game (Jason alarm) is what puts this game near the cream of the crap for the NES. The idea was sound, save the kids from Jason and free Camp Crystal Lake but as most things go awry when put into practice.

WHY this game will put you in a bad mood.

Hope you like this music because this track will loop constantly and only be interrupted by the jason alarm and then, it loops again. The difficult navigation of this game will also drive you crazy because it's hard to tell where you are going half the time via the map screen and then by the time you figure it out, the kids you are trying to save are dead. This was a terrible NES game based on an awesome franchise and seriously needs to wiped from the existence of mankind.

SNES

Yeah, but your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should.
Ian Malcom

Jurassic Park, the marketing juggernaut and had all sorts of crazy stuff from lunch boxes to action figures and of course, a crappy video game for the Super Nintendo. The game put you into the role of Dr Grant and his mission was to collect Dinosaur eggs and destroy the rampaging dinosaurs..sounds simple enough until you press start..
The game itself was a mess and it was frustrating because of the layout of the game itself which would switch from overhead-ish view to lame 3D when entering a building and it was very easy to get lost. The SNES version was not without some merits, I think it did have a cool soundtrack and have some funny voices in it too such as whenever you heard someone say
"GRANT!"
WHY this game will put you in a bad mood.



This game is BORING as hell! I mean like watching paint dry boring. The entire game is spent hunting eggs and unlocking things and it's just repetition and no imagination at all and I don't even remember any boss fights at all...
The game will put you in a bad mood because you realize you could have been doing other things like
1) Making new friends
2) Kissing a girl
3) Helping the homeless
4) Watching cheese age
5) Learning how to knit

N64

My team. My team is DEAD. They knew we were coming, man. They knew we were coming and the disk is gone.
Ethan Hunt

We all know the theme song and what can I say, Tom Cruise made a kick ass movie franchise before he decided to lose his mind and jump on Oprah's couch. The game took the movie idea and made it's own and padded it out but did include some of the big movie set pieces like the bungie computer hack on a wire thing but nothing uber special. The game came out near the same time (within a year)as RARE"s Goldeneye and that is where the game drew alot of comparisons and where things fell apart in alot of departments. There were elements that had the gadgets like the mask maker and some other stuff but didnt feel as cool as the film. The game play was very hit and miss with some levels being a blast to play and some being frustrating due to random AI or just plain bad programming.

WHY THIS GAME PUT YOU IN A BAD MOOD

So let me introduce you to the most talkative N64 game I have ever had the displeasure listening to. The voice acting is so horrible and odds are you'll hear it often as you have to redo mission objectives over and over again...it's like audio rape on your poor ears and there should be a help line for people who are exposed to this horror.

There are alot of games that simply cash in's on movie titles and popularity and 9 times out of 10 they suck and suck really bad. Alot of these games will put you in a bad mood because they take your favorite movies and characters and give you a sub par experience meant to cash in on your fandom. Bad game play, repetitious enemies and horrendous graphics are the hallmarks of alot of movies games but occasionally there are some good ones that slip through such as the Genesis version of Jurassic Park and SNES version of the Lion King. Games that make us mad and throw down our controllers will always be around and sadly alot of them will be based on movies and that sucks.

Video game cartoons,I don't remember you sucking so bad...

Once upon a time when I was a young boy and the cold war had just ended and advertisers could still target children with animated TV series based on products like Nintendo, the world was good and full of promise wasn't it?

Recently on the Game Heroes, Handsome Tom and myself got to talking about the various video game TV shows that appeared over the years and so it was time to revisit those memories and see if they are still console fresh....

I won't be talking about the big name ones like Super Marios Brothers and Captain N:The Game Master and the Legend of Zelda but more of the lesser known ones like Video Power and Mortal Kombat:Defenders of the realm and even the infamous Street Fighter 2 cartoon.

One of the things that I am a huge fan of mid 80's to early 90's animation and one of the big popular trends was to have an animated series based on your franchise such as Kwirk, the chilled tomato....yes, I'll bet you have no clue what the hell I am talking about.

One of the first shows that featured a relative cast of nobody's was "Video Power" which would later be rebroadcast as "Acclaim Masters". The "Power team" was they were known composed of Kuros from Wizards & Warriors, Max Force from NARC, Tyrone from ArchRivals and the aforementioned Kwirk, the chilled tomato from the Gameboy and oh yeah I forgot, a talking monster truck, BIGFOOT. The cartoon I remember being kinda cool because I loved Acclaim games and especially Kuros because I was a huge player of those games. However the storylines were just kinda stupid at times but I did think the idea of using their game cartridges as a plot device was cool.
The animation wasn't bad for it's time and definitely fit into what was expected but the voice acting on the other hand would make your ears bloody bleed. Listening to Kwirk talk for any amount of time would incite sheer madness, I assure I have saved you from this pain.

Video Power also featured a live action component which was a game show and all things considered it a sign of the times, cheesy and over the top but it was a fun little outlet. Kids would appear on the show and answer some video game trivia and play some competitive stuff and run through a mall and stick video games to a velco vest. It was one of many shows kinda like this and it had it's appeal and i'm afraid we'll never see anything like this again.

Another one of the lesser known but equally as stupid is
Mortal Kombat: Defenders of the realm

Oh boy...where do I even start?
So this "show" takes places something in the space of Mortal Kombat 2-3 but takes the movie as canon to the show. Now let me preface this by saying I was an absolute Mortal Kombat fanboy back in the day and even wrote a piss poor fan fic back in the day and this show was a low point for me.
So I decided to sit down and rewatch the first episode of the show to bring back some of the memories and there are times like this that I could have my mind wiped by the Haitian from Heroes.
First off, Liu Kang flies a jet....yes a goddamn jet and the stupidity doesn't end there folks.... Sonya Blade's catchphrase

'It's kombat time!"

Yes, that pretty much sums up the thought that went into this...the entire cast of characters just isn't like the Mortal Kombat that I know and love and this pretty much crapped all over those memories. For some reason, the powers that be decided to make a mockey of the MK franchise but to give credit where credit is due, the writers did incorporate elements of the mythos in like Kabal's attempted assassination and Ermac and Rain's appearance. It's strange that the series has been released in places like Brazil and Russia but not here in North America, so sadly we shall not know of it's existence outside of bootlegs and Youtube.

The last series I will mention is the USA Networks...Street Fighter:The animated series and boy there aren't enough words to do this justice so I'll give this video and then my opinion thereof.


Alright so now that you have absolutely wasted ten minutes of your life, how do you feel?
Personally I feel violated and like something horrible crept into my soul and took up residence and did horrible unspeakable things to it.Capcom's Street Fighter series hasn't had the best luck on television considering it would later spawn Street fighter II V and that series also has a whole another set of issues to cover but I digress...
Street Fighter the animated series suffered from terrible voice acting, terrible animation and writes that I'm sure didn't understand how to portray the characters. The show did try to have some nods to other elements in the Street Fighters canon like Akuma and the cross over with the Final Fight series with Cody and Guy.

Overall, Street Fighter was a terrible show but did have some pretty animated movies done by Manga entertainment and are totally worth checking out.

It's funny when I was a kid I remember loving all these shows and thinking they were so bad ass because they were based on a video game but now I'm older and I know better.

Twilight video games: To be or not to be

"...the real difference [between Rowling and Meyer] is that Jo Rowling is a terrific writer, and Stephenie Meyer can't write worth a darn. She's not very good"
Stephen King

I'm just going to come straight out and admit it, I do not get this whole "Twilight" thing with people these days, I mean what's with the sudden popularity of Vampires and the whole Supernatural bit and how lame it's become..

So now that Twilight:New Moon came out, I really got around to thinking about games that have Vampires that aren't Castlevania because I'm surprised there isn't a Twilight Video game outside of Twilight:Scene it...which doesn't count to me because it doesn't contain any real element of skill other then memorization.

While watching New Moon last night I really got to thinking why isn't there a decent vampire video game outside of Castlevania and to a lesser extent, the legacy of Kain series.
I was really expecting there to be a Twilight video game because it makes sense right? I mean somehow the DaVinci Code and Jackass got video games so why not right?

Twilight was able to escape this fate and not become some substandard platformer or something similarly stupid. There is talk of a group of fans putting together some kind of a Twilight MMO which I agree on some level isn't a bad idea but it would require a really strong community to keep going. I'm not the most knowledgeable of the canon but I imagine that there are some stories that could be told in the series that aren't Bella and Edward. I liked the idea of Werewolves and other creatures in the universe maybe...kinda like White Wolf's World of Darkness and maybe Stephanie Meyer's universe is open to that. I want to know if there are other creatures like demons or zombies or maybe something like a ghost hell bent on revenge.

I'm not the biggest fan of the whole "Twilight" thing but at the same time, I am open minded to a good story and the new movie had me at certain points. I want to know about the other stories that exist in that universe like are there other wars being fought on different fronts and what other threats exist to the vampiric existence? I think the world that Stephanie Meyer created could very well lead to a very cool game if it was handled properly by the right development team and publisher but odds are it wouldn't be handled well.

The community is certainly there and the fandom certainly rabid enough but if you build it, would they come?
I'm not entirely certain if all pop culture phenomena should be turned into video games and let's look at how well a property like say Watchmen:The end is nigh and in the end, not as well as it could have been.
Twilight is maybe one of the universes that maybe doesn't translate well into a digital format like video games and maybe they are best left to film and books.

It's a fun thought to think about and for all the bashing that alot of nerds do of the "Twilight" Fandom, it would be an interesting world to perhaps play in if it was handled differently then a romance but more as an action adventure story universe.I just can't see Twilight as anything but a book or a movie and it's probably better that way. I want to believe there is something more this whole Twilight thing then "ZOMG! Edward is so hot!" and that people are smarter then I give them credit for...

Some of the elements are in the Meyers universe are plain stupid such as "sparkling" vampires and the whole non death in the sun but other things like they the vampiric powers are neat and the werewolves tribes is neat if cliched by being done before. I think it's a sign of the times and where the world is headed with the thought process of being immortal and never having to face life if you get what I mean but that's a philosophical discussion for another day.

However when all is said in done I'll say this in closing

Aim for the head..zombies

"Zombies, man. They creep me out."
Kaufman-Land of the Dead 2005

If there is one type of an enemy that seems to be everywhere in pop culture it's the zombie. Zombies have enjoyed a renewed sense of popularity with Resident Evil, 28 days Later and Romero's return to the genre. It seems that zombies are everywhere and they are very eager to eat not just our flesh but the lead that flies from our virtual weapons.

What can I say?
I love zombies and all that they are and most important it's the one end of the world scenario that video games that have actually prepared us for. We have all played Resident Evil or more recently Left for Dead and it's recent sequel Left 4 Dead 2 and now we feel prepared to take on hordes of the undead or so we think?

I mean what makes these walking dead so attractive that's spawned it's own genre of games? Its likely the fact these monsters are just so much cannon fodder and line up to be mowed down and show no fear or any emotion as they are cut down. Zombies tap into that aggression that boils deep down inside of ourselves and we just let loose and have our base instincts take over, kinda scary huh?

I mean think of rush most of you feel as you unload a full clip of ammo into a crowd of them?

Its' a feeling that we all can agree with if you loaded a game of Left 4 Dead or Resident Evil or any number of similar games. Its a mix of desperation when the crowd is running towards you and ammo is in short supply and then instincts take over and it's time to flip the switch to full auto and rock and roll.

Sure, we have other enemies in games that attack en mass but there is something about zombies that really triggers something primal inside of us. There have been attempts in cinema and even games to make us feel remorse for dealing with these threats to ourselves such as Diary of the dead and Resident Evil 5's Majini but ultimately it's the kill or be killed attitude that takes us over.

I could read into this a bit further and say zombies allow us to explore the inhumanity to man and what we do when faced with just each other to rely on but many others before me have talked about it before and so I'll let their words stand on their own.

It's an interesting thought to think such an enemy that exists purely in fiction allows such a rush of intense emotions to be felt and let's something else entirely take over for the few spans of a heartbeat.It could be argued that games like Call of Duty invoke the same blood lust but I think games like this trigger something else entirely within ourselves and just take a step back the next time your playing and see what I mean...

Games that should have been...Heroes

"Is there a hero somewhere, someone who appears and saves the day
Someone who holds out a hand and turns back time
Is there a hero somewhere, someone who will never walk away
Who doesn't turn a blind eye to a crime"

Poets of the Fall-Locking up the sun

Once upon a time there was supposed to be a video game based on NBC's "Heroes" by Ubisoft but sadly it died before it could be made. It would have been a really cool game especially when you look at the universe of Heroes and what it could have been for console or PC Gamers.

Tim Kring's Universe of Heroes makes it one of those places where a video game should happen in because like the show, it's like a comic book and full of possibilities. Now let's take a trip down speculation lane and imagine what could been...

HEROES: The MMO
This is one that comes the easiest to mind and I would imagine it taking place after season 3's start OR in one of the alternate timelines where everyone has abilities. The story would pick up with your character's ability activation and would involve members of the company taking you down and tagging you such as Noah Bennet aka HRG. Your story begins with Noah telling you about the others in the world with abilities like yours and that some of them are dangerous and he's letting you go because you can help him but if you double cross him you'll end up in a cell for the rest of your life or worse. This would allow for all sorts of interesting possibilities as you go on missions that help refine your abilities or put you in direct conflict with others with powers, maybe a sort of Cult of Sylar or something. You would be in an open city world kinda like the Matrix-esque and you'd occasionally run into characters like Mohinder or even Sylar. It could be a tremendously cool world as long as you had events like the Matrix MMO did and kept the player base entertained with live events and stuff that affected the whole world like maybe powers being stripped away for a few days or certain powers amped up for a day and allow for shifts in power. However a game like this would require a very strong community for it to remain viable so I can see why we didn't get the Heroes MMO...still imagine how could it could have been...

Now we move onto the next possibility of a game

Heroes:The Game
Heroes of the game would be a game similar to GTA in that it would be an open world and would feature you playing as several different characters over the course of an "arc". The plot line would likely be season 4's Fugitive's idea where one of the characters is on the run and meets up with the show's forerunners and gets intertwined into their plotlines. This could be cool and maybe run similar to the PS3's "Infamous" and gives you a choice of 20 or so powers and you get to pick 5 or so to give you kind of a cool load out or maybe make you like Peter and you can absorb other powers as you level up or something similar. This is the game I imagine we would have got and it likely would have been considered canon by the creator Tim Kring had he wrote the game's script and storyline. It could have a supremely cool game but sadly it did not come to pass.

Heroes:The mobile game
Ok,seriously who the hell cares? Am i the only that finds those mobile games kinda lame? I have only come across 2 that I like, Megaman 2 and Tetris. I downloaded a SF2 one but it was impossible to play with the keypad. I'll never get the point of mobile gaming on anything but an Iphone or similar device.

I know alot of TV and movie video game adaptions fail because of rushed programming or it's a stupid license but we've had a few such as "24:The Game" or Batman:The Animated series game. Developers and studios really need to work together to create good games and it's not a hard feat to do especially when you have a passionate team behind it. I can only hope that we do eventually see a Heroes game because it's a universe that I really want to play in at some point and kick the crap outta Sylar.
Infact I leave you with some cool and fan created because Heroes kicks ass

Gamer p0rn? Yes, It exists

Actress Ann Angel pictured above

"If it can be imagined, there is already porn based on it."
Anonymous

So finally I can write about porn and video games and how oddly connected they are in a weird way and get marked on it.
It's been a weird trend that has been around for a while and the earliest memory I have of it was an interview with adult actress Asia Carrea. I remember reading her blog back in 2000 or something and reading that she was a competitive Unreal tournament player and was actually quite good at it. There has always been a stigma around girls and gaming and it's quite undeserved for the most part, as I've met some MLG level gamer girls and well they rule but who would have thought they would be a connection between porn stars and video games...well not me for the longest time.
Still it would been cool to face Asia in a game of UT just to hear

"HEAD SHOT!"


A recent picture from a Counterstrike competition
Strippers & Counterstike for the full story

She even made her own set of custom skins for UT which I thought was pretty cool.Check here for it,yes it's safe for work
Don't know if they work with current versions of UT but if your feeling retro, give it a look


The past few years alot has changed on the digital frontier in terms of girl gamers and now oddly enough porn.One of the strangest things to come along and yet so simple I'm surprised no one thought of it sooner was "World of Whorecraft" series of movies and then well the whole lid seemed to get blown off the thing and well, now you see alot of Gamer porn which is kinda funny and just plain weird. Sometimes being a gamer and a porn actress isn't all it's cracked up to be because if someone puts 2 and 2 together...it can get you in trouble
Porn actress kicked out of Warcraft

However "World of Whorecraft" was NOT the first gamer porn to be mainstream infact, I can trace it back to the 90's thanks to Youtube and this funny as hell Youtube clip which kinda gives you an idea on how truly stupid this is and yes since it's Youtube, it's work safe but I wouldn't recommend watching it there.


Yes...Ron Jeremy as Mario...in the immortal words of my generation
"WTF!"

It's a weird world out there on the Internet but stuff like this is becoming more and more mainstream and some more mainstream games are being parodied like Valve's Left 4 Dead and I imagine it's only a matter of time before Halo or Gears of war gets the porn makeover.

The thoughts that kept me out of the really good schools

"These are the kind of things I think about when I'm sitting home alone and the power goes out..."
George Carlin




As often happens with most of my weird ideas and thoughts, they spring from a logical place and then go down a dark path and this is less dark but still kinda weird so hear me out.

Mario and Luigi have their rogue's gallery and a set of evil doppelgangers with Wario and Waluigi, so I had a thought.

"Why is there no evil Peach or Daisy?"



Having an evil set of the princess makes sense right? It could make for so many interesting parallels in the storyline and the games. I mean imagine the possibilities of having an impostor princess by Mario's side and Peach or Daisy fighting to their way back to Mario and Luigi. Yes, it's cheesy as hell but it would totally work and be something more exciting then some of the latest entries in the series.

It seems like a no brainer really. Put Peach in a black dress and make her hair black and green eyes and make Daisy in a blood red or purple dress with black hair and grey eyes or something. This would make for some really cool new characters in the franchise and maybe open up new things for games like Mario Kart or Smash Brothers.
Just seems so simple to me.

I think that would make for a supremely cool addition to the series...and maybe I want to see what the fan community can do with the idea.
For example

So maybe we should ask for this as a fan community with the release of New Super Mario Brothers Wii on Sunday,however I don't expect Nintendo to listen but hey, you never know right?

I think I'd find it kind of attractive...in a goth,emo kind of way...like I said off the top of this post..these are the thoughts that kept me out of the really good schools.

Collecting video games, a labor of love

Our game rooms, or our lairs if you prefer are our domains where we game and compete in virtual athletics or have a place to simply keep your stuff.

Over the last few months, I've become a video game collector and what I mean by that I'll collect almost anything just to have it and increase the size of the stack. This past spring I had the honor of doing an internship at http://www.thegameheroes.com and it was an experience that took me from Hamilton to Chicago and down to Dallas for 2 weeks and it really inspired me because of Handsome Tom's video game collection.

http://www.screwattack.com/Random/Other/Closet
Take a look at this and see that I have a long way to go to compare.
and an updated video from last year


So after viewing this massive collection,I decided that I wanted something of my own like this and so began my quest to collect...but where was I to even start?

With all collections I had to start somewhere but it had to be something that I cared about enough to spend money on and decided on PS2 and Xbox games and I did this for several reasons.

1) The last generation of games would be widely available with many cool games easily accessible via Ebay and used game stores

2)It the was the consoles that I had connected the most with since the SNES and NES

3) GameStop and EB Games would be liquidating their stock of older titles and was offering insane deals on used games

4) I already had a library of older titles so I figure why not start where I am ahead.

I began my collecting in earnest with a raid of EB's and Gamestops and pretty spent $400 in a few weeks and managed to amass like 60 games and some real gems like Resident Evil:Dead Aim for 4 bucks. I began my massive spending spree in Texas with one of Handsome Tom's suitcases and continued to hunt in pawn shops and other second hand stores and found some real finds!

As I began toss down the bucks for games, something started to change and it's not that it wasn't fun, it was fulfilling because I wasn't focused about WHAT I was collecting. I had to stand back and figure what I wanted to collect and after browsing through my games I noticed a trend,the fighting game.

Samurai Showdown, Art of Fighting, Fatal Fury and Street Fighter were all games that I enjoyed and this was the genre of games I decided to focus on and this is where I would build my collection on as a basis.I started looking for all sorts of Neo Game ports and other such things and my collecting started to feel fulfilling again.

It became a labor of love for me by searching again in all my usual haunts and finding rare games like Capcom vs Snk 2 or a mint copy of Marvel vs Capcom 2 for the Xbox. One of my best buys for my collection was getting a mint condition of Marvel vs Capcom 2 on the Playstaion 2 for 30 dollars. It became more and more about finding the best fighters I could and getting them across as many platforms as I could so I could experience it in different way.

So with collecting video games isn't about quantity of what you have but collecting what you love so it's aboout quality. Collecting can also include other items from your favorite games such as press kits or pre order items,etc
This is one kit that I am hopefully going to get eventually


Collecting really can be a fun experience for people because it can involve some adventure and excitement beyond the Ebay sniping and going to places like conventions to find items and haggling in odd places like flea markets. If your going to collect and be serious about it, just remember to have fun with it and look in an unexpected places because you never know what you'll find.

For the love of the game-Arcade sticks

Some people collect baseball cards and some people collect Beatles stuff...my name is Mike Dodd and I collect arcade sticks.

An arcade stick is just what the name implies, it's a stick that is meant to replicate the arcade experience at home and it can vary widely in size,shape and quality. Everything from the buttons, to the artwork and the stick itself can be special and thats what I love about them. Let me tell you about my first arcade stick which is posted above...thats my Mad Catz Street Fighter 4 tournament edition stick for the Playstation 3.

I got the stick for review earlier this year to tie into my review of Street Fighter 4 and immediately I fell in love with it.Mad Catz built this things for the serious street fighter player by making it an absolute dream to play with with superior Japanese parts like the buttons and the joystick itself and especially with the design so close to the SF4 cabinet. Sitting down with this thing and learning how to use a stick properly became a zen like experience to me, especially with my SF mentors like Drekken and RXS from http://www.pownz.com

So as I learned the ways of the joystick I learned to love something about the craftsmanship that went into making these things. As I played more and more Street Fighter 4 and moved onto King of Fighters 12, I wanted something different...I wanted something that reflected me and I wanted to move up to something that was uniquely me...and so I wanted a custom arcade stick and i did some looking around. I searched for a few days and one name just kept coming up...http://www.arcadeinabox.com and Ed over there.

I contacted Ed and decided that I wanted to cover one of these custom arcade sticks for 1150 AM WIMA and I wanted to see what went into making one of these things. I've had a few conversations with Ed and I learned so much about the process and its absolutely astounding. Ed sent me an arcade stick which I have dubbed 'The TWIG stick" and here it is


It's an experience to play with something hand crafted and you really see why people make their own arcade sticks and the love that goes into it. The great thing about having a custom stick is that it can do so much more like being able to play on multiple consoles such as Xbox 360 and Ps3 on one piece of hardware and that is seriously pretty awesome. My custom arcade stick really made fighting games come alive for me again and I really felt like I was back when I was 14 and playing Mortal Kombat 2 in the arcades and tossing down some challenges in the local arcade in Street Fighter 2. Having two great arcade sticks really made things come back full circle again and felt like a real gamer again and it showed considered the amount of fight time I've logged on those sticks since the summer.

However I learned of something new and exciting and that was Capcom's newest fighter, Tatsunoko vs Capcom and it being on the wii...and this caused me great pain as I did not have a wii fight stick and I refuse to go back to being a pad player. I began hunting for the wii arcade stick by Hori

I literally traveled all the way to Cornwall,Ontario which is PAST Ottawa and all around the Buffalo area in the Us for this thing. So well over 1000 KM for this little piece of plastic but why? I could have ordered it off Ebay or some retailer...but this was about the hunt for something important to me and what can I say,it was fun.
This stick though shall remain unused till I get my Tatsunoko vs Capcom in January but thats okay because now I am checking out some new sticks such as.....


I know that's a little overboard since it's a TE stick the same as the other Mad Catz ones but seriously, I'm a sucker for artwork and variants. Hell I even a second TE for the xbox 360 that is the Street Fighter 4 TE round 2 with the different artwork and I love it just the same as my other sticks. I kinda of look at it this way, women love shoes....and I love arcade sticks... however if I end up a closet full of them at some point it maybe time to stop me.

My best arcade stick is this one though which is in the door of my house.