Michael Bay's Ninja Turtles: Bad News part 295,297,642

     Well, Bay's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles news seems to be getting even more strange as time goes on.  Each new casting addition or rumor feels like another swift kick to my childhood's metaphorical nuts.

     A few days ago, Whoopi Goldberg was spotted near set with a potentially costume concealing jumpsuit.  My guess would be she'd be a gender swapped Baxter Stockman.  Which would be AMAZING if Bay's name wasn't attached to the project.

     With all these questionable going-ons linked with the upcoming TMNT film, I really don't know if my inner child can survive much longer.  All the built up nostalgia, that I spent years cultivating, is being thoroughly beaten out of me.
     Good lord, remember what he did to Soundwave in the 2nd Transformers movie?  It was horrible!  The voice is what made the character, beside the stealth and communications, and he changed it.  Why!?!  It was almost as iconic as Optimus's voice.

     In order to ice my inner-child's crushed nardsack, I'll be replaying some TMNT: The Hyperstone Heist or, more likely, the updated version TMNT: Re-Shelled on PS3 once I finish homework this evening.

Last of Us: Demo Impressions

     This is going to come across as sounding awful, but the Last of Us demo is quite disappointing.  After being suckered into buying a sub-par God of War game (Ascension) under the premise of getting access to the Last of Us playable demo, I was quite unhappy about the "early access" notice instead. 

     Then The Last of Us was pushed back from the original May 7th release date to June 14th.  That wasn't so bad.  I would rather wait for a good game than have it rushed and end up with another Aliens: Colonial Marines. 
     But then the demo also got pushed back- ok, aggravating, but still not too bad.

     Now the demo is available- The Outskirts level- if you still have the copy of God of War: Ascension.  It is not too hard to convey the sense of excitement I had about getting home to play this long awaited game.  I have been waiting for over 3 months to play this demo, and note- it's only a mere 2 weeks before the full game is available...
     and... 
     ...after playing it...
          ...I'm quite disappointed.

        It pains me to say, but Naughty Dog made a huge mistake here.  Not about the game, but about making us wait for the demo.  It's BARELY 20 minutes long, and could've EASILY been released months ago.  I cannot see a reason why we had to wait so long for such a pitifully short demo.

     Make no mistake the demo provides us with a very small taste of the what the game will offer in much larger doses, such as the swiftness with which you can die, and the time it takes to craft items or bandage a wound is experienced.  By a small taste I mean, we are allowed to dab it on our outstretched tongue, but now allowed to chew.  I expected more.  Much more in fact.
     The game will certainly be wonderful, but now I have a slightly bitter taste left from unfulfilled demo anticipation.  
     It just bothers me that it took, no kidding here, longer for me to download and install the demo than it did for me to complete it.  Even when I was scrounging around looking for little hidden things.

Borderlands 2: Krieg the Psyco: A Meat Bicycle for Two: Origin Story

     Geabox posted this nice little movie about Krieg's story on Pandora and his path to becoming a Vault Hunter.  Simple and effective. 

     The way he talks in his head versus what comes out is quite amazing, and I hope they add more dialog (including stuff for all the other playable characters) with new patches and updates.  I was wondering how they'd explain his intro to the others, because the main 4 got a series of ECHO tapes, and Gaige got a bunch of Twitter stuff.  The video is a great addition, like the Claptrap ones.  I would very much like more of these shorts.
     The way his mind is divided is handled wonderfully.  He is literally struggling with himself to communicate properly, and doing the right thing.  This is Borderlands humor at it's best.
    Also- his crush on Maya is awesome.

Because the embed feature seems to be blocked-

                  here's the link. 

     Watch it and enjoy fellow Vault Hunters.

Older EA Online Passes Being Retroactively Eliminated!

     Game Informer updated an article about Ea killing their online passes, which is good news.  In BETTER news, they're killing off all the old passes as well.


   
     Here's a quote from John Reseburg (EA Corp. Communications)

As we discontinue Online Pass for our new EA titles, we are also in the process of eliminating it from all our existing EA titles as well.  We heard the feedback from players and decided to do away with Online Pass altogether.  

Players will see it first with some EA Sports titles, where a prompt to enter an Online Pass code will no longer appear in-game; with other titles we are simply making Online Passes available free of charge online.

These are rolling updates that are taking effect over the next several weeks. We hope players continue to enjoy our games and online services for a long time to come. 

     Dear EA, 
          Thank you.  Seriously, Thank you.  
                                      -joshua

Last of Us: The Uncharted 3 Easter Egg

     Speaking of Naughty Dog's next game, The Last of Us, and Easter Eggs- I totally forgot about the egg in Uncharted 3.  Apparently Last of Us was supposed to be revealed in June 2011, but was pushed back until Dec. 2011.  Well, there was a nod to the upcoming release still left in Uncharted when it came out in Nov. 2011.

     I don't see any problems with it.  If you didn't know about the Last of Us, it wouldn't matter anyway.  Besides- how many people just blew through the game and didn't even know about it?  I mean the only reason I knew about it is because I was hunting for the "treasures" hidden in all the levels and spotted it.  Which, is also another place they have a reference to one of their other series- Jak & Daxter- the "Strange Relic" treasure.
     They created the newspaper reference, but somehow leaving it in was considered a "screw up."  Why?  Who cares?  Until Last of Us was actually announced, the paper on the bar was something I saw, but without the reference- it HAD NO MEANING!
     Does it mean the games are in a shared universe?  Possibly... but it is an EASTER EGG, so it may just be a tip of the hat to the new game.
     Game companies should put more nice little Easter Eggs like this in their games.

[Source] Of course it came out the day after I posted what I hoped to be a nice idea for an Easter Egg for The Last of Us.

The Last of Us: Trophies and Hope for an Easter Egg

     I see the Last of Us Tophies are listed now over on IGN, and the demo finally available in just a couple of days.  (My not-so-nice feelings on that deceptive demo bonus that came "with" God of War.)  This has got me pretty amped despite the long wait.

     Naughty Dog also has listed a season pass with 3 single player DLC's and a slew of other goodies.  It makes me curious to see how they'll handle the multiplayer as well.  It's been said many times that it isn't co-op, so what is it?  More team deathmatch?  Perhaps we get to play as some of the various types of infected zombies.  What about a massive open world survival with everyone competing for supplies to stay alive.  That could be interesting.  Many are eager to find out what big surprise they've got in store for our multiplayer madness, and it's only a couple weeks away.

     Anyway, for the Easter Egg, this is just speculation mind you, but there is a hidden trophy...
     How amazing would this be-

     Picture Joel and Ellie are escaping from some Runners and Clickers, and stumble onto an underground chamber.  Not just a simple cavern, but an absolutely ancient cave, one that contains a small pathway leading to a shrine or small tomb that was forgotten buried beneath the city long ago.  Old carvings and etchings abound.  In this burial space would be 2 dead adventurers.  One in blue jeans and the other in a Hawaiian shirt. 
     In the hands of the denim trousered corpse would be a golden egg.  A very recognizable egg.  One that should be known to more than just 2 treasure hunters named Drake and Sully.

     So it'd be a nice tie in for Naughty Dog's Jak & Daxter, Drake & Sully, and a possible explanation of where the virus came form.  It's a LONG shot, probably won't happen, but I love these little nods to the other games.  Crossing my fingers...

Borderlands 2: Krieg the Psycho meme 2: Silence the Voices: Anchorman

     Well, due the Silence the Voices' negative part of the skill (12% chance to hit yourself) continually happening (3x plus times in a row CONSISTENTLY) in the game I made another fitting meme for Krieg.  This time referencing one of my all time favorite movies ever- Anchorman.  We'll be getting a sequel to the film soon so these references will be popping up more frequently as the release nears.
    Besides, Sex Panther is the olfactory equivalent of smashing your own face in so it kind of fits.

I'm gonna be honest, it tastes like pure gasoline.

Michele Bachmann is NOT Running Again!!! Minnesota Rejoices.

I added the thought bubble for effect.

    In a wonderful bout of news our Minnesotan Republican embarrassment, Michele Bachmann, released a video saying that she won't be running for re-election in the 2014 elections.

"I fully anticipate the mainstream liberal media to put a detrimental spin on my decision not to seek a 5th term."-M. Bachmann (MN- Public Idiot)

     No, Mrs. Bachmann, that is ALL you.
     How disturbing is it that we are being represented by delegates like Bachmann? There's a million voices crying ou today in celebration and relief, for the future looks brighter already.I don't know how she got elected in the last election, as NOT A SINGLE PERSON I know voted for her.   Bachmann's voting base is rapidly dwindling while her opposition's voters are increasing rapidly.  Young new voters are coming in and we are slowly starting to weed out those governmental hindrances to the future.
     It's absolutely hilarious that she completely believes she would win in her next election, when she only won by like 4,000 votes last time.  Or the fact she claims to "work 100hr" weeks.  HHAHAHAHAHA what a joke.

     It's only in the last decade I've taken an interest in politics, and Bachmann is highly counter intuitive them.  If Minnesota wants to maintain being a state that leads the country, getting rid of "traditional values" (limited rights) and focus more on equality (for EVERYONE), education, and health care.  Our state should be leading the entire damn nation in a small Renaissance.  We must take a stand with creativity and opportunity.  I personally believe that we've lost the sense of community and family as a country that was so prevalent in the 80's.  Too much selfishness bogging down the system, a return to optimism could be world changing. 
     That change starts simply with individuals.  With us.

A much more well written piece: New York Times article.

Borderlands 2: 24 minutes of Tiny Tina's Assault on Dragon Keep

     IGN has the first 24 minutes with commentary by Anthony Burch up.  I ABSOLUTELY LOVE the idea that the game will change depending on Dungeon Master Tiny Tina's whims, and the fact tat now each small comment by the Vault Hunter will be character specific to who you're playing as.  Nice touch.  So are the Dice roll chests- being a new use for eridium-giving you a higher chance for good loot items.

Marcus's Cannons and Zed's Apothecary

     Any characters can show up (Including dead ones) because it's all in Tina's imagination.  That is super amazing, and opens up infinite new avenues of storytelling on Pandora.  Damn, I'm excited for this. 

     Thank god this comes out after I gradute (on June 15th is my last day and then I'll be a gold-starred, fancy-papered degree holder), and this would probably lure me in and I wouldn't be able to tear myself away to finish finals.

Man of Steel: The Meme of Steel

     After watching the newest Superman Man of Steel trailers and clips, I had a wonderful idea.  Ok, just a stupid idea, about Superman getting caught in his zipper, which was replaced by Bruce Wayne (Batman) in a low brow mode of dark humor.  Well, I let it sit, and decided to make this small meme about Superman and Batman having a small rivalry.  It may become a small series of panel comics, because I've got like a hundred other ideas from the last decade about this. 
     I call it "Ziptonite."  Guess where all that blood came from?
     In my opinion, Batman will always be the better character overall for a variety of reasons, but I do enjoy them both and hope the upcoming film is good.

Borderlands 2: Designing Krieg the Psycho and Video Announcement

     Paul Hellquist, the Creative Director and Lead Designer on Borderlands 2, has put up some interesting stuff about how Gearbox crew made and put together the newest playable character here.

     Each day this week they'll be posting more stuff culminating in a video about how Krieg became a Vault Hunter on Friday.
     I like the idea of making skills that force you into action instead of running for cover.  I still find myself falling directly into "Fight for Your Life" or "Light the Fuse" modes right after activating the Buzz Axe Rampage skill.  Roughly 20% of the time I get the 12% chance to hit yourself Silence the Voices skill all at once, and Krieg hits himself 3+ times in a row and it sends me almost directly to a Hyperion New-U respawn station.
     Anyway, some good info for those that are interested in how they design and make things in the game.

Borderlands 2: Krieg the Psycho meme: Light the Fuse

     Some of the Official Borderlands 2 forum guys suggested I change it to Light the Fuse mode.  So here it is. 

Borderlands 2: Krieg the Psycho Meme: Silence the Voices

     After playing as the new playable character Krieg the Psycho, he is fun, then becomes a pain, then becomes fun as hell again.  He has numerous flaws in the programming- such as problems with Buzz Axe Bombardier, but once you get to a bottom tier skill...  DAMN he's fun.

     I've been having loads of fun with his Mania tree's ultimate skill "Release the Beast."  Transforming into a Badass Psycho Mutant and rampaging through hordes of enemies.  Although he has one really annoying problem with the Silence the Voices skill skill. (Melee Damage: +250%, Chance to Attack Self: 12%)  That is why I made this meme picture.

     The chance to attack self being 12%, but, but, BUT!!! once you use the Buzz Axe Rampage, and to be more specific, Release the Beast, while the "odds" are the same, he seems to frequently get stuck constantly hitting himself straight into "Fight for Your Life" mode.  It is super aggravating, especially considering the problems with the "Light the Fuse" skill- the small dynamite sticks, more often than not, do miniscule amounts of damage, generally resulting in death.

     As it is just occasionally cracking my own skull once in a while isn't bad, but the 3+ times back to back gets old REALLY fast when it happens 50% of the time.

Comics Alliance Rises... (They Return)

     After being shut down by AOL, it looks as if Comics Alliance may be returning. This post showed up on May 20th, ; ) , followed by this on the 22nd, "What does that mean?", and strongly suggests the wonderful idea that we may be seeing them again soon.
     The first is a reference from Frank Miller's Dark Knight Returns.  Superman (Clark Kent) hears Bruce Wayne's heart begin to beat again and winks in an acknowledgement to Robin (Carrie Kelley).  The second is the view of the Dark Knight Rises's pit ascent made to new life for both Talia Al Ghul and Batman.
     Their absence has made the comics industry slightly less meaningful, and it's re-emergence is a small bit of light for the future. 

     The Alliance Rises.

Borderlands 2: Pitchford Confirms more DLC

     Noticed on the Twitter feed a couple days ago (May 24th) that Randy Pitchford pretty much confirms more future DLC's after Tiny Tina's Assault on Dragon Keep. 

Insert Tiny Tina's, "Oh-h-h-h-h yeah!" quote here.

     Even if they are small like Mr. Torgue's Campaign of Carnage, I'll enjoy them.  (I personally LOVE Torgue's DLC)  Despite the flaws that seem to arrive with each new expansion, I still fully enjoy them.  It's just that I've grown unbelieveably sick of playing the main story repeatedly to level up all the characters.  My Krieg the Psycho is now at level 31 and I really am kind of bored replaying the main story for the 7,829th time.
     But- still looking forward to many new DLC's for future entertainment in my favorite game.  Hopefully it'll turn out to be campaign stuff and not just weapons, skins/heads, and more characters.

Arrested Developement Season 4 Clips

     With a single day until we get the entire next season of Arrested Developement, Netflix has released a set of 5 clips.
     I was going to embed the GOB with the bees snippet, but instead, I went with Buster being too much of a mama's boy.  So awkward.  So hilarious. 

Borderlands 2: Tiny Tina's Assault on Dragon Keep Pic

     Looks like with Tiny Tina's Twitter takeover of the ECHOcasts revealed a wonderful piece of art featuring 2 of her adventuristic friends.

Borderlands 2: Tiny Tina hacked Krieg's ECHOcasts on Twitter!

     I see that about 40 minutes ago, Tiny Tina commandeered Krieg the Psycho's ECHO player over on Twitter. (@ECHOcasts)  This usually has come to mean some entertainment is on the way, and small teases for what's on the way in the Borderlands 2 saga.  With each new release and DLC we got some new host for the ECHOcasts- and now we get the always wonderful Tiny Tina.

     Looking forward to learning what's to come with Tiny Tina's Assault on Dragon Keep DLC.

In addition: Here's a decent interview about it with the lead writer Anthony Burch from MCM Buzz.

Avengers vs. X-Men: Whedon vs. Singer: Quicksilver & Scarlet Witch

Quicksilver & Scarlet Witch

     Bryan Singer is 100% going to McG the X-men Days of Future Past movie.  He recently tweeted that Evan Peters from American Horror Story has been cast as Quicksilver.  I am not sure how this will work with Joss Whedon damn near confirming Quicksilver and his sister, The Scarlet Witch, for some creepy familial relationshippery in the Avengers 2 film.

Evan Peters

     Over on the wonderful site- The Mary Sue, there's an interesting small read about Scarlet Witch's casting.  It has a rumor of Saoirse Ronan possibly being a contender for the role.  She would be a hell of a fit, and I hope she gets the part.

Saoirse Ronan

     Personally, Singer has way too many damn people in his movie and I believe Whedon could make better use of the character- think of how the children of Magneto work so well in the Ultimates. (Ultimate Marvel Universe)

     Would Peters be able to reprise his role in some intercompany crossover?  I'm not entirely sure how the copyrighting works with some of the characters.

Star Trek: Gratuitous Benedict Cumberbatch Shower Scene?

     There has been some talk of sexual objectification in the new Star Trek.  Specifically of Dr. Carol Marcus (Alice Eve).  Although I do understand her underwear scene was kind of abrupt and unnecessary, the same could be argued of Kirk's scenes.  If they were removed from the film, NOTHING would change, so why isn't there a problem with Kirk's semi-nudity?

Behold!  (By that I mean avert your pervy eyes)

     In defense of the scene, Kirk is someone that would try to sneak a peak while she was changing.  And wasn't there some useless reason for Zoe Saldana's Uhura in the first film?  These topics are so ridiculous.  Granted, the scenes are unnecessary, but if memory serves, the original Star Trek series had plenty of gratuitous moments.
     Here's a deleted scene pic (video below) of Benedict Cumberbatch as John Harrison (Khan) showing how much better he is than everyone by taking a shower.  Naked.  And posing awkwardly.

Khan is better at taking showers than you.

     Truly, if there is a problem it's that the leading ladies are completely underutilized.  Give them a larger more meaningful role- that is an issue I have with the new Trek films.

     And for what it's worth, Lindelof is a writer I really think is overrated in the first place, but at least he admits and takes full responsibility for the scenes on Twitter.

     Then J.J. Abrams himself on Conan O'Brien posted this gem in a sort of response:

Batman: Arkham Origins: Kevin Conroy NOT in Origins

     Apparently- my repeated speculation on Rocksteady's Arkham series is somewhat corroborated by this new tidbit of info.  Kevin Conroy has been working on an Arkham game that IS NOT Arkham Origins.

Conroy(@realkevinconroy) tweeted: "Confusion in Dallas! I am in new ARKHAM GAME coming soon, NOT ARKHAM ORIGINS coming this fall."

     Warner Bros. confirmed that Roger Craig Smith will be voicing Batman in Origins.  So that would lead me to believe what I've said in numerous posts about the Arkham series- Rocksteady is working on the next sequel, and it's more than likely for the next gen systems.  And Conroy's tweet is a sort of unintended announcement. 

Batman: Arkham Origins: Black Mask Meme

Are you EFFIN' kiddin me Batman!?!?

     With the new trailer for Batman: Arkham Origins, I can't help but notice that Black Mask is making a meme face.  The "Are you F***ing Kidding Me?" face in particular.  I'll be trying to think of some multipanel comics to put this to good use in the mean time. 

     *cough cough* I mean... in the MEME time...

     ...sometimes I'm dumb.

Batman: Arkham Origins: Deathstroke Trailer

     In the last few days we've gotten quite the bunch of new Batman Arkham Origins news.  Kevin Conroy IS back, Deathstroke the Terminator is going to be playable, and the Joker has been confirmed to return.

     Today we get almost a five minute trailer courtesy of Game Informer.  Warner Bros. Games Montreal is doing great justice to the Arkham name.  The game is looking to be a wonderful addition to the series, and I still think Rocksteady is secretly working on the next actual sequel in the Arkham series for the next gen systems.

Will we get a visit from Green Arrow (Oliver Queen)?

Call of Duty: Ghosts- A 6 second Vine "preview."

Here's the 1 second clip (picture)

     In 6 seconds we learn all we need to about the next Call of Duty release.  Honestly, ZERO seconds would be more than enough.  Some extra polygons, a handful more pixels, and roughly seven-hundred-thousand 13 year old idiots attempting to trash talk you while you shoot their faces off.  Nothing new.
   
     Link to the Vine video, because the embed isn't functioning properly:  https://vine.co/v/b9mjlbtxvgW

     The full reveal will be on May 21, and the game will be released o November 5th.

     This is a perfect example of milking a franchise until it bleeds.  More of the exact same crap with a few fancy new touch ups to graphics.  Hopefully they can do something none of the other major First Person Shooter games have done- give us a great story in addition to the unbelievably repetitive gameplay that hasn't changed in the 20 games from the entire last decade.

Star Trek Into Darkness: Not Quite a Review.

     Ok, first off, I fully enjoyed the movie, despite the vast amount of absurdities.  Things like the Enterprise losing the warp core power and immediately it "falls" through space towards the nearest celestial body.  Really!?!?  Come ON!!!

  ---SPOILER WARNING---

"My name rhymes with JOOOOOOOHHHHNNN!"  -Khan

     It wasn't too hard to see that the main villain was Khan.  A flimsy cover up maintained after many had guessed long before the movie arrived on screen.  I get that they wanted people to "discover the story" as the main characters did, but seriously, stop covering it up! 

     Anyways, I'm glad Scotty gets a good chunk of things to do in this one.  Spock and Uhura get a small bit of relationship continuing.  Kirk is learning about consequences.  Bones is amazing and cantankerously quippy as ever.  Sulu gets a taste of being Captain, Chekov shifts to engineering, and there may be a precursor to Data on the bridge.

     We also finally get to see the new Klingon design, which I think is pretty awesome.  They also have a sensor cloaking ability on their ships.  That'll probably come in handy for the next film.

    Now- Khan.  He is played up perfectly as the superior being he was made to be.  Unfortunately the writers make plenty of stupid moves with him.  (Squashing heads?  Sure it shows his immense strength, but leaves out the tactical genius and battle swiftness he WOULD ACTUALLY BE USING, particularly in the fight with Spock.)  Khan's mythic presence has been rushed.  Being a tactical military super soldier, he should've been far smarter.  Seriously, why take out all that hate on all of Starfleet and not just focus on exposing and/or assassinating Admiral Marcus?  It would've been simple, smart, and highly effective.

     The movie is riddled with lazy writing and moments when the writers have sacrificed plausibility for something they hope to be moving- things that are so highly coincidental just to make the story fit a mold- that it is working against itself.  The trade off here is we are getting a meaningless and predictable rush through incoherent story without the depth of real emotion.  It feels like we are forced to endure a long series of escalating distractions, a constant barrage of action instead of the tension building that should be happening.  We need time to reflect and digest along side the character's growth- this process is extremely important in creating a lasting story, and Into Darkness is neglecting it.

     Where are the strange new worlds of the final frontier we were promised?  I don't know why the creators are trying to stuff references in every 5 minutes, but I would much appreciate it if we could go somewhere that means something.  In order for the series to grow, Star Trek needs to stop looking back, and start looking towards where they should be boldly going.

     Here's a bunch of miscellaneous thoughts:

• Khan and the Botany Bay should've been found by the Klingons. They are a war focussed culture, Khan is bred for that lifestyle. It gives a reason for him to be a great leader and cause turmoil in their society, then spread it to Starfleet later. Think of the following he could've had- the backing of at least some Klingons that give high honor and respect to the best warriors.
• Bones, instead of scientifically breaking down Khan's magic blood, injects it into a dead Tribble. Who thought of this? Lets test this questionable blood on a hairy chicken nugget. Then much, much later- the Tribble is brought back to life (I personally thought it would be the start of a "Trouble with Tribbles" subplot) and of course, it would be used to revive someone later even though it was shown earlier in the film that the blood has healing properties.
• Starfleet security is shit. Their meeting room has tons of windows, and no flying patrols?
• Parking their ship NEXT to the tribe the crew is trying to save instead of remaining IN ORBIT and OUT OF SIGHT.
• Isn't saving those people ALSO a violation of the Prime Directive?
• Why not beam the bomb into the volcano?
• Kirk's useless death. (see the magic blood) Someone should STAY dead.
• Bones made sythesized Khan blood, now NO injuries will be of threat ever again. 
• Spock, when enraged, should've displayed his struggle to contain the anger, and barely audibly whispered, "Khan."
• The transporters can snag people from anywhere, but can only send from the one teleporter bay.
• Chekov could beam 2 falling people, but now he has lost that ability?

Ender's Game Trailers

     The full Ender's Game trailers are looking pretty damn good.  I was originally worried about the movie because the still shots were so sparse and bland.  Anyway, the first teasers didn't help, but the full trailer looks much, MUCH better.

A game of Indifference-  More like Ender's Apathy.

     The visuals are a hell of a lot more impressive than what I was expecting, and I don't even mind that they made these kids a decade older than their book counterparts.  Although I still worry about how the story will be translated, as it looks as if they give away the big twist at the end in the commercial.  By giving it away, I mean they just blatantly make the twist to be the focus of the whole film.  I'll still see it, and probably enjoy it as well. 

Batman: Arkham Origins: First Trailer is up!

     Looks like the very first teaser trailer up for the next Arkham game is up over at Game Informer.(Click to see)  I have to admit, this game is already much better than I was expecting due to another company taking the reigns.  It's a snippet of Deathstroke and Batman in a short fight.

 

     Now we wait for the full trailer to arrive in just a few days on May 20th, then the full game on October 25th.  Not long at all. 

EA Games stopping Online Passes!

     After a long bout of games hitting where online passes were becoming necessary and alienating second hand gamers, EA makes the smart decision to give it the axe. 
     The online pass programs were added, essentially, to make money off the used games markets.  Requiring a one-time use pass to access a wealth of online play- you would need to purchase it if you were a second hand gamer in order to access many of the online features.  So you would either need to buy new games, or buy a pass to play online. 

"We're 100% committed to creating on-going content and services so the consumers get more value out of the game – you know games like Battlefield and FIFA where there's all sorts of new things that get added all the time – but the whole idea of packaging it up with an online pass, clearly it was not popular, so we listened to people and we stopped doing it."

-Jeff Brown (EA's VP, Corp. Communications)

     Now thatEA has done this, we'll have to see if other major companies follow. and await the massive increase in MicroTransactions market, which I actually don't mind.


Sources
[VentureBeat-GamesBeat Beta]
[Game Informer]

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Who is J. August Richards playing? (part 2)

     I just read this IGN article and had another idea instantly spring to mind, seeing as he's surely not Luke Cage.  But first, here's the sippet that gave me the idea:

IGN: And I’ve got to ask about J. August Richards…

Bell: Killed it! He’s so good. He’s so good, because we were looking for this character M-- I almost said his name. It’s not the one people are talking about.
[Editor's Note: Yes, it kind of sounded like Bell was about to say a name beginning with an M... but maybe he just made a strong "HMM" sound when he stopped himself! Ah, so much to ponder.]

IGN: He’s not! So I’m going to say Luke Cage, and you’re going to say...

Bell: I’m going to say that’s an interesting Marvel character, but no. But he came in and killed it. Honestly, we were looking for this part, and we just said, look, all our parts are open to all diversity. So the fact that we have a black dude who is awesome and it's J, was just because he was the best actor. It wasn’t like, “You know who…!”
 

      How about Mahr Vehl or more likely, due to his age, Marvel Boy (Noh-Varr). He has the alien tech, and displays powers that are similar. The quotes above kind of made me wonder what typically white characters could've been changed, and Marvel Boy sprang to mind.
     It would also explain the confusion he shows when asking, "I should carry a shield?"  It seems like the woman he's speaking to is a conspiracy theorist, and Mahr Vehl is an alien.  In the comics he is chased by the government and S.H.I.E.L.D.- so it seems a HIGHLY likely possibility.  More so now than when I thought it would've been Patriot from Young Avengers.  Although that is still plausible.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Who is J. August Richards playing?

Luke Cage?  Patriot?  Rage?

     Many are thinking a young Luke Cage, but what are some other possibilities?  Cage is who I originally thought, but after some consideration...

     The first one that comes to mind is Patriot from the Young Avengers.  Which would be more age appropriate for the actor.  Then I've read some people think he could be Rage from the New Warriors.  That's also a good possibility.

     There is a list of Marvel projects listed (Hollywood Reporter) and Luke Cage isn't one of them.  Personally, I think he's going to be Patriot.  (I believe Terry Crews would be an amazing Luke Cage, and Marvel should totally consider that.)

     "Doctor Strange, Iron Fist, Black Panther and The Runaways are other projects on the horizon. The company slowly has been reacquiring licenses to characters it lost during the 1990s, snapping up Blade, Ghost Rider, Power Man and Daredevil in the past year alone."

     Anyways- this is kind of why I think he's Patriot (Eli Bradley)- the arm thing that some think means he's Rage.  Patriot had a version of his background that was drug related.  The drugs sort of gave him the abilities, although he's the Grandson of the original Patriot Isaiah Bradley, that had the same type of super soldier serum as Captain America Steve Rogers.  At first he said he received the abilities through a blood transfusion from his grandfather, but he turned to the drugs to artificially induce them for unspecified amounts of time.

Super power inducing alien tech?

     In the trailers, it looks like he has a strange alien tech embedded in his arm.  Then in another shot, an investigator is holding what looks to be a burnt out version of the same thing.

The same technology.

     Soooooo... what if they are changing it from an illegal drug substance (in the comics it's Mutant Growth Hormone) to alien tech?  It would provide a wonderful first story arc for the series.

     I also wonder if the strange orangey holoprojections are the Vision?  Maybe it's an AI that helps solve cases or recreate crime scenes.  It is totally plausible if they took a nod from the way Iron Man handled Jarvis. 

     So, here's hoping they give the reveal soon.  Too much speculation, not enough information. 
     On a side note- here's a link to a good article on cameos and other potential appearances on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. over on The Mary Sue.

New Chronicles of Riddick Debut Trailer

He's obligated to remove goggles dramatically at least 25 times.

     Now that the new Riddick trailer is out, I'm a bit more concerned that the movie IS following in the footsteps of the 2nd film.  Sure, it does look better than the last one, but still not quite as dark as the first.  Thank the Pitch Black gods they've returned to the "Night-time horrors hunting people down" genre instead of the "Conan in Space" the film makers were heading towards. 

Joe Biden sees no problem taxing violent media? (Video Games & Movies)

Next we'll tax imagination!  Pew-pew-pew!

     After reading this article yesterday, I am quite disheartened.  I even sat on this reply for a whole day.  Really, Mr. Biden, no "legal reasons"?  Maybe you should then tax the entire military for making real violence, or participating in it.

     During a meeting about gun legislation, with a religious person ( Billy Graham's son, The Reverend Franklin Graham), and a proposed "sin tax" or a tax on violent media-

'Participants in the session told Politico that Mr. Biden said there’s "no restriction on the ability to do that; there’s no legal reason why they couldn’t."'

     I would actually recommend reading the small article linked above.  Personally, I think the tax idea is foolish- although the potential studies and the funds going to victims I do agree with.
     But really, they need to face the gun issue, and not continually put the blame on other things.  Seriously, if they really believe a violent media tax is feasible, they should surely increase the taxes on the ACTUAL TOOLS OF VIOLENCE THEMSELVES, instead of pretend violence.  Guns are meant for one purpose- to cause harm and damage.  They are not playthings.  They are made specifically to destroy life.
     Would the military then someday be paying for all the families of foreign people that have suffered from their destructive nature?  Considering a majority of US spending goes to military and "defense", maybe they can give some back.

     Taxation advice from a religious leader?  Absurd!  Would printing the Bible itself be hit with the tax???  There's certainly a lot of violent content in there.

UPDATE:

     Jim Sterling over on Destructoid posted about this.

     "Reverend Franklin Graham (son of the evil Billy Graham) proposed that violent videogames and movies be hit with an extra sin tax so the money could go to victims of gun crime -- which is like taxing bananas to give money to those injured in car accidents.

  Leaving aside my fury at the nerve of a religious leader wanting to decide who should pay taxes, I'd like to think Biden's smart enough to understand the logical reasons why this is a dumb idea, even if there aren't legal hurdles. Unless Biden would also like to add a tax on Bible purchases and give the cash to victims of religious violence. At least that'll be consistent.

Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Trailer... Finally

     We finally get to see the Joss Whedon directed/co-wrote - Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Trailer - coming after the Avengers movie.  One thing that gets me is Clark Gregg returning as Agent Phil Coulson.  He died in the Avengers, so how is this going to be explained?

Possibly The Vision?

     Is this a way to get Vision into the series, this screencap I took has the look of a nanomachine person with him, so hhmmmm...  I wonder is Coulson a clone or a machine person now?  (Note in the picture above the hands towards the bottom of the shrinking "flames.") 

     Also of note is what might be a young Luke Cage in a coule shots!  Looking good so far.  The effects are iffy as yet, but they have plenty of time to a little clean up work.

Luke Cage?

Borderlands 2: Krieg the Psycho in 2 days

     In just a couple days the new Psycho Bandit character will be released for Borderlands 2.  This character looks like an absolute blast to play.  In particular the Release the Beast skill that mutates him into one of those shriveled arm badass psychos looks like tons of fun.

     Here's the launch trailer:

Upstream Color at the Walker Art Center

     Due to my overwhelming work and school schedule, I missed an opportunity to see Shane Carruth's new film at the Minneapolis Walker Art Center last night.  None of my friends that work there mentioned it! Thanks a LOT Kate!

     So I've both missed my chance to see the film and potentially meet Mr. Carruth as he was there to speak after each of the screenings.
     Anyways, I'm still looking forward to seeing this, although now it'll be put off even longer.  Possibly until it's released on Bluray and DVD.  Sooner or later, I WILL be seeing this.

     Also, found this interesting Grantland drunk interview with Carruth.  It's good reading.

Amazing Spider-Man 2: Giamatti's Rhino pic.

     Director Marc Webb tweeted this pic with the comment, "Say hello to Aleksei Sytsevich."

     By the looks of it, Paul Giamotti is nailing the anger issues associated with the criminal that becomes the Rhino.  While I'm a bit hesitant about his casting, he is a top notch actor attempting to fill humongous anger filled shoes.  In the long run, this'll probably make for a more interesting take on the character.
     I'm quite curious to see how he'll look once the polymer hide is bonded to him.

Allie Brosh Returns: New Hyperbole and a Half Post

     After a long and overly stressful week of school, I logged on to get some bloggery done yesterday, and low, what do I see in my feed?  At approximately 7:30pm the amazing and talented Allie Brosh had posted on Hyperbole and a Half the night before!  I was stunned and overly excited.  She had posted a short bit about what's to come leading to a 2nd larger post about where she's been for the last year and a half.

Where she's been.

     She once again has made the topic of depression understandable with her unique brand of humor.  Depression Part 2 is wonderful and contains great insights into the human condition.  Miss Brosh has been stuck in a loop and by the looks of things she has broken out of it with a message of hope from a kernel of corn. 

Corn induced happiness.

     Coincidentally, her posts are those corn kernels of hope and hilarity for most of us fans. 
     And from us fans to you Miss Brosh,

Thank you, you've been missed.

Note: These images are 100% Allie Brosh's and her Copyright Monster's.

Bay's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Megan Fox as April O'Neil

     Superhero Hype got a couple pics of Miss Fox as April and...  well...  just look at her.  I am unimpressed.  Things are not looking well for this project again.

     I truly wonder how the people making this movie can believe this'll hold up.  Granted, Transformers 1 through 63 were watchable.  Visually pleasing, but leave me wanting much more story wise.  Seriously, Mr. Bay- fans are very worried and your track record is questionable.

     Has anyone heard if Casey Jones is going to be in this film?  It'll be a hard time for anyone since Elias Koteas nailed the character in the first TMNT movie.

Borderlands 2: Krieg Available May 14th!

     Gearbox just announced the date for Krieg's release on Facebook!  A week and a day and we'll be stripping the flesh and salting the wounds. 

Harbinger Wars: Battle for Las Vegas Mini-review

     With all my love for Valiant Comics and their wonderful marketing tie-ins, this is my first real let down.  A video game tie in to the comic book crossover is a brilliant idea.  However, Harbinger Wars: The Battle for Las Vegas is a perfect example of a great idea poorly executed. 

     First off- I am on an Android phone and the game gets an error and force closes 9 out of 10 times I try to start the app- typically right at the Storm City logo screen.  Very inconvenient.  That is a bad way to start the game.
     Then comes the screen layout.  All the bars are set low enough on screen to provide space for advertisements.  Real nice.  Put the menus mid screen, wonderful idea.  Right where the gameplay should be happening.
     The controls are awful.  Too clunky and slow.  A poorly made virtual D-pad, a jump button, and a fire button.  There's a floating to the jumps and the gun ALWAYS fires in 4 shot bursts.  Everything feels delayed and that subsequently costs you lives.  Honestly, this game could be massively improved with the simple addition of better controls.  Put the D-pad buttons closer together, and make it more responsive.
     The enemies aren't difficult at all (although I don't really see a problem there), and it does suck that you cannot duck under or avoid shots.  Damage will be taken by turrets and soldiers with no alternative.  On top of that instant deaths feel cheap.  I've been killed by falling through moving platforms, that kill instantly if you touch the bottom of one, far more than being killed by enemy soldiers.  Should I mentioned the one hit kill laser gates?  There's plenty more of them than enemies.  Not even kidding here, those gates and touching the bottom of a moving platform (even far above the ground) combined with the rubbish controls make this far more frustrating than is necessary.

     The level(s) are very short and boring.  And when you've defeated the first real boss, the next level (Chapter) has to be unlocked with coins, which can be either earned by killing enemies or bought with In App Purchases.  2000 coins to open the next level?  After playing through a few times I barely have 300 coins.  With the IAPs you can buy coins ($0.99 for 600 coins, $1.99 for 1200, and $2.99 for 2500 coins).  Just to remove ads it's 800 coins. 
     I'm sorry to say but it's not worth my time nor money to continue to level 2. 

     The only slightly redeeming factor is that they'll be adding characters and levels as the comics get released during the crossover event Harbinger Wars progresses... then again, maybe not- as the game is awful.  One would think that with as many people were listed in the credits, someone would've realized this game was garbage.

     For the first time since Valiant Comics has been revived I feel disappointed by them (granted this was more due to the game makers- Storm City and Gameshastra).  I will still be purchasing loads of their comics. 
     And I'm stoked up about Quantum & Woody returning this month!

Borderlands 2: Tiny Tina's Assault on Dragon Keep Release Date June 25th

     Today, shortly after the leaked picture, Gearbox and 2K officially confirmed the title and release date of the 4th Borderlands 2 DLC.  As the title reads, it's "Tiny Tina's Assault on Dragon Keep" and releases on June 25th for $9.99, 800 Microsoft points, or as the last free pack for the season pass owners.

     I'm super pumped, and also super jealous that those fellows at Game Informer got to play it.  Man, I REALLY need to get a job over there.

Borderlands 2: Tiny Tina's Assault on Dragon Keep DLC Leak

     Apparently Gearbox writer Anthony Burch accidentally tweeted the name of the next Borderlands 2 story add-on DLC .  The tweet included a picture which had this image in the background of it.

     It does contain the elements from the PAX East teaser showing Tina leading a game of the Dungeons and Dragon's inspired Bunkers and Badasses.  So maybe this leak was a publicity stunt?  Considering it is only 2 months from release, and then it would kind of take the spotlight off of the Aliens: Colonial Marines lawsuit news.

     I don't mind and am looking forward to both the release of the next DLC character Krieg and this 4th DLC, and ANY information on it is good news right now.

The Wolverine: CinemaCon Trailer

     This new Wolverine trailer is looking slightly better than the last.  There are still moments that look over the top (the explosion in the field scenes), but it has a few redeeming parts.  For instance, I really like the new shots of the Silver Samurai.  In one shot his blade is glowing, and he appears to be the best part of this movie so far, and in another he is kicking some Wolverine ass (see pic above). 
     And the big awesome piece- the battle against the ninjas in the snow scene.  It could be done quite well.  Please let this be done right.

     There are plenty of potential problems already surfacing just from the clips I've seen, but I'll hold off on serious judgement unyil later.  It would take some major effort to be as bad as Origins was.  (One indicator being Mariko's striped hipster sleeves.  Really?  Uglkh.)

     Link to Trailer: http://youtu.be/skYPWMM9W1A