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Archive for the ‘Articles’ Category

Morning Banana Oatmeal: Movie Apocalypses that Time Would Fix

Posted in Articles, Lists, Movies, tagged , , , on May 25, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Some movie or television apocalypses on television are so completely detrimental, that it’s clear how humanity truly doesn’t stand a chance.  There are plenty of disaster/apocalyptic movies that use devices like these to make us sympathize for humanity and the characters in them.  However, maybe not all these movies get the sympathy they want: most zombie movies simply involve waiting the zombies to starve out is an example of how time could possibly beat the Apocalypse.  Cracked has naturally compiled such a list.  Check it out below.

Movie Apocalypses that Time Would Fix

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Game of the Week: Batman: Arkham Asylum

Posted in Articles, Video Games, tagged , , , , , , on May 24, 2012| 3 Comments »

Hello and welcome to this week’s Game of the Week. Today we’ll be covering a game I was recently allowed to borrow with a recommendation from a good friend. Batman: Arkham Asylum, first in what may be a series of games, followed by Arkham City, is an amazing step in the right direction for superhero games in general (with Spider Man 2 coming in at a close second place). With all the grit of the original and later series and a lot of interesting mechanics and gameplay nuances, Arkham Asylum makes for an intriguing time killer and fun-filling machine. The plot is interesting, deep, and peppered here and there with a bit of maturity (if not a lot ofmaturity, people DO die). Let’s get into the dissection of this game before we go any further.

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Will the 360 be Banned?

Posted in Articles, Video Games, tagged , , , , , , , , on May 23, 2012| Leave a Comment »

So, if you may or may not heard, David Shaw, judge of the International Trade Commission, has filed a case in which he states that Microsoft infringed upon five patents held by Motorola, and should immediately cease the importation of every single Xbox 360 console into the United States and pay 7% of all unsold console prices directly to the cell phone manufacturer. If the International Trade Commission (ITC for short) agree with Shaw’s statement, then their recommendation will end up in the hands of the President. I’m not sure whether or not this will go through, although I highly doubt it would be as severe as the article stated. On the other hand, if Microsoft is forced to pull the 360 from stores across the nation, I don’t know what else will happen to the console. I’m sure it won’t be pretty.

Source: 360 May be Banned from Sale

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Morning Banana Oatmeal: 6 Common Arguments that Movie Buffs Are Wrong About

Posted in Articles, Lists, Movies, tagged , , , on May 23, 2012| Leave a Comment »

A while back, I posted an article about how to be a movie douchebag.  There are certain set of rules that movie lovers must abide to correctly integrate with today’s society and culture of non-movie goers.  Some basics like, talking in the middle of it to share a pointless fact, or thinking you’d do a better job are a couple of my points.  But of course Cracked came around and created a list of their own reasons why movie lovers suck, and it’s-like-a bajillion better than mine and of course millions of people read it while probably 4 of you did.

6 Common Arguments that Movie Buffs Are Wrong About

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GameStop Mobile?

Posted in Articles, tagged , , , , , , on May 21, 2012| Leave a Comment »

There goes the neighborhood…

Well, it’s finally happened folks. GameStop has jumped the shark. According to an article on Engadget, GameStop intends to become a telecommunications provider, offering contract and pre-paid deals that work through AT&T (oh boy…). As long as your hardware works on AT&T, apparently you can sign up with GameStop for anywhere from a $5 pre-paid plan to a $55 contract, with unlimited voice and text as well as a stunning 500MB of data (yes…stunning…). Wait…only 500MB of data? Well, I won’t cross my fingers, let alone stop by any AT&T store any time soon. Unfortunately for me (or fortunately. depending on perspective), I am on Verizon and have been enjoying it thoroughly (as in, I love playing app based games on the go). If anyone has anything else to add, please let us know in the comments below. Thanks!

Source: Gamestop Mobile Launches as ATT Virtual Carrier

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Morning Banana Oatmeal: Realistic Avenger’s Action Figures!

Posted in Articles, Movies, Television, tagged , , , , , , , , on May 21, 2012| Leave a Comment »

“Clench up, Legolas”

So, with the advent of the Avengers movie, surely a lot of swag will come along with it, but these realistic Avenger action figures might just leave you guessing as to whether or not the promo pictures were the actors or the figurines. Each costing over 200$ a piece, these collectors items aren’t cheap, with Tony Stark’s Mark VII Iron Man figurine being limited to a 3000 unit release. Assuming you’re into collecting, and have a lot of money to burn, check out the drawing on Kotaku’s article to enter yourself for the grand prize of four figurines (Nick Fury, Hawkeye, Captain America and Thor).

Source: Avenger’s Action Figures

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Nine Compelling Diablo III Features That Didn’t Make the Final Game

Posted in Articles, tagged , , , , , , , on May 18, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Yep…

So as people delve further and further into the depths of Diablo, I’d like to take a moment to link you to this amazing article that shows us the features we wanted, but never got in this amazing third installment of a legacy. Diablo III was meant to have a plethora of amazing features that never got implemented in the final iteration of the game. Some of these features are in the works as downloadable future content, but that doesn’t change the fact that some of them should have been implemented during the initial release. First and foremost, I would like to point out that, although announced, PvP was a part of the game that was scrubbed (if I understand correctly) in order to meet their deadline. While not necessarily a major let down in other games, most online games similar to Diablo should have a fully functional PvP, and somehow the world feels a little bland without it. Blizzard will undoubtedly remedy this situation later, but the fact remains. Check out what else they left you without in the article below!

Nine Compelling Diablo III Features That Didn’t Make the Final Game

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Game of the Week: Katamari Damacy

Posted in Articles, tagged , , , , , , , on May 18, 2012| Leave a Comment »

We definitely do love Katamari

Hello fellow game enthusiasts, and welcome to this week’s edition of Game of the Week. This week I’ll be covering an oldie but a goodie, Katamari Damacy. In this tripped out, colorful world, you control a character known as the Prince, trying to collect huge amounts of stuff into giant balls with an object known as a Katamari. I didn’t read too much into the storyline, as I was having too much fun actually playing the game. While the characters were fun and memorable, it was the gameplay and casual fun-ness of it all that drew me in and kept me playing for hours and hours on end while trying to complete each level. Overall I would definitely recommend that you pick up this game if you want to have an extra casual, interesting game to play that will keep you entertained when your Diablo or Call of Duty gets stale.

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The Ultimate Faculty List to the Best School EVAR

Posted in Articles, tagged , on May 17, 2012| Leave a Comment »

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The Ultimate Debate: Lord of the Rings vs. Harry Potter Infographic

Posted in Articles, tagged , , , , , , on May 10, 2012| 1 Comment »

There is a far better infographic below created by Cracked to finally settle the score between two beloved franchises.  The article primarily divides the fight between things like Dark Lord vs. hot female companion.  Check out the full thing below.

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Game of the Week: Little Big Planet

Posted in Articles, tagged , , , , , , , , , on May 10, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Welcome to the world of Little BIG Planet

Welcome to this weeks edition of Game of the Week. This Week’s title is Little Big Planet. I will cover the initial game, and will hopefully follow up with another article when I get time to play the sequel. Now, as many of you may or may not know, Little Big Planet, or LBP for short, is an incredibly successful platforming game that revolutionized the way we play games. From its quirky character design to its customizable and hilarious level design, LBP has remained a staple of Playstation 3 gaming since its release back in 2008. It has since then received much praise and great ratings across the board from multiple magazines and websites. The game follows the character known as ‘sack boy’ (or sack girl for the female readers/players), essentially a ‘small, anthropomorphic humanoid creature made of fabric’ to quote the wiki. He goes around the world, developed by the 8 Curators, in order to stop the evil Collector. The story is somewhat lacking in bravado, but it definitely makes up for it with hours of creative level design and sharing across the globe.

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Attack of the Show Says Goodbye to Kevin Pereira

Posted in Articles, tagged , , , , , , , on May 9, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Moving on to Bigger and Better Things.

After ten years, the television station known as G4, formerly known as Tech T.V, will be saying goodbye to long time Attack of the Show host and Kevin ‘Dude Manrod’ Pereira. To honor the likable and witty show host, Attack of the Show will be airing clips from his history with the station until the 31st, when he is slated to leave the show (and quite possibly the network) for good. The second host of the show to leave after gamer pin-up gal Olivia Munn, this leaves questions as to how the show will function without its headliner. As a gamer, I will still avidly support G4 TV and its endeavors (hoping that they remove the cops, cheaters, and campus PD that are so notoriously clogging up my precious viewing time). Anyway, I’ll definitely miss Kevin on the show, but I also look forward to seeing who they get to fill those huge shoes. Candace Bailey and Sara Underwood are amazing, hot, and quirky personalities, but the gaming community is still a male-centered area, and needs a bit more testosterone to relate to (not being offensive, just saying that us guys need someone to look up to is all).

Source: Article

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Final Fantasy Versus XIII

Posted in Articles, tagged , , , , , , on May 7, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Some of us are willing to wait.

Well, I figured in the down time I’d give you guys a somewhat relevant read before I find myself taking two finals today. Anyway, let’s cover a topic near and dear to my heart. Many of you don’t share the fanaticism that a lot of people hold for the Final Fantasy series, but to be fair and honest those games defined a genre. Sadly, their games as of late have lost the shine and polish that made Final Fantasy such a memorable series, but they seem to be wanting to make amends with their latest and greatest title, Final Fantasy XIII Versus. Now, a lot about the game has already been spoiled, but only in articles and screen shots. Unfortunately, it looks like Square Enix doesn’t have half the amount of things done as they should. Will we have to wait until we’ve got grand kids before we’re even able to sneak a peek?

Source: Kotaku Article

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Morning Banana Oatmeal: Valve vs. EA

Posted in Articles, Video Games, tagged , , , on May 7, 2012| Leave a Comment »

I don’t really want to say anything about this…

So as many of you have already noticed, EA (Electronic Arts) have released their own steam-like application known as Origin, which hosts a lot of the major EA titles, many of which were pulled from steam before the release of the program. Since then…well…it’s received more than its fair share of criticism ranging from poor design to poor customer service. The interview with Gabe Newell, head of Valve and subsequently, Steam, can clue us in to how he views his ‘competition’. At this point this article could be nothing more than speculation, but I found it to be an interesting enough read.

Source: Gabe Newell on EA’s Origin Service

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My Favorite Action Movie and Why: Die Hard

Posted in Articles, Movies, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on May 4, 2012| Leave a Comment »

A long time ago, I wrote a very long article concerning my favorite comedy: Tropic Thunder.  It wasn’t soon after I published that article did I think of my favorite movies from other dramas.  It’s difficult to narrow them down, but I eventually settled on action movies.  I thought hard about which action movie is very much worth calling, ‘the best’.  But when you really come down to it, the most influential and generally awesome action movie of all time is “Die Hard”.  Almost every person can relate to the lovable John McClane, the idea of one man vs. a dozen is well displayed here, and the outside help elements are film staples we see in just about every action film these days.  It doesn’t take a movie critic or a film education to realize how elements from this movie have influenced the industry today, and I’ll try my best to break it down for you all.  But first, a summary.

John McClane, a New York police cop, is heading west to join his separated wife for Christmas and their children.  His wife is in the middle of a corporate Christmas party after a celebrated project wrap up, so he must make his way to the building itself.  Admist meeting her and her fellow co-workers, the building is suddenly taken hostage while John narrowly escapes.  In a game of cat and mouse between John McClane and the terrorists, led my Hans Gruber, he must shoot, trick, and explode his way back to his wife with the help of a local cop and a young limo driver.

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Morning Banana Oatmeal: 4 Sequels Hollywood Owes Us

Posted in Articles, tagged , on May 4, 2012| Leave a Comment »

What is essentially fan fiction, Cracked has come up with a list of 4 movies with potential to be really good sequels to past movies.  Some are more obvious than others, but the Iron Giant one takes the cake to be my favorite because of it’s general originality.  I’ve read somewhere about the Kill Bill sequel and how it would focus on Vernita Green’s kid getting revenge on Kiddo herself and that’s just as joyous.  I’ll keep the next two a secret so you have to visit the link below!

4 Sequels Hollywood Owes Us

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Game of the Week: Maplestory

Posted in Articles, Video Games, tagged , , , , , , , , , on May 3, 2012| 2 Comments »

Is that nostalgia I smell? No? Sadness and Grinding? Okay…

Oh dear, what have I done to myself. Brace yourselves folks, it’s time for an emotional and critical Game of the Week featuring none other than one of the most time-wasting, grind-heavy, non free player friendly MMORPG, Maplestory. Now, I have a lot of mixed feelings about this game, a lot of good mixed with a lot of bad. I did, and still do have fun playing this game with a group of friends (that may or may not include a certain movie blogger ;)) and feel like I have come to terms with the fact that despite all the changes, all the fancy skills, and the drastic change in leveling design, this game is at its heart a grind-fest designed to test both your patience and at some points your ability to keep change in your pocket (meso sacks and permanent pets, I’m looking at you). I originally started playing Maplestory some 5 or 6 years ago, maybe more. I started playing before Ludibrium came out, before even Orbis was really established, back when grinding to level thirty was almost a years worth of work and it was impossible to get anywhere beyond that. I was playing when people still wore Beta Bandanas, and Perion channel 1 was essentially the free market. Things were a lot simpler back then, harder yes, but simpler nonetheless.

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Kickstarter Scams Begin

Posted in Articles on May 2, 2012| Leave a Comment »

And so it begins, with every good charity project, there are those who wish to utilize their services for evil. It was only a matter of time since the game industry boom on the funding website Kickstarter until people started to fake projects to steal money from people who truly look forward to amazing new indie games. Read all about how a project almost took 4,000 dollars from customers before the kickstarter was shut down either by the ne’erdowell.

Kickstarter Scam Article

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Game of the Week: Starcraft 2

Posted in Articles, Video Games, tagged , , , , , , , , , on April 26, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Ominous text to a degree...let's roll with it.

Well folks, it was bound to happen eventually. Here’s my coverage of this week’s Game of the Week: Starcraft 2. Heeded as one of the greatest real time strategy games of all time, following predecessors such as Warcraft, Starcraft and Red Alert, Starcraft 2 has improved upon the already complex system of the original. Before I move further with this article, however, allow me to preface it by saying that it has been a while since I’ve played, and I may or may not murder character names…that is all. With an abundance of troops, an interesting storyline, and a major graphic overhaul, Starcraft 2 is definitely a fun game to get into, but I suggest looking elsewhere if you aren’t into it for the multiplayer. While the story is set up well enough, the true playability of this game comes from clicking that ‘find match’ button and improving your micro/macro and overall strategy. I myself was guilty of that initially, but came to embrace (and fear) playing against others to see where I ranked against the rest of the world. (more…)

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Video Games Can’t Afford to Cost This Much

Posted in Articles, Video Games, tagged , on April 25, 2012| Leave a Comment »

In this rather enlightening article, we discover why it is that EA and Activision (among other companies) have decided that they will churn out half-assed games with downloadable content as an already pre-established medium. We have seen the decline in quality for the past decade, with game rising in price by what appears to be a meager 10$ at face value. However, this in turn has had a profound effect on the way gamers view their games nowadays. I cannot begin to sum up why games are heading in the wrong direction with ‘planned DLC’ for games that have yet to launch, so I’ll leave it to WIRED journalist Chris Kohler to lay down the facts and explain what’s wrong with the industry today.

Source: Video Games Can’t Afford to Cost This Much

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