kneelbeforeblog

Elvis Pez

2007-12-30T13:12:00.000-08:00

Wow, it's been awhile since the last blog post. Since I'm going to be moving soon, my attention has been on condensing all my stuff into an endless supply of boxes and rubbermaid totes. I've also been busy with the holidays and lettering a book for my friends, Adam and Comfort. It's been a crazy couple of weeks. Happy New Year to all, by the way....

Today, I picked up (on x-mas clearance) an exclusive Elvis Pez collection in a record shaped tin. It contains three Elvi? from his career- '58 Army Elvis, '68 Happier times Elvis, and my favorite of the bunch- '73 Downward Spiral Jumpsuit Elvis. The tin also contained three cola flavored pez candies and a three track cd- with one song I actually knew, Hound Dog. Elvis Pez, who would have thought? This will be a great addition to my every growing collection.

"Thank you. Thank you very much."

The bookshelf- before and after

2007-12-02T16:16:00.000-08:00

As stated in previous multiple posts, I have too much junk. The good news is that for all the junk I do buy, should I grow tired of it, has potential resale value. True, if I were to average out the cost of buying/reselling I wouldn't come close to breaking even. Still, I feel better about my own twisted form of recycling, or as friend Chris calls it: Jeff Math. I also enjoy less clutter too. Here's a before and after pic of my bookshelf after a recent 'cleaning'.

My enormous Marvel Legends collection- taking up two shelves and a domino effect waiting to happen. Yowza.

The same shelves post E-bay. I pulled trades out of comic boxes and added to the shelf above for easier access. I read them more often now. The Justice League nine inch figures look a lot better than 100 little figures. Easier to dust too. Squint and you'll see The Atom at Wonder Woman's feet.

Uh....okay. I'll admit the second picture looks worse than the 'before' pic. I have good reason..really. First, I've bought more games. Second, I organized by playability rather than by box shape. I found it difficult to run through 30+ games trying to decide what would be good for certain groups and clarity of rules/time. All the bottom games take an hour or more to play, which I found the average person gives up on after about 10 minutes. Bummer. Good thing I have plenty of friends who DO like these games. I'm still in the process of filtering out the crummy games. One day I'd like to get TWO bookcases- one for comics and one for boardgames. I'll make do for now.

This is the one thing that hasn't changed. Yet. These stackable comics or DRAWER BOXES are a fantastic space saver. The drawers on the bottom slide out for easy access, while the boxes on top provide the weight (without crushing them) to keep them in place. Once I do get a bigger place I'd like to actually build a comic back issue box like the one you'd find in any comic store- then place the drawer boxes underneath. Another thought was to have comic sleeves on the wall where I could replace the issues as I see fit- like those plastic baseball card sleeves but comic size and mounted to the wall. Not sure how this would look, but interested to try.....Whew!

Civil War in Riverdale

2007-12-02T15:46:00.000-08:00

I picked up the latest Archie digest while grocery shopping today. I found the cover to be particularly amusing. Rarely do you see Archie taking sides against his chums as if he's prepared to fight to the death in this parody of so many face-off covers that have come before it. The story very loosely parallels Marvel's CIVIL WAR although the issue here isn't anti/pro-registration but rather anti/pro-increase in allowance. Archie is pro, wanting more money to spend on dates, and Jughead is anti, believing that an increase would mean less 'buddy' time with Archie. (insert Chasing Amy joke here) Sigh.... Even in high school, these kids are still getting allowance. Doesn't anyone work in Riverdale? Friggin' kids.

The resolution comes by way of Mr. Lodge (Veronica's wealthy old pop) who talks to all the parents and get this: "WILL get an allowance, provided they keep up with their chores and responsibilities!" That's it? No dead teenagers? No traitors? No underground rebellions?
Two words: Lame ass.

I've spent way too much time on this post. Stupid Archie.

Happy Birthday Wii!

2007-11-19T19:27:00.000-08:00

One year ago today I braved the cold and sacrificed a mere seventeen hours and $250 to get my hands on a little white bundle of joy, my Nintendo Wii. The thrill of the addition to my household has recently been overshadowed by its younger sibling, the Xbox 360. However, I still don't regret my time spent and decision on making the purchase.

I've bought more downloadable classics than actual Wii games-but in this case, I'm fine with it. Who knew Super C could be so addicting? It's my video game jukebox. I love it. And, it seems things are starting to look up with current releases like Super Mario Galaxy, Trauma Center: New Blood, Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles, and Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

Happy birthday to all the Wii owners out there- and to all who haven't bought one yet Christmas is just around the corner...

A Lard Lad to call my own

2007-11-08T17:52:00.000-08:00

I made the weekly trip to the comic store Wednesday with the intent to buy comics. Among the piles of books, boxes, and such was none other than Lard Lad. Yes, Lard Lad- the beloved mascot of Lard Lad Donuts from The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror. I couldn't resist.

Lard Lad comes with a minature Homer figure, car, and chain to move his arm and eyebrows.

He's a good sized figure, slightly taller than a Marvel Select figure (minus the raised arm holding the colossal donut). Lard Lad fits in perfectly with my other Simpsons figures adorning my desk at work. I hate staring at my drab cubicle wall. I hate cubicles period.

"If you're looking for that big donut of yours,...Flanders has it. Just smash open his house"
-Homer

Random stories 2

2007-10-27T18:26:00.000-07:00

I stayed out way too late last night. I think I went to bed around four. Gaming, good times, and Mountain Dew can do that do a guy. It was well worth it.

Decided to go to the library today thinking: I'm going to get a novel and start reading it. I pull up to the door. They were closed. So I bought a cheeseburger for breakfast, drove home and watched Invasion of the body snatchers instead. A creepy film for a creepy day.

Treehouse of Horror XVIII

2007-10-16T16:50:00.001-07:00

It's that time of year again....another Simpsons Treehouse of Horror is upon us. The 18th one to be exact. Here's a breakdown of this year's episode:

Mr. and Mrs. Simpson - Homer secretly lives a double life as a secret agent and is assigned to eliminate Kent Brockman, discovering that Marge is also an agent with the same mission.

E.T. Go Home - Bart and Lisa find Kodos, who is hiding from the government, and help him obtain devices that he can use to contact his home planet, but Kodos's intentions prove to be less than friendly.

Heck House - Bart, Lisa and some other kids pull pranks on Halloween night and, after they go too far, Ned Flanders turns the church into a Hell house. Gaining supernatural powers from God, he subjects the kids to his wrath.

"Will it be better than last years?" is the first question that pops into my head. Being a hardcore Simpsons fan, I've actually watched less and less of the show as its gone on. Yet, I've always come back for the T.H.R. episodes- (despite each year they seem to have less and less to do with Halloween). I've stupidly taped over each epsiode as my original plan was to have ALL of them available for my viewing pleasure. Sadly, Fox hasn't made any plans to release a DVD of just the Halloween episodes in order. It would sell like hotcakes! For now, I'm stuck catching it on YouTube or the few seasons of Simpsons I own on DVD....Rats.

I was also going to list my favorite Treehouse of Horror episodes until I realize they've made so many- with three stories per episode......that's 54 episodes to sift through. So I just list a few. The Monkey's Paw, Clown without Pity, The Devil and Homer Simpson, The Thing and I, and Send in the Clones. Great stuff.

Mr. Peanut gets a lobotomy

2007-10-14T15:47:00.000-07:00

Went grocery shopping today and couldn't pass up this jar of peanuts. It's Mr. Peanut! Just twist off his top hat/skull and dig into the crunchy goodness. Kinda creepy now that I put it like that. Oh well.

Random stories

2007-10-06T14:13:00.001-07:00

So I had a couple friends over last night for grillin' (brats) & gamin' (Halo). I also cut up some veggies to throw on the grill. Would've been nice to have gas left to cook with though...

Got a $30 dollar rebate check in the mail yesterday. So taking advantage of a Buy one get one for $1- I bought some shoes. And yes Chris, I even factored in pop can returns.

Bought Fantastic Four 2: Rise of the Silver Surfer, will mostly like buy Transformers. Will mosty likely NOT buy Spider-man 3.

Took a comparison shot of the various zombie game pieces I own. I like zombies.

Not content with Gamestop's generic used game sleeves, I create my own- with a little help from thecoverproject.net. Here's my version for House of the Dead 3. I could really get into this...

You say goodbye and I say Halo

2007-10-06T13:41:00.000-07:00

Note: I've recently bought an Xbox 360 as well as Halo 3...

In the words of Fraiser Crane: "Good God!"

Halo 3 is gaming perfection. The amount of detail and sheer options made for this game is astounding. Halo 3 gives you the ability to rewatch an entire session of gaming and control it like a DVD. Rewind, fast-forward, take screenshots, and even record film clips if you so chose from any angle. This makes the game that much more enjoyable- rather than just trying to defeat your opponent, you now do it for bragging rights with physical evidence to humilate them over and over again.

Gameplay is slick too. Various weapons at your disposable, unique maps and vehicles keep me coming back for more. I've even made a Halo playlist for during our multiplayer sessions called Halo 3: Music to Frag By.

Songs include: One way or Another- Blondie, Rip it Up-Jet, Keep yourself Alive-Queen, Special Delivery-Offspring, Why Can't we be friends-Smashmouth, and several others. I think I'm up to 25 songs currently with more on the way.

I've also started compiling songs for Dead Rising. Thriller, Help!, and the theme from Beetlejuice. Actually several Beatles songs fit the whole survial horror theme.....Elenor Rigby, Hard Day's Night, Nowhere Man.

Not since the mix tape have I enjoyed custom playlists so much. Man, am I glad I bought a 360. PS2 R.I.P.

Mortal Kombat Armageddon- Wii Review

2007-09-22T14:49:00.000-07:00

Had the chance play Mortal Kombat Armageddon on the Wii last night with friend Dave. My jaw dropped as the character select screen revealed up to 60+ fighters to chose from. With a resounding: "Holy Sh..." Dave and I picked our combatants.....after kicking the crap out of each other and not knowing what each fighter could do, we both smiled and continued to play late into the night.

Controls:
It's a fighter for the Wii that actually delivers. The control set-up is the saving grace of this game. Don't like the wiimote/nunchuk combo?* Don't use it. Try the classic controller or the gamecube controller instead. Genius! (this really needs to be standard on all Wii games)

*If you do use the wiimote/nunchuk combo, special moves like fireballs are executed by holding the B button and moving the wiimote left to right (think scanning an item at the grocery store) or making a half-circle rotation (like drawing a rainbow). It works most of the time- you just have to do it smoothly, which is rather difficult to do since I'm so use to button mashing to pull off moves faster the other guy can. Standard punches and kicks are done by pressing on the directional pad on the wiimote, while using the A Button to throw.
Character movement is done by pressing the analog stick on the nunchuk. Each fighter also has a weapon they can pluck out of nowhere to use against their opponent by pressing the C button. This also changes their fighting styles accordingly.

Extra bells and whistles:
Each stage features breakaway scenery. Dave found this out when he kicked my character down a flight of stairs. OUCH! I got back at him the next round by throwing his character off a ledge, impaling him on some spikes of a nearby statue. TAKE THAT!

MKA features a one player story mode in which your fighter progresses through several side-scrolling beat 'em up levels to gain coins used to purchase bonus items like costumes, characters, and stages. There's also a create a fighter (we didn't try this though) along with MOTOR KOMBAT- a unique take on Mario Kart using the MK universe characters. The control is pretty simple and the races are fast- you can side swipe opponents off the track in addition to using special moves. Cool idea, but needs more polishing. Dave hated it.

Overall:
8/10. Very, very fun for a Wii fighting game. Would definitely want to play this more to get a better grip on each fighters specials and moves. If you enjoy the Mortal Kombat games and have been lacking a fighter for the Wii- this is your game. Yee-haw!

Back from the dead

2007-09-22T14:42:00.000-07:00

I guess I'm not done blogging after all. Turns out I was just depressed/angry/what have you. It happens. So while I'm not going back to my 100% weekly status, I will jot some things down from time to time. I will try to get at least one post per month. Something interesting should happen in the span of month, right?

To Blog No More

2007-09-02T18:25:00.001-07:00

I hate to say it, but this is my last blog post.

I've come to the conclusion that I can't keep up. I've drastically cut back on things of fanboy clutter and the need to buy things just so I have something to blog about. My amusing stories of real life are few and far in-between to maintain a constant journal. Blogging for me, has lost its magic...the need to tell anyone (who happens to stumble on by) about what I think is either great or terrible, doesn't have the same impact it once did. Maybe its because I've run out of things to talk about or lack of exciting experiences. I don't have that 'hook' that keeps you coming back week after week (whether it be art, pets, baby, or otherwise). I'm not going to force it... or in this case, go a month without posting anything at all.

So, I tip my hat to you bloggers out there. Keep up the good work. It's been swell.

Jeff out.

Wizard World Chicago Comic Convention W2C3

2007-08-11T14:05:00.000-07:00

Attended my third* comic con this weekend with friend Dan of d-r-m fame. Had an early start (somewhat) arriving at the con a half hour after they opened. Quickly ran around the floor like I had just eaten several pixie sticks before having to slow down and regroup from the sheer size (663 booths) and over-stimulating eye candy of comic goodness. Spent the majority of my time hovering over comic boxes like a racoon rummaging through a trash can. Purchased several trades and added them to my bag- without realizing the increasing weight forced upon my shoulder. The final straw was the Absolute Batman Hush Trade- which is equivalent to a cinder block (combined with my other trades). I started to slow down, but pressed onward. Took several pics of the con and con folk along with some odd things as well- like this shoe buffer guy:

I can understand the need to have good looking shoes while strutting your stuff- but at a comic con? Who even wears shoes there worth polishing? Maybe if you're dressed up like the Monopoly guy I guess....seemed really out of place.

Here were some action figures in a box: "Paddle faster you fools!"

Sony had an interesting booth promoting their PSP system- a mock up of a subway car where you could just sit down and play inside of it. Neat.

Want a t-shirt? (wall one of four)

Snapped a quick photo of Fat Momma of 'Who wants to be a superhero?' fame.

Various people dressed up as superheroes, villians, and um....Wario.

In the end, I had quite the haul of trade paper backs and back issues, plus various freebies from the kind folks at Wizard and DC:

*But is this truly my last con? Maybe so. Besides 50% off tables, Ebay seems to be the only way to go for unique hard to find items, if you can find a deal. As for the panels- most of them are being recorded for podcasts that you'll just end up listening to later on. I find too, that panels take away from much needed floor time- time spent finding those books before someone else. But the experience of the con floor, the sights, the sounds, and the unatural smells are what make it fun and exciting. You'll never know who or what you might run into out there. It's great to be in such a huge colorful space with your fellow fanboys and girls. I'll probably skip next years, but be back for the following... Jeff out.

CON!!!

Castle Doom (part 2 of 2)

2007-08-05T13:05:00.000-07:00

Finished my creation of Castle Doom, a map I picked up over on clixbuilders.com. It turned out better than I thought- along with mini-portraits of Dr. Doom adorning the castle walls, a dinning room, and prision cells. Here's the map flat....

...and here it is completed in glorious 3-D:

The Fantastic Four vs. Dr. Doom and his Doombots:

"Pass the salt RICHARDS!!"

Reed vs. Doom in the library- along with some lost souls...

Fantastic Four in jail:

I still may add a few more things here and there- haven't decided yet. Possibly including more of Doom's Time Machine. Looking forward to trying this map out the next game night.

Junk in the Trunk

2007-07-29T15:04:00.000-07:00

Lately, I've acquired too much junk. I'm not talking about the fun comic/video games stuff- but rather the day to day items- keys, wallet etc. How much stuff you ask? Check out the lineup below:

Left to right- Jump drive, Cell phone, iPod, Wallet, Nintendo DS,
Digitial Camera, Glasses cleaner. Car keys should be there too. Oops.

Do I really need to carry all of this on me at one time? No, but it helps. You never know when you might need a particular item. Granted- many of these items are condensed into one item (iPHONE) but most of us don't have that kinda cash to throw around- and when we do, it goes towards gaming (XBOX 360/PS3). So what am I babbling on about? I need more cargo pants. Lots and lots of cargo pants. Or I hate to say it...the dreaded Man-Purse. Or Murse/Satchel/Tote/Shoulder Bag/what have you. I'm not against the Man-Purse in general, it all depends on what you have in it and what it looks like. Jump drive- YES. Lipstick- BIG NO. Here's a chart to help clear things up...

Even your favorite super heroes are guilty of the 'murse'
or in this case, utility belt:

And the less than popular 'Ankle-Murse'.

That about covers it. If you can pull it off and don't feel like a complete idiot wearing one (that's you Scarlet Spidey) go for it. But if you can't*...well, you'll just come off like another goober with a fanny pack. Sad, but true.

*Savage beat downs/verbal abuse from men may occur. Do not wear if you already have an excessive amount of pockets. While wearing the murse, you may be subject to paranoia-unexplained location of items, shoulder rash/discomfort, and neck pain. Rare occurrences may be subject to significant other combining purse into larger murse. Proceed with extreme caution as your relationship, manhood, and fate of the world depends on it.

Castle Doom in 3-D (part 1 of 2)

2007-07-15T15:11:00.001-07:00

Below is a map of Castle Doom featured on a great heroclix map site- Clixbuilders.com

(I'd link the text- but the site is currently under construction)

Anyway, after getting compliments from my gaming chums on my recent Legion map- I decided to tackle Castle Doom. Unlike the Legion map, Castle Doom will have graphics on all the walls- adding to the overall demeanor that is DOOM! The right side of that map (which I thought to be stables- Since when did Doom have horses?) is actually jail cells. I'm experimenting wih acetate to create 'hanging' prision gates for the outer walls. The remaining walls are going to be cobblestone, matching the floor color for a near-seamless effect. If you squint, you can see ten individual brown squares with a gray figure inside- this is where I'll be placing my army of DOOMBOT clix. So far I only have four. I'll have to shop around at WIZARD WORLD CHICAGO next month. I've constructed the basic walls along with some blocking terrain, here's how it's turning out thus far:

One other thing to mention- the map isn't full size- I have four rows of squares to fill on each side. Not sure if I want to build up more walls and rooms, or create something simple like a moat of lava. Hmmm.....

SSX Blur- Wii Review

2007-07-15T09:30:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I picked up the latest game in the SSX snowboarding series for the Nintendo Wii- SSX Blur. It's the first (and hopefully not the last) of a non-party game that actually has responsive and tight controls. Shredding down the mountain using the nunchuk's analog stick to twist and turn through curves- then flicking it upward to launch off jumps or holding the Z button to grab your board just feels right. You can even rotate the nunchuk for wider turns as well. While in the air- you use the wiimote (waving right and left or up and down) to perform tricks. It's simple and fun- somehow, most Wii games only do the later.

The graphics are comic bookish and vibrant- the navigation screens are easy to get around in and load times are minimal. The sound adds much to the game- the better you do- the better the music gets- faster paced, more beats- it adds to the adrenaline of racing. When your character wipes out (you recover by playing both controllers like drums)- they become covered in snow- moving slowly from the fumble and banging their fists on their head in frustration. You can also throw snowballs at opponents and skiiers.

My only gripe is the Ubertrick system. While pulling off an array of crazy jumps/stunts- your trick meter charges up- reaching an ubertrick mode. In this mode you are suppossed to trace shapes with both controllers while holding the A button. Simple enough right? Wrong. Even in the tutorial- I haven't been able to pull one of these things off. Am I doing it too quickly? Too slowly? Or is it the simple fact the controls crap out for no good reason? I believe the fault lays with all three- but it does land squarely on the programers/game testers. It's something I'll continually fuss until I get it. Overall, despite this hiccup (you don't need to do ubertricks to have a great time playing this game- but you do need them to rack up higher scores later on) the game is solid. It features a two-player split screen and a 'hot-seat' four player mode which you take turns passing the wiimote after each turn- eh....would've liked to have four split screens....oh well, SSX Blur 2, right?

Game on!

New Comic Wednesday July 11th

2007-07-10T17:29:00.001-07:00

Not quite as many books this week. Seems Marvel is pushing for the big fight scene covers. DC continues with the focus on one JSA member per cover. A nice change of pace. Omega Flight is wrapping up quickly, kinda sad to see it go. Dig those wacky Canadians. New Avengers reveals more Skrulls (?) and the MC2 universe comes back whether you liked it or not with Fantastic Five #1.

I was mixed on MC2- despite J2, we did get Spider-girl out of it. It also featured another take on those F 'ers. Whoa, that came out bad! FF' ers. There, that's better. Whew!

Legion in 3-D

2007-07-04T16:42:00.001-07:00

Having picked up the latest DC Heroclix set- Legion of Super Heroes, I played a game using the Legion indoor map. It's a nice map... a large space routunda with transporters in each corner to quickly move your team around in the heat of battle.

But like most maps, elevation can be a problem. At first, we though the center square was the raised elevation. We then looked closer at the stairs (and their cast shadows) and realized it wasn't. So, not having made anything in awhile- I decided to fix the problem. Five x-acto blades and four large sheet of foam board later....I had myself a 3-D Legion Headquarters.

Granted it's just the basics, but it is the future right? Isn't everything in the future minimalist and white anyway? For the mini billboards (with black feet) I'd like to get some acetate and have a transparent screen (again adding to the future look). The floating orange globe wasn't part of the set- but rather an accessory from He-Man's Orko figure. Reminds me of the scene of the attack on the Death Star or any other plan of attack in a sci-fi feature. The blocks are divided up into eight chunks and can easily be moved around to fit other formations and maps. I chose not to do the angle stairs (upon further discussion with friend Chris) and made the blocks square instead of with a missing block. We'll make up our own rules when the times comes. I think it turned out cool for being so simplistic. Now I just have to play on it next game night to see if my time spent building it wasn't wasted (it two 2 days).

No Comic No Work Wednesday

2007-07-04T16:32:00.000-07:00

Happy 4th of July to all!

Another holiday has claimed the weekly ritual of New Comic Wednesday- pushing the books release to Thursday (while simultaneously giving all stuck in cubicles the day off).

I'm not complaining- I love it actually, not having to work in the middle of the week is FANTASTIC. Only two more days- then repeat. Why can't ever week be this good? How much happier would that make everyone? The further I get in my career and acquire more time off- I'm seriously thinking about putting my 'No Work Wednesday' into effect. Yeah, that's the ticket.

New Comic Thursday July 5th

2007-07-01T18:30:00.000-07:00

Looking forward to the return (and conclusion) to Donner/Kubert's Action Comics run. The issue is also in 3-D, hmm...let it go guys. This week also features the return of the real Thor- not the hated "Clor" from Civil War. Countdown has the funeral for Bart and Uncanny hits the sewers. Fallen Son: Iron Man I'm on the fence about- like most comics I say I'll pick up on NCW, they're at least worth a flip through on the rack...

Make your own Simpson character!

2007-06-30T09:39:00.000-07:00

Getting antzy for The Simpsons Movie? I know I am- so I checked out their website and found a neat custom Simpsons character creator. Here's me...

Elektra wasn't alone....

2007-06-30T08:22:00.000-07:00

If you've read the latest New Avengers (#30) you know Elektra was revealed to be a Skrull. Shocking? You betcha. First time this has happened in the Marvel U? Don't think so. Check out Fantastic Four #357 from way back in '91...

There you have it. A Skrull agent had been masquerading as Alicia Masters- the blind sculptress and former girlfriend to The Thing, now wife to Johnny Storm.

The story- Alicia was chosen to be replaced with a female Skrull agent to exact revenge on the FF. The switch was made when the majority of Marvel heroes disappeared (Secret Wars) and upon their return, placed in the decoy. However, Ben had chosen to stay behind. The Skrull now focused on Johnny- eventually falling in love with him and much to Ben's dismay got married.

It was later revealed the Skrull's name was Lyja the Lazerfist and that she was pregnant with Johnny's baby. The baby was just an egg- hatching a squid-like alien that was quickly destroyed. Currently, Lyja is M.I.A. in the Marvel U- but I'm sure she's likely to show up any day now with the event of post civil-war/planet hulk/endangered species. Unless of course, Lyja was Elektra- that would work too I guess....

The Fantasticar: A lesson in frustration

2007-06-25T16:45:00.000-07:00

I'm a huge Fantastic Four fan. So it only makes sense (as far as fanboy logic goes) to buy anything FF related... Even if I don't need it or simply don't have room for it. Such is the case with Toybiz's Fantasticar from the Fantastic Four movie- the local Toys'r'us had an abundance of these at a measly $12. With little regard to the size issue- I picked one up...

Getting it out of the box and assembled was quite the task.

Components free of cardboard, tape, twisty ties, and plastic brackets.

Now the fun part- connecting it all together...

"Excuse me- do you know the way to the Negative Zone?"

Ready for action...

Quite the fun accessory to my FF lineup. The Fantasticar is the only vehicle that works perfectly to the scale of the figures. A great comic representation as well. Very slim chance of every seeing the X-Men's Blackbird or Avenger's Quinjet like this.

Now the frustration- I have no where to put the darn thing. It's huge. It's bulky. It didn't come with a stand (duh). Looks like I'll have to do some rearranging on the top shelf, clear it off, or hang it from the ceiling. Hoo-boy. Moving around things on my shelf is like a bull in a china shop. It's clobberin' time.

Yet from seeing it on the comic pages to an actual 3-D version of it, with the figures inside, it really does pop. Not the typical "Mr. Fantastic's Shuttle Screamer" or anything stupid like that. Best $12 I've ever spent on a FF toy.

Super New Comic Wednesday

2007-06-24T14:59:00.000-07:00

Every once in awhile, New Comic Wednesday goes overboard. Comics are always a given of course, but then there's that one, or two, or three items you weren't expecting. Well, maybe you were- June 27th is one of those days. Here's what coming out...

Not one, but TWO Heroclix sets, The Irredeemable Ant-man Trade, a new issue of Wizard, and last but not least the usual stack of comics (this week is rather small- Teen Titans, Countdown, and Uncanny X-Men #200). There could also be the third Invincible Hardcover Trade as well.

Now, as to whether or not the comic store will have them in–– that's a horse of a different color.

Heroclix Game Night 6/20

2007-06-23T09:28:00.000-07:00

Played another rousing game of Heroclix this past Wednesday with pals Chris and Adam. Sadly, Dan was not able to participate- which means I'm filling in for his post on d-r-m. Dan has it down pack: stats, CLEAR pictures, and witty commentary. Anyhoo- here's the map from this weeks game:
Four quadrants divided up into mini-maps. You couldn't enter another section of the map until everyone in your area was defeated- a kind of last clix standing. Kudos to Chris for coming up with a unique board- made for really fun game- even though I lost. Adam cleaned house on that front- and we let him win 'cause we felt bad for forgetting his birthday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY ADAM!!

Adam's Killer Red Team

Chris's Batman & Friends(?) Team

My EVIL Team

Always make sure to stretch before battle.

Get ready for New Comic Wednesday!

2007-06-18T17:59:00.000-07:00

Here's a visual list of books I'm thinking of getting this coming NCW-

This my third attempt at trying a NCW post- I'm bound to find something that fits eventually. Stay tuned for more goodies...

Scary new boardgames coming soon...

2007-06-17T13:09:00.000-07:00

Looks like Twilight Creations Inc. is at it again with two new boardgames coming in the next two months: Reiner Knizia's Gravediggers and Haunting House 4: They don't build 'em like they used to. No question as to how they games will look (great) but playability is another thing...more to come kids.

You are a gravedigger in a small town. Business is very good, but your job doesn't pay much, is very dirty and above all, IS REALLY BORING! To add some excitement and an extra source of income to your life, you decide to start a contest with your fellow gravediggers. Everyone has one week to borrow as many valuables from their clients as they can. Any cemetery is fair game and whomever has the most stuff at the end wins. Everyone agrees it sounds like fun and let's face it, they can't take it with them! Gravediggers is an easy bidding game from the award-winning designer, Dr. Reiner Knizia. Players: 2 to 5 Playing Time: 30 minutes
Coming July 2007!

You and your hoodlum friends have decided to hit the Breitenstein house one last time. This time around the goal is the same...Well, there might be one slight difference... Unlocking the basement seems to have set something free...something evil!!!
Coming August 2007!

Lost Game Night

2007-06-17T12:13:00.000-07:00

Awhile back I hosted the usual game night at my place- the game, Heroclix We usually do the standard game- KO the other team before they KO you. Simple enough. But I had the 'brilliant' idea to mix two games into one- the other being Zombies!!! Let's just say it didn't work. Too much to do and in heavy favor of zombies winning the game along with the distration of engrossing tv and conversation. The only good that came of it was the map we played on- a combo of an office building and haunted house. Very tricky to get through quickly. Here's pics of the night that went wrong....

Adam's SNIPER team

Chris's ____MAN team

Dan's SINISTER SIX team

My CIRCUS FREAKS team

So, in conclusion: Don't mix your boardgames and say no to zombies- they just want to eat your brains anyway.

Rise of the Silver Surfer Review- NO SPOILERS!

2007-06-16T14:51:00.001-07:00

The bar was set at Mole Man height as my friends and I entered the theater to watch FF 2. One hour and twenty-nine minutes later we were all pleasantly surprised. Shocked even. This movie didn't suck. It wasn't dissapointing as the first film and although it did have it share of groans and WHAT?! moments- it was good. Comic book good.

My advice to non-fanboys among us- don't watch the first flim- have someone explain the concept of the Fantastic Four to you- read a few isssues (Kirby & Lee's "Coming of Galactus"), or look it up on Wikipedia even. Then, go see the second movie. You'll enjoy it all that much more. And if you liked what you saw- go back and watch the first one- you'll understand why this one works all the much better. It's a darker flim (Reed has a back bone- telling Johnny and Ben to 'shutup', Surfer destroys without mercy, and Johnny learns to grows up a little). Sadly, Sue is still feh....

I loved it. Consider the DVD bought.

Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer Wii Review

2007-06-16T14:08:00.000-07:00

Having played the first FF game- back on the good ol' PS2- my expectations were low, until the Wii was released with its unique control scheme and a different game developer at the helm. Now you'd be able to do four players simultaneous this time around, which would make sense- with it being the FANTASTIC FOUR.

The game plays like X-Men Legends lite (as my friend Chris stated). The graphics are nice but nothing to gawk at. Controlling the heroes is easy with the directional pad on the nunchuk and executing attacks with the 'A' button on the remote, in combination with other buttons being held, or tapped in unison. Cosmic (special) attacks are a bit more random causing you to flail the controllers around like you're a 4 year old having a temper tantrum.* Sometimes they work- and then they don't. It can be quite a workout just to see the Thing do a ground smash. Levels are long and monotonous- health is sparse and the catch phrases get to be a bit much. Fun to play with a group to pass the time (which we did before going to see the flick) but don't waste your money.

*Side note- I'm actually getting pretty sick of the Wii. After the rush of WiiSports and WiiPlay, what else is there? The games I've owned I've traded in, in hope the next one would offer tighter controller and response time. Sadly, its never the case. Why is it the only game to offer great control is Rayman: Raving Rabbids? A simple mini-game? C'mon!

The Wii has become the PT Cruiser of game consoles...it started out as a great idea and now the baby boomer generation think its the best thing since sliced bread (now common on cruise ships and retirement homes)- therefore killing any logic and reason from game developers to follow through with the Wiimote/Nunchuk- "They've never played video games before- Like they'll know the difference!" Arrrrghhhh.....

I own more Virtual Console games than Wii games. I own Mario Party 8 and even that disappoints me on occasion. The Wii will only be good at short mini-games and possibly first person shooters (if they don't muck that up too). The Wii is not meant for racing, fighting, or any other game that requires you to use button combos of any nature- Basically, every game you've played up until now. Growing up on 'regular' consoles, I guess I've been spoiled- but this is getting ridiculous. I'm glad I still have my PS2....

Herbie Lives!

2007-06-10T16:01:00.000-07:00

At least on the new Fantastic Four Extended Edition DVD.

Herbie can be spotted in one of the deleted scenes in the extended cut of the film (which was released to DVD this past Tuesday). Does the new cut make up for the film's overall blandness? No, according to IGN:

Overall, the Fantastic Four (Extended Edition) is superior to the original DVD in every way possible except for the quality of the actual film; but the set is absolutely worth buying for fans of the original cut, comic books in general, or even casual followers who are interested in a more in-depth look at the art form. In fact, two of the documentaries on this set are officially joining IGN's shortlist for some of the best bonus materials of 2007; so even if Fantastic Four isn't altogether fantastic in a longer edition, the film and its sequel indeed serve a productive purpose in that they inspired a DVD whose extras generate far more interest than they do themselves.

Interesting IGN. Personally, I don't watch extras on a movie over and over again like I would the film. Once is enough- and since FF wasn't the greatest of all films (it pains me to say so) I won't buy this edition either.

Will FF2 live up to the hype? Probably not. I learned the hard way with Spidey 3- my expectations are set low for the sequel- I'm just glad they're making movies about my favorite comic characters- they're bound to get it right eventually. It could be worse- say...Roger Corman?

FF @ BK and other goodness

2007-06-09T13:11:00.000-07:00

Went to Burger King with friend Chris the other day and saw the new Fantasic Four 2 kids meal toys.

Gotta say- I'm impressed. They remind me more of the short lived Fantastic Four cartoon than the upcoming sequel. They're like teen versions of the Marvel Superhero Squad line, seen here...

I've yet to see these in stores- I'm sure they'll show up in the next couple of days. This next one had me even more surprised. A mini-giant Galactus. How you could not let him eat the planet with that happy smirk?

And like most summer movies go, there's always a video game tie-in. Available on all platforms, FF2 promises four player co-op (about darn time) and the ability to switch between characters on the fly. The previous FF movie game was terrible. However, this game is being produced by a different company and may actually get it right. I don't have it reserved to buy, but I'd like to give it a try...who knows it may just be clobberin' time after all.

100th post

2007-06-09T12:21:00.000-07:00

Wow.

I didn't think I'd make it this far- that my thoughts would be so interesting to continually blog week after week (with the occasional week of nothing). How much more can I talk about comics, video games and odd happenings? It doesn't really matter. Kneelbeforeblog started as something to do in my free time for kicks and now, I actually feel bad if I have nothing to post. I can't neglect it for long. Blogs need love too. Its become part of my weekly routine along with paying bills and doing the laundry. It's fun to vent even if no one's listening and ramble on about things only a small group of people enjoy.

So no over the top 100 list extravaganza or anything fancy like that. Just thanks. Glad you're still here- I know I am.

Jeff out.

Fun with Chris's Blog

2007-05-27T15:59:00.000-07:00

Friend Chris takes great photos of his figure collection. Most of the time, they are size comparison shots or groups of teams. Sometimes, the placement of said figures makes for a great little comic- like this one I made from his most recent post...

Sorry Chris- I'm lazy today I guess.

Yep, more board games

2007-05-22T16:42:00.000-07:00

Between down time on vacation (surfing the net before company arrived) and shopping on vacation (outlet malls of various states) I stumbled across four more board games for my collection...

Clue: The Card Game
My dad bought this (with a little coercion from me) at a five and dime general store since my sister has crap for boardgames and it was raining while we were there. Ironically paid more than a dime for it. Essentially, Clue without the board, and wasted dice rolls. Deduce the who, the where to, and by what mode of transportation- instead of the weapon of choice. Plays fairly quickly and provides some eyebrow raising suspicions among the group. I didn't like the notepad you used to mark for clues to the mystery- but never really liked it for regular Clue either. Should come with a blocker like in Clue: The Great Museum Caper. It's hard not to look sometimes.
Break the Safe
Bought this at a Value City for $7, which was fantastic since I had just left a board game store in the mall (second guessing myself) selling it for $25. Whew! Break the Safe is well thought out in terms of artwork and game pieces- the concept is unique too. You play a team of spies breaking into the EGC (evil guy complex) to steal secret documents inside a safe which doubles as the games timer- 30 minutes to complete the task or the world is doomed. You work together to search rooms containing the four keys to open the safe. Each room may contain traps to hinder you in your progress along with a night watch man and his guard dog. Specific cards can be used to aid you along or be passed off to one another during the game. Not bad for $7. I'll see what my friends think...

Last Night on Earth
Found this game on boardgame geek- yet to be released, possibly fall of this year. Another zombie game! Huzzah! But not by Twilight Creations- the company that tries to make a good zombie game but misses the boat- continously....sigh. Anyhoo- this company: Flying Frog Productions may have gotten it right. A odd grouping of characters are forced to survive among an army of zombies. The game board seems similar to Zombies!!! games, but larger in scale. They also use a cards that mirror the look of Magic: the Gathering with an undead flair. That's pretty much aIl I know so far. Here's a shot of the board...

Marvel Heroscape
Also on the 'geek- soon to be released- next week even? is Marvel's jump onto the Heroscape franchise- retailing for 30 bucks. Other than obiviou$ rea$on$, why the need for a Marvel Heroscape? Heroclix is just fine- more than fine since I've invested time and money and pulled my friends onto the Clix bandwagon. The only difference is a diagonal map and stats on cards instead of the figures bases. However, figures are standard wysiwyg- no need to pay ebay prices or hope for luck of the draw for characters you want- just waiting for expansion packs to be released. Bitching aside, the game looks good. Nice sculpts of the figures, demolished buildings as the backdrop/tiles and plenty-o-room for expansion. I've never played a game of the original Heroscape to know if its great or worth replaying on a weekly basis with a group of people. Fanboy mode on high- I'm very tempted- but will this replace my Heroclix game? No, it won't- merely another option.

-and that's all for now. Game on!

Vacation

2007-05-22T16:28:00.000-07:00

I've been on vacation for a week. A whole week. I've never taken a 'whole week' vacation in my life...until now. I gotta say- I liked it. A lot.

I visited my parents in Illinois, my sister in New Hampshire, and took in the sites of Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and Maine. I saw Spider-man 3 (again) and Shrek 3. I shopped outlet malls. I ate out way too much, and had my fill of sleeping in four different beds.

Today, I came back to my apartment. Only it wasn't my apartment- not at first. I got the feeling I was just another guest for the time being and had to keep moving. Who's stuff is all this? Why wasn't I greeted at the door? I had to stop myself and say: "Hey- you live here." It was really odd- that's never happened to me before.

I assume the same thing will happen tomorrow at work- only they won't be as forgiving.
"Have fun?....Great!- Now, get back to work!"

That's life I guess.

He can be taught...

2007-05-06T14:57:00.000-07:00

Getting in the creative mood after being on a computer all day at work is tough. Something or someone has to really knock some sense into my head to get the ball rolling or cause a spark. Awhile back I discovered two great websites, Melissa Clifton and Comic Art Community Clifton's site is great for photoshop tutorials in additon to some vector ones as well. She's amazing. Comic Art features hundreds of my favorite comic artists and then some. Combined together, these two sites make the perfect blend for a overworked/not-as-skilled as I should be in the design programs kind guy. Yes, I can draw- but at a level where I consider myself good?...No, not yet. Ditto for Photoshop/Illustrator. I have this weird love/hate relationship with Adobe. I love finding cool new things to do in the those programs, but hate working in them day after day at my regular job and coming home feeling exhausted and burned out from it. It soaks my creative juice dry like a sponge. I hate that...

Anyways, I look for an artist I like- print out their pencils, ink them, scan them back into the computer, and use the tutorials (as best I can) to make something that looks cool.

Here's Joe Mad's Scarlet Witch I did from a ways back along with a sketch from my friend Tesh of Wonder Girl, currently in the works. Enjoy...I'll keep cracking at it- as best I can. Maybe I'll even post one of my own drawings.

...and no, I'm not claiming these as my own artwork or trying to make a profit, it's just a learning exercise- so don't get your underpants in an uproar. Yeah, that's right, underpants.

Spider-Man 3: The Wii game

2007-05-05T08:28:00.000-07:00

Giving into more Spidey-hype and being an avid gamer, I bought Spider-man 3 for my Nintendo Wii. The game delivers a unique control scheme of web-slinging using both the wiimote and nunchuk as your right and left hands shooting off webs. Kinda cool when you think about it.

Execution of said set-up on the other hand, is unforgiving with a steep learning curve. I played for ten minutes on a lunch break and got easily frustrated. Playing it later in the day for a longer period of time- I slowly started to get the hang of things and then I would completely lose control of my rhythm. So I tried again, and again, and again- with the same results.

Fighting bad guys is a pain too. Utilizing the wiimote you swing it left and right to land a punch or kick. You can also use the 'a' button to punch too, but it get montonous. Guiding you along is the narrator, Bruce Campbell with his delightful commentary- except during the fight scenes when he's mocking you for doing the same moves over and over. Obviously, he didn't play the game.

Negativity aside, it is a good game- fun in concept and a huge city to explore while web-slinging. Upgrades a plenty, and a neat mini-game of ridding yourself of the alien black suit. (think any huge boss fight on Ultimate Alliance). It's just too bad it doesn't come together like it should. The frustration I'd get from fighting just one tough boss battle in any other video game, is the same experience I get simply trying to control Spidey's actions.

One day of ownership and I'm ready to trade this puppy in. Sorry Spidey.

So, out of the movie, the game, and the soundtrack. The soundtrack wins...uh, I guess. 8 out of 15 songs I like is a small victory. Man, what a let-down for Spidey fans. ):

Spider-Man 3: A Review

2007-05-04T20:20:00.000-07:00

Just got back from "Spider-Man 3" tonight with some friends...was it good? Was it bad? Pull up a chair and I'll give you my two cents on the recent tale of the wall-crawler. Spoiler Alert- I will ruin this for you if you haven't seen it. So, until you go see it- don't read this. I repeat-

READ THIS ONLY IF YOU WANT THE MOVIE SPOILED.

The plot: Peter is getting all the attention he deserves as Spider-man- being issued keys to the city, magazine covers, parades, etc. This PO's MJ who's recently been replaced on Broadway. MJ wants support from Peter who unfortunately has his head in the clouds and can't relate the same way to her. This sound familiar to anyone? Relationships are fun aren't they? Meanwhile Harry's trying to kill Peter with his new goblin gear and in a fight with Peter gets amnesia- forgetting the whole vengance bit. Then there's Eddie Brock, a freelance photographer who's looking to steal away Peter's job at the Daily Bugle. Oh yeah, there's also Flint Marko, who's on the run from the law- falls into a pit and through the wonders of science becomes the Sandman. Lastly, our pal Flint is tied to the murder of Uncle Ben, a meteor with strange goo crashes to earth and bonds to Peter, and Gwen Stacy falls out a building, kisses Spidey, and dates Eddie Brock. Whew!

The good: The fight scenes are amazing, dizzying, and cool. Like watching a pinball machine. Wow....Howard makes a great Gwen Stacy- looks the part and has that innocence to her, like her comic counterpart. Venom is handled nicely, creepy animation with the transforming goo and bonding to each host. Sandman's fantastic too- sand pebbles pour off Marko as he moves and shakes. Really nice. Parker giving into the dark side of the black suit and becoming a bad-ass, as much as a dorky Parker could at least.

The bad: Too much going on. Sandman. Venom. Gwen. Peter. MJ. Harry....and all the relationships between them. Parker giving into the dark side, while cool at first, then becomes a dancing machine. With his new cockiness he feels the need to prance about town doing the shooter hands at women passing by. WHAT? This goes on way too long. This worked for Spidey 2 because it had a different context (reverting back to his nerdy self after losing his powers) it just doesn't work here and comes off extremely stupid and goofy. The Batman ending...Venom confronts Sandman to do a team-up (think Batman Returns through Batman& Robin) and devises a plan to kidnap MJ and hold her hostage at a construction site for an ambush. Oh yeah, and Peter confronts Harry that he needs his help in fighting the pair- so Harry while stand off-ish at first comes to Peter's aid as the 'New Goblin' and does a tag-team fight in taking down Sandman/Venom. Then the movie just doesn't know when to end. Sandman is defeated along with Venom. Fade out. It's over? Nope, Peter attends the funeral for Harry. Fade out again? Nope. MJ is working as a singer/waitress- Peter approaches her and they embrace....over? Yes, FINALLY.

Overall: It wasn't X-Men 3 bad- but they'll be plenty of parts I skip through on the DVD. This movie should have been split up into two separate movies- Venom & Sandman. NOT BOTH!

Aunt May: Superhero?

2007-04-29T17:07:00.000-07:00

As seen in Marvel's What If..? #23:
"What if Aunt May had been bitten by the radioactive spider?"

Equipped with bread dough with too much yeast in place of web shooters, Spider-May (never is given a name in the story) foils Leap-Frog's bank robbery in view of a faint Peter Parker who's terrified at the sight of her. Dig that beret.

As seen in Marvel Team-Up #137:
Aunt May and Franklin Richards vs. Galactus

Galactus comes to Earth to take Franklin as his new herald. Aunt May calls Galactus a big bully and shields Franklin from his blast and is transformed into GOLDEN OLDIE! Franklin offers Galactus Twinkee's in place of devouring a planet. Aunt May rounds up every Twinkee she can find to sustain G's hunger. Then there's a Doughboy in space who makes desserts- May suggests he become the new herald and everything goes back to normal....What?!

As seen in What If... #34:

97 to go

2007-04-21T18:46:00.000-07:00

97 to what you ask?

Craziness, that's what.

I'm a geek. I like goofy things. I buy comic books- not for them to go up in value, not to have them graded, or throw them out when I'm finished reading them.

I buy them because I love the art- the stories, the color- the sense of escapism you control in your hands. And the ads, my goodness, the ads- a flashback to my childhood of memories from past movies and games.

I love comic books. I don't think I'll ever stop buying them. Here in lies the problem. Comics are my crack, my achilles heel, you get the idea. I buy them whenever and wherever I can. And because I'm anal retentive (my friends can vouch for this), I bag and board my books. ALL of them.

So today as I got to bagging my most recent treasures, I thought it was time once again to re-organize the bunch. This is quite the daunting task to a comic geek. One-shots, Mini-series, Crossovers, Revamps, Promos...these are just a few possibilities among ONE character. Just one! And how was I going to organize titles within one characters' multitude of books? There's Spectacular Spider-man, Amazing Spider-man, Sensational Spider-man, Spider-man 2099, Spider-Man Family....the list goes on. Do I put the books in order of oldest to most current? Or books I know I'll look at more often than others? Leave room for further books in that series or just fill up the boxes? I overthought this way too much...but again, I'm anal retentive, I'll admit it.

Anyway, 97. What does that mean?

97 books until I break 1,000. ONE-THOUSAND. COMICS. ONE-THOUSAND COMICS.

I can't believe it. It's amazing and terrifying....

How many more books could I possibly obtain? More importantly, how much longer until my 2nd floor closet gives out from the weight?

Wow. Just...wow.

Pinball at the Zoo

2007-04-21T18:29:00.000-07:00

Man, those gorilla's sure know how to rack up points!

No, not that kind of zoo. Kalamazoo, Michigan folks. Dan of d-r-m invited me along to partake in the arcade auction at the Kalamazoo County Fairgrounds this morning. Arcades as well as pinball machines were set on free-play mode to test 'em out or simply play for nostaliga. Lots of great games from Pac-man to Crusin' USA. Even a two player Joust pinball machine- COOL!! We also noticed there was a reptile show going on in the hall next door.

WHAT?!

Apparently reptiles and arcades go together like ham and eggs down in K-zoo. I don't get it- and I use to live there.

There's more to this tale, but I'll let Dan take it from here...Go to d-r-m in my links- Tell 'em Jeff sent ya!

*Dan, I hope you have you're post up to date.

New Comic Wednesday March 18th

2007-04-21T18:18:00.000-07:00

Yeah comics!!

Lots of good stuff came out this week- Justice League, Ultimate Spider-man, Mighty Avengers, Robin, Flash, and even a Nightwing Annual.

I never buy Nightwing. I don't hate the character- I just never got into it.

Anyway, this issue reads like a grown-up issue of Ultimate Spider-man to me. Batgirl and Robin (he later becomes Nightwing- in case you're not up to speed) flashback and forward in their relationship as friends, crimefighters, and partners (romantically). Verbal jabs, bat-jokes, and smooth art creates an issue worth re-reading. Fantastic!

Grindhouse a-go-go

2007-04-15T15:21:00.000-07:00

Watched Grindhouse on Saturday afternoon with friend Dan, of d-r-m fame. Yowza!
Having endured many zombie/horror flicks in my lifetime- Grindhouse raises my tolerance bar for indeceny and gore. People explode like hot dogs in a microwave, get run over, and have rashes you'd have nightmares about. I'm sure the FACES OF DEATH series will seem tame after this. (There is absolutely no way I'd watch those. There's quite a difference between HOLLYWOOD death and ACTUAL death. Besides, it's just morbid.)

The movie is broken up into two films: Planet Terror and Death Proof. There's also delightful trailers in-between such as: Machete, Nazi Werewolfs of the SS, Don't!, and Thankgiving. Thanksgiving the most disturbing of the bunch- I....I can't even go into words how painful.

Planet Terror weaves the tale of a zombie plague attacking a town of various characters and features the absurb Cherry Darling (Rose McGowan) taking out the bad guys with her AK-47 leg.
Some great lines and zombies a-poppin'. Worth rewatching- except the groin infected scenes. YUCK.

Death Proof on the other hand- was a snooze-fest. Four girls gabbing on about boyfriends- then four more girls gabbing on about THEIR boyfriends. Oh, I forgot to mention, there's another small plot of Stunt Man Mike (Kurt Russel) killing people with his death proof car. Then the second group of girls get their revenge and beat the snot out of him- for trying to kill them. Okay.....
Not worth rewatching except the brief conversation between SMM and Rose McGowan's character in the bar. Rather funny, but overall, Eh.....

Now, don't get me wrong- I didn't despise this film in the least. Grossed out?... completely. Mortified? Yes. But it was for all the right reasons. Tarantino/Rodriguez nailed this 70's explotation/grindhouse genre. It is just a movie after all. It's okay to let yourself go once in a awhile. Just as long as you don't start running over people for kicks.

Slurpee-Sense Tingling!

2007-04-15T15:14:00.000-07:00

7-11's got Spider-man 3 Slurpee cups available right now! (Spidey, Sandman, and Venom) While not nearly as large as the Superman Returns cups- they both use lenticular artwork (it changes when you rotate it). Very cool! No Spidey flavored/inspired Slurpee flavor though.

Asleep at the switch (er...keyboard)

2007-04-15T14:59:00.000-07:00

So... I haven't blogged in two weeks. Either not much happened or I was really busy. Was a combination of both. Anyhoo- that means a lot of comics were bought and I didn't tell you about them. Here's what I bought (in no particular order) and which were good or bad.

Spider-man and the Fantastic Four #1- Wieringo art and Spidey with the Impossible man. Nice.
Justice League of America #7- Many cripes from others about the Hall of Justice. I don't mind it.
Teen Titans #45- big fight issue.
Supergirl #16- the new art/writer issue, confused by the story- but read it in a hurry.
Madman #1- Filling the void for my X-Statix fix, Allred delivers once again!
New Avengers #29- another big fight issue- minus the fight. Wha-huh?
Omega Flight # 1 (of 5)- Recruitment of Canada's new super-team. Good stuff, eh?
Fantastic Four #544- Debut of Storm and Black Panther on the team. Ughhh....pass for awhile.
Friendly Neighborhood Spider-man #19- a story as bad as the clone saga, with Chamelon.
Ultimate Spider-man #107- Losing steam fast. Or I'm just getting board with the teen angst.
Uncanny X-Men #485-...IN SPACE!! Deathbird marries Vulcan. Vulcan kills more Shiar. Yeah.
Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Spider-man #1: Ironically they tell you to visit the Marvel website on the inside cover for more entries, so I could've saved $4. Thanks a lot. Still, nice to catch up on the stories without tracking down all the back issues.

Fun with DC

2007-04-15T14:41:00.000-07:00

DC Superheroes: Steel

2007-04-15T14:25:00.000-07:00

Gave in and bought the DC Superheroes Steel figure the other day. Being a fan of the Death of Superman storyline a few years ago, I couldn't pass him up. Really nice figure- metallic and determined, this is one tin-man you don't want to cross. Packaged in the new 'purple box', Steel comes with a cardboard standee you can use to display the figure- kind of like a mini wax museum- if you bought enough of them. Good scale with my other Superman figs- now all I need is an Eradicator and a Cyborg. Neither of the Doomsday figs impressed me- the scale is way too small- so I'll hold off for now.

On a side note- I'm not a huge fan of the skin tone used on the DC SH figs. Both my Superman and Supergirl look like they've just returned from Spring Break. Yet my Superboy DC Direct figure is fine. Huh. I'm torn between the price and the quality. DC Direct look so much better- D'oh!

Holy box art Batman!

2007-03-31T19:55:00.000-07:00

With the success of the two Lego Star Wars video games, Warner Bros. has jumped on the little-brick bandwagon and is going to be releasing a Lego Batman video game (cross platform). Expect the same greatness- with a Batman theme. This game is going to rock. Meantime, I'll have to be content with Spider-man 3, Mario Party 8, and Super Smash Bros.

X-Men out of context

2007-03-25T13:27:00.000-07:00

Not only can Calvin Rankin mimic other powers,
but he also speaks fluent jive:

Cyclops hates it when Iceman goes skinny-dippin'.
I'm leaving the 'ten foot robot' joke up to you...

The team-up concept gone horribly wrong:

TMNT kicks some shell

2007-03-24T11:01:00.000-07:00

Saw TMNT last night with a group from work. (Just before eating pizza and watching the original cartoon to get in the mood) It was great! But only great if you're a fan of the genre. You'd still enjoy it, but not nearly as much as us fanboys- waiting for a good turtle movie since '93. The Grand Rapids Press gave it two stars stating it was too dark for kids. They gave Ghost Rider three stars. WTF? If it's not Disney, animated flicks get a bad rap. Especially when it's not generally a kiddie movie, like TMNT.

The story doesn't cover the turtles origin, nor does it address the prior films-other than a glimpse of things here and there. The story follows the four turtles as they now live separate lives since Leo's departure to train himself in Central America along with Shredder's defeat. Similar to Ghostbusters 2, our heroes are forced to deal with the 'what now?' scenario. Sort of a middle-ninja crisis. This makes the movie. The characters personalities shine through and Michaelangelo is actually enjoyable this time around- they all are. I heard only one "COWABUNGA!". Facial expressions although caricatures, convey realistic emotions with ease. Many smooth action sequences and plenty of laughs, TMNT will soon be added to my DVD collection...

Turtle Power!

Superhero Squad

2007-03-24T10:40:00.000-07:00

Both Toys'r'us and Walmart are heavy with Spider-man 3 merchandise. Spider-man 3 Monopoly (lose your mask pay $75) and Sorry editions, various Spidey matchbox cars (wha-?), and shelves full of Spidey figures-including the adorable little Superhero Squad line. I picked one up....

Although I'd prefer Venom or even Sandman over the Goblin, this set had the best posed Spidey. Here's the other figures in the set....(TRU had an exclusive Spidey/Rhino and Spidey/Doc Ock...both eh.)

And here they are out of the package and in comparsion to other figures I have...

The Superhero Squad make for great desktop figures that don't take up much space. Soon to be added to my desktop at work along with the Fantastic Four versions when then come out.

Wanna buy a monkey?

2007-03-22T19:06:00.000-07:00

Spotted in an old issue of X-Men:

Human hand not included.

Dig this- Windows version Alpha!!

Order now and we'll throw in Battlecat absolutely FREE!!

New Comic Wednesday March 21st

2007-03-22T18:51:00.000-07:00

Small week. Just two books: Flash #10 and Justice Society of America #4.

As much as I like the villiany of Zoom, my pick is JSA. Great art + great characters (most of which I don't know anything about- I use to be strictly Marvel) = great book. And no, the explosion wasn't this weeks actual cover- just what I grabbed from DC's site.

Also bought some current Robin back issues- which I'm getting into as well. Marvel's been really blah lately. Civil War was a mess. Cap's dead. Aunt May got shot. Speeball became Penance....sigh.

Looking forward to more trades now- Invinicble vol. 3, Young Avengers, Geoff John's arch on the Flash....I really need another bookcase.

Zombie Town & Dead of Night

2007-03-18T17:33:00.000-07:00

Just when I thought it was safe to say: "No more board games for me" which is a flat out lie...Along comes yet another zombie themed game from the creators of Zombies!!!- this time called Zombie Town.

Up to four players control neighbors fighting off a zombie invasion from the center of their culdesac, which happens to be a cementary. Each player protects their home from the lurching zombies and are allowed to kill other players- to get more ammo, health, etc. Here's the town gameboard and cards:

Kinda neat. I own the original Zombies!!! game and was angry for not waiting until the expansion had come out. Better art being the only real difference. Oh well. With this game you also get 100 zombies- if I get this game, I'll own 330 little plastic zombies. 330. Yow. Here's a typical set-up of the game...

My thoughts....Not sure about it. I've been reading reviews on boargamegeek.com and it's a mixed bag-mostly negative. Y'see, Twilight Creations (the only publisher to continually create zombie-related games, bless 'em) make rules clear enough for Mr. Magoo to follow.

The pieces are there to make a great game- the board/cards, the concept, and the...sigh...rules, but you have to put it all together. In most cases- re-write the rules yourself to make sense. I've done this for my Zombies!!! game and it's now playable. But you shouldn't have to.

As for the set-up picture above, it looks like it would be hard to keep track of all those different card piles with four players. Zombies!!! suffered the same problem initially, so I created a larger card to keep track of all the little trinkets. Might have to build a card stand or something...hmm.

There was also another game a bgg'er (boardgamegeeker) mentioned called Dead of Night. It's a free download available at http://www.freehomepages.com/schmidtlapp/page1.html

The game is similar to the other zombie games, but plays out on a Heroclix-like map. Everything is printed out by you- the maps, cards, rules, etc. but has been given high praises as "the best zombie themed game" out there. I'll have to look more into it, but I'm torn between both at the moment. Here' s a pic of some of the elements from Dead of Night:

Also very neat. But much more expensive (the $40-$50 range once said and done). Maybe I could use my map from Horrorclix? Although, I should probably finish my custom Ghostbusters game before too long...

All images from boardgamegeek.com. I'd take the pics myself, but I don't own the games yet.

New Comic Wednesday March 14th

2007-03-17T13:26:00.000-07:00

Last week's post was way too long. From now on, I'll just post the covers and choose one book as my pick of the week like iFanboy (a great podcast if you're not already listening to it).

Books I bought: Robin #160, Teen Titans #44, Spider-man: Reign #4, and The New Avengers #28

My pick of the week: Spider-Man Reign# 4. A four issue mini that reads like The Dark Knight Returns- but replaces Bats with Spidey and Frank Miller with Kaare Andrews. The book could have easily fallen under the current 'The End' minis- but far surpasses what has qualified for those stories. Not the typical Spider-man book- but I'm okay with that. A must have.

Blind Sketching

2007-03-11T17:05:00.000-07:00

Here's one of my sketches from a recent game of Cranium. The phrase I had to sketch BLIND was 'Treasure Island'. I thought I nailed it with the parrot- but my partner didn't guess it. Rats.
Probably would have helped to draw an actual island or even a treasure for that matter.

Squirrel Attack 2: Squirrels attack my parents

2007-03-11T16:51:00.000-07:00

It seems the squirrels are starting a revolution. Not long after my squirrel incident, (scroll down for previous post) my parent shared a similar story of terror. The squirrels in Illinois must be in better shape than the ones here in Michigan. Check this out...

What chance have we against these acrobatic varmints? RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!!

Heroclix Tournament

2007-03-11T16:38:00.000-07:00

Played in a Heroclix Tournament (with friend Dan of d-r-m fame) celebrating the release of the current DC Origins set. You bought three boosters and used what you could to assemble your team for three 15 minute rounds. My team consisted of The Ray, The Question, The Atom, Wildcat, and a Legionaire pog civilian. Although I didn't win the tourney- I had a great time playing feverish matches against unknown combatants. Just for showing up and playing we received a LE 'classic' Wonder Woman heroclix and a Marvin and Wendy civilian pog. The map we played on was the headquarters of the JSA. We got the map just for playing too.

Saturday Spookiness

2007-03-11T16:22:00.000-07:00

Picked up this 5 DVD pack of recent horror flicks for $30 at Meijer. These movies are bad (not Manos bad- but I like 'em just the same). My horror genre in my DVD collection is rather sparse* and with Halloween coming up, I've got to be ready. I have never seen Gothika. It stars Halle Berry who goes crazy. House of Wax has Paris Hilton getting decapitated. House on the Hill has Ali Larter (Nikki from Heroes). Thirteen Ghosts has Shannon Elizabeth. She's pretty...and Ghost Ship has uh...um,...ghosts... on a ship. And Julianna Marguilez from "ER" fame.

*My current horror flicks include the original House of Wax (Vincent Price), Creepshow, Creepshow 2, and Return of the Living Dead (best zombie movie ever!)

Spider-man 3 video game

2007-03-04T15:12:00.000-08:00

Yeah, I know I said I'd stop with the video games for awhile, but this covers both bases- who wouldn't love this Spidey game? Great looking visuals and from what I've read in the article on Marvel's site, it's shaping up to be quite the web-slinging experience....

Set in an enormous, dynamic, free-roaming New York City, the game gives players the freedom to choose their own gameplay experience through multiple movie-based and original storylines, fully integrated city missions and performance rewards including improved speed, combat maneuvers and agility.

Three gangs are vying for control of the city, each focusing their efforts on specific boroughs. The more you take down in each area, the more the crime rate drops and the city flourishes. Ignore a section and watch chaos reign.

As you'll learn the more you play, the black suit becomes harder and harder to control. Will you get it under control or allow it to consume you?

The open world gameplay allows the player to decide how to proceed through the game and set their own goals. Should Spider-Man follow a plot twist, switch to an alternate storyline, fight off crime waves that threaten the city or explore vast interior and underground locations? It's all in your hands.

Amazing Spider-man indeed.

New Comic Wednesday March 7th

2007-03-04T14:24:00.000-08:00

As promised, here's the books I bought for Wednesday.

Civil War: Initiative #1

Cover: Iron Man with Cap's swiss cheese shield holding the U.S. flag- Hmm, his side won I take it? A clean cover but with so many Civil War books going on I just don't care anymore. Feh.

Story: A bunch of post Civil War tales crammed in one hefty issue- the recruitment (by Sasquatch) of the killer of Alpha Flight to lead the newly created Omega Flight (as Vindicator). Tony guiding his team of evil (yet controlled) Thunderbolts to track down an unregistered mutant. Ms. Marvel requesting Spider-Woman's return to the Avengers, and some snippets of other issues including Cap's assasination. We'll miss ya Cap.

Art: Silvestri to me, is a future version of Michael Turner. Turner's women always end up looking the same. It's also a grittier step down from Steve McNiven's art. Possibly to show the aftermath/damage from Civil War? Who knows? I enjoyed the art regardless. A nice intro to the new storylines to come. Pick this up.

Fantastic Four #543

Cover: Ugh. Why does Thing have so many teeth? When has he ever smiled that much?! Crop Thing out and you have a nice cover- although if you didn't know it was the FF's 45 anniversary- you'd think it was Johnny's 45th birthday. Not the best positioning of the characters to convey the message- but oh well.

Story: Reed and Sue telling Ben and Johnny that they're taking some time off to fix their martial problems since Civil War and have picked Storm and Black Panther as their replacements. Two additional stories- one with Stan Lee helping the FF fight Mole Man. Lee promises Mole Man a cameo in the next FF movie if he stops fighting. Lame. The second story- I didn't bother to read due to the artwork being terrible- something with Johnny at the race track with Spider-man. Eh.

Art: Mike McKone's is a perfect match for the FF. Being a family team with various emotions, his characters speak even before the speech bubbles do. Fantastic. Yeah, that's right.

Fantastic Four: The End #6

Cover: A terrified FF looking upon an unseen terror! BORING...

Story: This was the final sixth issue of the mini-series. It was six issues too many. 'The End' consisted of Sue re-uniting the FF and with the aid of Doctor Strange- then, travel back in time to save Franklin and Valeria from being killed by Doctor Doom. Only to have Doctor Doom escape into the negative zone, kill Annihulus and reign supreme there. That's it. BORING!

Art: I can appreciate Alan Davis's artwork- but the story ruined it for me. Which is odd, since it's usually the other way around for me. Truly not 'THE END' FF story I would've hoped for.

Friendly Neighborhood Spider-man #18

Cover: Black costumed Spidey leaps to save what looks to be Uncle Ben from a PO'ed Sandman. I'm partial to this cover only because of the Spider-man 3 characters. Two more months!!

Story: Flash is on a date with Betty Brandt who share great 'date' dialouge and then she's attacked by thousands of spiders in the bathroom. Sandman and Spidey share some great banter as well. Funny stuff. Pick this up purely for the writing- Wieringo is an added bonus.

Art: Mike Wieringo does it again. 'Nuff said.

Mighty Avengers #1

Cover: Just another random shot of a super team flying towards you action shot. The speed lines are nice. Cho rarely disappoints. A better composition would've made me like this more. Does Black Widow's gun really need to be that huge? I don't see her running around the battlefield lugging that thing.

Story: The new-New (now called Mighty) Avengers assemble! Flashbacks/forwards of a battle with the new team and Tony and Carol Danvers discussing who and why each member is a great fit for the team. Bendis brings back the thought bubble to this issue and it doesn't work 90% of the time. Like Tony reading off a lock combo, and Carol sounding like a teenager with constant "yes, no, and man!" responses. Nice to see them back, but ease up before you kill it again. Overall, I really enjoyed this issue. I don't like the line-up of characters yet- but I said the same thing about the previous avengers- and it turned out to be one of my favorite books for NCW.

Art: Cho's work is amazing. Can pull off both facial expressions and action heavy scenes without skipping a beat. Ms. Marvel's nice to look at too- then again, all of Cho's women are.

Ultimate Spider-man #106

Cover: Not good. A skewed Spidey looks upward to an angry Daredevil in this splash page turned cover. What happened to the close up covers Bagley used to draw way back for the original issues? You can tell he's ready to leave- he's had a looong run on this book.

Story: Daredevil confronts Spidey to assist him in killing Kingpin. Oh, and Peter gets back with Mary Jane- doesn't break up with Kitty, and then Kitty shows up as a new classmate at the high school. Ultimate Saved by the Bell.

Art: Bagley is still going strong- but he's tired of it and it shows in his work.

Uncanny X-Men #484

Cover: X-Men fighting in space.

Story: X-Men fighting in space. Xavier is scheduled to be executed after the wedding of Vulcan and Deathbird.

Art: Billy Tan's art is rough (although that's probably the inker), but it does the trick. Seems like everyone is trying to copy McNiven's style. Expect Bagley, he was around waaay before him.

JLA #6

Cover: This isn't the cover I bought. Mine was a battle damaged Amazo/Red Tornado 'bot grimacing with Green Lantern's ring. Creepy and zombie like. I love comics and I love zombies. Brilliant!

Story: The entire JLA struggles to take down Amazo while Red Tornado is savagely beaten by Solmon Grundy. Tornado barely manages to win the fight unleashing a F4 tornado, only to end up back in his robot body.

Art: Ed Benes and Sandra Hope follow in the Jim Lee fashion of cross hatching, big splash pages, and page after page of good old fashioned superheroics.

Robin #156

Cover: I wasn't fast enough/too lazy to grab the cover image. It's Robin's hand reaching out towards a sneaker as the two silhouettes speed down the side of a building. Instantly caught my eye.

Story: Robin consoles the family of a boy in a coma for which he feels devasted. Following up his nightly patrol he comes across a potenial suicide victim on a rooftop. Robin convinces him not to jump and that he only need to talk things out with others. Heeding his own advice Robin calls Nightwing to chat.

Art: Cartoony but not over the top. Almost like a streamlined version of Bagely in both art and story. Minus the annoying teen chatter. Like y'know?

Good gravy, that was a long post- maybe this wasn't such a great idea. I'll have to revise this for next time. My fingers are nubs.

Bat panels out of context

2007-03-04T12:48:00.000-08:00

Flipping through some old Batman issues (specifically the first appearance of Jason Todd-the second Robin) I came across these bizzare panels...

Rather creepy scene with these two. Then there's this:

Batman looks a little too relaxed talking to Gordon.

Pink, Batman? Really? And why so eager to find Robin? He was just taking a nap by that tree.

So, I guess that means Batman really is...

Geeze relax. It's all a clever prank by the worlds greatest detective, right?

Okay. Glad we cleared that up.

It's New Comic Wednesday

2007-03-01T16:34:00.000-08:00

I've decided its finally time I should post what books I'm getting each and every Wednesday (along with a quick review) including anything else comic related. Spoilers I'll keep to a low- unless it's utterly fantastic. I've noticed with a toy shortage as of late, my blog has been more video games and less comics- for that I apologize to the many fanboys and girls who read this blog. Without further ado, here's what I bought this past Wednesday:

The Flash: The Fastest Man Alive #9

Cover: Multiple Flashes running. Yeah, it's cool to see the transition of Bart as Impulse to Kid Flash to Flash, but it's been done. When your only power is super-speed- your covers need to pop. This falls flat. A pinch of Photoshop effects would've helped.

Art: Let me just say this category is according to my tastes. I don't hate the art, but I don't love it. Passable, but no Alex Ross or Jim Lee. Or even Mike Wieringo.

Story: The last of an arch in which Bart is struggling in Los Angeles with a girlfriend and the ocassional supervillian. Eh. Loved Bart on the Titans book, but feel he's straying too much from what he 'could' have been. Definitely needs more of a Robin One Year Later approach. Anixously looking forward to the next creative team.

Action Comics #846

Cover: Love Kubert's chalk sketch covers. Instantly grabs my attention from the rack- the contrast of the bright Supes in the center pulls it together in one nice image.

Art: Again, love it. I've really missed Kubert since his departure from the initial run of Ultimate X-Men. At first, I thought his gritty style wouldn't fit Superman's character- the clean-cut boy scout, but I've been proven wrong issue after issue. When Superman gets punched you feel it right along with him.

Story: The return of the General Zod and crew from the Phantom Zone, a mysterious boy with Superman's powers, and the colorful cast of the Daily Planet make this a great tale. Pick it up!

Wizard #186

Cover: Whoa. A dead Jimmy Olsen and a teary fist clenched Superman make this a must have for my coffee table. That would make any non-fanboy pick up Wizard to give it a look see.

Art: Uhh..gonna skip this section for magazines- too many artists.

Stories: Wizard's been pretty crappy lately. Ever since the jump to magazine format and dropping the sub-head: the guide to comics to the magazine of comics, entertainment and pop culture, Wizard hasn't been the same go to comic news source it once was. Now, it's the internet. Still, Wizard is now beefier, and with a new layout- things are starting to look up for my once favorite geek mag. More sketch books, comic preview pages, and that zany Wizard humor. I mainly buy it to find out about comics I won't have to buy- since they spoil just about everything- that, and it helps if the internet's down.

That's it for this week- Tune in next week for a whopping EIGHT BOOKS I'll have to review.

Wii Junk

2007-02-25T19:18:00.000-08:00

It seems people still aren't satisfied with the whole wiimote/classic controller situation. That is, having to rest the wiimote at your side while you hold the separate controller. Nyko has your solution, albeit a clunky one retailing (eventually) for $15. Here's the idea:

...and here's the real deal:

What a waste. I wouldn't want to spend the time setting this jumbled mess up. I'll keep the wiimote at my side and save the $15 thank you.

AND, if that wasn't enough...Sweat Grips. Yeah that's right. Apparently, people are sweating SO much from playing Wii Sports that they needed to make rubberized grips. Wow. This is ridiculous. (Tesh, this is a candidate for your blog)
Photos from IGN.com.

Squirrel Attack

2007-02-24T12:33:00.000-08:00

Found this little fella on my patio this morning. He stood up when I bent down to snap his picture, then scurried up the screen. He wanted some of my cereal- he wasn't getting any. Although he was quite amusing.

Retro Wiimote Skin

2007-02-24T12:26:00.000-08:00

What if Nintendo used the classic look instead of white for the Wii?
Here's what I came up with...

Take a look

2007-02-20T17:59:00.000-08:00

...its in a book- IT'S READING RAINBOW!! My friend Tesh over at i heart idiots, recently posted on the forever gold, Reading Rainbow- along with some memorable video to boot.

My favorite part of the 'bow was the book reviews by the goofy kids. They'd spoil the plot and then say something brilliant. (If it were a book about dinosaurs: "If you love books about mountain lions- then T-Rex: Terrible Lizard is FOR YOU!!") Wha-huh?!? And the host, Levar Burton- that man could do it all. Go to Tesh's blog right now! Click the link on the right. Oh, and one more thing....

Stackable Comics

2007-02-17T15:04:00.000-08:00

Pick up a new comic box today called Draw Boxes for about $12. Basically works like file cabinet without the annoying folders. The box can support up to 180 lbs., so it won't buckle from other boxes resting on top. A huge space saver with a drawer that slides out easily. Highly recommended for anyone with a lot of books and a small amount of space.

Ghost Rider

2007-02-17T14:37:00.000-08:00

Quite the turnout for Ghost Rider last night. Chuckled to myself when I saw guys walking in with leather jackets. Sure, it's just their normal attire- but when you also match the character onscreen it shouts "FANBOY" to me regardless. I wore a Superman t-shirt to Superman Returns. I also write this blog.

Anyhoo- Ghost Rider is entertaining, much like X-3. Comic characters brought to life on screen, but don't really seem to go anywhere- emotionally or plot wise. It is fun to watch and laugh at though. Great catchphrases from GR and other characters as well. Very odd parts in the movie too- like Eva Mendes unveiling a Magic 8 ball from her purse while waiting for Johnny to come to dinner, Nic Cage acting a lot like Elvis- especially when in his white stunt jumpsuit, and red and yellow jellybeans he tips back from a martini glass 'cause drinking "gives me nightmares". Uhh....okay.

In terms of re-watch-ability, I'd watch it again- not enough to buy the DVD- but definitely prefer it to Daredevil, Elektra, and even Fantastic Four.

Happy Valentine's Day

2007-02-13T18:23:00.000-08:00

Wii Play!

2007-02-13T17:34:00.000-08:00

Had a friend pick up a copy of Wii Play for me today. Wii Play is a collection of nine sport-y games and comes packaged with a wiimote. Which as most of you Wii-tards (Is there a better slang for us geeks?) know, is impossible to find a single controller in the store, along with the Wii point cards for some odd reason. They're just paper!! Arrrghh....

Pirate imitations aside, Wii Play is really really fun. Not A+ fun, but comes darn close. Here's a quick rundown of the nine games....

Shooting Range: Similar to Duck Hunt, you aim the wiimote at the screen and fire at balloons, plates, alien saucers, and ocassionally ducks, if you're fast enough. Simple point and shoot. Easy to play. Speed increases the further you go along making the game more challenging. (This theme is used throughout the game to keep you on your toes.) 5/5

Find Mii: Another point and shoot, but a step down. You're looking at a group of Mii's trying to locate two similar Miis in the crowd. That's pretty much it. A Memory board game video game? Eh. 1/5

Table Tennis: That's it. Playing ping-pong by swaying your wiimote back and forth. Authentic ping-pong ball 'tic-tack' sound- really helps the experience. I love ping-pong and I love this game. It's also cool when Mii's start crowding the table in anticipation. 5/5

Pose Mii: A step up from Find Mii, this time you pose your Mii into falling bubbles with a similar silouette. As the game progresses, you have to rotate your Mii as well- in addition to changing his pose. Gets really challenging and rather annoying. I'll probably like this once I get the hang of the different poses. 3/5

Laser Hockey: Very Tron-like in appearance. Move your paperclip blocker to send the puck around the rink and into your opponents goal. Very loose controls- also involves rotating the wiimote. The blocker noise is very similiar to a light saber... Not a huge fan...yet. 3/5

Billiards: The most complex game in the set. Plays similar to Wii Golf. Trys to match the physics of actual pool by where you make contact with the cue ball (backspin, topspin,etc.) Have to take some time to play around to really appreciate it. 3/5

Fishing: The worst of the bunch. Dangle a fish hook over a pond to catch fish. Each fish is worth different points-you try to catch what the Wii tells you to. Shoddy controls, overly simplistic graphics, not worth a play after two or three times. 1/5

Charge!: The best of the bunch. Your Mii rides a cow plowing over scarecrows and jumping over hurdles to the finish line. Control is tight, very responsive. Fantastic! 5/5

Tanks: Plays like the old Combat! games of the late Atari 2600. Move your tank, fire a round of five bullets, and drop mines. Tanks move a little too slow- but then again, they are tanks. Feels like I'm playing with Micro-Machines on a workbench. Neat! 5/5

So...four out of nine doesn't sound like a great purchase, but I've only played a little of each. Will become a group favorite I'm sure. Sad that it isn't four player, but two. Would have been awesome to have four player Charge!

Keep 'em coming Nintendo!

The Board Game Shelf

2007-02-11T13:05:00.000-08:00

Here's a picture of board games I own. Yep, three shelves worth.

Why so many you ask? "Why not?" I reply. Variety is the spice of life and not everyone enjoys Monopoly. I've found that most people downright despise Monopoly. It's the game that never ends until you want to strangle somebody or simply give-up because there's no possible way to win. Yet I own two versions of it. Weird.

I currently own 26 boardgames and only play about half of them. Still, its nice to show them off and have someone's face light up and want to play one. "OOhh...Jenga!"

I've been meaning to have more boardgame nights to help filter out the crappy ones (like Uno Attack- you thought Monopoly never ends-yikes!) and replace with new favorites. The latest additions (I've yet to play) are Mall of Horror and Kill Doctor Lucky. Reviews to come soon- or go to boardgamegeek.com (the wikipedia of boardgames) if you're too antsy.

Game on!

Never enough Zombies...

2007-02-11T12:48:00.000-08:00

Until now.

Made a roadtrip to K-Zoo with my friend Chris yesterday and went to the best comic store in all Michigan- Fanfare. Clean, well organzied, and doesn't have that peculiar fanboy odor. Is showering really that difficult of a concept?

Anyway, I picked up a ZOMBIES!!! bag o' babes!!! to add to my collection for the zombies game as well as using them for other games like Heroclix. I now own 230 little plastic zombies. That's quite an army of the undead- especially when seen on a game board surrounding your players appearing very hungry. More pics to follow- possibly a Marvel Zombies themed Heroclix game??

Hasbro Toy Fair 2007!

2007-02-10T20:41:00.000-08:00

New figures for Spiderman 3 and Fantastic Four 2. Check it out!

Like the packaging, figures look about the same as before. Cool Surfer though.

I don't like the twisted building packaging- seem off to me, the plastic web burst is kinda neat.

More of those adorable little superhero squad figures- Spidey 3 versions. No Mary Jane?!

...and the Fantastic Four version with Torch and Surfer. As much as I don't want to collect these (thanks to my growing collection of Minimates) I would like to get this one.

Who's your Fantastic Four?

2007-02-10T18:51:00.000-08:00

So, who's it gonna be?.... From pics of the Turner covers online- it looks to be Thing, Torch, Storm, and Black Panther, which is fine by me. Out with the old couple, in with the new.

However, if I could actually pick who I wanted on the team (why not give it a shot Marvel?- It worked for DC vs. Marvel!) I'd go with.....that's a tough question. I'll have to think about it.
Definitely none of the original four though. Hmm....

As for the book itself, it looks promising with new characters and a new writer. McDuffie knows team books- as a writer on JL-JLU, he nails characters interaction, which is what the book was lacking under Straczynski. The whole Thing in Paris storyline? Ughh....since when can Ben speak French??

Back in Black

2007-02-10T08:36:00.000-08:00

As long as Marvel is putting Spidey back in his black costume, they might as well do other characters. Like Storm and Havok here. But then I guess Black Panther and Polaris would have to get killed off too.

Oops....R.I.P Mary Jane.

Monsters Menace America!

2007-02-10T08:00:00.000-08:00

Instead of our usual Heroclix Wednesday game, my friends and I tried Monsters Menace America (from the same company that created Betrayal at House on the Hill). Setup was simple and came with various chits*- but not too many. *Chits refers to the tiny cardboard/plastic pieces that come packaged with boardgames- I didn't make that one up.

The objective of the game is to be the last monster standing after destroying american cities with your monster and branch of military. The monster include an Ape, an Eyeball creature, a Lobster, a Cricket, a purple Blob, and Godzilla. Branches of military include the Army, Navy, Marines, Airforce, and National Guard. Each monster/military has their own abilities- but are pretty much equal. During the game your monster can mutate with a deck of various mutation cards giving your monster special abilities from bonus attacks to more damage. The Military has their own deck as well, incorporating two Military monsters that can join the fray: Captain Colossal and Mecha-Monster.

The gameplay is easy to learn and fun. It plays similar to Risk, but with more freedom to go where you want. I really enjoyed being able to control both the Military and a Monster at the same time. You're basically playing two games at once. The theme works well for a boardgame with four or more players. It can come down (and usually does) to luck of the dice roll, but its fun just the same.

In our game, Kong was the winner- Eyezorb was stuck on the west coast fighting the Navy, Godzilla couldn't catch a break with the Armies tanks, and Lobster guy was tearing up the Rockies.

Hoth Effect Snow Storm

2007-02-03T08:23:00.000-08:00

It hasn't stopped snowing since last night- even as you read this, still snowing. "Roads?...Where we're going we don't need roads." 'Cause you'll be snowed in, that's why.

I miss the sunshine.

Iron Man vs. Mandarin

2007-02-03T08:15:00.000-08:00

Recently, I viewed Marvel's DVD adventure, Iron Man. Animation good, Movie bad. Here's a rare picture from the final battle of the film:

It's-a-me, Mario!

2007-02-03T08:02:00.000-08:00

Whoa. That's a lot of Mario games. I've come to the conclusion that I didn't buy the Wii so much for the Wii games, but rather all the old games that I missed out on Gamecube. I just bought Mario Kart 64 last night for the Virtual Console, and graphically, its a mess. Pixelated Racers! Gameplay still holds up- I love it. I love it so much that I bought three more Gamecube controllers and then thought as long as I'm getting those, I should check out other Mario-Multiplayers. Again, whoa. EIGHT MARIO PARTY GAMES?! Don't forget Mario Power Tennis, Baseball, Soccer, and the classic Smash Brothers. Thanks to game review sites like IGN.com and Gamespot.com I can filter through the crappy ones. Having all these games available on one system was genius. Nintendo, you're my valentine.

Marvel Super Dice

2007-02-03T07:07:00.000-08:00

First things first: I've gotten the Ebay bug.

What started as needing some horrorclix figures, (for my custom Ghostbuster game-see following post) expanded into "What else do I want that I can't find?"

Never say this while on Ebay- bad, bad.

The worst part is the buy it now button. No auction? No problem! Shipping Fees? Who cares? I can buy it now! Ughhh.....

Luckily, I've come to my senses and only LOOKED at potential items I wanted to buy. Pictures are definitely a lot cheaper than the real deal.

So yes, I did buy the horrorclix figures, and two boardgames. But, I'm good.........for now.

Anyway, I came across a gem from 1997: TSR's Marvel Super Dice. Thanks to Ebay, I was finally able to buy what I remember seeing in the store ten years ago, all for the low price of $1.99 with shipping, so- eight bucks.

The game was planned to have expansions, but never quite got off the ground. I've seen pictures of a Fantastic Four version, but alas...it never came to be. There's very little info about this online surprisingly. Without further ado, here's what's in the box.....

18 different colored dice, 2 sheets of map tiles, 1 stat book, and 1 rule book.

The stat book- 8 of the dice have character faces, each with their own abilities. Of course, the characters I like are the rare ones. Crud.

The character I have: Magicienne (who?) Sentinel, Captain Britain, Colossus, Wolverine, Black Tom Cassidy, Psylocke, and two Masterminds. He's a chick? The white dice represent civilians and various attacks.

The objective of the game is to advance from one character's headquarters to the other. Along the way you encounter police, civilians, swat, and even little old ladies who are caught up in this city-wide riot.

Could be a fun little game. Who knows, maybe if it's that good, I'll head back to Ebay to find more dice.....Here we go again.

Custom Ghostbusters Game

2007-01-27T13:02:00.000-08:00

Being a huge Ghostbusters fan, I've decided to make my own Ghostbusters Boardgame. I looked up any previous GB games and found only two. TWO? C'mon....

Anyway, one is the version I had as a kid, a 3-D version similar to Mouse Trap where you would lead the GB's through four different locales. While fun at the time (and a bitch to step up) it never really captured the GB spirit. The second game was similar to the current Marvel Heroes game, in which they explore districts throughout New York City, trying to gain the most cash for ghosts captured in addition to using the Ecto-1 and Ecto-Copter to move around the board. I had never seen or played this version, but it sounds interesting. Both games featured the same box art- but different boards.

With these two games to fuel the fire, I proceeded to look at other games I may be able to use as a template for gameplay, and more importantly, use pieces from. I found that the room tiles from Betrayal at House on the Hill along with the ghost finder figures from Horrorclix (and various monsters) would be a winning combination.

The theme of the my game would be exploring the various rooms of the haunted mansion for ghosts, capture them, and then escape. The Ghostbuster with the most captured ghosts wins. However, Death is also in the mansion waiting for you. Angry at stealing away his customers, Death will take his vengance out on you by stealing back your ghosts. Maybe even killing you in the process....(losing turns)

I'm using the same three card decks that came with Betrayal, but updating the text to reflect lines, objects, and quotes from the Ghostbuster universe- including both movies, cartoons, and yes, even one object from the Flimation Ghostbusters- just for laughs.

Here's pics of the figures (removed from their clix bases) including a Slimer which was originally a pencil topper. Enjoy....

Nothin' but Winstons. Repaints on the way....

Mock-up dice to be used in the game

The '13 Ghosts' you can encounter in the rooms. (Tomb Mummy is on the way)

This is my favorite. Death is HUGE!

I'm a M&M

2007-01-21T09:57:00.000-08:00

Over at BecomeAnMM.com, you can create a custom made M&M candy version of yourself. Quite funny, but the options were a bit sparse. The ad I saw in today's paper (PARADE) was a tad misleading- although very good, a M&M Burt Reynolds. Here's mine...

All-new! All-different!

2007-01-20T09:32:00.000-08:00

Hooray!!!

With the help of my friend Chris, I was finally able to 'pimp' my blog. Look for new header art every month. (Since I post every Sunday- I guess the next one would be on February 4th) This month features the Thing from Fantastic Four #380 "Faces of Doom".

Enjoy!

More Ghostbuster goodness on the way...

The Ghost Busters....dear god.

2007-01-19T17:22:00.000-08:00

If you thought the Flimation Ghostbusters were bad- think again.

Behold, the super-crappy 1975 live action monstrosity. Yikes.

...and the slightly better animated version.

Finally, the classic- free of damn dirty apes.

Do not attempt to adjust your picture....

2007-01-14T13:23:00.000-08:00

I'm playing around with adding an image to my header box. HTML is a cruel mistress, for which I've been battling since college. I like making pictures just not all the technical stuff. At least I got the broken icon to show up- that's a start...

So...yup. Nothing funny about that. Read the Dora comic again. I laughed 'til it hurt. The joke is more funny if you've seen 'An evening with Kevin Smith 2". Thanks Chris!

Still here?....Go visit Chris Karath's Blog, then go visit Adam and Comfort's Sketch blog. Then get some fresh air and a Coke Zero. You'll thank me for it. Or not.

Ghost Rider

2007-01-13T11:29:00.000-08:00

I never bought the ML Ghost Rider. Not a huge fan really. But with the release of the Ghost Rider movie, toys were inevitable. So I picked one (of many variations). Didn't come with his chain- but rather some skull gun. Umm...what? Picks below. Enjoy. I did.

The all-new Fantastic Four: Hulk, Spider-man, Wolverine, and Ghost Rider.

A bad day for Xavier...

2007-01-09T19:23:00.000-08:00

As seen in X-Men #22: First, the X-Men steal his blanket to defeat his new training robot, Colosso. Then as everyone leaves for some much needed down time (since covering robots with drapery can be very tiresome)- Xavier broods about not being able to "walk in the sunshine". You'd think with the most powerful mutant mind on the planet you'd get around that.

I'm just glad for that carefully place thought bubble. Whew!

Crystal Pepsi returns!

2007-01-06T13:30:00.000-08:00

While at a friends house the other night, I tried an icy cold Coke Zero.

Something amazing happened. My tastebuds instantly flashed back to the 90's. I was drinking Crystal Pepsi.

It's really the after taste that reminds me of Crystal Pepsi- the wonderful beverage that died out faster than the Atari Jaguar. I liked it. Really.

I highly recommend stocking up on Coke Zero before they pull this too and we'll never see it again.

Marvel Select Thanos

2007-01-06T13:04:00.000-08:00

Bought the Marvel Select Thanos on NEW COMIC THURSDAY!

Thanos could have been a build-a-figure as far as I'm concerned. Great sculpt, size, and shiny gold paint job. Really cool figure- comes packaged with his main squeeze- Death.

Thanos fits in well with my 'cosmic shelf' of Marvel Legends too. I bumped Doctor Strange up (from the 'street shelf') because his cape was taking up too much space for other figs. Magic is kinda cosmic, right? The shelf has fallen on several ocassions. I think I need to put in a guard rail.

Space is tight, but there are still a few missing figures I'd like to see....

SPIDER-MAN: Aunt May, Qwen Stacy, Mary Jane, Spider-girl, Black Cat, and the Slingers: Dusk, Hornet, Richochett, and Prodigy.

FANTASTIC FOUR: Awesome Andy, Diablo, Puppet Master, Psycho Man, Lyja, Mole Man, Marvel Girl (Dr. Doom armor), and She-Thing.

X-MEN: Artie and Leech, Jubilee, Polaris, Multiple Man w/multiples, Morph, Dazzler, Mimic, Cannonball, Husk, Chamber, and Holocaust.

Happy New Year!

2006-12-31T13:43:00.000-08:00

Video Game Lane: Nintendo

2006-12-31T13:32:00.000-08:00

Crap. Didn't save my post so I lost everything. I'm going to be lazy and just post the pictures of my favorite games for the Nintendo. You can make your own commentary- it'll be fun!

Video Game Lane: Super Nintendo

2006-12-31T12:27:00.000-08:00

The system I didn't get until college, but played many a times at friends houses growing up. Here's my favorites for the SNES....

Donkey Kong Country: It's Donkey Kong in a two player side-scroller. Gold. Monkeys never get old.

Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts: The music, the weapons, the gameplay. Gold. Hated being turned into a old man or chicken from the treasure chest. Was extremely hard- but definitely worth it. Thanks Capcom.

Mortal Kombat 3: The first fighting game with blood and gore. Great! Always a bonus to see if you could pull off the fatalities, friendships, and specials. TOASTY!!

NBA JAM: Unrealistic dunking skills aside, this game was a blast. Every player moved like the Flash and could engulf the ball in flames. Go Milwaukee!!!

Super Punch-Out!!: A tribute to the classic. Sadly, no Mario referee. Or Mike Tyson. Well, that's okay though....

Super Street Fighter 2: Finally! New characters- the indian, the jamaican, the bruce lee knockoff, and Cammy- the british babe. Gold.

Battletoads and Double Dragon: Best team-up in a video game ever! Plus, it had those speeder bikes from the original Battletoads. This time I could actually beat the level....

TMNT 4: Turtles in Time: A near perfect translation of the arcade game. Flinging the Foot Soldiers at the screen was an added bonus. Turtle Power!!

Super Mario All-Stars: Holy crap. EVERY Mario game including the 'Lost Levels' (Mario 2 in Japan) on one cartridge?? INSANE! This needs to be on the Virtual Console- NOW.

Super Mario World: Best launch game ever. Yoshi was a nice bonus which didn't take away from the classic Mario formula. Gold. Just like the box says.

That's it for SNES- the sytem I originally wanted instead of the Genesis. But as you can see from my later posts- it still held up.

Video Game Lane: N64

2006-12-31T12:03:00.000-08:00

Here's my favorite N64 games with commentary. Not a huge list. Not the most favorite system I ever owned. But man, Goldeneye still holds up today.

Excitebike 64: An update to a classic that didn't suck. Plus you could race on the originally NES track (from a different perspective however). Fun!

Goldeneye: Forget Doom, Quake, and your Halos. This was THE game of games. Proximity mines in the bathroom with multiplayer- genius. Gold.

Mario Kart 64: People still argue with me that the SNES version was better. FEH! MK64 was where its at. Loved playing the vs. mode with my cousins after Goldeneye, of course.

Super Smash Brothers: Beating the sh%* out of Pokemon with your pals. Finally, our wishes are granted! Thanks Nintendo!!

StarFox 64: Packaged with the famous 'rumble pack'. You'd take a hit and feel the controller rumble in your hands. Amazing. The crew could now talk- including Slippy the Frog who I wished went back to beeps and garbles from the original. Stupid Frog. (I really should make a list of frogs I hate in videogames). The game handled great- twirling and boosting through a boxy world. Boss battles were a blast too. Gold.

And that's it for N64. Out of all the systems controllers though, I liked the N64 one the best. Looked goofy- played great. Hmm...sounds like the Wii....

Spider-Sense Tingling!

2006-12-30T13:54:00.000-08:00

Picked up two more Spideys for my Spider-man ML collection yesterday from the Spider-man Origins line...Iron Spider-man and Spider-man 2099. Not as 'super poseable' as the box claims, but they are just sitting on my shelf- as long as they can stand and look good, I'm happy.

(Left to right: Armored, Black Costume, Iron, Classic, 2099, Scarlet Spider, and Amazing Bag Man- a custom Mr. Fantastic)

The New Avengers! (minus Luke Cage and Ronin)

Video Game Lane: Atari

2006-12-30T11:43:00.000-08:00

The first video game system I ever owned, Atari was amazing. Looking back the graphics are no doubt horrific, but to a little kid of the 80's it didn't matter. I was playing games on tv. Below are my top favorites.... along with the box art which was a bit misleading. Most of the boxes didn't have screenshots either. When it came to buying a game you were out on a limb- "Please don't let this game be as bad as E.T." Stupid E.T.- yeah, I owned it.

Basketball: As mentioned above, I was playing games on a tv. Games I sucked at in real life. Simple and fun. Go Green!

Bowling: Who knew this would help my skills in WiiSports?

Boxing: The best boxing game I've ever played- next to Punch Out! on Nintendo. I don't why the boxers look like Olive Oyle from Popeye.

Breakout: Horizontal Rainbow Pong. It was always a challenge to get the ball stuck at the top racking up as most points as possible.

Circus Atari: Spring your second player into the air and pop balloons. Fantastic. Sometimes I miss catching him on purpose just to see him fall on his head with his legs dangling in the air. Ouch.

Combat: Battling a friend/sibling with tanks. Moved like real tanks too. The suspense of making it behind a barrier before the bullets hit....Gold.

Dodge 'em: The original Crazy Taxi! Sort of. Drive a spider-like car around a track over dots like Pac-Man while switching lanes over and over. Was surprisingly harder the further you got in the game.

Donkey Kong: Save your girlfriend from a damn dirty ape. Watch out for those chocolate chip cookies Mario!

Fishing Derby: What fishing should be in 'reel' life. Ha. Race a friend to catch the most fish while avoiding the hungry shark. Would make a great Wii Sports game.

Freeway: The Frogger knock off that was better than Frogger. I could actually win this game, and it was two player. Gold.

Joust: Ride your flying ostrich shooting and picking up eggs that turn into powerups. Then turn into something else. I can't remember. Fun to play and hear the flutter of the ostrich wings.

Jungle Hunt: What I thought was the sequel to Pitfall! was actually something else. The first game where the screens actually changed between levels. Swing through the trees. Swim with sharks, run and jump over tikki men all to rescue the damsel in distress. Gold.

Mario Brothers: I got this game towards the tail end of the Atari's amazing run. By this time I wanted something more than just a black screen with pixels. I had no idea that these two plumbers would bring video games into the future. Weird.

Maze Craze: The premise: A cop chasing a Gallager-like theif in a box factory. Umm..yeah. As you can see by the screenshot, it made you dizzy fast. The bright colors didn't help either. I loved running around aimlessly in the maze, but my eyes couldn't take it after awhile.

Minature Golf: Played similar to Combat and Breakout. Bank your ball off the corners to sink the putt. Quite the great game for being so simplistic.

Ms. Pac-Man: A true classic. My sister can still kick my butt at this game. Darn it.

Pitfall!: Another classic- despite the game never quite ending. I could never quite get past those alligator heads- so I'd just head downstairs until I hit a brick wall six screens in. D'oh!

Skiing: Living in Texas at the time, this was the closest to skiing I got. Was werid seeing an all white screen but handled great.

Space Invaders: The third and final classic. I'd always blow out one of shields to get to those pesky aliens.

And that's it for the Atari 2600. Thanks for starting the addiction. I blame the 80's.

Video Game Lane: Sega Dreamcast

2006-12-26T19:15:00.000-08:00

Here's a small grouping of games I liked for the Sega Dreamcast. I decided to make this list after visiting a site called videogamecritic.com. Great site for game reviews and nostalgia.

Crazy Taxi: The game that never ended, yet strangely enough, I kept coming back to. Drive around town picking up passengers and dropping them off as fast as you can to earn the most cash. Of course, traffic laws didn’t apply here- So you could smash and weave in and out of cars for kicks. Had various mini-games as well which were pretty good (especially learning how to properly fish-tail) Was lacking a two player mode to make this game perfect.

House of the Dead: You and a pal shoot up zombies advancing towards you. Some are slow- others wield axes. Made you jump like crazy and glad you had so much practice with games like Lethal Enforcers.

Jedi Power Battles: The controls sucked. Jumping was insanely difficult. Yet this game was great. Huh? A two-player side scrolling adventure in which you control Jedi. Jedi with light sabers and telekinesis. Slashing through an army of battle droids or slamming them into each other with the Force was a blast. But sadly, the controls ruined what could have been the best two player game on the Dreamcast.

Jet Grind Radio: Tagging (graffiti) while rollerblading was the odd concept behind this eye candy of a game. You play as various skaters tagging the city to mark your turf or tag over another rival gangs. The police would get involved too sending out swat-like cops, dogs, and even helicopters to try and stop you. The first of many cell-shaded games, Jet Grind Radio fit the style of urban street art perfectly. All but the controls of creating graffiti were smooth. (Arrows would indicate which way to spray, then change, and change again. This got to be aggravating later on with larger tags and a time limit.) Overall though, one of my favorite Dreamcast games- gold.

Marvel vs. Capcom 2: Wow. The best fighting game I’ve ever played. It combined my love of Capcom fighters with comic book characters. What more could you ask for? The best part was combining three characters together and unleashing a ridiculously high attack- like a 286 hit combo. It also featured characters from other Capcom games including Jill from Resident Evil, Darkstalkers, and a Lego man with a giant mallet. I think he was from a Mega Man game….

Powerstone 2: The best multiplayer game ever. Characters run around a fully interactive area using everything to knock out their opponents from simple boxes to gun turrets. Each character can also power-up into a giant monster of sorts to wreck havok. The stages changed as well- one minute you’re fighting on a ship in the sky- the next it’s blow apart and you’re falling to the ground punching and kicking all the way. My favorite was the Indiana Jones level where a giant boulder would come rushing towards you as you fight each other. Chaotic, addicting, and extremely fun. I want this game back!

Sonic Adventure: Dizzy, addicting and super fast. Sonic Adventure didn’t disappoint- except for the other character’s missions which didn’t feature the blinding speed I had grown accustomed to. Bigs the Cat- crap in a hat. I don’t care about your damn pet frog. Yet I had to play through it just to get back to the sonic levels. Running had never been so fun.

Sonic Adventure 2: The debut of Shadow the Hedgehog, who would later cripple the Sonic franchise. Thanks a lot. Anyway, this game was equally as good as SA, and didn’t have crappy character missions. Featured a neat two player race mode and more of that Sonic speed I love.

Spider-man: The first 3-D Spiderman game from the makers of Tony Hawk, narrated by Stan ‘the man’ Lee and a boatload of extras. Web slinging, wall crawling, even Spidey’s classic quips were all here. A great game for a great character. Bravo Spidey!

And that's it. Dreamcast didn't have that great of a shelf life. But, thanks to it's failure I can now play Sonic on my Nintendo Wii.