This lovely Monday has treated me with the knowledge that the new Kratos game, God Of War: Ascension will come with multiplayer. I suppose it was only a matter of time before a multiplayer component got tacked on to the series. I'm not sure how I feel about that, but I definitely understand the decision from a business standpoint.
The Avengers reported making $178 million dollars overseas up to this point. I still can't friggin wait.
Speaking of things I can't wait for, STARHAWK!!!
Monday, April 30, 2012
Friday, April 27, 2012
The Daily Bleven -- Battle Scars Edition
So, I just got done reading Marvel's Battle Scars miniseries, and I liked it for the most part.
***Spoilers Begin***
So, as it turns out, I was wrong when I said that Nick Fury didn't know about his son, Marcus Johnson. Nick did know about him, and he took steps to hide him and his mother. Also, before Fury "erased" his son and his baby-mama, he was legally named Nick Fury Jr.-- for real. And that's the name that Marcus is using now.
So, Marvel really does have a Sam Jackson-style Nick Fury in 616. How do I feel about that? Well, I'm not totally sure yet, but I did enjoy the miniseries. I suppose that like all forms of entertainment, comics have to evolve and change with the times. I remember spending a lot of energy hating Marvel for Spider-Man making a deal with the devil a few years back (that story line was called One More Day...look it up), but new readers will not care, and the industry really does need to focus on the new reader more than my old ass. I, and other thirtysomething comic readers like me, just need to remember that we need to look at these new stories with new eyes, and just take the entertainment as it comes.
That said, I still haven't read 616 Spider-Man since One More Day. Not because I'm being a grumpy old fanboy, but because Spider-Man had never been more interesting before Marvel pulled that crap, and I'm voting with my money.
***Spoilers Begin***
So, as it turns out, I was wrong when I said that Nick Fury didn't know about his son, Marcus Johnson. Nick did know about him, and he took steps to hide him and his mother. Also, before Fury "erased" his son and his baby-mama, he was legally named Nick Fury Jr.-- for real. And that's the name that Marcus is using now.
So, Marvel really does have a Sam Jackson-style Nick Fury in 616. How do I feel about that? Well, I'm not totally sure yet, but I did enjoy the miniseries. I suppose that like all forms of entertainment, comics have to evolve and change with the times. I remember spending a lot of energy hating Marvel for Spider-Man making a deal with the devil a few years back (that story line was called One More Day...look it up), but new readers will not care, and the industry really does need to focus on the new reader more than my old ass. I, and other thirtysomething comic readers like me, just need to remember that we need to look at these new stories with new eyes, and just take the entertainment as it comes.
That said, I still haven't read 616 Spider-Man since One More Day. Not because I'm being a grumpy old fanboy, but because Spider-Man had never been more interesting before Marvel pulled that crap, and I'm voting with my money.
The Daily Bleven -- April 27
If you Google "Zerg Rush" today, a bunch of Os will eat up your search results...unless you click them all to death first. Pretty cool.
Portal 2 will be receiving free DLC on the PC that will enable played created levels on May 8.
Yeah...slow news day for me today.
Portal 2 will be receiving free DLC on the PC that will enable played created levels on May 8.
Yeah...slow news day for me today.
Thursday, April 26, 2012
The Daily Bleven -- April 26
Registration for PAX Prime should be starting up next week. Get your tickets, and I'll see you there.
Phantasy Star Online 2 will apparently be F2P! But it's only being released in Japan, and even then, only on PC. So pretty much, Sega can blow me.
In related news, PSO2 will also be playable on PS Vita and smartphones in Japan as well. And Sega can continue to blow me.
The Avengers movie ticket pre-sales have apparently just topped all other previous Marvel movies COMBINED. I added two tickets to that tally yesterday -- you're welcome, Marvel. I wonder how the Dark Knight ticket pre-sales will compare.
Phantasy Star Online 2 will apparently be F2P! But it's only being released in Japan, and even then, only on PC. So pretty much, Sega can blow me.
In related news, PSO2 will also be playable on PS Vita and smartphones in Japan as well. And Sega can continue to blow me.
The Avengers movie ticket pre-sales have apparently just topped all other previous Marvel movies COMBINED. I added two tickets to that tally yesterday -- you're welcome, Marvel. I wonder how the Dark Knight ticket pre-sales will compare.
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
The Daily Bleven -- April 25; Includes Marvel Comic Spoilers
*****MARVEL COMIC SPOILER ALERT*****
USA Today, which has established itself as THE place for comic-spoiling news reports over the past few years, broke the story that Agent Coulson (from the Marvel movies) will be appearing in the comics. Also, there was a scoop about the son of Nick Fury in the 616 universe which deserves its own few paragraphs.
Bear with me as I briefly explain the history if Nick Fury from Marvel comics and movies. Back in the 1960s, Fury was created as a WWII hero who had taken something called the infinity formula which slowed his aging to a crawl. That's why he's still alive and active in current comics. He was later reinvented as a super spy in SHIELD. Some time down the line, he became the head of SHIELD. Also, he was a white guy. David Hasselhoff played him in a bad made for TV movie in the late 1990s.
Along comes 2001, and Marvel decides to launch the Ultimate Marvel Universe which will be completely separate from the mainstream Marvel Universe (commonly referred to as Marvel 616 for reasons I won't go into here). The idea was to restart well known characters in the 2000s rather than the 1960s. For example, Ultimate Peter Parker was a web designer rather than a news paper photographer. Anyway, one of the things that got changed in the Ultimate universe was that Nick Fury was now black, and looked a lot like Samuel L. Jackson. This (among other things) gave the Ultimate universe a bit more racial diversity, and the Sam Jackson Fury ended up being the choice for the movies.
Follow me so far? So, the Marvel movies are huge hits, and Marvel wants to capitalize on that in the 616 universe. It's been long established that 616 Fury has a few kids out of wedlock. At least three sons, in fact, with the latest one being a (half, obviously) black soldier named Marcus Johnson that Fury himself didn't even know existed. In the latest issue of the miniseries Battle Scars, Marcus loses an eye, and looks a lot like Samuel L. Jackson. And his main homie is going to be Agent Coulson. And he's probably going to change his name to Fury at some point in the near future. And the classic, white 616 Fury is still around. So, Marvel has successfully created a black Fury in the 616 universe to match their massively successful movies without killing off the classic white version (yet). And the fanboys completely lost their shit.
*****End of Marvel Comics spoilers*****
I just went to the comic store and bought the entire 6 issue Battle Scars series moments ago. Hopefully I'll have the time to read and review it between now and Friday.
USA Today, which has established itself as THE place for comic-spoiling news reports over the past few years, broke the story that Agent Coulson (from the Marvel movies) will be appearing in the comics. Also, there was a scoop about the son of Nick Fury in the 616 universe which deserves its own few paragraphs.
Bear with me as I briefly explain the history if Nick Fury from Marvel comics and movies. Back in the 1960s, Fury was created as a WWII hero who had taken something called the infinity formula which slowed his aging to a crawl. That's why he's still alive and active in current comics. He was later reinvented as a super spy in SHIELD. Some time down the line, he became the head of SHIELD. Also, he was a white guy. David Hasselhoff played him in a bad made for TV movie in the late 1990s.
Along comes 2001, and Marvel decides to launch the Ultimate Marvel Universe which will be completely separate from the mainstream Marvel Universe (commonly referred to as Marvel 616 for reasons I won't go into here). The idea was to restart well known characters in the 2000s rather than the 1960s. For example, Ultimate Peter Parker was a web designer rather than a news paper photographer. Anyway, one of the things that got changed in the Ultimate universe was that Nick Fury was now black, and looked a lot like Samuel L. Jackson. This (among other things) gave the Ultimate universe a bit more racial diversity, and the Sam Jackson Fury ended up being the choice for the movies.
Follow me so far? So, the Marvel movies are huge hits, and Marvel wants to capitalize on that in the 616 universe. It's been long established that 616 Fury has a few kids out of wedlock. At least three sons, in fact, with the latest one being a (half, obviously) black soldier named Marcus Johnson that Fury himself didn't even know existed. In the latest issue of the miniseries Battle Scars, Marcus loses an eye, and looks a lot like Samuel L. Jackson. And his main homie is going to be Agent Coulson. And he's probably going to change his name to Fury at some point in the near future. And the classic, white 616 Fury is still around. So, Marvel has successfully created a black Fury in the 616 universe to match their massively successful movies without killing off the classic white version (yet). And the fanboys completely lost their shit.
*****End of Marvel Comics spoilers*****
I just went to the comic store and bought the entire 6 issue Battle Scars series moments ago. Hopefully I'll have the time to read and review it between now and Friday.
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
The Daily Bleven --April 24
The PS Vita will be getting Skype video and voice calling later today along with the regularly scheduled PSN update. I don't think that's going to sell any systems for Sony, but I guess it's a nice feature for people who already have or plan to get a PS Vita.
I used to be a big reader of Top Cow comics back in the day, so when I found the Artifacts miniseries on sale, I jumped on it, because it was supposed to be a good jumping-on point for new or lapsed readers. Here's the deal: it is bad. The art isn't great, the writing is so-so, and the whole story is just a thinly veiled universe reboot. The worst part has to be the editing, though. The editor is supposed to look over a story, make sure it makes sense, and make sure it flows. Comics are a visual medium, and by all rights, you should be able to look at only the art, and get a decent idea of what's going on. Not nearly the case with Artifacts, because the artist makes nearly everyone look identical. I actually had to re-read pages once I realized that there were two separate characters talking. I don't know, maybe what came after Artifacts was great, but Artifacts itself was terrible.
A new G.I. Joe: Retaliation trailer hit the web today, and it still looks good, but there is little chance that I'll see it in a theater since the last movie stank so bad. Maybe some good reviews will change my mind.
There's apparently an 8th Avengers clip online, and I have no idea how that looks because I refuse to view it. I'm all for advertising a movie, but 8 clips and 5 trailers just spoil too much in my opinion. That said, I'll be first in line to see the actual movie.
Speaking of trailers and the Avengers, there will supposedly be a new Dark Knight Rises trailer playing in front of the Avengers. Seeing as how I've only seen one other trailer for the new Batman movie, I approve watching this new one.
Sin City: A Dame To Kill For has started filming. Awesome.
James Cameron and Google execs are backing a company called Planetary Resources located in Bellevue, Washington. This company plans to start mining FRIGGIN ASTEROIDS in as little as four years. Where do I sign up?
Sony released a new trailer for Sorcery today, and that game continues to look good. On May 22nd, it looks like I'll finally have a use for the peripheral that I bought a year ago. Speaking of which, since Move is required, I wonder if Sorcery will have a major impact on Moves sold. For Sony's sake, I hope so.
I used to be a big reader of Top Cow comics back in the day, so when I found the Artifacts miniseries on sale, I jumped on it, because it was supposed to be a good jumping-on point for new or lapsed readers. Here's the deal: it is bad. The art isn't great, the writing is so-so, and the whole story is just a thinly veiled universe reboot. The worst part has to be the editing, though. The editor is supposed to look over a story, make sure it makes sense, and make sure it flows. Comics are a visual medium, and by all rights, you should be able to look at only the art, and get a decent idea of what's going on. Not nearly the case with Artifacts, because the artist makes nearly everyone look identical. I actually had to re-read pages once I realized that there were two separate characters talking. I don't know, maybe what came after Artifacts was great, but Artifacts itself was terrible.
A new G.I. Joe: Retaliation trailer hit the web today, and it still looks good, but there is little chance that I'll see it in a theater since the last movie stank so bad. Maybe some good reviews will change my mind.
There's apparently an 8th Avengers clip online, and I have no idea how that looks because I refuse to view it. I'm all for advertising a movie, but 8 clips and 5 trailers just spoil too much in my opinion. That said, I'll be first in line to see the actual movie.
Speaking of trailers and the Avengers, there will supposedly be a new Dark Knight Rises trailer playing in front of the Avengers. Seeing as how I've only seen one other trailer for the new Batman movie, I approve watching this new one.
Sin City: A Dame To Kill For has started filming. Awesome.
James Cameron and Google execs are backing a company called Planetary Resources located in Bellevue, Washington. This company plans to start mining FRIGGIN ASTEROIDS in as little as four years. Where do I sign up?
Sony released a new trailer for Sorcery today, and that game continues to look good. On May 22nd, it looks like I'll finally have a use for the peripheral that I bought a year ago. Speaking of which, since Move is required, I wonder if Sorcery will have a major impact on Moves sold. For Sony's sake, I hope so.
Monday, April 23, 2012
The Daily Bleven -- April 23
What the crap? I go on vacation for one lousy week, and they decide to announce a new God Of War game that very week? I'd better go read up on God Of War: Ascension...
The chairman of Walt Disney Studios resigned just before the release of The Avengers, and just after the failure of John Carter. Damn the critics, I liked John Carter.
In other news, an angry 4 year old in Saudi Arabia shot and killed his father because he came home without buying the boy a PlayStation. No way they can blame this one on violent video games, because the kid doesn't have any games. Of course, the news will never report that the lack of games causes violence. Levity aside, my heart goes out to this family.
Batman: Arkham City will be getting a Harley Quinn DLC mission next week on the PSN and XBL. Harley Quinn's Revenge is supposed to take place after the events of the main game. Seeing how Arkham City ended, I can understand that she'd want a little payback.
The chairman of Walt Disney Studios resigned just before the release of The Avengers, and just after the failure of John Carter. Damn the critics, I liked John Carter.
In other news, an angry 4 year old in Saudi Arabia shot and killed his father because he came home without buying the boy a PlayStation. No way they can blame this one on violent video games, because the kid doesn't have any games. Of course, the news will never report that the lack of games causes violence. Levity aside, my heart goes out to this family.
Batman: Arkham City will be getting a Harley Quinn DLC mission next week on the PSN and XBL. Harley Quinn's Revenge is supposed to take place after the events of the main game. Seeing how Arkham City ended, I can understand that she'd want a little payback.
Friday, April 13, 2012
The Daily Bleven -- April 13
The PS Vita sales in Japan continue to nosedive. So much so, that the PSP outsold it in March (PSP moved 14k units, and Vita only moved 8k). A price cut can't be far away, but will they also cut the prices of the games? And will that inevitable price drop be enough to get me to buy one?
Sin City: A Dame To Kill For (the movie) has finally been officially announced. The first Sin City movie was awesome, so this is welcome news to me.
A new job listing from Valve looking for hardware designers and engineers is fanning the flames of speculation on a possible Steam console. I think it's more likely that this is just R&D for something waaaay in the future, but what if it's for an add-on to the next generation of consoles (specifically, PS Orbis and MS Durango)?
I finally preordered Starhawk. Hells yeah.
There is another Avengers clip online that I COMPLETELY REFUSE TO VIEW.
Sin City: A Dame To Kill For (the movie) has finally been officially announced. The first Sin City movie was awesome, so this is welcome news to me.
A new job listing from Valve looking for hardware designers and engineers is fanning the flames of speculation on a possible Steam console. I think it's more likely that this is just R&D for something waaaay in the future, but what if it's for an add-on to the next generation of consoles (specifically, PS Orbis and MS Durango)?
I finally preordered Starhawk. Hells yeah.
There is another Avengers clip online that I COMPLETELY REFUSE TO VIEW.
Thursday, April 12, 2012
The Daily Bleven -- April 12
Sony confirmed that it's cutting 10,000 jobs! That's a lot of friggin jobs -- that's bigger than many entire companies. Kris D said that Kaz is breaking things down...I just hope he has a plan to build things back up. And, to those who are losing their jobs, I'm really sorry, and I wish you the best of luck.
Skyrim will soon have voice controls via Kinect. Why don't more games have voice controls? Didn't Sony prove the concept back in 2002 with SOCOM? How awesome would it be to build and battle in Starhawk with voice commands? Then again, the voice controls for Tom Clancy's End War sucked hard...
For their 25 year anniversary celebration, Fox is going to re-air the Married...With Children pilot. Man, I love me some Al Bundy. Hell, I think I just may BE Al Bundy.
Director Marc Webb (surely, there is a pun intended) plans to unfold the origin of Spider-Man over a few movies. Also, there will be no wrestling match for Spidey to win, get gypped of his winnings, and no robber for him to let get away to kill Uncle Ben. Sounds like in addition to decompressing the Spidey origin like Bendis did in the Ultimate Spider-Man comic, Webb (seriously?) is screwing with some of the origin itself. Not sure how I feel about that, but I'll revisit this after I see the movie.
Skyrim will soon have voice controls via Kinect. Why don't more games have voice controls? Didn't Sony prove the concept back in 2002 with SOCOM? How awesome would it be to build and battle in Starhawk with voice commands? Then again, the voice controls for Tom Clancy's End War sucked hard...
For their 25 year anniversary celebration, Fox is going to re-air the Married...With Children pilot. Man, I love me some Al Bundy. Hell, I think I just may BE Al Bundy.
Director Marc Webb (surely, there is a pun intended) plans to unfold the origin of Spider-Man over a few movies. Also, there will be no wrestling match for Spidey to win, get gypped of his winnings, and no robber for him to let get away to kill Uncle Ben. Sounds like in addition to decompressing the Spidey origin like Bendis did in the Ultimate Spider-Man comic, Webb (seriously?) is screwing with some of the origin itself. Not sure how I feel about that, but I'll revisit this after I see the movie.
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
The Daily Bleven - April 11
Apparently, Nathan Drake (of the Uncharted series) kills a lot of people, and everyone in the game press seems to bring that up as a bad thing. Listen, everyone Drake kills had it coming. These are people who have tried to kill him and his friends, but failed and had to pay the price. You know who else kills a lot of people? Master Chief (of Halo fame). That friggin guy ends entire civilizations, and no one seems to mind.
I think it's time to dust off my PlayStation Move so I can get it in order to play Sorcery. Makes me wonder why I even bought a Move before Sorcery came out. Buying a peripheral on the mere promise of there being a game in the future makes me a jackass.
Dammit! More Avengers clips to avoid!!!
I think it's time to dust off my PlayStation Move so I can get it in order to play Sorcery. Makes me wonder why I even bought a Move before Sorcery came out. Buying a peripheral on the mere promise of there being a game in the future makes me a jackass.
Dammit! More Avengers clips to avoid!!!
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
The Daily Bleven - April 10
Just a peek into the stuff I was looking at when I should have been working:
Apparently, you can get some free Starhawk dlc if you watch the latest trailer on Facebook. Since I like free stuff, I'll give it a look later. Speaking of Starhawk dlc, there is also free dlc to be had if you preorder the game from GameStop. Then again, buying stuff from GameStop costs you a little bit of your soul, so the dlc isn't really free.
Marvel will be launching a new Gambit series in August. Get them while they're hot, because this new book won't last a year. I liked Gambit back in the day, but I just don't have much hope for this book.
Another friggin clip for the Avengers movie is out. I really need to stop watching these damned things before I ruin the whole movie for myself.
The PlayStation Store updated really early today. Maybe that will shut up the complainers out east...
A trailer that all of the so-called "hardcore Resident Evil fans" leaked today. Apparently, it looks too shootery to them. I'll admit that it does look pretty damned shootery, but I don't know if it looks TOO shootery.
Apparently, you can get some free Starhawk dlc if you watch the latest trailer on Facebook. Since I like free stuff, I'll give it a look later. Speaking of Starhawk dlc, there is also free dlc to be had if you preorder the game from GameStop. Then again, buying stuff from GameStop costs you a little bit of your soul, so the dlc isn't really free.
Marvel will be launching a new Gambit series in August. Get them while they're hot, because this new book won't last a year. I liked Gambit back in the day, but I just don't have much hope for this book.
Another friggin clip for the Avengers movie is out. I really need to stop watching these damned things before I ruin the whole movie for myself.
The PlayStation Store updated really early today. Maybe that will shut up the complainers out east...
A trailer that all of the so-called "hardcore Resident Evil fans" leaked today. Apparently, it looks too shootery to them. I'll admit that it does look pretty damned shootery, but I don't know if it looks TOO shootery.
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