The Daily Bleven -- May 23

So now that Starhawk has launched, I'm free to turn my pre-launch obsession to Lego Batman 2 and The Last Of Us.

I spoke briefly about Lego Batman 2 yesterday, but I just saw yet another trailer today. Apparently, this thing is going to be open-world, and that means me and the kids will likely spend even more hours uncovering secret items in every nook and cranie. Really looking forward to that.

As for The Last Of Us, I also saw a new trailer, and it has me scared for the protagonists already. The world they inhabit is effed up big time, and that should make for an awesome game. Naughty Dog appears to have another hit on their hands, and I can't wait to see how it turns out.

I am a huge fan of the Avatar series (Airbender, not the blue people) -- and I'm talking about the cartoon, not the terrible live action movie. I just got all caught up on The Legend Of Korra, and I have concluded that it's off to a pretty slow start. It's hard to remember if Airbender started off this slowly, but I'm far from giving up hope on Korra. There seem to be a lot of plot points lining up, and I'm sure the viewers will be in for some surprises, and more than a few familiar (if much older) faces.

The Daily Bleven -- May 22

Sony has finally released the Move-centric game Sorcery. The promise of this game is what originally made me by the PS Move...and now that it's out, I have to say that I'm not feeling the need to rush out and buy it. I hate to say this, but I'm going to have to wait for a fee reviews to roll in before I put out any cash. Remember, consumer loyalty is for suckers.

Marvel has released the first trailer for their MMO, and it looks like it should be free to play. Good thing it is.

On the other side of the battle, DC (and WB) are showing off more of their Lego Batman 2 title, and it looks awesome. Geez, these Lego games have come a long way.

Speaking of Marvel and DC, there is a lot of gay news to talk about. Marvel revealed that Northstar (a man) will be getting married to his boyfriend. DC revealed that a "major, iconic" character would be coming out of the closet. Wow. Sounds like a grab at controversy rather than a grab at attracting new readers. Have gay readers been bombarding the editorial offices asking for this? What about more Native American, Asian, Indian, or Latin heroes? As a black man, I've definitely been asking for more blacks; but i guess I'll have to make do with Luke Cage, Black Lightning, and Storm.

The Daily Bleven - Staypuft Edition: 5/22

So it is true - we are grown ass men. It is true that we are also slackers I suppose - not that anyone has ever accused of that to our faces ;)

So here it is - The Daily Bleven 5/22- Staypuft Edition:

I am not like everyone else - I suppose that I have always known this fact - but it is especially stark in contrast in a few key decisions I have made relating to video games. 

Batman: Arkham -

The first was around the Batman Arkham series of games. I simply dont like them; the mechanics are clunky to me and the idea of running away from mobs trying to get them to forget I was there as a gameplay turn-on turns me off completely. I know that people love those games and I know that they are critically acclaimed but they are trash to me. Utter garbage - the running joke with SmittyD is that I keep the copy of Arkham City I bought (just to be sure that the problem wasn't isolated to the first game) simply so that I can disrespect it as a ritual. I wont ever trade it in because that would be me putting it to productive use. I will keep it, and neglect it...

Diablo 3 -

I do not love this game. I do not love anything about it. I suppose that I do not specifically feel venomous hatred toward any particular aspect of it either. However I do find it lacking; popping loot pinata's (Thanks Tycho for the useful metaphor) just is not really that exciting. It really could be simply that the Auction House has ruined it. The fun part of that game (I suppose) has to do with character development but since I dont think any of the mechanics are particularly engaging it comes down to loot. There is no loot in the game worth a damn to be honest. All your loot really comes from the Auction house. So the gameplay becomes super grindy as you are trying to build up a large enough pool of gold to be able to buy the next useful upgrade for your needs. The wife and I have found in the game-world literally 2-3 pieces of loot (between us) that we have equipped. None of it particularly better than what was affordable on the AH at the time we equipped it but at least we did not have to leave the game to go check...

What's worse for me is the idea of the game being "harder" which really means increasing the likely hood that you are going to die from NIL to something closer to FREQUENTLY just makes me think how unappetizing it is to introduce any sort of delay or trouble into the game. It is annoying enough that I have to port back to town to empty my bags but having to go back to town because I was dead and pay some of this gold I am trying to grind to fix the stuff I am wearing seems double unappetizing.

I got Diablo3 included with my WoW annual pass and I have to say that my basic plan for the next week is to be sure I get the valor points, LFRs, and DS10's I need to keep my toons current. If I come up with some spare time I may play Diablo3 a little bit...

The Daily Bleven -- May 10

The comic Kick-Ass has a spin off coming out starring the supporting character Hit-Girl, titled...Hit-Girl. As a fan of the two Kick-Ass runs, I'm really looking forward to seeing what Millar and Romita are going to do with Mindy in her solo debut.

Speaking of Kick-Ass, the movie version is getting a sequel. I wasn't a huge fan of the first movie, but I would give it a solid 3/5 if asked. Do I think it's worthy of a sequel? Not really...

I really need to pick up the Valiant comics now that they've restarted. X-O Manowar, Harbinger, and Bloodshot are already out there, and now Archer & Armstrong are on the way. Maybe I'll make a trip to the store today.

The Nintendo DSi will be $100 starting later this month, which makes me want to buy a few spare units for the kids.

Diablo 3 is due to come out at some point soon, and it makes me sad that I'm not a PC gamer. If they brought is to console, I'd jump on in a second. I might even buy another year of XBL if it was exclusive to the XBOX. That said, it's probably better this way--I have Starhawk taking up my gaming time.

Speaking of Diablo 3, it also became the most pre-ordered PC game in Amazon history. Good for Blizzard, I guess. Like they need any encouragement from the likes of me...

The Daily Bleven -- Starhawk Launch Day Edition

This just in, all Starhawk DLC map packs will be totally free in order to prevent fracturing within the community.

I'm other news, I'm about to start playing right now.

The Daily Bleven -- May 7

The Avengers is projected to clear $200 million in the North American box office for its opening weekend. For those keeping score, that smashes the record set by the final Harry Potter movie. In related news, every day makes it harder for me to not post Avengers spoilers. I've already seen it twice, and I don't think a third viewing is out of the realm of possibilities.

Is anyone else surprised that there wasn't a terrible video game tie-in to the Avengers?

Marvel's Thunderbolts comic will be renamed Dark Avengers with issue 175. It will combine the Thunderbolts and the Dark Avengers teams, and launch into a new direction. Also of note is that the art looks really, really bad.

Tomorrow is international Starhawk day! Celebrate by buying the game, and then skipping work to play it!

I just saw the first dev diary for Sorcery, and I have to say that I like the way it's coming along. Also, it's apparently only going to be $40 at launch (May 22). If I wasn't already going to get it, I think this would push me over the edge.

The Daily Bleven -- May 3

I saw The Avengers last night, and it was friggin sweet. It was action packed, heartbreaking at one point, and really funny throughout. I won't spoil anything here, but know that there are 2 post-credit scenes, and they're both well worth your time. The Avengers was an ambitious project that really paid off, and I can only hope that this becomes the standard for how superhero movies are handled going forward. I'm going to see it again tomorrow, and I can't wait.

Elder Scrolls Online is coming at some point next year, and no one should be surprised if it's completely broken. It'll be available for PC and Mac, so chances are good that I won't care.

Geez...another slow news day for me.

The Daily Bleven -- May 2

I just saw a video preview for a game called The Unfinished Swan on the PlayStation Blog, and I'm very interested to see more. From what was shown, you start out with a blank white canvas of a world, and you fling blobs of black paint around to reveal the things around you ultimately trying to catch a swan. Seems like a nice relaxing game.

I also just saw the trailer for Call Of Duty: Black Ops 2. I won't lie, the last CoD game I played was CoD3, and I honestly don't feel like I missed out on much with the million other CoDs that came out since then. However, I do like the near-futuristic setting that the trailer for Black Ops 2 is presenting. That said, if it just has a 4 hour campaign, I'll probably skip this one, too.

The Daily Bleven -- May 1

I just watched the new trailer for Dark Knight Rises, and I have to admit that I liked the hell out of it. It immediately made me wonder who would win the box office race between it and the Avengers. But, truthfully, which ever one wins, we all win as the viewing audience. The big loser will be Warner Brothers, because they'll be tasked with finding a director to replace Nolan for future Batman movies. Good luck with that. That said, I really hope that the inclusion of Catwoman doesn't screw up the movie.

The time is upon us, and I'll be going to see a special preview of the Avengers tomorrow night. With that finally out of the way, I'll be able to focus all of my desire on Starhawk.

Due to the overwhelmingly positive response to the Hulk in the aforementioned Avengers movie, there is talk that there may be another solo Hulk movie in the works. To tell the truth, I kind of hope not. Let's just let the Hulk be an awesome part of something bigger, rather than the main attraction. At least, that's how I feel before seeing the Avengers.

A new trailer was released for Metal Gear Rising, and I don't know what to think. Kotaku said it looked like a bad acid trip, but I think it's even worse. Wait and see, I guess.

Speaking of Kotaku, they've reported that Dead Or Alive 5 will feature see through shirts. I remember my first time playing the first DOA, and turning the boob jiggle all the way up; the fact that this was even an option was amazing. In short, it was hilarious and awesome. Good to see (I guess) that Team Ninja is still spending so much time taking care of the digital boobies. Or maybe it's creepy...I can't seem to decide.

Skyrim's Dawnguard dlc will be coming out this summer. Looks like I'll have even more fun when I finally break down and buy Skyrim.

In Starhawk news, beta testers will be getting a cosmetic perk in the form of a glowing gold hand. Also, beta testers who were also Warhawk players will get the Warhawk paint set for vehicles which is exactly what it sounds like. Dylan Jobe has stated that these items will never be re-released or sold, so this is a one time good deal. No word yet on how these gifts will be distributed. Needless to say, this is pretty cool.