Please share your thoughts on who think is safe and who is a goner!

https://youtu.be/O9J-9lHgD0c

Phil tries out a new segment or new take on an old show and gives us a taste of what might be the Return of The Issues Program. We would love to know what you think and if Phil should do more of these?

You start the game as the new Vice President of the planet and almost immediately as you starting your time in office you start building your team of interesting characters. You encounter these interesting folks around the subtly designed world from your Mom to a homeless guy dressed like superhero on the street. Now the Vp does not fight himself instead he is like a Pokemon Trainer barking orderers.

Those different people you encounter is where the game is truly memorable. Some of the abilities and skills the folks you pick up have are extremely funny and keep the game always feeling new and adds an interesting layer to usual RPG stereotype characters.

The combat is very familiar if you have played turned based RPGs before. Not reinventing the wheel or anything but the game combat does what it’s supposed to do and is very simple to navigate.

The enemies you run into range from easy to difficult well as you become more powerful and the game is always a good challenge with never being frustrating. It’s a great balance but as you become better and really learn how to use the characters together it becomes even more fun to tear through enemies.

Personalty, I really enjoy these type of games and it has elements of Pokemon, Earthbound, Fantasy Star, Shinning Force, and Fire emblem to name a few. And that is some really great company. I truly enjoy gathering characters together to create a team. I love replaying these RPG games for years to come and Citizens Of Earth is on I will be playing through for a while.

8 out 10
Very fun and engaging for people who love the genra. But if turn bases RPGs are not your thing this may not be for you.

It’s a hard time of year to be fan of the World of Ice and Fire. We are still months off the new season of the HBO series and who knows when “Winds of Winter” will be released. But fret not this holiday season there is a perfect gift for any fan of the show or book series and that is The World of Ice & Fire: The Untold History of Westeros and the Game of Thrones available now for around $30.00 hard cover and $20.00 for Kindle on Amazon (And many other places).

This book is brought by the one and only George R.R. Martin with addition input and touches by the pair that run the excellent Westeros.org website Linda Antonsson and Elio Garcia. This book fills in the gaps of past events acting as a book for the events of the History of Westeros leading up to the age of Roberts rebellion. It is set and fits in the world like a gift written as a prize/gift for King Robert to lean about the past of the world.

The most impressive and enjoyable aspects of this 400 page book is the artist renditions of the places and things around the World of Ice and Fire. George R.R. Martin worked directly with the artists to depict visual receptions that fit his imagination of what these things look like not just duplicate versions of what we see on the show.

George R.R. Martin has said this is the starting point but when his book series is complete he may want to revisit a project like this and get even more into detail. They needed to leave some stuff out to not spoil the end of the book and TV series. But there is a ton here and it is very densely written and expands of some things I always wanted to know and for any hungry fan of the world of Westeros this will fill a major need. This book is an excellent gift for fans of the series and a great conversational book to have on the table and flip though for just the images. The World of Ice & Fire: The Untold History is a welcome addition to the whole series and fits in very well with all the entry’s of the World of Fire and Ice. Treat yourself or for the perfect gift for fans of the series this holiday season and pick up The World of Ice & Fire: The Untold History of Westeros and the Game of Thrones

The World of Ice & Fire: The Untold History of Westeros and the Game of Thrones
$29.98 for Hardcover
$19.99 for Kindle

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LMoIKB3PrcQ

More PCX coverage to come!

This Memorial Day weekend I will be headed out to the Shriners Auditorium in Wilmington MA as part of the press covering Gary Sohmers Pop Culture Expo for the IssuesProgram.com. I can only imagine that the sites sounds and aromas will flood memories into my conscious like the canals that flood Bravos. It will bring me straight back to my childhood. Just thinking about going already has started to trigger those feelings.

I can remember the Delicious Smell of hot dogs and popcorn wafting through the whole auditorium throughout the entire day. Even after scarfing down enough of the food from the concession stand to put down the largest of men on thanksgiving, this slightly large 10 year old little boy still had enough energy to walk the isles and stands for hours on end, browsing the endless booths of antique toys, Countless boxes comic books, tables fully laden with cases of baseball and football hero’s.

I remember this was where I saw my first Fangoria Magazine an issue with The Creature from the Black Lagoon on the cover seemingly staring back at me with his black eyes. My Dad and brothers scattered through the building no doubt just as lost in the awe of their own childhood memories or future fantasies. I remember my dad with his set of cards “Cars from the Future” that he had kept since he was a kid and how he was promised flying cars by the year 2000. One brother thumbing through his full set of Star Trek cards packed nicely in his 3*9 binder and the other reading his new Boris the bear comic while sitting in the bleachers completely shutting out the buzz of all the fans dancing around the tables of celebrity and sport icons from throughout the past few decades.

This year Gary Sohmers has Brought with him to the Shriners Auditorium in Wilmington MA the Pop Culture Expo an All Star line up of celebrities for pictures and autographs and events that are too numerous to list here but of course you should check out the full line up for yourself. You are almost guaranteed to find a person or two you are a super fan of and one or two didn’t even know you were a fan of. To me there is no better way to spend a weekend than to go out and meet some of the people that have entertained me for so many years. In attendance will range from Pete Best (the Beatles) to Kristian Nairn and Esme Bianco (Hodor and Roz on Game of Thrones) to Ernie Hudson and Ecto1 (Ghost Busters). If Movies Music and HBO not your thing come to check out voice actors Billy West (Futurama, Ren and Stimpy), Rachel Robison (Final Fantasy) and Tom Wayland (Pokemon, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles). Still not fully sold on coming to the event yet? I know my dad wasn’t but once I mentioned to him that Mark Goodard (Lost In Space) and John Provost (Lassie) where going to be there, that was all he needed to be in. I think he was just playing hard to get but was actually super psyched that I invited him to come to the show for the day and I know that he is thinking about all those trips out to the Shriners Auditorium when me and my brothers where just kids.

The Guest stars are just the beginning of the attractions there will also be vendors and activities to fill your day with plenty of entertainment and a concessions stand to keep you fed I hope you will join me and the IssuesProgram.com this Memorial day weekend at the Shriners Auditorium in Wilmington MA for PCX 2014. Please keep checking back with the issuesprogram.com for our continuing coverage leading up to and through this event.

Talk a bit about the foundation of Pop culture, How do you define its origins?

In my opinion, Pop Culture began with Mark Twain and PT Barnum … both became incredibly popular with the public as entertainment … anything that is cultural and popular could qualify as Pop Culture … so many facets that it is now all-encompassing.

What prompted you to create an amazing event like Pop culture expo?

Having produced hundreds of events over the past 409 years, the time was right to merge all the fun aspects of Pop Culture into an event that fans and families would enjoy, where you could meet a diverse selection of celebrities and spend a day being totally entertained.

What are some of challenges you have faced along the way creating this event?

The Fan Convention marketplace has become dominated by corporate events like out of town traveling events that care little about the fan and the way too numerous overly crowded hotel shows, so the challenge has been creating something different that includes technology to ease long waits in lines and a large enough venue so that everyone is comfortable … we have succeeded with both of our goals.

How has the role of pop culture evolved over time in our society and the global society?

The Internet is a grandchild and evolutionary being of Pop Culture … everything on the Internet can become popular and the comedy and tragedy, the good, the bad and the ugly, all have a chance to make a permanent impact on the world and the future … creating pop culture appears to now be as important as appreciating it.

As a kid what are some of the first shows, books, films, music/radio, etc that really moved you?

I am from the first TV generation and have seen black and white merge into color, witnessed the acceptance of records, cassettes, 8 tracks, CDs, DVDs, downloads and streaming as a progression based on demand from the market I was a part of … and took the time during the past 5 decades to study, immerse and prosper from my love of Pop Culture … I am a Disney geek and a Dr. Seuss Nerd … I am a walking cartoon and know the values of 100,000 useless objects.

Working on the Antique roadshow must be an interesting experience could you talk a bit about how you got involved with it and some of the more interesting things you have found while doing the show?

I appeared for 13 seasons as an appraiser of Collectibles, Toys and Pop Culture on the program and had fun meeting people and sharing my knowledge with the viewing public … some of my favorite appearances are constantly in repeats including the Frank Zappa Oil Painting, Beatles Butcher Cover,, star Wars action figures, Hot Wheels, and the collection of original Peanuts art by Charles Schulz.

What are a few things you personally look forward to the most at the PCX?

I will be hosting the Voice Actors Script Read and hope that everyone comes out to see/hear the greatest voices in an amazing presentation. I also look forward to seeing the impact the NAO Robot has on solving problems for children with learning disabilities in the future .. this robot is very important to me, the show and to families with Autistic children.

The Pop Culture Expo May 24-25 at the Shriners Auditorium in Wilmington, MA
Buy Tickets Here

The songs have the feel and heart of the original tunes while being presented and orchestrated much different. The String Arcade consists of 15 songs from games like Portal 2, Ecco the Dolphin, Monkey Island 2,and Minecraft to name a few. The tracks that stood out in particular were Altered Beast, Galaga, Scabb, Sonic and (of course) Legend of Zelda. Those particular songs just lent themselves really well to the medium but the whole albums works exceptionally well at what it sets out to do expose sting quartets to a new audience.

(Photo Credit: Barret J Butterfield)

The String Arcade was funded from Kickstarter donations and has musicians from both the East and West Coast The high musicianship and direction of this project is very evident when listening to the album. There also seems to be a great love for the music being performed and this comes though really well on the record. If someone were to listen to The String Arcade with no knowledge of the video game world they could still appreciate the complexity and talent on this record.

It is also worth mentioning that all album proceeds will be donated to the Alameda Music Project. So, it’s great music for a good cause. The project strives to get more kids to play instruments and maybe hear a string quartet for the very first time.

The String Arcade will be released on February 11 and can be Pre-ordered on ITunes here for $7.99. There is also a limited edition CD that can be Pre-ordered here for $9.99 that also included two bonus tracks.

I highly recommend The String Arcade for any fans of video game music, or just fans of string quartets. It’s also a great way for parents to get their kids into a different style of music with some very familiar songs.

What McDonald/Poss and the West coast musicians with Boston-based Videri String Quartet showed is they have a great love for the source material. They did this while succeeding in creating something new and very exciting.

(Photo Credit: Lorrie Murray)

The String Arcade
Simply Awesome!
10 of 10

Check out the a free track of Plants vs. Zombies available here.

Gemini Rue from Wadjet Eye Games is an old schol-style point-and-click adventure game originally being released in 2011 but the graphic quality, tone and the feel is in the style of 90’s Adventure games. In 2013 a Mac version was released and that’s the one I had the opportunity to play.

Styling of the game has a very post-apocalyptic Syfi feel. A bit like the world in the Super Mario Brothers Movie. I guess I could’ve said Blade Runner thats more accurate but a bit on the nose and I never want to avoid an opportunity to mention the Classic Mario Brothers live-action movie. Anyway, the game looks great in its style and doesn’t try to be anything that it’s not. Gemini Rue really gives you a sense of nostalgia similar to games like Mega-Man 9, Double Dragon Neon, Retro City Rampage and A Link Between Two Worlds.

The gameplay adds some interesting new kinds of elements to the old formula. Like a duck and cover system, that works really well to add some action to the adventure. But the majority of the gameplay is still interacting with objects, people and solving puzzles. What you would expect. The system works perfectly and everything functions easy.

Sometimes you need to repeat situations a few times until you figure out the right course of action but this is what makes these kind of games fun. An enjoyment of the world and a love for the subtlety around you needs to be evident to truly appreciate the greatness. If you’re used to point-and-click games you can jump right into Gemini Rue like a old pair of shoes. It doesn’t quite revolutionize the genre instead excels in bringing you the best quality of the old-school type of game.

The story is what makes the game unique. It follows two plot lines. Eventually the game lets you switch back and forth between depending on which story you would like to play. One of the characters is an ex-assassin turned cop. His story line is the standard “investigating the bad guys” type story line. The other one is a little bit Total Recall like. You are a guy in a testing facility with amnesia that needs to solve the clues around him to figure out a way to break out and remember what he forgot.

Joshua Nuernberger did an excellent job creating a very interesting story that is dark, extremely multilayered and has a really fun conclusion. The game is also completely voice acted. It’s all very well done although maybe a little inconsistent in performance and quality. Even with these inconsistencies in voice acting the script is very very fun and makes you want to rush to finish the game to see what will happen.

Gemini Rue is a blast to the past. If you are fan of the Sierra or the LucasArts point-and-click adventure games this is essentially a must play. The game is nearly perfect in its design. It looks and plays exceptionally and connects to that nostalgic feeling of my childhood playing these types of games for the first time. I hope it can do the same for new gamers today.

Gemini Rue
Wadjet Eye Games
9.5 out of 10

So here are a few of my favorite things in Super Mario 3D World:

Meow:

The catsuit is my favorite Mario power-up perhaps ever. When picking it up you get the ability to climb up walls and you get a scratch attack. This allows you to tackle each level in a completely unique way than you have before. Being able to climb around lets you approach the completing of the level uniquely. This created an appreciation on how dense each each level is in Mario World 3D.

I feel like this power-up was perhaps created to allow players to have the antigravity/climbing on walls feel of the Galaxy games without having to have a game set in space. This necessity ended up equaling a lot of fun for the player. My hope is this is not just a one-shot Mario Item for the this game it should be carried over to future games as well.

Working multiplayer:

New for the the “New” Super Mario Brothers Wii and also included in “New” Super Mario Brothers Wii U was an attempt to implement multiplayer. I say attempt because usually it was just a mess with one player leading the way while everyone else died a lot and arguing ensued.

Super Mario 3D World 3-D environment really allows multiplayer to feel more natural and everyone can feel like part of the game. The game feels fun as hell single player or multiplayer it becomes even better. Also certain aspects were added to the game with the Crown mode and other competitive options to create more of a rivalry between players. This is the first Mario game that I would highly suggest playing multiplayer.

The Characters from Super Mario Bros 2 (USA):

I have a fond memory of when Super Mario Bros 2 came out and loving the fact that I can switch between the four characters. This feature is something that has been absent from every Main Mario since. But finally in Super Mario 3D World they bring back this option back. This really opens up gameplay even know the abilities are not quite as pronounced as in Mario 2.. There are also certain areas you need to use certain characters whitch does add a great deal of replayability to each level. Also in multiplayer this is great as each each of your characters have different talents so you need to work together to get the stars quickly and finish the level the best.

Subtlety:

Super Mario 3D World is jam-packed with references to Mario history not to mention a few other references to other Nintendo Franchises. Little things as well like when you run really fast a smoke cloud comes up behind you can create some immersion. You can also jump in Koopa shells and when you’re underwater you can see your character holding their breath. All these nice little touches add more of a sense of ownership of the world. If this is what Nintendo can do when right now in their first attempts into high-definition video games I can’t wait to see what they do next.

Shooters really are not my thing. Well since the Contra Series. The biggest reason why I don’t enjoy the genre is because of simple lack of skill. I’m not someone that likes to do things outside my comfort zone when I constantly fail. Yeah I’m a bit of a coward and only like to do things that I show a natural ability at. Years of playing Sports, RPG’s, Platforms, Fighting, and side scrolling shooters have allowed me to enhance the natural skills I have for these kind of games. That all being said when being lucky enough to have an opportunity to review Spec Ops: The Line, recently released for the Mac on Steam, I was a bit intimidated. My fear was that this would just be another standard shooter with a story I would not connect to, no depth and I would be bumbling around like I usually do these type of games. Although I still fell into some of the same traps that I often fall into I found the storyline and the character elements to be very unique and a refreshing ride.

The game is a standard Shooter type game, as its name gives away, set in the city of Dubai. The city had been ravaged from a sandstorm. With the city cut off from the rest of the world for six months the U.S. Army decides to send in a group of soldiers to figure out what’s going on. It is your goal to help with the evacuation and deal with all the people who couldn’t escape. As your character enters the game we start to connect all the dots on how the society in Dubai dealt with the natural disaster.

The games ending is different depending on decisions you make along the way. Without spoiling anything there is no happy ending. The overall theme of the game is the desolation and the horrors of war. It isn’t just a shoot everybody and everything continues to be happy-go-lucky sort of thing. There is a real sense of weight to all the actions. Your character is not a good guy. He goes into some situations and makes very questionable decisions. It is this sense of morality that keeps the player thinking when most shooter games like this are all about blowing things up and getting to the next check point.The storyline was intense and something you have to experience yourself to truly grasp.

Now to the difficult part for myself. What I didn’t enjoy about the game was the action of actually playing. The game works just fine and is not broken in any way. I just do not enjoy playing any type of game on a computer with a mouse and keyboard. I would personally like to check out this game on the Consoles or pick up a USB controller so I could get out of my head a bit. I just do not have the hours logged in to Computer gaming to feel comfortable without being fully aware of my control scheme. That’s even with my 2 year WOW problem.

Spec Ops: The Line is a solid fun working third person shooter game with a lot of duck and covers fighting as you get in most of the games of this ilk. We also get lots of different weapons and it seems like your NPC friends are not the biggest dumb asses in the world. That is pretty different in games like this.

Overall the gameplay is standard with nothing special. I mean there are some elements of the game that seem kind of counterproductive to the story and just for “shooter” reasons. Like all the random enemies you face off when you’ve heard about most of society being wiped out or moved away because the sandstorm. But that will only mess with your mind if you’re an over thinking role-playing game type person like me. That did not take away from the fun aspects of play. If you enjoy shooter games you will enjoy the gameplay and will feel very comfortable jumping right in playing. There’s just nothing special here to match the intensity and uniqueness of the storyline. I guess with just such a special story it made me want more of that intensity in the gameplay.

The story was very unique but it’s somewhat short taking around 15 hrs to complete. I did play through the end of the game twice and in both endings I saw leave you with a cold feeling of all the horrors of the situation. Spec Ops: The Line is something that stuck with me after playing and carried into watching some movies and television shows of the next few days.

From beginning to end Spec Ops: The Line emotionally grabbed my attention. While the gameplay is not my cup of tea it definitely works and is not broken. The storyline is just so progressive and emotional that I wish there was more weight to the gameplay. The music and voice acting is all very high quality. Some of the music does get a bit repetitive in the action scenes but nothing too bad.

Spec Ops: The Line for the Mac on Steam is definitely worth picking up especially is your are a fan of shooters or war stories. Also Star Trek fans out there this is for you. The themes in this game felt very similar to the Deep Space 9 episode The Siege of AR69. We see the real outcomes and the real truths of the of how combat can leave one with a bad taste in your mouth. I look forward to more stories from this team of writers and game developers 2k put together in the future. There is a market for true storytelling in an overdone genre.

8 out of 10
Play this game!

I remember when Pac-Man was the most important video game character in the world. In reality, I was always a bit more of a fan of Ms. Pac-Man, the game, because it had more levels and an actual storyline. No doubt though Pac-Man was the man. He had his own cartoon, pinball games, toys and several titles of video games that used the Pac-Man family. My personal favorite was Super Pac-Man with the magic power pellet that turned you into a giant Super Pac-Man the covered most of the screen and destroyed everything in your path.

As I mentioned there was a TV show that I was a fan of at the time. It was the standard 80’s format television cartoon that pit the villains (the ghosts) versus the good guys (Pac-Man and his family). A similar setup as G.I. Joe, WWF and many others.

Sorry for the sidebar but this is relevant because I guess there is a new animated show about Pac-Man for kids that I have never seen or heard of before. And this game Pac-Man and The Ghostly Adventures is based on the show. This was unknown to me when picking up this title. I imagined this being some standard mini game collection with a lot of Pac-Man oriented party games. What I found was a platforming game thats gameplay is surprisingly deep for a licensed title. There are clever and interesting ways to maneuver your way through Pac-Man’s world. The game at times can feel a little bit easy and maybe a bit rushed but it’s a fun title at a good price point of $40.

Pac-Man and The Ghostly Adventures is a platforming game in a 3-D environment in the same vein as Mario 64. Pac-Man wanders around each level interacting with many of the characters from the television show and jumping from platform to platform eating ghosts and pretty much anything else he can find. By doing this he finds a myriad of power-ups along the way. These power-ups are really fun. One example is an ice ability that allows you to freeze ghosts or other elements like water fountains to kill things within the world and complete the levels. There is also a main hub where you can unlock mini video games that feel very arcade like. While in the hub you can also walk around and talk to a bunch of the characters I assume from the show.

The game is a fun action platform game with one of my favorite video game mascots in history but it does have some problems. Jumping is a huge problem being very unforgiving. It almost feels like a Nintendo 64 game sometimes. This game feels a bit rushed like it needed some more time in testing. Perhaps it was rushed to capitalize on the success of cartoon and needing be on a time schedule. But I think they could’ve had something really special here if they had spent a little bit more time polishing and tweaking to make the “platforming” as fun as eating stuff.

Pac-Man and The Ghostly Adventures is a decent game that for $40 price point and is worth picking up at some point. Especially after the rush of Nintendo Wii U games come out there will most certainly be a price cut. The game can surprise you with how fun it can be at times but the jumping can be very frustrating and the boss fights don’t offer a lot of depth. I don’t see myself ever going back to replay this title but it does have some charm on the first run though. Perhaps I’ll check out the cartoon and if they spend a little bit more time perfecting what they got here they may have a decent grounds for a sequel.

Pac-Man in the ghostly adventures

6 out of 10

It seems that a lot of people are complaining that the Wii U doesn’t have any games. Mention to anybody that you have the system and they make a comment similar to, “How does it feel to not be playing any games?” or “How does it feel to be on this gaming generations equivalent of the Titanic?”

Being a card-carrying member of the Nintendo fan club I can’t even deny that the launch window thing was a silly idea and the game lineup so far has been pretty sad. One of the games that I hoped that came out right at launch was Platinum Games The Wonderful 101. This was the perfect type of title that should of launched with the system. A game built from the ground up to show off what the U-pad can do and to explore the power and capability of the system.

For a point of reference The Wonderful 101 was created by Hideki Kamiya, the same guy who made Okami and Platinum Games is responsible for Bayonetta, MadWorld and Infinite Space to name a few. The Wonderful 101 is a completely different kind of game then anything they have done in the past. The Player controls up to 100 superheroes at the same time using attacks, abilities and changing all of your heroes into many different shapes/weapons. (Using an ability called Morphing) This can cause massive damage or unique effects depending on the enemies you’re facing.

So in a sense it has a kind of a Voltron meets Pikmin feel to it. The basic story of the game is the heroes you control are protecting the world from an alien invasion and throughout the game you unlock other superheroes to switch in your team and learn how to do different morphing abilities.

The story of 101 is a silly but strangely deep tale and there are some interesting aspects and twists to it along the way. The game is very funny and had me smiling and laughing throughout playing. It’s the type of game I couldn’t wait to unlock more aspects of the story and actually sat through all the cut scenes without trying to skip them. In fact I would actually watch a cartoon based on The Wonderful 101 if it was ever made.

The game looks very beautiful being very colorful and offers a great example of the capability graphically of the Wii U when developers are not lazy and know what they are doing. The player has a great deal of control on how they view their superhero team. Personally, I like to zoom in as much as possible so I can get a really good look on all the characters. When you zoom in you see how much detail goes into each of the superheroes and enemies. Just a great deal of time and love went into the making of this game. Coupled with Pikmin 3 the power of the Wii U is perfectly shown off in these titles. This game has more of a cartoon city feel to Pikmin’s nature look, but both are excellent at balancing all the action that is going on screen with the many moving interactive parts.

The Wonderful 101 moves at an epic pace and never actually slows down. The game just keeps pushing and pushing being extremely intense the whole time. The game may be a bit confusing for a pickup and player type and they may not understand exactly what’s going on. I could see how one could become frustrated with the game. There is a steep learning curve to master 101.

As I mentioned a few times the game does have a little bit of similarity to the way that Pikmin plays but at its core it’s a lot different. It’s more of an action game apposed to Pikmins focusing on more puzzles. The most important part is the games combat feels very satisfying and really good to beat the crap out of anyone/thing that stands in your way.

Using the morphs can be difficult at first but once you get whats going on it’s really easy. You can either draw the particular shape on the pad with a stylus or you can find the proper way of using your right analog stick to create whichever weapon you want. Now don’t worry too much about how well you draw the shapes the game is very forgiving in that aspect. The more heroes you gather the larger the weapon you draw will be. But the player does not have to morph all the team. While some of heroes are used to create a giant shape others can do individual tasks. There is a lot of multitasking in this game and if you can figure it out and get all the gears going at once it can be a thing of beauty. But as I mention this can be overwhelming for people just picking up and playing the game that are not familiar with games like this since well… Lemings. You have to think about this from the standpoint of 100 characters not thinking about it from one.

Is also has a fair share of puzzle solving not just action. The puzzles are implemented by using the different morph abilities or special abilities to get your way through the challenge. Some examples are needing to build a bridge or pile all 100 heroes in a booth to be transported somewhere else.

Every world thats gets unlocked offers some sort of unique challenge. There is one world where the game play shifts and turns into a more of a rail shooter type mini game. There is also another aspect when you go inside a building and you can no longer see on the television and you can only play the game on the pad. This expansion of normal play just shows off what a great gaming company can do with the Wii-U when they try. If Platinum, Ubisoft, Sega and more can make great games then all the smack about difficulty working within the medium just seem like straight laziness. Platinum has made a beautiful game using all aspects of the system and is 2nd (Pikmin 3) of the many games that will come out within the next calendar year to show off all what the pad and system can do. I hope more people get an opportunity to play this game when more Wii U’s sell.

Also it’s worth mentioning that each world has a giant boss and the fights are incredibly fun. This all culminates in one of my favorite final battles with a boss ever!

The Wonderful 101 story is about 15 hours not the longest game in the world but it does allow you to go back and redo the levels for higher scores, to unlock different characters, different abilities and find secret paths to finish the levels. The game also has a challenge mode which you or up to five players can take on some challenges and kick some butt. I have not tried it yet as I have been occupied in the story mode but this seems like a great addition to add to the replay value of the game

This is a game that I truly wanted as a launch title for the Wii U. Platinum Games has done an excellent job with the hardware and crafted a game that is not only fun but unique to the aspects of the Wii U. In an age where everyone quick to jump off and on bandwagons like The red car in “Who framed Roger Rabbit” it seems that my patience for sticking by the Big N has finally starting to pay off. The Wonderful 101 is the first in line of many games that will be coming out soon that will be bringing a surge to the Wii U. Maybe not to the commercial success that some of their haters claim is the only important thing. But for anyone that stuck around or new adopters get ready for some of the best games that come out this generation. Platinum thank you for The Wonderful 101 and can’t wait for Bayonetta 2!

The Wonderful 101
9.5 out of 10
A MUST play for Wii U Owners!

It may seem late to be reviewing a game from last year but it’s for free with Xbox Live Gold. Having purchased Gold this month to play GTA V with my friends online I decided to download Magic 2013. I was a big fan of Magic years ago playing the live card game. How does this game size up to the feel of playing the original card game.

When taking a board or card game and porting it over to a video game the first thing I need to overcome is the controls. How one maneuvers their way through the game is of the utmost importance. This was my biggest obstacle in picking up and playing Magic 2013. It isn’t that I do not know how to play Magic or I forget some of the terms (which either is easy enough to pick up with the game’s excellent tutorial system) it’s that I didn’t quite understand what buttons do what. There is a timing and pausing that goes into completing moves. The biggest issue I was having is with casting instantaneous spells to do during my opponents turn. For whatever reason took me a long time to figure out the timing. I also had difficulty learning how to properly zoom in and look at the other people’s cards and keep up with that was going on. It just took a while to think about the game of Magic as a whole rather than worrying about about my environment and moves.

But once getting over that I found the game itself a very excellent representation of what it feels like to play the game Magic. The online system works very well too. You can matchup in free-for-all’s, 2v2 team or the game has a another feature which is very unique called Planechase. Players roll a die and then draw a card that sits in the middle of the board that causes some universal effects to everybody to create chaos or help certain depending on the situation.

There’s also a campaign mode where you can play through a different a bunch of different stages and encounters which can be difficult challenges with opponents with unique abilities, or you face off against opponents who’s decks you can unlock when defeating them. Also whenever you win a battle whether it be online or against a computer opponent you will unlock a card for whatever deck you’re playing with.

My biggest problem with the game is you can’t start a deck from scratch even when all the decks are unlocked. You can just manage the cards in self-made decks but not decide how many lands. This is okay for pickup and play but for long term play and to have a feel of ownership over a deck this is not an optimal process. Part of what made Magic so wonderfully fun was having your own built deck. The game does even the playing field because in some cases in Magic play the people who paid the most have the best deck. It just would of be great if with the decks that you unlocked in game they would give the option to create custom decks. That option would make the game a great deal better. This is something I hope they add to future titles.

Magic 2013 is not a true representation of what is like to play Magic live but for people that can’t get their hands on decks, find people to play with or it has been so long since you played this might be a good title to pick up. It’s the perfect mild sedative to keep your hunger going until you finally get off your butt and get to the store to buy a deck of cards.

Magic 2013
7 of 10

Before starting this review it’s safe to say I’m a huge Ninja Turtles fan. As a kid I watched the cartoons, collected the toys, and was a big fan of the movies, at-least the first two. The video games were always something that were very special to me as well. My friends and I would go to the arcade and pump lots of quarters into the machines and we played Ninja Turtles arcade games for hours.

When the Ninja Turtles arcade game came to the home consoles it did not translate quite as well. No 4 player action and limited move set made the NES version of the game just not quite as good. We also had that other Ninja Turtles video game for the NES which I will not go into. It is safe to say the consoles Turtle games have been lacking. There are some exception like Turtles in Time for SNES and the Tournament Fighter and that Smash Bros. clone wasn’t wasn’t too bad but lacked a good roster.

So when I heard about Out of the Shadows I was very excited for what looked like the first quality Ninja Turtles game in a long time. I also recently became a big fan of the new series on Nickelodeon. Check of my review about the first part of Season 1 on the website here. But how did this game live up to my expectations?

The combat mechanics of the game are somewhat similar to that of Batman Arkham City but in some ways quite different. Each turtle fights very uniquely and it is important to level up your turtles to get the true feel of the way the game works. Red Fly should of made a Splinter tutorial mode instead of April to show you what a fully powered ninja could do I feel the way to game starts off with the underpowered Turtles could put a lot of people off that would not want to dive deeper into the game.

But once you power up your Turtles and work on the combination of using multiple brothers at once you can juggle opponents while switching off and truly feel in control of this game.

The game is set up in a linear style with 4 chapters to replay. There isn’t much exploring and you travel along the straight and narrow and follow the storyline. There’s a lot of combat to be had but I would like a little bit more exploration as jumping from the rooftops is so much fun I would like to do it in a more open world environment.

The game offers some other features as well like Arcade mode that similar to the old arcade games which some old school fans may enjoy better because than the main game. There is also a challenge mode which truly excels in the replay value of this game where you can just have endless amounts of opponents coming at you and fight as one turtle over and over again improving you score. It’s very fun and the mode I keep going back to when I pick up and play.

The music and the voice acting are spot on. I just wish there was more of it. The game starts out with the song from the first Turtles movie TMNT Power and the whole song can be listened to when watching the credits. That brings up an obvious love for the Turtles history from Red Fly. They stick in a ton of references to Turtles history . It’s this love that carries this title through some of its rough edges and makes it a must play for any hard-core Ninja Turtles fan.

The game is not without faults and there are many. As I mentioned earlier the game starts off slow with the abilities that your Turtle has and that can be overwhelming. You also may feel you are moving slow especially for using Raphael or Donatello.
The game is also very glitchy. You will fall through buildings, random oponnants will get stuck in the air, dialogue will start out when it shouldn’t. These things and definitely become annoying sometimes. This is not a pick up and play sort of game you need to put in some time. I think this is part of the reason that so many reviewers are giving it a low score because they didn’t play enough of the game to get the upgraded and enjoy the best aspects of the game.

There is also an online multiplayer where you can play with random people or your friends and complete the story the story mode over and over again and unlock new abilities. The game is very packed full of content for the price point. Red Fly did an extremely great job of packing so many references and love for the TMNT name. This game serves as a great demo or starting point for a major company to fund Red Fly to make a new game for the next generation systems. I feel if they keep going in the direction that they’re going this franchise could be the best beat them up style adventure game out there in the market.

7 out of 10

Not perfect and tough for pickup and play but a lot of hidden gems in this cheap title to keep you wanting to play more. All ninja Turtles fans should play this game.

Introduction
As a child of the 80s/90s and a huge fan of the original 1989 version of the game, I was thrilled to hear that a remastered version of DuckTales would be released for download on the Wii U, Playstation 3 (as well as a retail version for Playstation 3), Steam and Xbox 360 (available 9/11/13).

I myself, being a NES diehard fan and preferring Nintendo products to all other gaming systems out there, downloaded the game to my Wii U console the second the game was released. In fact, I had an alarm programmed to go off at 5 minutes before release, so I could be the first person to download the game… actually, just kidding I didn’t really do that, but it shows how truly excited I was for the release. Though, I will admit I was a tad worried with all the remakes out there that my childhood memories would be tainted by the absolute destruction of the game, but as the title screen played the beloved theme song that has rung over and over again in my head for 20+ years, my fears about the game began to subside. So without further ado, I have put together some thoughts about the game discussing a variety of categories, starting with what was the most striking difference to me at least, the graphics.

Graphics
While the original game was one of the best NES platform games of all time (the best in my opinion, next to Mega Man, which coincidentally was from the same creator: Capcom). The 8-bit graphics were classic and, honestly, while I was playing the game in the early 90s, I thought they were kick-ass! However, when I turned on DuckTales Remastered after the download was complete, I was astounded at what I saw. I was a huge fan of the DuckTales TV show and it was as if I was playing inside of a cartoon, jam packed with dry, sarcastic jokes and crisp and gorgeous imagery. The game features several different graphic techniques, including 2D hand-drawn character sprites and 3D modeled levels. The characters and levels are colorful and extremely detailed; giving you the impression that Disney (artists Mike Peraza and Rick Evans) really made the effort to bring the game to life in ways they never could with 8-bit graphics.

Voice Acting
A new feature to the game that really made you feel as if you were completely immersed in a cartoon, were the voice-overs. Original TV series cast members lent their voices for the characters, including a 93-year old Alan Young, as Scrooge McDuck. This element was a great addition to the remastered version, which also brought about a very detailed storyline to help clarify the levels, such as explaining how Scrooge McDuck can breathe Mars. I don’t know about you, but I always thought it was strange that he didn’t need an oxygen tank!

Storyline
In comparing the original to the remastered versions, an obvious difference between the two games is the storyline. There really was no clear cut story in the original. You needed to use your imagination a bit more. While we knew the point of the game and understood the characters, we really didn’t know why we were going to the Himalayas or heading into space. The new storylines explain some of the motives and reasoning behind each level.

Some other reviewers have complained about the storyline and mostly about the cut-scenes, as being too frequent during gameplay. Though I agree to a certain extent, because there are a TON of cut-scenes and they occur within the gameplay, I believe that the cut-scenes really added to the story and, for the first-time player and nostalgic 80s child gamer gave a greater connection to the characters. By the time you reach to the final boss, you really feel like you’ve been on an adventure; one that again is reminiscent of watching an actual DuckTales episode.

Since the gameplay, which we will discuss shortly, is difficult (even on normal), you will find yourself repeating levels from the beginning quite often, so the cut-scenes do get old, quickly. For the first time through the game, though, I enjoyed every minute of every cut-scene as if I was right there with the characters. You are able to avoid the cut-scenes by hitting the (+) button on your controller and selecting (A) and while it is somewhat disruptive to the game, it does impact playability. It is more of an annoyance and it would have been great if there was an option on the main menu to skip all cut-scenes. Maybe this is something that can be upgraded through a patch, but don’t hold out for it. It is certainly not a game purchasing deal-breaker.

Music
It is hard to not get giddy when talking about the soundtrack. Quite frankly it is one of the best soundtracks ever written for a game, but then again it always was, even with the original. The composer, Jake Kaufman, essentially took the original tracks and morphed them into full orchestral masterpieces. The game allows players to toggle between the new amped up soundtrack and the original 8-bit soundtrack, after clearing the game once. It also includes an option to hear 8-bit renditions of the newly rendered compositions.

Controls
The game controls are essentially the same as the original. The minute I started the game it was like riding a bike. The only difference was it was actually easier to maneuver the cane as a pogo stick. At first, I kept pushing down and (Y) and was annoyed at the fact that the pogo stick was not deploying well. I quickly learned that you simply needed to push (Y) or (A) to make the pogo stick work! Though, there is the option on the pause menu to toggle to the “hard pogo” which means it is down + (Y) or (A), just like the original game controls. The pogo still has its flaws as it still sometimes glitches and doesn’t deploy when you push the button, but this adds to the difficulty of the game. The cane can also be used on the ground to swing and break open certain objects. This feature is especially fun on the Transylvania board when you break the ball and chain holding the mummy ducks down. The mummy duck spins around so his bandages fall off and he is completely naked, TE HEHE!

Gameplay/Difficulty
Just like the original game, there are no checkpoints, so as soon as you run out of your lives it’s back to the main menu! If you grew up with 8-bit games, like Mega Man and DuckTales, you know how frustrating it can be to have to start from scratch every time you run out of lives. It’s a challenge, but I believe that is what makes a game fun and exciting. It also increases the games value, in my opinion, because if I’m going to spend a lot of money I don’t want it to take me a few hours to beat, I want to be frustrated, I want to throw my controller at the screen and yell profanities every 10 seconds because I keep having to start over!

A major upgrade to the game, however, was the difficulty level of the bosses. While the original levels were difficult to navigate and get through at first, once you arrived at the boss it was relatively simple to defeat them as their moves were very one-dimensional. Now, the bosses all have more than one attack element and come at you much harder with more obstacles to avoid. For example, in the African Mines, the King mole not only rolls in a ball in circles around you, but other moles bounce around in a stampede and enormous boulders crash down on you!

Another addition to the game is collecting items that are strewn around the maps before you can proceed to the boss. I like this element as it lengthens the overall time it takes to beat each level. It also provides more opportunity to search all nooks and crannies in the levels to find hidden treasures. The only part I did not think was necessary was the MAP on the pause menu. I want to explore and I don’t feel that the levels layouts are that complicated. It’s not like we’re playing Mario and have to beat Boo Castle where each door leads to another secret place that then leads you to another secret place and you can’t get back to the place you just were without circling the entire board again! So, to me the map seemed rather unnecessary.

Lastly, I just want to say how flippin’ fantastic it is to be able to go into your money vault and dive into the loot and swim around, just like the cartoon! This was always a fantasy of mine every time I watched the show on TV. In the original game this feature was not available, so it is certainly a welcomed addition and added to the replay ability of the game.

Replay ability
Replay ability-wise, once you’ve beaten the game you can go back and challenge yourself through the Hard and Extreme modes. Also, there are extra features where you can unlock character art, sketches, music etc. using the money you earned during the game. While there are only a few levels and bosses to beat, the levels are challenging and it will take some time to get through the game. As an excellent platform game player, it took me a week, sitting down for 2 hours a day of playtime, to beat it. Any novice/intermediate player should get quite a bit of time out of the game. Even if you beat the game in 4 hours you can still go back and replay again and again. It is that much fun! I honestly still sometimes play the original game on my emulator, just for a challenge.

Conclusion
Overall, this game fulfilled all of my hopes and dreams. As a huge fan of the original I was worried at first that the remastered version would destroy the memories of my youth; however, it was the complete opposite. The game revived my love for DuckTales and by adding new elements and features, and updating graphics and music composition, the game surpassed all of my expectations.

My only gripes are that it would have been cool if you could use different characters or weapons. The extras you can purchase through money made during the game had a lot of potential, but they only offered collectables that do not add any value to the gameplay. I also felt as though this game should have been limited to the Wii U system. This was a Nintendo game and given the lack of success the Wii U has had up to this point, it would have been a great ploy to get more people to buy the system. I assume that Capcom, Disney and Wayforward Games wanted more widespread availability to sell more games and Nintendo had no say in distribution, but it is just my thought that it should have been exclusive to Nintendo console (or DS as well).

The original DuckTales was a commercial success, with the NES and Game Boy versions selling approximately 1.67 million and 1.43 million copies worldwide respectively, each becoming Capcom’s highest-selling titles for their respective platforms. It is safe to say that DuckTales Remastered will be a huge success with old-school fans and new-age gamers alike. I would rate the game 9/10 and not a 10/10 due to some control glitches as well as the inability to play the game without the cut-scenes. It is difficult to find the perfect 10/10 game, but this one is right up there at the top of the list to buy for 2013!

We talk some Nintendo stuff and touch base about the Superman-Batman movie. We are joined by Gadi for a few and also John C Riley jumps on to cohost the 2nd half of the show. As always lots of issues and silliness. Check out The Issues Program Episode 21 : Say Hello To My Little Friend

-We get up bright and early for some early morning issues

-Get back to 64% after last weeks crap

-A special Message from GW Bush

– And as always lots of rants and silly news

All this and More on this weeks show The Issues Program Episode 18 : The Morning Ritual

-Gadi co-hosts the show this week

-We Talk about 4th of July and My Ear Issues

-What to do if you get invited to an event you do want to go to

-How Nintendo Haters are going to eat their words

-And lots silly news, issues and more!

Check out this weeks show: The Issues Program Episode 16: The Homemade Q-Tip

First off, I’m kind of a new fan of the Saints Row series, as third game was the first one I played. Of course soon after that I was hooked.

Like everyone who has played Saints Row I was just a Grand Theft Auto fan who usually ran around not doing the missions. I found them boring, so I wound up messing around more, doing bizarre things to get attention. Once I got my hands on the open world of the Saints with their dildo swords, nut shots, tiger escort missions, and PROFESSOR GENKI I finally found an outlet that fit my disturbed private personality.

Why am I repeating what you already know since you are a fan like me? Simple: because Saints Row IV took that warp-speed craziness and went up one notch to plaid!

I love the way Deep Silver and Volition throws curve balls. The start of the game literally slapped me in the freaking face, and made me laugh my fucking ass off. THAT’S THE WAY YOU SHOULD KICK OFF A GAME! In Saint Row IV our fearless leader becomes the leader of the free world, whose presidency reminds me of President Camacho’s success with less electrolytes. First you’re deciding whether to eliminate hunger and go to a party with Josh Birk, then suddenly BAM! Aliens attack!

That’s when it’s time to fight and kick ass for ‘Merica! After shooting down aliens you’re suddenly turned into some Leave It To Beaver square eating pancakes with a funny walk. In a blink of an eye you sort of become Neo from The Matrix! Sound bizarre? Yessir!

Saints Row IV’s gameplay has something that had me hooked the moment I started it. (To be honest I was 2 hours late to a 3rd of July party because I was too busy living it up as a Saint.) The fun factor alone makes this one of my favorite games so far for 2013, regardless of how super clean it looked. Character animations are very smooth and the game runs at 60 frames per second but it’s not ground breaking. If you’re a fanboy for graphics versus gameplay, then this game is not for you.

Its gameplay value is definitely a strong factor once you get past the Leave It To Beaver stage and you get your superpowers (yes, superpowers). The Saints’ humor is what we have all learned to love, and I cannot wait for the full version to come out on August 20th on PC, Xbox 360, and Playstation 3. On top of this being an A+ game the DLC content that comes with an awesome pre-order called Commander in Chief which includes the ‘Merica gun, Uncle Same outfit, and Screaming Eagle jet. These extras are just icing on the cake that is called Saints Row IV.

Written By John C. Riley

Night one:
We got to the hotel early. Checked in and headed to food court to socialize. My first impression of the experience was that the people were even nicer than I thought they would be. I expected some good folks, but there was an incredible amount of positive energy coming from the people I would interact with on Thursday evening as the hype was building for the the event to start. Staying up late on Night One was enviable as I made myself part of this universe interacting with people. So as 4:30 am became a reality, the hype in my eyes started building and I tried hard to close them. I must be up early for full day of work and more enjoyment of the festivities.

First Day of Event:
Woke up early and immediately got to work with King Baby Duck getting “man on the street” interviews from people as we walked over to the Opening Ceremony. Each person we talked to were very nice about what they could offer us and what they could not. Just a good vibe in general. We offered two questions for random people and a few more for the industry folks.

Then we headed into the Opening Ceremony. We entered the room and sat down and I hate to say it but this was pretty useless. Most of the folks being introduced as guests were not even there. And this carried over to our first interview as well. I didn’t see the point of the Opening Ceremony and the process of people being trotted out on stage for a second to get a taste of what we will be seeing in full effect later. It seems to me some of the people who did wake up didn’t even want to be there, well except Tom Wayland. He put a bit more time and effort to his introduction by creating a very funny home movie.

So heading up to the first interview, as I mentioned before was sadly cancelled. So KBD and I headed into the Marketplace to see what cool things there were to buy while we wait for the Stephanie Sheh interview. Overwhelmed is the best way to describe the feeling of this room. So many toys, costumes, games and more in the gigantic two room display. I would go back to Anime Boston just visit the Marketplace again.

We then went to see Stephanie Sheh and she loved Voltron which alone made my day. But she was very nice and talked to us for a while about acting, directing and her process. She even agreed to speak with us after for a few minutes.

Then we headed back towards hotel to meet up with the 3rd man in our team Mr. John C Riley. We proceeded to head back upstairs to the press room to head into what would be my highlight of all the interviews our sit down with Tom Wayland.

The minute Tom came into the room you could just tell this was going to be an extremely unique experience. He was open and candid with us.You can watch it here.
In fact his handler said after the interview that we had some of the best and most varied questions for him all weekend.

Then the late night fun started and we all went our separate ways for a bit. JCR and King when to see some Music Videos. After they were done we all recorded an amazing podcast you can listen to here. And I bumped into Tom again by the pool area and talked his ear off for a while more.

After this long day and lack of sleep I ate some O’s and drank some beer and cuddled up in bed waiting for the next days fun!

Day 2:

This was by far the craziest work day of all. From early in the day to later in the evening The Dream Team from TIP, JDS and B3 worked hard to get interviews, attend pressers and just in general kick some ass. I got to be the instigator. Basically going up to strangers and asking them for interviews. It was good change up from working camera the day before. In fact, part of the fun was when asking people to be interviewed and they obviously wondered what this is this interview going to be like? And would it be on the level? But once King Baby Duck started talking about Anime you could just see the fan in the persons heart warms right up. Evan knows his stuff and it’s a definite asset when talking to both fans and industry people. We did face a few deer in headlights but for the most part got some serious gold!

One of the standouts of this day was Kari Wahlgren she was so warm and made the event very funny and even talked a bit of sports. We just had a great group of other reporters and broadcasters in the room and it was an excellent vibe. She also connected with King about his love for her work (she even asked him to make her a mix CD), JCR with Dr. Who and with myself about sports. We all just made a good impression and the event was so fun King Baby Duck put it out on the B3crew.com page as a podcast. Check it out here. But she was nice enough to record a promo for the Issues Program and may even guest on a future show on B3 or TIP. Kari was amazing.

We all recharged a bit leading up our interview with Nabeshin . Ok, this guy is pure joy. I hope his first time to Boston was as memorable for him as it was for all of us in the room. Even not being full familiar with all of his work this was the person I felt the most star struck by. He just has that “IT” factor and this interview is right up there with Tom Wayland and Kari for most entertaining pressers. I also was getting as much joy from watching his translators face when he would say something insane and she would have to translate. Evan got to got an awesome picture, JCR got to have Nabeshin touch his beard hair and he and I had an epic “we both have crazy hair moment”. I hope to have a chance to meet him again this was very exciting. KBD did an excellent job transcribing the presser and you can view it here.

We had one more press thing left with Raj Ramayya & ORIGA and this was interesting as we were the only press members there. This had happened earlier with Tom Wayland but that was intentional. But with this situation some other press members had just not shown up so we got these two all to ourselves. And it was also a very unique time. King got in all his questions and then I asked a couple as well. The best part was after KBD last question about what 3 albums one would bring to a desert island. This sparked an excellent side conversation in the room after the interview was when i felt Raj really warmed up to us and we all just talked as music fans. I even got in an offer to play drums for him. I will be waiting for my call. (781-990-8509 ) You can check out that interview here.

This was the last piece of official work for the evening and for the event. I then tried to get into the Zelda panel but it was packed. So instead went to a video game room and did some Smash Bros. commentary and some playing. Let’s just say I did better at the commentary than the playing.

JCR and I also took some time to shoot an independent film. We then met back up with KBD and some more friends while waiting in line for Hentai Dubbing. Now that line was maybe the biggest of the entire Con spanned many hallways. I waiting in line and then decided at the last minute to head to the Concert instead, unrealistically hoping I would be called on stage to play some drums.

That obviously did not happen but I was still feeling perform-y so I want to a high traffic place and played some music and actually made a little money from busking. I turned that loot around for some food. Its great making cash like that for your own dinner! WIN!
I didn’t want to go to bed as this night was my last evening in this fun world. But around 5am I finally did.

Day 3:
This day was different than the rest. No it was not Passover. But it was a half day. There was no work to do and we all needed to find our ways home. Although, we did get a few more “man on the street” interviews and talked to a few more great folks. I guess the thing that occurred to me on Sunday was something that all the voice actors and industry people were saying about Anime being in trouble because of too many folks illegally downloading it. This never occurred to me that a niche industry would be so negatively affected by the streaming- torrent world we live in. In fact a similar thing has happens with Season 4 of Arrested Development. In that case, $7 for one month of Netfliks one can watch everything and even record for future enjoyment. But instead people are choosing to use torrents to save that big $7. Anime faces the same issues. So if you love it please buy it! This worlds is amazing with a lot of great folks doing a lot of good things. So if fans don’t fund the things they love the creators will not have the time or resources to continue to make such this form of entertainment. Please take care of the people that have been taking care of you for years!

It was nice being a guest in these people’s house learning about something I was ignorant to in the past. But after a weekend of being immersed I have a far greater appreciation for the vibes, people and art. I really did love it and I will be back doing Anime Boston again!

The Maw

This game is incredibly unique and probably my favorite of the whole bundle. Twisted Pixel’s The Maw is one of the most unique games I have ever played. It’s a 3D platformer with lots of puzzles. In the game, you feed a little creature and as it eats it gets bigger and gains different talents. While playing, the thought of Yoshi or Kirby would pop up, even though the game feels nothing like either of those franchises. The similarity comes from the whimsical feel and sense of humor of the game. Not to mention having an alien creature eat things and gain abilities definitely reminds one of those titles. The game is fun and looks great. The only issue is it keeps you wanting more! Hopefully in the future we get a sequel, because the gameplay was very addictive! Twisted Pixel, please make a Maw 2!

Splosion Man

Splosion Man is an insane game, in all the best possible ways. You play as Splosion Man and an experiment went wrong, so you explode constantly. You are like the guy from Heroes that almost blew up the city mixed with Willy E. Coyote. The game is your escape from the lab, where you have to explode yourself in some of the most interesting platforming levels one could imagine. The game is hilarious, from the reactions of the scientists running from you, to the ridiculous sound when your character runs around destroying everything he touches. Splosion Man is basically a 2D platformer with over 50 levels and believe me when I tell you, this game gets hard. You can also play this game multiplayer with two to four players teaming up to tackle fun platforming puzzles. There doesn’t seem to be much to say wrong about this game. It is truly successful in what it is trying to achieve. It’s funny, challenging and a great party game.

Ms. Spolsion Man

Ms. Splosion Man is to Splosion Man like Mrs. Pacman is to Pacman. An expansion on the great idea of the first game. This time Ms. Splosion Man, the main character, is a crazy valley girl that has you cracking up right from the main menu. The levels look crisper and more diverse than the original game. It is even more fun to play and, not to spoil anything, the final boss is worth the price of the whole bundle.

Comic Jumper

Comic Jumper is a bit different that the rest. There is a bunch of dialog, but oh is it hilarious! The main character, Captain Smiley, ironically has a big smiley-face and he also has a talking star on his chest who is his sidekick. The pair are ridiculously funny together and the things they say back and forth make me want to replay the game repeatedly just to pick up on the things I may have missed. The game play is difficult and varied. Sometime you are playing a beat-em up and other times a side scrolling shooter. You can unlock different bonus content, which keeps you wanting to play more, and the crazy story about this out of work superhero gives ones as much joy as watching the Tick. Most comic and superhero fans will find a great deal of enjoyment in the world Twisted Pixel created.

I’m all for deals and if you have not had a chance to play these games yet I highly recommend picking up this bundle.

The Twisted Pixel bundle is a must buy! 4 kick ass games for $30!
10 out of 10

This film has got a great deal of pre-hype and early fanfare claiming that this will be the movie JJ. really gets to stretch his wings and put his stamp on the series. This is all well and good, but too much hype can be very troubling.

There is nothing in the world that can hinder the success of the film more than over hype. The 2009 film was in a great position with people writing off the franchise after the lack of success of Enterprise and Nemesis. So it was in the perfect opportunity to surprise people with some great action and humor by basically making Trek fun again.

But Into Darkness is almost universally being praised before people have even seen it. Folks that are only fans of the superhero phenomenon are talking about how good this movie could be and it’s on many best of 2013 lists already. These kind of over-exceptions have never been good in the past.

Films like Indiana Jones 4, Dark Knight Rises and even the Flintstones have all faced crazy over hyped audiences that were just let down. Having expectations set too high going into a film hinders ones ability to truly judge the work objectively. Say someone tells you this person is crazy beautiful, perfect, the greatest ever or the same thing about a Video Game, show, or even a song. That game, woman or whatever better be like Usual Suspects good to live up to the build up.

Sometimes this over hype can work. The Avengers is a great example of using that hype to feed the beast and that turned out great. It’s hard to curb that hype when something is that exciting but we as film goes need to try to go into movies with as little exceptions as possible. This will encourage film makers to take chances and not feel they have to hit certain notes that people are expecting.

Personal, going into Star Trek Into Darkness I’m expecting to hate it. I personal always have really low expectations so I can be pleased not disappointed. But, hey I do have issues.

Star Trek Into Darkness open in Theaters In The USA on May 17, 2013

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5_ikum3HIk

The new Nickelodeon Ninja Turtles show is able to combine a sense of seriousness in story telling that was sometimes missing in the 87 Series with the humor that was lacking in the 03 Series. But what exactly makes this program so good?

Visual Style

The animation style may put some older fans off at first. It’s in a CG style and when I saw early images I almost immediately wrote the series off. But 20 minutes into the watching the Pilot this became a non issue and I think it fits this universe well. Aside from some of their mutant foes I’ve grown to enjoy the art style a great deal and has opened me up to a whole new world of animation.

But what takes the cake visually is the Shredder who is more frightening and formidable than ever. I also love the re-imagining of Splinter with more human features. It truly makes him more a mix of human and rat than ever before.

The action of each episode is broken up with comic book style stills. This enhances the feeling of the ongoing story. The eyes of the Turtles also change depending on their mood. You will see internal emotions depicted in their expressions. This is done in a very cartoon/anime way and I love it.

Story

I’m not going to spoil much about the story of Season 1. So to keep it really simple. Shredder and Splinter had a blood grudge for years and they re-encounter each other after a while to face off in a war. But juxtaposed is the return of Krang! Well, not exactly like you remembered but I love the reboot of the character and how it plays into the orgin of the Turtles and Splinter. It’s a nod to both the 03 and 87 series while being unique at the same time.

Each episode is stand alone in a way, but there is an overall story arc to the Season. So it’s better to watch episodes in chronological order if possible. At minimum, definitely start with the one hour pilot “Rise of the Turtles.” This episode is the perfect introduction into the the world.

Characters

This is where this show really shines. I find these version of the Turtles to be the most well rounded and fleshed out ever depicted on screen. This is due to the excellence of the writers and voice actors.

Leonardo, voiced by Jason Biggs, is the perfect leader. Clearly the one who studies Ninjutsu the most and definitely cocky about this to his brothers. But he’s not as perfect as Leo has been depicted in the past. He has a quirky character trait of religiously watching an in show series called Space Heroes. (Pretty much Star trek)
He quotes the show using cheesy one liners when the Ninjas are in action to the amusement and frustration of his brothers.

Raphael voiced by a Hobbit named Rudy (Sean Austin). He is as bruiting as you would expect, but not as over done as it was in the 2007 TMNT film. He also is very short tempered and in general an ass. But Raph truly loves and protects his brothers more than any of the others Turtles. He’s the toughest, but clearly he is not a leader. On a personal note, Sean Austin get out of all my favorite movies and shows!

Donatello voiced by The Great Rob Paulsen (who voices Raphael in the 87 series) is great at showing his genius and is clearly the least talented fighter. He’s not just a background token “nerdy” character this time. More than any other Turtle he has been neglected in the recent past and relegated with Mikey into the background. Here Donny is obsessed with his research and is always in his head. It’s those internalized calculations that hinders him as a Ninja. Donny also has an incredibly funny crush on April to the amusement of everyone.

Michelangelo voiced by Greg Cipes is hilarious, and also has the innocence of a child. He is not that bright but not an idiot. He also likes to name their enemies and Donny’s inventions. He doesn’t take too much serious and hits all those Mikey notes one would expect. But at times you can see a switch inside of him that he has the potential to be an even greater Ninja than any of his brothers.

The relationship between the Turtles feels real and all of the actors bring a serious energy and depth to their roles. This makes them a believable family of brothers dealing with the dangers of being mutant superheroes.

It’s all brought together by Splinter voiced by Hoon Lee, who is a true father and General. Not to mention he is more badass of a fighter and Sensei than ever before. You really feel for his story and and relate to his pain. It makes the love he has found with the his new sons all the more emotional.

Shredder is menacing without being too goofy. A real threat.

April was chosen to be depicted as a young teenager and I like that for a couple reasons. One, I understand this series is aimed at kids and to have the main human character someone their age will help relate the audience to the world.

My other reason is I hope when they introduce Casey Jones he will be like the 87 series. Basically more of an irrational animal then sexy vigilante love interest for April. Please save me from the April and Casey romance yet again.

There are also many one off characters and more reoccurring ones I did not name. There are some that I love and other not so much. I’m also not too found of decisions made with certain villains in the story, but that’s personal opinion. There’s a rich array of mutants and humans that we bump into within every episode and the good outweighs the not so good.

Love for the past

This show is a true love letter to fans of Ninja Turtle history. Some nods are wrapped inside the plot while others are just passing references. The show maintains its own universe while taking a bow to the past.

It’s not a nostalgic piece like Turtles Forever but it knows what the franchise is capable of and isn’t afraid to use all it has in its bag for full effect. The writers and producers obviously have a huge love for the source material.

In the end

A lot of people including myself were very quick to dismiss The new Nickelodeon Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series as a kids show and put it the box with New Mutation that says “do not open.” I did not like the early images, trailers, and in general prefer traditional animation to CGI. I decided to watch it anyway and gave it a shot and now it’s one of my favorite shows on TV. True greatness is transcendent of medium and this series hits on so many notes.

The show is not perfect and some stand alone episodes are not quite as captivating as others. There are a few of the animations on the main adversary mutants that looks a bit silly and few story choices I may of liked to turn out differently. But those are just nitpicks. The series has already been renewed for not just a Season 2 but a Season 3 too so it’s here to stay for a while.

Older fans, If you feel strange turning on Nickelodeon borrow someones kid or get you own and watch it with them. This show is funny for TMNT fans all ages.

9.6 of 10 (For Season 1)

Watch the dam show and enjoy the ride!

We are joined by a guest cohost: Steve THE DUDE

We talk about the question of when a spoilers stops being a spoiler

Talk some star wars stuff

Hippie activities

Some bobble head stories

And lots of silly news, star trek references and more!

The Issues Program Episode 4: The Dude Spoils

While watching, I always wanted to be on the show but as soon as I heard the Weird Al Yankovic Song “I Lost on Jeopardy” and getting destroyed by my cousins in home games fear set in, and I released it was not in my future. But that didn’t mean I couldn’t get better at these home versions of the show.

I had the Board Game, the Computer Game, NES and rented pretty much every other inclination of Jeopardy ever made. I love trivia games and party games so Jeopardy in a video game always seemed to make perfect sense. But for some reason recent games in the past generations have not quite gotten it as right as the original console and computer versions. So how does it fare on Wii-U? A system that one could argue is built for game show simulation.

Atmosphere

Right from the get go it does feel like an episode of Jeopardy. Maybe a slightly more cartoon version, but it’s the real thing. The announcer does his signature introduction. Alex comes out and does his little bit and presents the categories. Then the players are introduced and nothing is custom they just blandly call you player one, two or three.

If you are playing on easy mode the answers (or questions- you know what I mean) are multiple choice. If playing on Hard or Medium one needs to type in the answers, but it’s kind of broken with the predictive text. So once you start to type a response you can quickly guess or know your completely off if your answer is not a choice.

Between rounds if playing multi player there are mini games that go from partially fun to useless and completely convoluted. They really add nothing except frustration for the most part.

With no story, no career mode and player creation being not worth even mentioning, Jeopardy does very little other than window dressing to give the player the game show experience.

Feel

When playing with the Wii-U pad there is some touch screen functionality to pick answers or categories. Nothing special here at all. But it does work. The Wii-motes on the other hand do have some issues having to point at the screen to type out answers which can be a pain at times.

The unlockables are worthless and really don’t add to the game at all. You can unlock some concept art and different hair styles/cloths to custom the look of characters. But with the inability to name your characters after you edit them, this option was pretty much useless.
A lot of wasted potential in player creation and feel.

Addiction Rating

The truth is I did want to play this most evenings for about a week after getting receiving it. But that soon faded and not because the answers repeated. Because of a lack of anything to really do in the game except the same set up over and over. Maybe if they added Online play or some Challenge Mode it may of increased the games addiction rating, but as it stands I will forget about this game pretty soon.

Heres to hoping someone takes the next Jeopardy game more serious and creates something lasting.

Issues

Ok here we go.

If they really wanted to do Jeopardy right on Wii-U, even just for Player 1, give us the ability to write our final Jeopardy answer and wager on the pad. I know it may seem like a small gripe but this pissed me off. When I first heard about getting this game, that was the first hope that came to mind about playing on WII-U. It may be small but that alone would of made the experience worth it for me.

I also would like a real character creation and names. This is going backward from the NES game. In that game you could at least enter in your characters name!

Where was a career mode where you have to work you way up through the try outs? Then make it on the actual show. Play for a while and if you win enough be invited back for the tournament of champions. You could have a Junior Jeopardy, or College, or even a Rock and Roll round with guest host Jeff Probst.

Also how about some classic videos to unlock, instead of useless concept art. Different era Jeopardy sets would of been cool as well, so we can play on the 80s or 70s sets. Instead we get a flatline of a game.

It seems they should do this right and make a game show video game that pays homage to the history and what is truly fun about the show. Well, besides winning money. It can be done, just give it some love and if you make it, we will come!

In the end

Nothing exceptionally bad about this game. Just blah, with nothing lasting. I over hyped myself for a WII-U version and was hoping for something truly special. I was disappointed to say the least.

This version of Jeopardy isn’t broke and with 2000+ questions it will have you playing for a while if you are in to it. A very playable pre-fab house of a game.

Likes

Lots of questions

Fun multi player

Issues

Unlockables are insulting

No online matches or challenges

Not bad, just..EH
4 out of 10