Sunday, December 23, 2018

Characters Who Should Be Guest DLC in Mortal Kombat 11



Mortal Kombat XI is coming and it has set our hearts a flutter as Scorpion rips them out. MK XI looks to be just as much as a bloodbath as it's predecessor was which is a complement for a fighting game franchise that has been around for years. One of the ways the series has stay fresh, along with not just rebooting the entire franchise, but becoming a gory Smash Bros by adding guest characters we all live to see kill or be killed by our favorite kombatants. We had horror favorites from Freddy Kruger to Jason Voorhees to  the Xenomorph from the Alien franchise popping in. Recently there are rumors of our favorite brooding dark guy in a cape, not Batman, Spawn might be in the next DLC. Here are some characters I think should be in the game as DLC.

Candyman

Mortal Kombat isn't new to adding our favorite serial movie killers in the game so why not Candyman. Candyman's hook would be a nice weapon we would love to see buried in someone's head and he could launch bees as projectiles. We're also getting a reboot so it's perfect timing.

The Terminator (T-800)

This could be a bit weird but why not. You fight enough robots in the franchise anyway. Imagine Arnold saying fight with me if you want to die.

Pinhead

Another horror movie legend. If you are a Hellraiser fan you already know that torture and causing mass pain and carnage in right up Pinhead's alley and being put in the game would feel like home. Pinhead could attack people with chains which could work as a grab. He could even throw that Hell puzzle cube as a projectile. His super could be sucking you into is Hell dimension and zapping you with that Leviathan diamond thing. A fatality based on the Jesus wept scene would make the bloody icing on the cake. Who wouldn't want Pinhead in the game, other than Quan Chi?

Joker

DC and Netheream studios have this love thing going on with Injustice, and DC vs Mortal Kombat but we never talk about that, so why not let some DC characters join in on the fun? No other character would have fun like the Joker. He has a lot of tricks up his sleeve from spraying poison Joker gas and throwing bombs as possible projectiles the fun never ends.

Lobo

Our favorite comic book foul mouth wisecracking mercenary badass who isn't Deadpool. Lobo would be a nice add to the game. He's mean, he's ruthless, he love to dish out the pain. He's basically intergalactic Kano with Kiss makeup with enough sassy wit to stand toe to toe with Johnny and Kassie Cage while putting those toes and foot up their asses.

Lizzie, George, or Ralph

Old fans would recognize these as former Midway legends. Lizzie, George, and Ralph were monsters from Rampage where they would destroy towns in Godzilla fashion. Seeing more monsterous versions of themselves tearing people apart would be nice to see.


Deathstroke

Yes, another DC character. Deathstroke does seem more prone to fit right in with his own arsenal of weapons and the no hesitation to kill his enemies.

Andy Serkis as Mokap

If you were aware of the old Mortal Kombat games you would know that they have a character named Mokap. Mokap was a joke character that went from doing motion capture in the old Midway studio to fighting four arm dragon-men and Netherealm sorcerers. Since rebooting the game to a more serious, and even more gruesome telling, Mortal Kombat hasn't had a good joke character in a while. Why not just only bring back the joke character Mokap, but have him be everyone's favorite actor in a tight spandex suit with balls attached to it? It would be the epitome of a joke character.

Who do you think should be in the game as DLC?

Monday, December 3, 2018

Why Nintendo's Creators Program Failed


     Let the joyous news be spread the wicked old Nintendo's YouTube creators program at last is dead! Yes, people you've heard it. Nintendo has announced that they will be putting an end to their Creators Program. Nintendo's statement:

"We are ending the Nintendo Creators Program (NCP) to make it easier for content creators to make and monetize videos that contain Nintendo game content. We will no longer ask creators to submit their videos to the NCP, and creators can continue showing their passion for Nintendo by following Nintendo’s guidelines."

     So, by ending the program Nintendo appears that the company is going to be a bit more easy on how content creators feature videos containing Nintendo games. Hearing this news, you can be certain a lot of gamers on YouTube or YouTubers who like to make videos featuring Nintendo content are pretty excited hearing this news. But why? What made Nintendo's program so unpopular?
     As you know YouTubers get paid on YouTube by views and ad revenue. Gaming is one of the most popular genre with millions watching videos dedicated to video games as well as watching live streams of creators playing video games. Nintendo has been notorious in how they would take down videos and remove streams of creators featuring their content. In response to this Nintendo made a creators program in order to reach out to YouTubers and make things simple. This made things right? Wrong.
     The program had YouTubers follow a strict set of guidelines in which they had to follow in order to not have their videos taken down. Along with the set of rules what made YouTubers upset was the fact that they couldn't live stream games as Nintendo as they viewed this as spoiling content and driving away people that would buy the games. Also you would have to send the video to Nintendo and wait three business days for it to be deemed "satisfactory". What also didn't sit well was that signing up for the program Nintendo would pocket and good chunk of the money, 30% of revenue for the channels and 40% for video content.
     Nintendo had a program where a lot of YouTubers found to be a bit unfair and in some cases completely took advantage of their content. Famous YouTuber Pewdiepie said:

"I also think this is a slap in the face to the YouTube channels that does focus on Nintendo game exclusively. The people who have helped and showed passion for Nintendo's community are the ones left in the dirt the most.

And finally, when there's just so many games out there to play. Nintendo games just went to the bottom of that list. Even if more publishers starts implementing this idea of sharing revenue. Then fine, there's always going to be plenty of games out there, ready to become the next "Mienkraft" - Sounds cheesy, but it's true."

     It's true that with how Nintendo's original program stood and how many YouTubers felt that it was unfair it would largely turn them off from signing onto the program and even not consider playing Nintendo games which would not only hurt the relationship between them and the company but also having their games be featured in videos which could lead to more people buying their games. The program will be ending March 20, 2019. What are your thoughts on this recent news and Nintendo shutting down their Creators Program?

Friday, November 9, 2018

So Who TF Are We Exactly Playing in Pokemon Let's Go?


     The recent trailer for Pokemon Let's Go was released and at first it seems to be nothing big as you finally get to see the other Gym Leaders and the Elite Four and how their battles will be.

     However in the final part of the trailer, it is said that you'll will meet other characters. What other characters you say? Pre-Gold and Silver Jhoto Gym Leaders? Nope. As a total shock you get to meet and battle Red, Blue, and Green from the original games. This seems to be huge but as big and exciting this news may be it leaves a lot of confusion and leaves a big question: Who exactly are we playing in this remake?
     For those who don't know Pokemon Let's Go is an enhanced remake of Pokemon Yellow, which was a gen one game.With most remakes it implied that you are playing the same character as the original. At first you would figure that would be the case in Pokemon Let's Go, but yet here we are encountering not only the main character of the original game (Red), but we are fighting him and his rivals (Blue and Green). So, who are we exactly playing as if we're not playing?
     So, what gives? Recently Pokemon has been more sci-fi with us lately with the introduction of wormholes and possible alternate realities and universes. This was lightly touched upon in Omega Sapphire and Ruby where a NCP stated that there is a possibility that the remakes could all be set in an entire universe instead of them just being retellings. This was later brought to the fore front with Sun and Moon where wormholes played a crucial part in the game and elaborated even further in Ultra Sun and Moon where Giovanni actually went in some of these wormholes and alternate universes to start his new Rainbow Rocket empire. Are the characters we are playing in Pokemon Let's Go are alternate characters in that universe and had the original Red, Green, and Blue somehow been brought in that universe via a wormhole? If that is the case this could be the first time in the series where former main characters meet their alternate universe counterparts. Or this could be so weird non-canon post game battle frontier thing some they always do in a couple of games. What do you think?

Monday, October 8, 2018

The Bowsette Memes Are Proof We Need Another Super Princess Peach Game


     With the introduction of the Super Crown, a Power-up item in the Switch port of New Super Mario Bros. U which transforms Toadette into a peculiar yet mysterious Peach-like being known as Toadette, we were perplexed with what this could possibly mean and how exactly this could explain Princess Peach ruling a kingdom made up little mushroom people. While we were wondering if this would solve one of gaming's biggest mysteries we weren't ready for what would come next: Bowsette.

     The Bowsette meme started when someone on the internet, Twitter user @ayyk92, made a comic that had Bowser put on the Super Crown and change into a evil version of Peach which people named Bowette creating be a big wave of Bowsette memes. With the up rise and recent popularity of Bowette memes, one thing comes to mind, Super Princess Peach.

     If you don't remember Super Princess Peach, it was a platformer staring everyone's favorite pink clad mushroom monarch this time saving Mario, Luigi, and Toad from the evil clutches of Bowser. It was your standard Mario platformer, only with a bit of feminine flair as along the standard 2D Mario gameplay we all knew and love, by with Peach having a vibe meter which allows her to solve puzzles by being happy and fly, cry and run super fast, stomp angrily and pretty much be invincible, and heal herself by being calm. But like all really nice things, we get only one and we've never got a sequel which a lot of people want, mainly Peach fans.
     I know what you're saying. Why bring up Super Princess Peach when it has nothing to do with Bowsette memes? With the Bowsette memes and Peachette, they all have one thing in common. Both, do involve Princess Peach, but both also involved creatively playing around with Peach in a interesting unconventional way and in the end had amazing and interesting results. With Super Princess Peach, it flipped the script with Peach no longer being the damsel in distress and showed that Peach could handle her own in a Mario-esque game. With Bowsette, Peach is used as an avatar to get out of the role you usually see her in most Mario games. Hopefully Nintendo is paying attention and sees a good reason to give us another Princess Peach game, or at least give Peach her own franchise. They gave one to Luigi.

Sunday, September 16, 2018

Peachette: There's Something About Princess Peach

   

      The Toad. The citizens of the Mushroom Kingdom. If you could describe toads you could call them little fungi people. Basically hobbit folk with mushroom hats. Cute and adorable people that sound like they constantly smoked cigarettes for the 30 plus years we've been introduced to them in the first Super Mario Bros. game in 1985. If mushrooms that make you grow and flowers that turn you into a firestarter haven't boggled your mind over the years, what is really weird is that these mushroom munchkins have been ruled for years now by a human girl, Princess Peach. Or is she?
      One of the greatest mysteries of video games was how the monarch of the Mushroom Kingdom inhabited by fungi-humanoid people came be ruled by a human. With the recent Nintendo direct, we may have an answer to this enigma.

      Nintendo introduced us to New Super Mario U deluxe which will be coming out soon this year. What's new is that Toadette will be a new playable character. Along with Toadette being playable there is a new item called a Super Crown which gives Toadette an interesting power-up. She becomes Peachette, a character that closely resembles Princess Peach and even has her floating abilities like in Super Mario Bros. 2 and Super Mario 3D World.
      For years we've speculated that Princess Peach was just purely human. Is she a more human version or more evolved toad?
     There may have been some hints to Peach's toad heritage. In Super Mario RPG, Peach's grandmother was a toad. Other than that little is known about her parents. The only glimpses we see of her father was in the comics which could be non-canon and an official strategy guide for Super Mario Bros where she too is depicted being toadlike sporting a mushroom hat as well as a crown. But we can't really go with that as her official artwork is vastly different (Bowser looks different too).

     This all, however, could all just be mere coincidence and the Super Crown could just transform Toadette into a copy of Peach just like how the hats worked for in Super Mario 64 DS which Yoshi, Mario, Luigi, and Wario could transform into each other. Also, there's the fact that when Toadette, I mean Peachette, will turn back into her Toadette form if hit by an enemy meanwhile in games where Peach has been playable, Peach is shown to revert to a mini version of herself when hit just like Mario and Luigi. But this could mean that her toad evolution is more permanent. There seems to be a huge mystery around Peach and Peachette and hopefully we can all figure it out soon.

Monday, August 20, 2018

Is it Safe to Believe THAT Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Rumor?


     Recently we were treated to an all Super Smash Bros. Ultimate dedicated Nintendo Direct. Hype has been simmering and stewing within us to figure out what will be in store for us in this next installment for months since Nintendo announced the game for the first time. The first time we were met with small info like Daisy, an echo fighter, and Ridley already joining the full studded roster of every character that has been in the series.
     The recent Nintendo Direct containing new Smash Bros. goodness didn't disappoint. We've gotten news of over 100 stages, almost 800 tracks, quick stage changes happening in between fights, but that was only the tip of the iceberg. We've gotten new characters as well. Chrom and Dark Samus join as new echo fighters. But the big excitement has been over the inclusion of old Donkey Kong nemesis King K. Rool and both legendary vampire hunters from Castlevania, Simon and Richter Belmont. The new fighters have been a surprise, or were they?
     On July 1st, a user on 4chan claimed that there would be eleven new characters coming to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and they would be revealed monthly using codenames which would be the following:

  • In July, the characters “King” and “Ponytail” will be revealed in a mini Nintendo Direct.
  • In August, the character “Old Man” will be revealed at EVO 2018.
  • In September, the character “Archer” will be revealed in a Nintendo Direct of some kind.
  • In October, the Characters “Warrior” and “Secretary” will be revealed in a Nintendo Direct centered around Ultimate.
  • In November, the character “Mech” will be revealed in a surprise character announcement.
  • The Characters “Rhythm”, “Folklore”, “Doll”, and “Prime Ribs” won’t get reveal trailers until post-release.
Many speculated what characters the codenames stood for and determined the following:

  • King: King K. Rool.
  • Ponytail: Dixie Kong, Shantae the Genie or Ashley from WarioWare
  • Old Man: Heihachi Mishima from Tekken.
  • Archer: Decidueye from Pokemon Sun and Moon
  • Secretary: Isabelle from Animal Crossing.
  • Warrior: Simon Belmont from Castlevania, or a new character from Fire Emblem.
  • Mech: Chibi-Robo or Elma from Xenoblade Chronicles X.
  • Rhythm: A character from Rhythm Heaven or the Chorus Kids.
  • Folklore: Amaterasu from Okami or a character from Touhou Project.
  • Doll: Geno from Super Mario RPG.
  • Prime Ribs: Dark Samus or Ninten from Mother.
      So, looking at this, let's get out what didn't happen. We didn't get a monthly reveal nor did we get a Dixie Kong reveal with King K. Rool. We did get King K. Rool, Dark Samus, and Simon Belmont. With most rumors, you shouldn't fully trust them and just take them with a grain of salt and this rumor for the most part was proven to be false, however, you can look at it as who could be announced instead of how characters will get announced. For the most part it was right revealing three characters that would be coming to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, which is more accurate than most Smash Ultimate rumors out there. 
      Another Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. themed Nintendo Direct is coming where we will get even more characters coming to the game. There is more of a possibility that we may get to who will be added next, possibly Dixie Kong and Heihachi. Dixie Kong has been referenced a ton of times as trophies and has even at one point considered to be a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Heihachi has been used as an alternate costume for the Mii character in last game, Super Smash Bros. for the Nintendo 3DS/Wii U. Since Sakurai has been listening to the fans' wishes like a video game Santa Claus, these two may be the next added to the roster, hopefully. Maybe Geno too but who are we kidding. Again, this is all speculation and we will never know until the next Smash themed Nintendo direct.

Who do you want to see in Smash Ultimate?

Tuesday, July 31, 2018

Where's Buffy in the New Buffy Reboot?


     Every generation a tv network decides to reboot a former tv show in order to get us to watch and try to get as much money and ratings from old fans as they could. Yes, you heard me or you may have been buried under a Hellmouth or have been a rat for a while, you may have not heard the news that we are getting a new Buffy reboot. The only tid bit we know about the new reboot is that Joss Whedon is involved and it will feel more like a sequel than a full on reboot. Oh, and that we will have a black actress as the lead. After everyone freaked out about the new lead being recast as the Buffy Summers we knew and grew up loving, showrunner Monica Owusu-Breen has clarified that we will be following the reboot with a new slayer, not a new Buffy.

     So, since we are going to be introduced to a new slayer and not a new Buffy, or the old one, where exactly in this reboot/sequel is Buffy? Here are some possibilities.

She's Fronting Her Own Slayer Organization

     In season seven of the original series we were introduced to the ideal of potential slayers, women who were predestined to take up the powers of the slayers should the current slayer dies. Think about it like being on a supernatural evil fighting waiting list. In the end of season seven Buffy and Willow made it that there could be more than one slayer and every potential slayer will actually become a slayer. What to do know that there are thousands of slayers in the world? Make your own slayer task force. Later on in the comic books Buffy started her own organization just like the Watchers Council to recruit her own team of slayers to fight vampires around the world. If the reboot is following the comic books, the new series could be the new slayer fighting vampires and demons in the new organization. The new reboot could be not only the new slayer coming to terms about her powers and growing up, like Buffy did in the original, but also doing it with other slayers who are dealing with the same thing, unlike Buffy. If Sarah Michelle Gellar is signed on to reprise her role, she could act as a mentor.

Buffy is Dead

     Why the new focus on a new kick ass slayer? Simple because the old one died. Like Spike said, every Slayer has a death wish and death is the slayer's gift. It isn't shocking that all slayers eventually die and Buffy is no different. Yeah, she died twice but third time's the charm right? So the new series could have Buffy could go down as one of the great ones and the new slayer trying to live up to the mantle. Hard, right? But it could make some great drama and show how she is doing things a bit different than Buffy. They could also go all Halloween on us and recon things that happened in season seven and in the comics where there are not thousands of slayers running around and it is back to the chosen one format. But that would mean Faith is dead too. That's not five by five...

Buffy is M.I.A

     I know, very Supernatural where the Winchester Bros. spent the first couple of season looking for their father, but it could happen. Something happened to Buffy so it's time for someone to a new slayer to lead and take charge and to do all the main kickassery in Buffy's absence or find out what happened to Buffy. Hopefully the new show will know how to not stretch things out to far and reveal where in the world is Buffy Summers, you like what Supernatural does alot.

     Again, these are all speculations (for fun) and we may find out where is Buffy in this new reboot when new details emerge. I've made mine, but that doesn't mean you can't make yours and I would love to hear them. What are your thoughts?

Tuesday, July 17, 2018

Will We See Other Generation Pokemon In Pokemon Let's Go Pikachu And Eevee


    Pokemon Let's Go Pikachu and Eevee is almost here, only a few months away to be exact, and Nintendo has given us a few new updates on what we will be seeing in the game. We saw how Kanto will look in the game also a few familiar faces in the form of Gym Leaders Misty and Brock, your rival Blue, and Jessie and James from Team Rocket. I'm sure with this and a look at gameplay we have this game figured out, except with one question: How will Let's Go Pikachu and Eevee deal with pokemon from other generations?
     We do know that all the original pokemon will be in the game since Pikachu and Eevee are both a Switch remake of Pokemon Yellow. What will be a big surprise is that we will be seeing the Alolan forms of some pokemon as well. The Pokemon company and Nintendo have been pretty mum on how they will treat the other 651 pokemon in the series. If the other gen pokemon will be implemented in some way,

Trading

This would be the most common way to have the pokemon from other generations be in the games. Let's go Pikachu and Eevee have been big on the idea of trading with a co-partner, friends, and online. Trading will require two Switches and a subscription to Nintendo's Switch Online Service. This is honestly how other games have dealt with including all 802 pokemon in games so it wouldn't be a shock if these games do that too. The only downside to this would be that it could only happen with Switch pokemon games which will be this and the upcoming Pokemon Switch game, unless there's a Pokemon Bank app for the Switch that's in the works.

In Game Achievement 

This has been done in a few remake sad well by having the player accomplish something in game and bam! You can now catch pokemon from other games. This will also most likely be how we will get Alolan pokemon as well. This was done in the Pokemon remakes, FireRed and LeafGreen and HeartGold and Soul Silver, where you can catch pokemon that came in later games in the post game or by completing the game or filling the National Pokedex.

DLC or Updates

DLC have been another way of how The Pokemon Company has been shoehorning pokemon into games. They could introduce certain Pokemon from another generation to be downloaded in the game or go the Pokemon Go route and release updates that will introduce generational pokemon all together.

Overall adding pokemon from other generations would be a hard thing to pass up as it would a great add to the game. What are your thoughts?

Wednesday, June 20, 2018

The History of Super Smash Bros' Adventure Mode


The original Super Smash Bros for the Nintendo 64 was released January 1999 and it was marvelous. All of Nintendo's biggest stars fighting each other in a lbs all out brawl, and fighting a giant hand! What more can you ask for? A sequel of course. While working on the next installment, Melee, Masahiro Sakurai and co are probably asking themselves what they can do to make the game even bigger and better. New characters? Of course. Add another giant hand to fight? Sure why not. Make a lot of the new characters clones of previous fighters? Nothing wrong there. But it was one thing that was a definite great ideal. Let's add an adventure mode. And the rest is wonderful history.

Adventure Mode for Melee

Melee's adventure mode was the one that really started it all. An amazing journey that took you almost everywhere in the Nintendo universe. Fighting Goombas, Koopa Troopas, and Yoshis. Wondering around a dungeon in Hyrule. Trying not to get run over by the cars in F-Zero. It was an adventure mode indeed.

The Subspace Emissary 

So when Brawl was announced Sakurai met a challenge. How can I make Adventure Mode even better? Let's give it a storyline and pair up all your faves together. The Subspace Emissary was Nintendo's Avengers Infinity War. Everyone has to go and stop Bowser and Ganondorf who have teamed together to enact a devious plan to take over the Smash World and turn everyone into trophies. It was also a nice introduction to Pit joining the fray.

Smash Run

Apparently we can't have nice things as when Brawl came out and the whole story of the Subspace Emissary was leaked on the internet. Sakurai was upset about it and decide to not give us another story with Adventure Mode. But that doesn't mean that we weren't going to get a new one. Instead he made a pseudo-Adventure Mode called Smash Run. You do go on an adventure on a giant map beating up as many baddies from Nintendo games in order to get coins, power-ups, and other goodies to do a mini Smash fight or challenge at the end. This was really his attempt to give us this as well as keep Break the Targets in the game in some form. So it may not be the great adventure epic Subspace Emissary was, but we should thank him in the end, right?

We don't know what Ultimate's Adventure Mode may be but it will most likely be good (But seriously, give us a Subspace Emissary sequel). What was your favorite? Please comment and share.

Monday, June 4, 2018

How Will Pokemon Let's Go Pikachu & Eevee Play


Earlier this week we were treated to some major Pokemon Switch news. We are getting a core Pokemon game, but in 2019. Never fret we are getting two games to tie us over until then. First we have Pokemon Quest which is an adorable 8bit 3D? beat-em-up. We also will have Pokemon Let's Go Pikachu and Pokemon Eevee.

    According to The Pokemon Company, Lets Go Pikachu and Eevee is an enhanced chibi remake of Pokemon Yellow, which is done since it's based on the anime. If you can explain Let's Go Eevee and Pikachu it's pretty much your standard Pokemon game that we all know and love mixed with Pokemon Go. It even comes with a Pokeball that you can throw. Based on the trailer it does seem cool, but how will the game play seems to be a big mystery.
     Since the game is largely based on Pokemon Go, it would be safe to say that a lot of the gameplay will be based on Pokemon Go. You don't battle with wild pokemon. Instead you throw poke balls at it hoping that you can catch one. What's also different is that instead of random encounters from the games, you can see the pokemon in the wild and in caves. You will probably get different pokemon showing up whenever you leave and re-enter an area or if you catch one, maybe rarer ones will appear if you catch enough.
     You will have pokemon battles with gym leaders and other pokemon trainers as well as we see in the trailer where you fight a trainer on Nugget Bridge as well as a Team Rocket member. There will be trainers with different difficulty in the game so you may fight harder trainers later on on the game. There might be a possibility that you may be able to re-fight trainers with a harder difficulty level than previously like in the core games. Poke Marts and Pokemon Centers are in the game as seen in the trailer, so that will be a function instead of Poke Stops.
     One question is how exactly will you level up your pokemon in the game. In Pokemon Go, you get candies everytime you catch a pokemon which works like experience points in the game. In Let's Go Pikachu and Eevee that mechanic might still work where it won't be exclusive to a certain pokemon, like getting Pidgey candy for catching a Pidgey. You may get candies or money so you can buy poke balls and other items in trainer battles as well. You can use money from trainer battles to buy accessories to buy outfits for Pikachu and Eevee.
     This is all speculation. Nothing is official and I'm sure we'll find out new info as soon as Nintendo and The Pokemon Company updates us in the future. 

Wednesday, May 23, 2018

Deadpool 2: Did It Suck?


     It's been awhile since the last Deadpool movie and everyone's favorite foul mouth mercenary is back! The first Deadpool movie, being a union between Marvel and movie darling with abs of gold Ryan Reynolds was a match made in heaven. Seriously, it was like the comic book movie gods created it and had Stan Lee present it to us like Moses giving us the ten commandments. Anyway, Deadpool went on to make a killing in the box office and was so successful Marvel already greenlit the second movie the same weekend it came out. Now with most sequels, especially comedic ones, there is worry that things may become stale or writers will try so hard to outdo the previous film or try to regurgite the same jokes that it ruins things, I'm looking at you Zoolander 2. With not only Ryan Reynolds back in the tight and very form-fitting red spandex, but co-penning the sequel with previous Deadpool writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, there is hope. Will it be a step up from the first film or will it leave a big eh on our faces. Will Deadpool 2 suck? Some minor spoilers ahead.
      So Deadpool 2 takes place some time after the first movie so it's good that you don't have to worry about watching the first film. Our favorite contract killer is on a journey of self discovery after his love interest from the first movie, Vanessa (Morena Baccarin) dies. That journey eventually becomes an adventure to put his heart in the right place, find a family, and save a kid who is being targeted by time jumping mutant Cable. If you though the first Deadpool was funny then the second film is a treat because they've made sure to give you a ton of comedy in this one. Watching comedic scenes in Deadpool 2 is like looking at Oprah's buffet plate: there's a lot of it. The jokes are not bigger nor did the writers try to outdo what made Deadpool 1 funny instead they give you plenty of jokes. This time around they've gone full comic version of Deadpool than the first film. You get a ton of fourth wall breaking Deadpool is known for. There are a ton of Easter eggs where Ryan jokes about the other X-Men movies, Marvel movies, and even takes a knock at the DC universe along with running gags that were from the first are so fresh you can put a febreeze logo on it. If you're a fan of the Deadpool comics you are gonna be very excited more about this than the first Deadpool film.
      You get the standard Ryan Reynolds-isms you normally get in most of his comedic films. The witty lines and adorable dreamy eyes. It's not a bad thing at all. He's at home in these kind of roles and they work well with him. You do see a bit of his range in the more emotional scenes and it adds to the fact of isn't there anything this man can't do, other than make us want to see him in a green CGI suit. They did well showing off Domino and her powers which is literally luck, by having the most funny and fortunate circumstances happening to her compared to other characters seeing her in action.
 
Final Verdict
So, does Deadpool suck? Not at all! It is a perfect comic book comedy film if there is one. There wasn't that much plot to the movie but it pretty much said fuck that and just gave all the Deadpooly goodness we all love from the comics and that was a pretty good tradeoff. They didn't up the ante or go bigger than the previous movie, at least not that much. They just gave us more which is the sure fire way to keep comic book fans and everyone else happy. It gets four really bad dubstep songs out of five. Now kiss me like you miss me!

Monday, April 30, 2018

Avengers: Infinity War - Did It Suck?


     Marvel's biggest movie is here! By biggest, I mean just that as it is the largest cast featuring everyone and their momma who has been a major player in the Marvel cinematic universe ever since it has begun. We've been literally front and center in theaters watching Marvel connect the dots and set everything up for the events in this movie. With all the major Marvel players in this movie, will it truly be the epic superhero movie experience Marvel wants to boast that it is or are we looking at Justice League 2.0? Will Avengers: Infinity War suck?
     So, the whole plot of the movie is Thanos, who's appearance in the Marvel movie have been here and there building up to this moment, is after six power stones which if he does have all six he will destroy half of all life in the universe. It's up to practically everyone who's been in every movie in the MCU to stop them. Epic, right? It was totally epic in every sense. Epic fights, epic heroic moments, and in the case of both Chrises, Evans and Hemsworth, epic beards. So the movie is basically the superhero version of American Graffiti... Wait, some of you may not get that. It's the superhero version of Pulp Fiction in that most of the movie is pretty much everyone breaking off in different group like the second half of a Scooby Doo episode and doing different sub plots in order to stop Thanos.
     Everything is woven beautiful in the sense that it's almost like watching mini movies of each Marvel film. You would not think that Marvel would successfully mix the episodic aspect of movies like Black Panther and Guardians with the continuing drama-ness of Captain America and Thor but they did it well. When the Guardians of the Galaxy show up you get straight up comedy, which matching them up with Thor and Hemsworth's comedic presence was genius. You got the same chemistry Spider-Man and Iron Man had together in Homecoming. And that and the stuff you usually got in your standard Captain America/Avengers movie. Everything melds well together and everyone plays their part well, they had all 10+ years to do that so no shock.
     Along with all the epicness of the movie you get a lot of drama. Oh, boy do you get a ton of it. From Thanos' backstory and his interaction with Gamora. The movie's highlight was the substory of Gamora and Thanos. Not much has backstory has been done to Gamora in the Guardian films but they are brought out in the forefront with her being warlord daddy's little girl. As for Thanos, this film is another continuation of the simpathetic villian, like Killmonger in Black Panther and Vulture in Homecoming to name a few, who is doing some pretty bad things for their version of the greater good. This time killing half the universe to throw things into balance instead of doing all of this to get bf points with Death like in the comics.
     You're gonna need tissues for this movie. From Gamora's backstory and connection to Thanos, the relationship with Scarlet Witch and Vision, and probably the most emotional part of the movie: the ending. The ending had balls. I'm not going to spoil it for you but it's true, some heroes do not make it. It wasn't your standard superhero endings that even though something tragic happened it gives you a message of hope.

Final Verdict
     So, did Avengers: Infinity War suck? NOPE! As Marvel's big superhero movie starring everybody it did not. It was more like a celebration of all the movies that Marvel has done in the past years all blended together smoothly. You have all the custom movie tricks and the cookie cutterness of Marvel movies, but they don't seem so cookie cuttery. You get all the good, and then some. The ending was a big bonus as it gives you a bit of intelligence that was needed. As shocking and sad as it was it was beautiful and genius, leaving you wanting to know how will not only the MCU will deal with all that happened but what Marvel themselves will do to fix it. How do I rate it? It gets 4 infinity stones out of five.

Tuesday, April 10, 2018

Should We Be Worried About the Spyro Reignited Trilogy?


     Nostalgia has hit us hard like a tsunami this week. We're getting a Spyro game. Not a brand new game, but a remaster anyway. There was an apparent leak that revealed that Toys for Bob was going to give Spyro the remaster treatment, just like Crash Bandicoot and the N. Sane Trilogy, and now everything has been confirmed. We will be getting the new, yet old, Spyro Reignited Trilogy this September, if it doesn't get delayed. It will be published by Activision who published the remastered Crash games and if that doesn't get you running down memory lane like it's an marathon on your childhood, Tom Kenney who voiced a majority of the old Spyro games will reprise his role as Spyro for the entire remaster.
      So for the millennials out there Spyro was platformer that came out during the golden era of 3D platformer games like Banjo-Kazooie, Conker, Super Mario 64, and another series that we've gotten the remaster treatment Crash Bandicoot. With this remaster everything should be cool right? Right?
       I'm sure lot of people had their nostalgia goggles as soon as they heard the news and thought back to days playing the game when they were young and how awesome the game was back then. I'm not saying that the series suck, it did everything but suck. I'm saying that maybe the gameplay could come off as a bit dated as in most cases things do not hold up as time passes. Things may not be as awesome as we remembered it and time has a funny way to make us aware of that by showing us how outdated things can be.
     We've seen this with Yooka-Laylee. Yooka-Laylee isn't what you call an old game, but Playtonic, the studio who developed the game, treated as a spiritual sequel to the popular Banjo-Kazooie series and got us all in the nostalgia feels.We were partially disappointed as we were treated to old and dated gameplay that gave the game a stale taste.
     Luckily this wasn't the case when remade Crash Bandicoot N.Sane Trilogy where Vicarious Visions did much more than just give the first three Crash games a facelift with updated graphics. They tweaked gameplay mechanics a bit that made it a bit more challenging and felt new. Hopefully that is what Toys for Bob has in mind for remastering the Spyro games as well.

What are your thoughts?

Thursday, March 15, 2018

Who May Or May Not Be In The Next Super Smash Bros


     Last week we've got the game teasers to end all game teasers. We were treated to a brand new Smash Bros game coming out for the Switch. Not much was shown by for the people that missed out it first started out as a mock trailer for Splatoon as it started out with two Inklings fighting. On of them looks behind them and gazes in awe of the Smash logo engulfed in flames. We then see silhouettes of Mario, Link, and a few characters. This has led the internet to speculate who will be in the upcoming game with guesses of which characters are shown the silhouettes. There are a few obvious ones like Bowser and and DK, but everyone else is a complete mystery. People are speculating so we're going to speculate as well. Here's who I think will make the cut. Again, this isn't official but merely guess as to who will be and who may not be in the next installment for the Switch, hopefully.

N64 Fighters

     So, if you don't know who they are they are Mario, Link, Donkey Kong, Kirby, Pikachu, Yoshi, Samus, Fox, Luigi, Ness, Captain Falcon, and Jigglypuff. We know that Mario, Link, and Donkey Kong are pretty much confirmed (shockingly) but what about everyone else. So most of the character in this group are from well established titles in Nintendo's history and have been there from the very start so we know that most of them are going to stay, well mostly everybody. Ness was almost cut in Melee in favor of Lucas so could he end up being cut? The same is for Jigglypuff as it was also considered being cut for Melee and Brawl. Unlike Ness, Jigglypuff the case for being on the chopping block makes it more apparent as it has gotten worse over the franchise with it being in lower ranks with each game. Is Jigglypuff on the final chopping block?

Melee Fighters

     Zelda, Sheik, Peach, Ganondorf, Bowser, Marth, Roy, Mewtwo, Falco, Dr. Mario, and Mr. Game and Watch were in the remaining game with Young Link, and Pichu, being cut from Brawl and Ice Climbers being cut from Smash 4. Ice Climbers was cut due to the 3DS limitations and time constraints. Hopefully things have changed as the production team has probably have time to perfect their mechanics? Young Link and Pichu may be still setting this out especially considering Young Link since we already had Toon Link take his place, which also made more sense. As for the fighters who were in the last game, just like the N64 cast most of these characters are long staples of the group and will probably stay, most of them. Dr. Mario seems to have came back to give variety to Mario fans as Dr. Mario plays like old Mario before they changed his fighting style in Brawl. Mewtwo who missed out on Brawl, but came back to Smash 4 can either be cut again or might stay on the roster this time.

Brawl Fighters

     Wario, Toon Link, Lucas, Zero Suit Samus, Pit, R.O.B, Meta Knight, King Dedede, Ike, Olimar, Diddy Kong, Lucario, Charizard, and Sonic were the new fighters added to the mix. A lot of these fighters brought a lot of uniqueness with their mechanics and moveset. However I do feel like they will cut the least unique ones. Who will they be? They basically replaced Pokemon Trainer for just Charizard, but I feel like Charizard might not make it into the final roster and this will be a battle Ike will finally set out in favor of other Fire Emblem and Pokemon characters. They will probably bring back Wolf since fans have asked for him to be included in Smash4. Snake will most likely not return because I feel like he was a one time thing as Konami and Hideo Kojima did want Snake in Melee but it was too late so they included him in Brawl.

Smash 4 Fighters

     Just like the Brawl cast, I do feel like a lot of these fighters are new and have uniqueness in their fighting mechanics that we will be seeing most of them returning. But I do fee like they will be cutting a lot of Pokemon and Fire Emblem characters to make room for new characters from those franchises, so good bye to Robin, Corrin, and Greninja. I do feel like they will cut Rosalina in favor for Ice Climbers returning, using her gameplay mechanics. The question will be whether Mii will return since Nintendo has discontinued Mii recently. It would be nice to see if they stay as a nod. Dark Pit will probably not return as he is a clone of Pit or they might tweak him a bit to make them more different.

Thursday, February 22, 2018

Black Panther: Did It Suck


     Black Panther is out! Ever since the debut of the title character, Black Panther, in Captain America: Civil War we have been desperately wanting to see this movie. It has set really high expectations and Marvel has gone all out trying to make sure that this movie does not leave us disappointed. Not only that this will be Marvel's first superhero movie with a predominately black cast, with legendary black actors like Forest Whitaker and Angela Basset, as well as soon to be legends like Lupita Nyong'o, Winston Duke, and Chadwick Boseman so the stakes are even higher. Now that we can finally see it, have they? Does Black Panther suck?
     Black Panther takes place sometime after Civil War and brings T'Challa to the forefront being the new king of Wakanda, a black utopia hidden away, in Africa after his father's death. As the newly crowned king, T'Challa is not only met with how he should govern Wakanda, but how and whether he should help other people in the world with Wakanda's vast resource of Vibranium, one of the hardest metals in the Marvel Universe which is responsible for Wakanda's technology which is vast beyond outside world. With Vibranium being a million times more than its weight in gold, you also have people that try to steal it which T'Challa and the previous king of Wakanda, T'Chaka has to put a stop to as well as keep Wakanda a secret from the outside world which is a big obstacle in the movie and crucial to the plot.
     This is more of an introduction to Wakanda where the movie mostly takes place. The movie's director Ryan Coogler, put in a ton of visuals in this movie. You had a ton of beautiful scenes from the astral plane scenes, to the scene of M'Baku, played by Winston Duke, in his throne room, to the costumes of the characters which were inspired by the beauty of Africa. Black Panther has all of the good qualities of a Marvel film: great fighting scenes and action with a little bit of funny all throughout the film to keep us entertained.
      It had all of that and more. Black Panther was a movie with purpose but it  had a ton of political aspects to it as well. It dealt with a lot of topics ranging from colonialism to afrofuturism, to name a few. The film also invokes a familiar history with MLK's pacifism with Malcolm X's black activism with the two protagonist and antagonist characters, T'Challa, played by Chadwich Boseman, and Killmonger, played by Michael B. Jordan. The protagonist and antagonist also draw inspiration to X-Men characters Charles Xavier and Magneto which too were based off of King and X. Jordan has even said that the interaction between his character and T'Challa's is reminiscent of not only King's and X's but Charles and Magneto as well while explaining his version of Killmonger for the film. Coogler has woven these topics into the plot so beautifully without it becoming too preachy and a much better job than Anthony and Joe Russo tried in Civil War. Another thing that was done beautifully was the acting.
     The acting was superb. The whole cast brought their A game. Of course you never get a dull moment with veterans like Bassett and Whitaker, but everyone else was what made Black Panther extraordinary. Bosewick was amazing playing T'Challa who was coming to terms with his father's death and into his own as the new king of Wakanda figuring out how he should rule the country. T'Challa while being the main character did take the back seat compared to other characters but that has more to do with how well the other cast did than Bosework's performance. If you can say who was the MVP of the movie, it would be a three-way tie between Michael B. Jordan, Florence Kumba, and Letitia Wright. Florence Kumba was magnificent playing badass woman warrior and T'Challa's right hand man, I mean woman, Okoye who ripped apart in every scene, as well as the bad guys, she was in. Wright was amazing playing the sassy, witty, and intelligent sister to T'Challa and head scientist, Shuri. Jordan did a great job playing ruthless villain Killmonger, who while motivated by hate, militarism, and good old fashion vengeance did have a tragic villain story which made him the monster he was.

Final Verdict
So, how did Black Panther faired? It was amazing! Not bad for Marvel's first black movie in the MCU. It brought us everything we needed. A great story. Amazing and beautifully written characters and it was more daring dealing with political issues more than Civil War attempted to do, and did it so while being two hours of fun! Black Panther has raised the bar on how every Marvel movie should be. It gets four out of five. Wakanda Forever!
   

Monday, February 5, 2018

New Super Mario Bros Movie: Second Time's a Charm?


    It's a go on a new Super Mario Movie. Earlier this year we have heard rumors that Nintendo is considering venturing back into Hollywood and giving us a brand new Mario Movie. They have officially announced that the rumors are true. They will be partnering will Illumination Studios, the same studios that gave us the Minions franchise.
      This time around they will be fronting the movie as they will be in charge of supervising the whole thing and gaming god Shigeru Miyamoto will be directing the movie himself. Nintendo is really taking charge to make sure that this thing goes off without a hitch, and they should.
     We all remember or better yet would like to forget the live action Super Mario Movie that came out years ago. How was it? Bob Hoskins who played Mario described his experience making the movie as "a fucking nightmare" He was spot on. It was a good idea on paper but the execution was hellish. The directors Rocky Morton and Annabel Jankel were reportedly nightmarish and shooting was a big mess. It wasn't until the studios actually got in and removed the directors that they were to salvage what ever they could but it was all for nigh as the movie did horribly at the box office and gotten even worse reviews. The Super Mario Bros movie is infamously one of the worst video game movies of all time and that says a lot with the damage Uve Boll did. After the Mario Bross movie Bob-ombed, Nintendo has been very selective in what they can make movies and shows out of. Can Nintendo do better?
     Well, a promised by Tatsumi Kimishima, Nintendo would think of ideas outside of the box and think of ideas  to expand the company. Reconsidering opening up to making films out of their beloved franchises could be thinking outside the box and a good way to expand things.
      As far as the studio, Illumination being that they've made a hit franchise with Despicable Me and  Minions would mean that potential Mario movie would most likely be in good, if not great hands, and Nintendo is dead set on supervising on what direction the movie can go. They have learned the lessons in the past, like maybe not casting John Leguizamo a Luigi and are wiser when it comes to who they let play around with source material. However this raises a few problems. We know that Nintendo and Miyamoto can make great games. Movies are however a different fire-breathing bull turtle dinosaur(?) beast. Whether or not they can make a good movie will depend on them and it's all up in the air at this point.

Wednesday, January 10, 2018

New Boss New DCEU


     According to Variety we have a new DC Films president in charge of supervising the DCEU, Walter Hamada. Hamada will be replacing Jon Berg and Geoff Johns. It's not a big loss for Johns as he will be the new creative officer for DC Entertainment and help Hamada. Hamada will not only observe films in the DCEU continuity, but all comic book films as well.
       It is apparent that Hamada being in charge of the DC films is a response to how the entire DCEU is doing right now. It's not doing so well right now. Justice League is a box office failure, as of now, only raked in $652 million worldwide with a budget of $300 million compared to Marvel's Avengers who made $1.5 billion at the box office. And unless your movie was Wonder Woman it has been met with dissatisfaction from critics and fans alike. So what do you do when your cinematic universe is sinking faster than the Titanic? You try to keep it afloat. And making Hamada being the captain in charge of seeing the whole thing steer in the right direction might be a good idea.
      One of the problems with the films is that there isn't a clear and concise vision with most of the films. As evidence with how all over the place Batman v Superman was with its plot and how it was setting up the cinematic universe and how discombobulated Justice League was with how things were poorly fitting together, was the vision wasn't clear or at least wasn't executed properly under Berg and Johns. Hamada could be a better visionary or at least steer things in a good direction as he was responsible for the successes of It and The Conjuring franchise. Whether he can fix the DCEU is a big question and it will be hard work, but at this point it wouldn't hurt.