Firefly: Still Flying

A brand new book is out this week that covers all things Firefly. The book includes storyboards, production design art, behind the scenes photos, memories from the cast and crew, a tribute to the Browncoats, and also four new firefly stories written by some of the show’s orginal writers. Sounds exciting. It’s nice to get a little something new with Firefly since the show was cut so short. There are also a few graphic novels for the show which are definitely worth checking out. If only Fox hadn’t cancelled one of the best shows on television after half a season. Sigh.

ModNation Racers

This game is being referred to as the Little Big Planet of racing games. It has the same emphasis on user created content. Players can create their own tracks, characters and vehicles. It has an online community where players can race each other and also share their tracks. Everything I’ve seen about this game looks really fun. Being able to create your own tracks will be awesome. It seems to have a lot of similarities to Little Big Planet which is one of my favorite games. I’m really looking forward to this.

A Bastardized Karate Kid

I don’t know if anyone has seen the trailer for the new karate kid movie but it is very upsetting. It stars Will Smith’s son as a kid who moves to China with his mom and learns kung fu from a maintenance man who is secretly a kung fu master. As a huge fan of the first two I have to wonder why this is even being made. I guess because Will Smith has tons of money and can do whatever he wants. There are so many things wrong with this adaptation. First of all the kid learns kung fu, not karate. Doesn’t that kind of ruin the title? Also it should be in Okinawa or at least somewhere in Japan, not China. And thirdly, did no one learn anything from The Next Karate kid? One of the reasons The Karate Kid worked in the first place is that it took place in the 80s. At that time you can blast a Peter Cetera song over a karate sequence and it’s okay. Everything I’ve seen about this upsets me. Boo.

A Day of Dragons

Super Mario Galaxy 2

For those of you who really enjoyed Super Mario Galaxy (me!) the sequel has just been released. This one takes all the features from the first but expands the universe even more. Apparently this one is supposed to be more challenging, and is intended for people who are familiar with the first. One review I saw said there are more puzzles and secrets to find without really being explained everything. If you like games with a lot of hidden extras this seems to be for you. I’ve seen a few demo videos and it looks really neat. One thing that is exciting to me is the appearance of Yoshi! Oh and I’m always a fan of Mario suits to wear, I love the tanooki one. This game comes with at least two new ones, a cloud suit and a rock suit.

Katamari, I Love You

Of all the games I’ve ever played I don’t know if any has made me quite as happy as Katamari. This Japanese game, whose objective is to roll stuff up with a ball, is one of the greatest creations ever. In the first game you meet the King of all Cosmos who gets bored one day and destroys all of the stars in the sky. You play as his son, the Prince, who must go to Earth and roll objects up in a ball, which get turned into stars. It sounds weird and it is, but weird in the best way ever. If you haven’t played any of these games you should. There are five total games, 2 for PS2 - Katamari Damacy and Katamari Forever, 1 for Xbox 360 - Beautiful Katamari, 1 for PSP - Me and My Katamari, and 1 for PS3 - Katamari Forever. Here are some screencaps to whet your appetite.

Who Wears Short Shorts

The Hulk and Colossus are two figures that possess a lot of similarities. They both are super strong, can morph into a larger version of their self, and can get rather angry. When they transform into either the hulk form or metal form, their pants rip. Well lately there have been some versions of the Hulk wearing short shorts similar to ones Colossus wears from time to time. I just thought it a little strange. Well actually I thought, “Hey those look like Colossus’s short. The Hulk must have planned ahead.” Any way here a pictures of the two strong men donning some rather short shorts.



The original pants

30 Years Ago Today

On May 18, 1980 one of the greatest films ever made was released. The Empire Strikes Back opened with good box office standings. It opened to mixed reviews based on the story, but all agreed the visuals were spectacular. Now many consider it the best film in the saga. I love it and think that it is the best written by far. As of today it has a 97% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Wahoo. Here’s to thirty years of delightful empire goodness.

Remember When There Was a Possible Buffy Animated Series?

Back in 2002 a pilot for a Buffy animated series was made. Although it never got bought by a network the first few minutes of the pilot are online. It’s been around for a long time, but I figured I put it up any way. Enjoy.

Retro Video Game of the Moment

I love looking back at old Nintendo games I used to play. It makes me feel all happy inside. The first one I’m going to remember is Rad Racer. I’ve been thinking about this game with all the 3DS talk. This game came with 3D glasses after all. It doesn’t matter that they didn’t really work. The game was still awesome. One of my sister’s friends borrowed her copy and never gave it back. Lame. I think not being able to play it anymore made me like it even better. Oh well, here’s some reminders of Rad Racer.

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies Graphic Novel

I bought this recently and found myself a little disappointed. The book, which I love, includes some really great art. I hoped for more of the same in the graphic novel, but that wasn’t really the case minus the great cover. The art isn’t bad, but it just feels incomplete. There is so much detail in the book drawings that aren’t present in the graphic novel. I don’t mind that it is in black and white, although the blood would look cooler in red, it’s just the drawings. I don’t know, they just seem a little unfinished. Still, it’s a really fun story and having the entire novel illustrated is nice given the level of ridiculousness mentioned in the text.

Nintendo 3DS

The next step for the portable Nintendo has been leaked. It is going to be a 3D system similar to the current DS. Most likely it won’t be released for another year. The known differences with the current DS are a 3D effect that can be obtained without glasses, a widescreen on top, and a joy stick. All of the details are supposed to be released in a few weeks by Nintendo. I don’t know how I feel about this. 3D games seem cool, but regular ones already hurt my eyes. I don’t know if I can handle more. There is supposed to be a switch to turn the 3D off, but then it just seems kind of like the DSi. Who knows. I guess I’ll have to wait for my final thoughts until I learn more.

More Empire Goodness

The official anniversary of The Empire Strikes Back is only a couple of days away so I figured I should put up some more pictures in celebration of it. Here is a salute to the characters.

Swamp Thing

Mostly I decided to post a salute to the Swamp Thing because of the tagline for the movie, “Science transformed him into a monster. Love changed him even more!” Ahh… but there are other reasons as well. How often does a hero emerge that is described a humanoid mass of vegetable matter who fights to protect his swamp home, the environment in general, and humanity from various supernatural or terrorist threats. Being a vegetarian I appreciated his vegetable-like quality, and who doesn’t love a horror story that involves environmental protection? Here are two of the movie posters, the original comic cover for issue #1, and the cover of the 2009 Alan Moore issue.

A Day of Robots

Just because toy robots are fun. I'm not so sure about real ones that have the potential to take over. Cartoon robots are good too. More Bender less creepy A.I. kid.