The Console Slayer for 11/26/13

First Console Memories

   I've been in a nostalgic mood lately when it comes to games so I thought we'd talk about our first console memories.

   Are you old enough to remember your first console memories? I would have been about 4 years old when I got my first console. Like a lot of people, my first home console was a Nintendo Entertainment System. It was the Action Set with the orange/red Zapper. Some of my earliest memories are playing, surprise surprise, Super Mario Bros. I still remember the big screen TV I played it on. I could list the memories with SMB but those are a dime a dozen since practically everyone that's played games has those same memories too. I remember having fun with the Zapper and Duck Hunt too. I always hated that asshole dog. I knew I hit those ducks...

   I also remember getting other games too, unfortunately some of them absolutely terrible. Back to the Future was horrible. I remember never being able to get past the malt shop level. Tapper did it right, not BttF. I also remember having the terrible NES port of the GREAT arcade game Strider. That game was hard and confusing to me as a small kid, although I did make it pretty far. I didn't like it then and I still don't like it. Haha.

   The original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles game. Where do I start with this one? Cool cover art, not so great of a game. It's not a terrible game, but it's not that great either. Pretty damn hard. How about the infamous dam stage? The game is perhaps most well-known for this perceived “atrocity” of a stage. I'll admit it was pretty frustrating at times and made me angry but as time went on, I could speedrun that bitch and take little damage. I never did beat that game as a kid but I could make it close to the last stage. I still haven't beat it as an adult. Then there's the Game Genie. I just recently re-added the Game Genie for the NES to my game collection. I remember trading codes with friends before the time of the internet. When games were ass hard, like “NES hard” as the term has come to be, if you weren't cheating, you weren't trying.

   What are some of your first console memories?

   
   For the tune of the day, I share my favorite arrangement of my favorite track from F-Zero, called “Big Blue”. This arrangement is from Super Smash Bros. Melee however:

How to Kill a Vampire: Fangs in Folklore, Film and Fiction Review

Liisa Ladouceur

ECW Press

       Among the sea of vampire books out there on the market, How to Kill a Vampire is something for both horror and non-horror fans. It looks at the how to defeat and defend yourself against the vampires. While chronicling the development of vampires in fiction and the origins of the first cases of vampirism. Even investigating the different countries with each own folklore in vampires. Outside of covering the origins of vampires, defending yourself from them, and the different ways to kill vampires. It offers whole chapters on the various of weapons to combat a vampire, famous fictional vampire slayers, and the compelling vampire suicide. It covers everything from the original Dracula novel to Twilight series with other famous titles spread across the length of book.

Halloween ended about a month ago, but How to Kill a Vampire makes a perfect gift for the upcoming holiday season. If you consider an expert in vampires, this book is a fun and educational experience that will expend your insight on this subject. -Panagiotis Drakopoulos

Marvel Zombies: Are You Game? 24/11/2013

Attention heroes & SHIELD agents! I'm back with loads of Marvel Heroes updates & a bit of Marvel Avengers Alliance as well, so read on...Also, MH fans can join the group we have going for our very own CBNAH MH guild here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/marvelheroesfriends/

Marvel Heroes
Patch 2.02 is out & Gambit is in the house, mes amis!

Patch 2.02 Highlights (complete patch notes here: http://forums.marvelheroes.com/discussion/46441/marvel-heroes-2-02-patch-notes)
-Gambit! You can now play as the Ragin' Cajun! With Gambit busy saving all the damsels in distress, Domino will now be in charge of selling Fortune cards at the hubs.
*Minor changes to Scarlet Witch, Squirrel Girl & Thor.
-A new quest now gets activated for L15 players wherein you get free 250G as the reward (once per account, retroactive for existing players).
-New Item Slot: Pets- Equip your favorite cosmetic pet or reusable holo vendor on your heroes!
-PVP Ring Upgrades- The Signets of Odin, Sif, Frigga & Fandral have been slightly buffed.
-More uniques to find, particularly for heroes without unique in certain gear slots!
-Noir costume for Luke Cage now available in the in-game store for 950G.
-Chase costumes are on sale once more! Purchase them from the in-game store until November 26 at 1325 Gs each.
-LOADS of improvements made to summoned allies.
-Work continues to optimize the currently laggy game performance. Additional details here: https://forums.marvelheroes.com/discussion/comment/501922#Comment_501922

Asgard
-The Asgard event has been completed & the Bifrost Bridge has been unlocked, allowing you to head into Odin's Palace in Asgard. The palace is the new MH hub & it looks splendid.
-The appropriate rewards you were meant to get for participating in the Asgard event will be automatically delivered after the next patch at the most by early December.
-Check out the recently released trailer for Loki here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dS7OzhdmfVk#t=27
-Once in the palace you first need to eliminate all the Dark Elves there & finally defeat Kurse.
-After that you unlock...

PVP: Fire & Ice
-This is now in open beta stage & will undergo about 6 weeks of fine tuning. Read up on the upcoming updates to PVP in these 2 links:
https://forums.marvelheroes.com/discussion/45481/welcome-to-fire-and-ice-pvp-open-beta-testing/p1
https://forums.marvelheroes.com/discussion/45878/first-day-of-pvp-lots-of-good-feedback/p1
-Check the 2.02 patch notes for to see the many changes that have already been implemented.
-If you haven't yet got a chance to check out PVP you can watch the PVP livestream Gazillion held on Twitch recently: http://www.twitch.tv/marvelheroes/c/3248205

Missions & zones
-They are Working on a new target dummy in the Training Room to simulate stage 2 Doom (it will die & respawn, so you can test your time to kill) & a target dummy that shoots a rifle at you to test your defensive abilities.
-The rock troll that Thor smashed at the start of The Dark World is coming soon!
-Working on a Doop level for X-Defense.

Various ETAs
Kingpin terminal- early December
Next Asgard chapter 10 (with Loki boss fight)- December
Ms. Marvel DPS review- December 19
Expanded roles for vendors- December & January
Cap's rework- January
Bronx Zoo- early 2014
Raid zone- Q1 2014 release

Iridium TRIPLE Boost Giveaway!
-Guys this DOES work. Just follow the instructions on this link & voila! http://mmo-play.com/rpg-games/marvel-heroes/giveaways/marvel-heroes-iridium-boosts-giveaway

Marvel Avengers Alliance

Nothing much on this front except that the Unstoppable lockboxes for Juggernaut are on sale for 11 more days. I've bought 30 boxes for myself & got 2 more covers for him. 2 more left to get. :c

Anyways, that's all for now. MH fans watch out for my post on Wednesday- LOADS of updates from Doomsaw himself (including an update on the Mac version)! So until then, keep things heroic!

Artists Assemble- Thundercats

A weekly event where members of the Facebook group can submit art based a specific theme. The art must be your own and match the theme. 

This weeks theme is Thundercats.

Cheetara by Breannah Luini

Lion-O by Adam Bayes

Mini Lion-O by Jason Graziano

Lion-O and Mumm-Ra by Jason Hendrickson

Lion-O: Lord of the Thunderkittens by Christopher Masson

Lion-O and Cheetara by Melbert Martin

Panthro by Christopher Masson

Mumm-Ra by Rodney Celerio

Panthro by Jason Graziano

Lion-O by Melbert Martin

Tygra by Christopher Masson

Panthro by Adam Bayes

Panthro - with a Mo by Christopher Masson

Lion-O by Jason Hendrickson

Kris Artman Carroll as Lion-O

Tygra by Adam Bayes

Panthro by Dennis Mendoza

Cheetara by Zeena Benjamin

Lion-O by Christopher Masson

Snarf by Richard Chin

FROM THE ASHES: Segment # 11

Lost Cities Above the Clouds

   One tiny side note I must mention, this movie came to theaters on my birthday...a yeah before I was born, that is. Anecdotes aside, this week we travel to Hayao Miyazaki's Castle In The Sky. While Miyazaki both wrote and directed, Isao Takahata (1935-) produced the film. He is also the co-founder of Studio Ghibli. Another familiar crew member, Joe Hisaishi, returns as composer, bringing to life the grand sense of flight and fancy within this film. This 1986 feature was the first film produced and released under the banner of Studio Ghibli. However, with so many grand successes following, this film often gets outshined and at one of the longest running times (its over 2 hours), that's unfortunate. Many of the elements of the story and setting are inspired by Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift. I personally found that ironic, as Gulliver's Travels is a personal favorite of mine, while Castle In The Sky is not high on my list. Through no fault of its own; mind you it's still a Miyazaki film. Thus, its still got a lot in its corner.

   For me personally I see this film as a great tribute to architecture and all the lost cities of literature. From Atlantis to Pompeii, this film gathers a bit of each stories adventure and mystical nature. This film has scale. The environments are vast; showcasing an expansive variety of locations as well. From a Victorian era themed pirate ship to a long-lost technologically advanced society that defied gravity itself, this film has it covered. Aaaaaaaand that's where my high praise begins its slippery slope. While I do admire the film's creativity, it all feels rather...borrowed. Its still original to be sure, however it does not surpass the sum of its parts. The characters are mostly passive, which seems ironic as everyone is always doing something. I wish there were more than a couple quiet moments in this film. The story is very linear. While that's not uncommon in many films, it just feels so blase here. As I stated before, this film's strong point is its nod to era specific architecture. It looks stunning. The structural layout and design of city spaces both on earth and in sky are dynamic and detailed. It definitely keep you wanting to explore the visuals throughout the film's progression. The final 20 minutes of the film are satisfying to the utopian fantasy sci-fi fan in all of us. There are many beautifully animated moments I enjoy throughout this film, and the score compliments them quite nicely. As for which cast to view it with, either is honestly fine. The story is simple, the settings are vast, the characters are a tad bland but still capable of charm and warmth. Sometimes the movie feels too long for its story, other times I feel it should have been a miniseries to properly express itself. Despite all my rantings, Castle In The Sky is still an entertaining adventure flick even with its long running time. May each lost traveler find their own point of interest in this tale above the clouds. Enjoy!

 

From The Ashes, V.~

Throwback Thursday 11/21/13

The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe 1983

 
   This month I am going to do something a little different. Since Thanksgiving is the month for us here in the US, I thought that this month each Throwback Thursday will be a character, book, or story I am thankful for. This week “The Official Handbook to the Marvel Universe” takes the stage. 

   In 1983, Marvel decided to take on the daunting task of cataloging almost every Marvel character. Mark Gruenwald had the daunting task of creating an encyclopedia of the Marvel Universe. From the Abomination to Zzzax the “The Official Handbook to the Marvel Universe” gives an excellent overview of nearly every Marvel character. With illustrations by some of Marvel's best talent at the time. Delving back into these issues were a treat. There really isn't a lot to say about the OHotMU, it's a resource tool. If you ever need to figure out what exactly Thundra's powers are, or lean Ursa Major's origin you are in luck. These books are full of that, along with technical drawings of buildings, vehicles, and weapons. What more could you want from a book like this? It makes me smile just thinking about it. 

   When I was a kid I couldn't afford a lot of comics, but what I could buy were issues of the OHotMU. I would devour them, read every single entry, learn all I could about characters who I knew well, and others who were a complete mystery to me. These books turned me into a knowledge hungry Marvel fan. I had to know who each character was, who their opposite number was, who would win in a fight. I would invent stories with characters who I had never read a comic from, yet I knew their history. This book sparked my imagination. I would think about how awesome a team up between Stingray and Spider-Man would go. Or Stingray and Wolverine, or Stingray and Doctor Strange. Can you tell I had a slight obsession with Stingray? I don't have a real good reason why I like him. It may be that I had an obsession with the ocean and scuba diving, or it could be I just thought he looked really cool. Regardless, this was the first minor character I fell in love with, I still get giddy when I see him in a comic now a days. 

   One thing I noticed going over these issues, I only had a handful of these as a kid. I never had much of the first half of the alphabet, I had a lot of the later half. Looking at the “S” issues in particular brought back some great memories. So many C and D list characters became my favorites because a whole page was devoted to them. I always though that if a full page was devoted to a character they must be important. Sadly Red Wolf was not a lynch pin in the Marvel Universe. 

   The OHotMU changed my life. I liked comics as a kid, but these books made me love them. Made me want to devour every scrap of knowledge I could find. It made me discover what kinds of characters I wanted to follow. It was the stepping stone I needed to climb that impenetrable wall that is comics. While there may not be a story to the OHotMU, it is one of my favorite comics of all time. It made me the fan I am today.

Screen Drone #6

This segment is about interesting TV. And sometimes movies. Smashed over the head with an Oz brick.

Storage Wars Texas 318: This show is sweeping the continent and I'm addicted. I don't know why, but I just am. Give a try and I bet you will be too.

How I Met Your Mother 910: Listen all of y'all, it's a ZABKA-TAGE!!!!

Almost Human 101-102: Agents of Shield boring you? Try Almost Human, it has the budget, the fun, and the imagination that the previous is sorely lacking.

Axe Cop 109: Someone is trying to steal the sun? Not if AC has anything to say about it!

Adventure Time 541: Part two of Demon Blood. Can Finn rescue Jake in time? Well..ya, of course he can.

This one, we get some anticipated Lady Rainacorn action.

Comic Book Men 306: Even the guys get STORAGE WAR fever.

The Legend of Korra 211-214: Four episodes of none stop battle to decide the fate of the Avatar and the spirit world. Don't miss these quickly released season enders.

South Park 1708: Part two of what I would call GAME OF CONSOLES. After her betrayal last episode, Lady McKormic flourishes in her grace and beauty.

Parks and Recreation 609: Ron sells his cabin. Leslie deals with the on setting reality of losing her bff.

Son of Anarchy 611: Ron ...Pearlllllmaaaan.....

The Big Bang Theory 709: Thanksgiving and beer.

Modern Family 508: ZOOOOOOO-EEEE!!!!

American Horror Story 307: Character development, character development and character development! New bonds are forged. Also, dead kids orgy.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 205: Oh Mikey...

East Bound and Down 408: Epic finale to an epic show. I'm guessing this is the end of EBAD.