This journal has to do with Fire Pro Wrestling Returns. It's I game I've mentioned before not long ago. In a nutshell, I think it's the greatest wrestling game ever made and I think if you have a PS3 and the ability to download games from PSN, you should do yourself a favor and buy it. Hell, you can get download codes off amazon.com for a paltry $9.99!

Fire Pro Returns at Amazon

So just on a whim I decided I'd share this. I emailed it to some friends already but if by any chance you already own this fine game, here's all the details to make my wrestling-sona (human form anyway). Just know when it comes to colors, I stuck with gradient samples for just about everything except my hair.

Edit Name
First - Reina
Last - Galaxia
Flip - Off
Nickname - The Gauntlet

Edit Skill
Class - Heavy
Height - 198cm
Weight - 120kg
Gender - Female
Year - 1987
Month - 1
Day - 11
Country - Unknown
Rank - S
Charisma - A
Fight Style - American
Return - American
Critical - Finisher
Special - Hardbody
Recovery - Good
Recovery (bleeding) - Good
Breathing - Normal
Breathing (bleeding) - Below
Spirit - Medium
Spirit (bleeding) - Strong
Neck Endurance - High
Arm Endurance - High
Back Endurance - Normal
Leg Endurance - High
Move Speed - Normal
Up and Down Speed - Medium Fast
Ascent Style - Enable
Weapon - None
Theme Song - 28:Genius
Voice 1 - Female 2
Voice 1 (#) - 7
Voice 2 - Female 2
Voice 2 (#) - 9

Appearance

Body - Custom (Fair skinned)
Style - Power

Size
Base - Male M
Head - 95%
Body - 100%
Arm - 95%
Hand - 95%
Leg - 105%

Head
Base - 514 (Purple all over with white patterns and black eye holes)
Layer 1 - Paint 13 (black)
Layer 2 - Female Long (silver grey, not pure white. got to tinker to get)

Chest
Base - Female (black bra)
Layer 1 - Dress (black with white trim)
Layer 2 - Turtle Neck (white collar and straps, black centerpiece)
Layer 3 - None

Waist
Base - Female (black thong)
Layer 1 - Separate (black with white waist)
Layer 2 - None
Layer 3 - None

Upper Arm
Base - Male S
Layer 1 - None
Layer 2 - None

Lower Arm
Base - Male M
Layer 1 - Arm pads (black)
Layer 2 - Wrist Bands (black)
Wrist - Bare

Thigh
Base - Male S
Layer 1 - Leather (black)
Layer 2 - Design 2 (purple with a white outline)
Layer 3 - None

Calf
Base - Female
Layer 1 - Shoes (white with black trim)
Layer 2 - Pads (purple on knees, black trim under knees)
Layer 3 - Shoe Lace (purple laces, black trim they lace into)
Feet - Laced (white shoes with black soles and trim, purple laces. should match the calves

Movesets
I'm not going to list buttons, I'm just going to run right down the list, top to bottom like in the game for every category and it should match up. Also remember each move can have a voice assigned (V1 or V2) as well as be designated a signature move (S) or your finisher ( C ). I'll denote such things in parenthesis. It's also killing me to refer to Sobats as Solebutts...ugh...

Stand
-Kick
-Body Solebutt
-Elbow Bunt
-Rolling Lariat (V1,S)
-Enzuigiri (V1)

Run
-Shoulder Tackle
-Face Crusher
-Western Lariat

Counter
-Cyclone Whip
-Scrap Buster
-Powerslam

Corner Run
-Jumping Elbow

Corner
-Jumping Elbow

Corner to Center
-Shining High Kick

Run to Outside
-Spaceman Quebrada

Dive out Ring
-La Quebrada

Dive in Ring
-Nothing

Post
-Flying Tornado DDT
-Dive Back Elbow Drop
-Moonsault Press (V1,S)
-Shooting Star Press (V2)

Cage Dive
-Moonsault Press

Grapple
-Elbow Bunt
-Body Slam
-Arm Whip
-Forceful Knee Kick
-Leg Feed Enzuigiri (V1)
-Rising Brainbuster
-Short Range Lariat (S)
-Pendulum Backbreaker
-Dynamite Knee Lift
-Torturerack Drop (V1,S)
-N-Light Suplex (V2)
-Jumping DDT
-Emerald Flowsion M ( C )

Back
-Neck Smash
-1-Hand Backbreaker
-Reverse DDT
-Reverse Drop
-Throwing Ger Suplex
-Vert German Suplex

Back Counter
-Arm whip
-Back Switch

Face Up (head)
-Stomping (Stomach)
-Stomping Fall

Face Up (leg)
-Thigh Kick
-Elevated Boston Crab

Face Down (head)
-Stomping (Back)
-King Cobra Hold

Face Down (leg)
-Foothold Kneebreaker
-Hooked-Leg Pinfall

Down (running)
-Kick to Stomach

Corner Grapple
-Modified Shiranui
-Corner Strike Rush
-Corner Stomping

Front Double Team
-Sandwiches Lariat

Front Triple Team
-Triple Hammer Blow

Back Double Team
-Sandwich Lariat

Back Triple Team
-Triple Hammer Blow

Corner Double Team
-Double Corner Attack

Corner Triple Team
-Triple Corner Attack

Guard Attack
-Boston Crab
-Boston Crab
-Boston Crab

Guard Counter
-Bash

Mount Attack
-Jumping DDT
-Jumping DDT
-Jumping DDT

Mount Counter
-Lift and Drop

Back Mount Attack
-Uproot German Suplex
-Uproot German Suplex
-Uproot German Suplex

Back Mount Counter
-Back Press

Running Dive
-Nothing
-Nothing

Inside Apron
-Elbow Bunt

Outside Apron
-Leg Trip to Outside

Corner Counter (F)
-Elbow Bunt

Corner Counter (B)
-Backhand Elbow

Entry Performance
-Elegant Greeting

Performance
-Both Hands Wide Open
-Shout Gut Pose (V2)
-Loud Laughter
-Index Finger Down

Parameter

Left Column (Offense)
Punch - 5
Kick - 6
Throw - 7
Joint - 2
Stretch - 5
Power - 8
Agility - 6
Arm - 8
Tech - 4
Rough - 6
Overall - 1
Entertain - 2

Right Column (Defense)
Punch - 6
Kick - 6
Throw - 8
Joint - 3
Stretch - 3
Flying - 9
Body - 7
Lariat - 7
Tech - 4
Rough - 5
Overall - 4
Entertain - 9

CPU Logic
Link to logic

Finisher Name Edit
Event Horizon

Edit Profile

Profile 1
Ruthless tyrant from

Profile 2
the heavens.

This has been stirring in my mind for a while and I just wanted to put this out there. Recent goings on in comics are what brought this on but really it can apply to any medium. There's an old saying in entertainment that there's no such thing as bad publicity. I'd like you to keep that in mind as I take a moment to step up on my soap box.

It's been common practice in serialized media for there to occasionally be shocking events or twists to get people talking about the product in question. It's a tactic as old as dirt and yet one which still works pretty well. This in and of itself is not quite so terrible but, from my perspective, things as of late have become...uglier for lack of a better term. Perhaps because the ad revenue model spurring click-bait titles or social media in general bringing out the absolute worst in people, what used to be (sometimes tacky) twists or gimmicks seems to have become manufactured controversy to outright antagonism. The end goal is to get people talking and in this day and age it seems the easiest way to make people talk is to piss them off, whether that be denigrating fans or making moronic, pointless changes with minimal justification that will surely result in angry consumers. So angry they write a rant at length about this product which has them so mad, so furious that one wonders how it could be so bad and decided to buy it to see for themself. Word of mouth is good for raising brand awareness and nothing gets words out of mouths like stoking the fires of rage.

I personally have little energy or patience for rage anymore. I used to rage quite a bit so I understand the cathartic nature but eventually I learned it only made me more miserable. I'd rather talk about things I love than things I dislike and I'd urge others to try and do the same, not only for the sake of mental health and happiness, but also so you don't let yourself get used by assholes trying to capitalize on knee-jerk anger. These players give absolutely no shits about your frustrations. All they care about is the bottom line. Next time you get so mad about a stupid change you feel compelled to go on a twitter tirade, don't. If you do that, you're doing exactly what the swine want. Just pause for a moment, take a deep breath, and let go. You're words will do nothing but raise awareness and possibly sales of the thing you're mad at.

In the final analysis, companies just want money so if you're truly that displeased and want to demonstrate it in a quantifiable way, just don't financially support what frustrates you. If you wish to prevent others from spending money on the irritating product, I've found rather than dissuade the uninformed, it's just better not to inform them at all. Like Oscar Wilde said, "There is only one thing in life worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about."

I know sometimes it's hard to resist the temptation, but please, don't give in. Starve the nonsense of the attention it so desperately craves. If a product can't stand by it's own merits, let it fall. And above all else I thoroughly encourage you to instead share, at length, the wonderful, nerdy things that bring happiness to your life. Enthusiasm is infectious and I personally find it far more gratifying to share my love of geek stuff then indulge in the alternative.

Even though I didn't pay attention to E3 at all this year, friends were kind enough to inform me that Injustice 2 was announced and will be coming to PS4 next year. I read up about it and while I have some concerns (Please god don't let Gear be mandatory like Gems) I can't help but have some degree of reserved enthusiasm due to being a huge comic fan, as well as the fact the first Injustice was easily my second favorite fighting game of last gen. Over time we'll see how gameplay shapes up, but for now it's prime time to delve into that time honored fan practice of roster wishlists!

I'm going to run off the roster from the first game. Barring a few specific choices, I thought the first game more or less nailed it in character choices. I'm about to comment on characters I particularly liked (virtually deal-breakers) and disliked. If they aren't mentioned, presume I'm totally fine with them making a return. After that I'm going to comment on confirmed new characters and characters I really hope to see.

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Hope to see return

Martian Manhunter - J'onn is simply my favorite DC hero period and I was ecstatic to hear about his inclusion via DLC. I loved the way he played and felt it was extremely true to character for the most part, especially the trait. You could ditch the orbs and the meteors and give him other stuff maybe more true to character and I'd still love him. He should just be a default addition this time around. As far as I'm concerned, a Justice League without Martian Manhunter is no Justice League at all and you're going to have all the other core members, leaving out J'onn is unforgivable.

Captain Marvel - Or Shazam if you prefer. Probably my second or third favorite DC hero, he was another character who's in game interpretation I enjoyed playing a lot. Making him a highly mobile grappler with a Bison style Psycho Crusher was too awesome. I hope they give him a better trait this time around and tweak him a bit so he's a bit more consistent, but still a real bruiser and I'll be happy.

Don't want to see return

Killer Frost - Seriously, who gives a shit about Killer Frost. There's better ice users to choose from.

Zod - I feel like he was put in due to Man of Steel. Either way I didn't particularly care for him and now that the recent DC film are largely disparaged, he's taking up a slot better used.

Ares - I just didn't think his playstyle was all that interesting. When I think Wonder Woman villains, I think Cheetah and Circe, the latter of which could be workable in a fighter. Ares is a decent enough bad guy I guess. I just don't think he's really an iconic villain myself.

Batgirl - Batman is popular so I can deal with the fact he's going to get more representation than others, but adding Batgirl to me was just one too many despite me liking Barbara. The fact I always thought she was way cooler as Oracle didn't help much either. I don't recall Batgirl ever being awesome enough to be a key member of the Justice League. I feel like there were better candidates for heroines and martial artists. Maybe I'll mention some later.

Raven - I've honestly never been a huge fan of this character. I'm just kind of indifferent to her and she was so bland in the last game. I feel like Dick and Vic cover two eras Teen Titans just fine.

Hawkgirl - I just never liked the Hawk characters myself. This is pure personal indifference. Their histories are the biggest cluster-fucks I recall offhand and their personalities were always flat when I read their appearances. I thought Hawkgirl was extremely boring to play last game as well. Pass please.

Guest Fighters - I'm not alone in this mentality. Games like this operate on fan-service. Specifically DC fan-service in this game. If we wanted to play Mortal Kombat characters, we'd play Mortal Kombat. I don't want cameos or movie monsters or loony tunes or whatever you think would be fun. It would just be a waste of resources that would be better spent putting in another DC character. For me this more than anything will repel me from getting this game. After the shit pulled in Mortal Kombat X, I'm never buying that game. Those four slots could have been Fujin, Rain, Havik or any number of fighters people actually wanted. Maybe these guys made bank on these retarded inclusions so I'm a realist enough to accept maybe you'll squeeze in one or two. But if NR goes ape-shit again then I'm not having any of it.

Thoughts on new characters

Supergirl - She's a decent enough edition. I was never too big on the idea of having more Kryptonians than Superman just because I worry their power and moves-sets would be homogeneous. I'm largely indifferent to Kara. I like Power Girl more. If I were calling shots I'd honestly pass both of them up, opting to add characters with more varied powers but at the very least Supergirl is a better choice than Zod, and the timing is right what with there being a successful live action show on tv. I personally am neutral to this addition but it's least logical which is good.

Atrocitus - Pretty good addition in spite of me not really liking the character. If the intention is to branch into other Lantern Corps. the best options are basically Larfleeze or a Red Lantern. The Red Lanterns clearly have more exposure and Atrocitus is probably the most recognizable. Like I said, I don't like him as a character, but he's definitely a prominent character who will bring variety. Even better is he's, in a way, two characters for the price of one since it appears his trait is summoning Dex-Starr for an assist. That to me is hilarious. Dex-Starr is fantastic and his presence alone makes Atrocitus worthwhile by default.

Grodd - Great choice. I was disappointed by the lack of Flash villains in the last Injustice. Grodd is one of his more prominent ones so this addition makes me happy. I like the potential for a movelist too. On what little gameplay I've seen, he seems like a grappler who may occasionally use telekinesis in the same way Tager uses magnetism in Blazblue. That was a mechanic I loved in those games and if Grodd does something similar then I'm sure I'll enjoy playing him. Very happy with his inclusion.

Characters I hope to see

Booster Gold - Another character I love. Right up there with Martian Manhunter and Captain Marvel. Booster is great and I still feel he could be a great addition, if for no other reason his personality could make him like the Johnny Cage of Injustice. Even then between his technology like his blasters, force fields and maybe using Skeets in some of his special moves, I think there's a surplus of potential for him as an inclusion. Hell, if you wanted to get really creative you could maybe even incorporate time travel into his moves somehow.

Black Canary - I really like Black Canary. Another JLI alum dear to my heart. I feel like she could fill the same gameplay role Batgirl did while doing it better and also adding more variety. She, like Batgirl is a member of the Birds of Prey, is just as strong a martial artist. She has the voice powers. She could also have some great interactions with Green Arrow. She's just more interesting to me and I get the sense she's getting a bit of a push lately so I think the timing is right.

Blue Beetle - Jaime Reyes specifically. I love Ted Kord but Jaime is cool too and he has far more flexibility when it comes to adapting his powers for a video game. The Scarab suit is basically a technological symbiote that's been shown generating various weapons and hardware from itself. That alone holds a lot of promise for a fun character. Other than that, Blue Beetle has been getting a decent amount of exposure thanks to appearances in Brave and the Bold and Young Justice. He even has a new ongoing coming up so I think the timing is right. He should absolutely be in this game.

Dr. Fate - Preferably Kent Nelson but anybody other than the new kid in the blue jeans and hoodie is fine. He's kind of an odd pic since I'm not sure how popular he is, but I really like Dr. Fate. I'm a bit of a sucker for heroes with an Egyptian motif. Either way, my own love aside, Fate is one of the big magicians in DC and he could be a great representative for the Justice Society. His books have been pretty trippy at times so I can imagine a creative designer could get really elaborate with his presentation. Hell, even his tower would make a great level.

Swamp Thing - A cool character I enjoy reading when he's written well. He's a plant elemental and if you you've read any of his more recent comics you know that means his abilities with flora are virtually unlimited. Including Swamp Thing would be giving yourself carte blanche with a plant themed character (who needs Poison Ivy?) while also sort of passively representing the Vertigo line on the whole. Also, part of me would really like to see Swamp Thing vs. Grundy fights.

Darkseid - I badly want some New Gods representation in this game and if we go on prominence and popular recognition then Darkseid wins by a mile. I don't really care how you need to justify it. It just needs to happen somehow. Yeah he's stupid strong, but so is Doomsday. We need Darkseid in this game. He's just too good of a big bad to not break out for he bigger, badder sequel game. Just please, pretty please scrap that hideous Jim Lee design with with the gold and red bits. Go back to something simpler and more classic. There are some Jack Kirby designs you just don't fuck with.

Black Manta - I like Aquaman and he was one of the few characters New 52 was really good to. The same goes for his arch nemesis. Black Manta was cool to begin with but I think recent stories have elevated him even higher. He looks awesome, he has enough weapons and tricks in comics to make a workable moveset and he's arguably Aquaman's greatest foe. This all makes him more than deserving of a spot in my mind, to say nothing of his increasing exposure thanks to major appearances in Forever Evil and Suicide Squad. I saw he was in a stage transition. He better get promoted and have that spot filled by Ocean Master or something because relegating Black Manta to a background cameo is such a waste.

Captain Cold - We know NetherRealm is fond of their ice fighters. Well here's once that's leagues better than Killer Frost. Beyond just filling that role of a fighter that has an ice gimmick, he's a great villain and one of the Flash's primary arch enemies. He's also more recognizable nowadays no doubt thanks to appearances on Flash and Legends of Tomorrow. His omission from the last game in favor of Killer Frost just seemed silly to me. Adding him this time around just seems like a no-brainer.

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And there's my thoughts on the matter! I'd love to hear your thoughts too, either in the comments or in your own journal. Who would you like to see? Who do you hope is left in the dust? How do you feel about my opinions. I'd love to hear some more comments on this since I love talking comics and video games. Talking about a comic video game is the best of both worlds!

People well acquainted with my comic book proclivities know that I despise big events, so it may come as a surprise to people when I wholeheartedly say this. The DC Rebirth relaunch is absolutely worth looking into and you should check it out if you have the chance.

To put things into context, even though I'm slightly more partial to Marvel, I really like DC too. Time was I was getting a roughly equal amount of books from both but the New 52 really pissed in my Cheerios for reasons that have surely already been explained by more prominent internet personalities than I. So for a time my comic intake was almost solely Marvel which brought it own problems along. In addition to steadily more slavish adherence to the event driven narrative model I despise, I think it's fairly apparent that over the last five years or so that Marvel has cultivated a demonstrable disdain for it's core audience, utilizing cheap shock marketing to elicit clickbait headlines and deliberately piss off fans for the sake of generating word or mouth through nerd rage because there's no such thing as bad publicity. This on top of them utterly saturating the market with a deluge of shitty titles with only a mere handful being worth reading. I'm fed, up. My weekly pull is as small as it's ever been and I've been hungry for an alternative. Enter DC Rebirth.

Though initially skeptical, my cynicism was pretty quickly chipped at with a marketing push that was overwhelmingly optimistic, saying exactly what I, and many local fans I know, wanted to hear: This would be a return to form. In tacit admission that New 52 was largely a failure, DC has been promising things like returning heroes to the core of what has made them legends, bringing the heart back to the characters, acknowledging the history of the universe, reestablishing relationships and many other things that to me and many other comic fans, are a big part of what makes DC great and separates it from Marvel.

So the DC Universe Rebirth one-shot came out and I checked it out. It was great! As a way to set the tone for what's to come, this books absolutely delivered on the promises. Basically starring Wally West was a great way to put their best foot forward. There were allusions to Green Arrow/Black Canary pairing happening, Aquaman proposed to Mera, the JSA is hinted at and to cap it all off there's a wonderful, touching moment between Barry Allen and Wally West. Even better is that this is explicitly NOT a reboot. I think it's better to consider a patchwork. It's not throwing out any continuity before or after Flashpoint which I find very impressive. As if in an effort to leave absolutely nobody out in the cold, Rebirth seems to be trying to make New 52 work with what came before. I won't go into too much detail to avoid spoilers but from my perspective it's being handled quite deftly.

So here's what I've read so far:

-DC Universe Rebirth
-Green Arrow Rebirth
-Superman Rebirth
-Action Comics
-Aquaman Rebirth
-Flash Rebirth
-Wonder Woman Rebirth

Absolutely all of them have been a pleasure to read. Some were good, others were great. DC definitely has me on board with Rebirth for the time being. It isn't some gritty reboot or some initiative to pander to moviegoers. This really does, for the time being, feel like a return to form. It's hitting all the right notes and, for the first time in a long time, I'm optimistic for what the future hold for heroes.

So take this as my ringing endorsement. In a later journal I'm going to talk about things I look forward to and things I'd like to see. But for now I'll just say if you have a local comic shop near you, stop by and give some of these issues a try. At an affordable $2.99 it's an easy dive to take.

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-A3zRlcHBx.....RTH-splash.jpg

Just look at all those smiles. Here's hoping for the best!

Just a heads up to any friends who commented or read the last couple journals. Wanted to let you guys know I've already ordered my tickets for the Chikara finale. I got three for now, one for my self and two for friends. Front row was already sold out so I settled for second row which is still pretty awesome. If it sounds like more friends are going to be at Midwest FurFest then I'll probably grab at least a couple more. Being cautious for the time being. If anybody else knows for sure they're going, let me know. Would love to have an awesome Saturday! ;D

In the meantime, have another taste of Chikara goodness. Here's another great match. If memory serves correct it was an exhibition match during a recent King of Trios tourney. It's a damn fine fatal 4-way. Enjoy!

https://youtu.be/8XesuznnHaA

So this is a follow-up to the journal I posted earlier today and is mostly relevant for those who answered "Yes" to both of the questions therein.

So here's the deal.Anybody who knows me well enough knows that I love Pro Wrestling and my favorite promotion by far for a good while has been Chikara. Earlier today I was looking at their events page to see if they planned to swing by my neck of the woods again this year. Unfortunately they aren't but I did learn that they're having their Season 16 finale shows in Chicago...on the same weekend as Midwest FurFest...at a venue 30 minutes from the convention. 8D

Now I wasn't initially planning on going to MFF. If I did I'd want to take 5 days off to hand around for the whole event and then some but my schedule likely wouldn't allow that. However, I'd be totally be able to come one day so I was thinking of catching a red-eye Friday night, buy Saturday admission for MFF and visits friends while also catching Chikara's finale later on, ideally with friends! Maybe crash in somebody's room if they're willing and fly out early Sunday. Two awesome events in one flight!

That's why asked those questions last journal. I wanna know who'd I'd meet in Chicago as well as who may want to join me for a phenomenal show later Saturday night. It could be great. I'm also wondering if anybody would be willing to let me crash in their room, just for one, maybe two nights.

Anyway, they're actually having two shows in one day. One is in the afternoon, the other is in the evening. I'm not sure if I'll do both but I'm DEFINITELY doing the evening show. Below here is links to the even pages and general Information. If you think you'd like to do this or wouldn't mind having a wrestle-dragon get some rest in your room, please let me know. =D

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Temple of Doom
Supremacy

Saturday, December 3rd 2016

Logan Square Auditorium

2539 North Kedzie Boulevard
Chicago, IL 60647
United States

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Also, even if you're not going to MFF I'd still really appreciate anybody posting a journal or tweeting or doing anything to raise awareness about this event. They're really entertaining and deserve the love. It could even be a cool thing for a bunch of furries to show up in attendance. After all, Chikara has a long tradition of animal themed wrestlers, to say nothing of the ones that were straight up fursuiters (C.P. Munk, Colt Cabunny, Dragon Dragon). If you want a taste of what they're like, here's a sample. It's one of my all time fave matches they've ever done. Fyi, it's loud so turn down volume.

https://youtu.be/2wU2re7yIs4

Raise your hand if you mark out. Wrestling can be fun~!

So, two questions for you guys:

1. Are you going to Midwest FurFest this year?

2. Would you enjoy seeing an amazing pro wrestling show?

I learned something interesting today and am starting to consider plans so any of you who know me well. please comment, answering these questions. I'll drop more details later tonight when I have a bit more time to elaborate.

Thanks!

Hey guys. Just taking a moment here to mention my buddy  demonfan is going to be opening up for story commissions in the summer. You can find details on his journal here:

http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/7568669/

I know stories aren't exactly as popular as art around here, but I've bought a few stories from him and they were great for the price. I strongly encourage you to give it a shot if you can. I don't think you'll be disappointed. =3

Wow, this took a while to get to. Like I said, I'm going to see this through to the end but I think I lost motivation because of lack of comments or discussion. Hopefully I'll get some more moving forward, but regardless, I should finish what I start. Here's a couple more games I loved. And don;t forget to check out Days 1-3 if you haven't already. I'm getting into bigger games know so I'mm just going to get even more wordy from here on out.

Virtua Fighter 5 (series)

It may be a bit of a cop out to include the expansions here but considering AM2 doesn't exploit this practice to the extent of, say, Capcom, I think it's fair, especially since we in the US never got 5R and skipped straight to Final Showdown. Anyway, I'm a fan of fighting games and I have the dubious pleasure of saying the Virtua Fighter series is by far my fighting series bar none. I've loved it since trying the first game in a hotel game room on a vacation in the 90s. Considering this last console generation had all manner of fighters trying to reinvent the wheel with varying degrees of success, it was good to know the makers of Virtua Fighter knew their wheel was just fine as is and simply wanted to make it a little shinier.

I have probably talked at length either on this journal or in other places but the reason I love VF5 is for the same reasons I love VF on the whole. My favorite fighters aren't the ones that result in long flashy juggles that go on for ages, they're the ones with emphasis on the neutral game, the part where opponents jockey for positioning and try to make good reads to get the advantage. While Virtua Fighter has combos, the real excitement of the match is in the mind games. Execution for the game is actually pretty easy for the most part so the real challenge is knowing what your options are in any given situation and acting appropriately. Damage is high so the pace is fast and pressure is on to pick up on opponent patterns and just having solid fundamentals. The series religiously adheres to frames as being the biggest determining factor in success. No easy reversal shoryuken spamming here. At the same time though there are no hopeless situations. Pretty much every aggressive action has at least two counter-actions so a match can turn on a dime even when it looks like it's wrapped up.

This is why I love the series in general and all of it applies to why I love the VF5. VF5 just happens to have more in it. It has more characters, this time adding an awesome luchador and a karateka among a couple others. There's more customization for fighters and the online is probably the most stable of any fighter I've played, period. It's amazingly smooth and it looks better than a lot of it's 3D peers in my opinion despite being among the first fighters released last generation. Virtual Fighter doesn't get much love nowadays for a couple reasons as I see it. It's not a "flashy" fighter and doesn't try to dazzle people with seizure inducing light shows, characters are fairly stock designs that are light on personality, Sega seems less bothered to bring it from arcades to consoles, its single player content has been minimal as of late and in an era where fighters seem to be trying to court newbies by implementing hand-holding mechanics, Virtua Fighter has developed the unsavory reputation as being prohibitively difficult (which in my opinion is total bullshit, but I digress). I won't claim Virtua Fighter 5 is the best installment in the series but Final Showdown is my personal favorite and easily my favorite fighter of last gen. It's a steal and a great value at a paltry $15 for digital download. Try it. Unless you just hate fighters, I don't think you'll be disappointed.

Anarchy Reigns

Platinum Games has a pretty solid track record with me barring maybe a couple games so I'm always willing to check out something they make. Anarchy Reigns in particular grabbed my attention thanks to being a spiritual successor to Madworld (an honorable mention for great games of last gen) and having some great teaser trailers. The game is a bit of an oddity. In an era when online multiplayer took off, AR opted to be, of all things, an arena style multiplayer brawler. That's a type of game I haven't really seen since Power Stone. In a market saturated with shooters, an unconventional multiplayer-focused game like this was a real breath of fresh air.

The gameplay was pretty simple from an execution standard. Combat wasn't terribly complicated but had just enough depth and quirky aspect to allow people to mess with juggles and what have you. Character designs were highly creative designs and all play uniquely for the most part by merit of what their cybernetic weapon of choice is. Anarchy Reigns has a basic, serviceable single player campaign but the real attraction here was the multiplayer. There was a plethora of competition modes, some standard, some totally off the wall. But all of them were utterly merciless. I say this as a compliment, but the game's multiplayer is incredibly ruthless. There is no honor in this game. It's dog eat dog, every man for themselves. Success is usually achieved by being opportunistic, ganging up on the weak and using every environmental weapon to give yourself an edge. And that's not even mentioning the random environmental hazards that just piss in everybody's Cheerios. You could be in a skirmish when suddenly a kraken attacks, or mutant plants start making air poisonous on low ground or any number of wonderfully chaotic absurdities. The game was pretty much designed to make the salt flow.

Worth mentioning is the phenomenal soundtrack. This game has what may be one of my favorite game soundtracks of all time, being mostly indie hip hop that seems perfectly appropriate for these death-matches for some reason. It's perfect for getting you pumped. I still regularly listen to it when I work out. Sadly, as much as I love Anarchy Reigns, it was pretty screwed over thanks to Sega botching the release. Not only was the game delayed but the US version was released 6 months after the Japanese version right at the beginning of January in the wake of the holiday season when every triple-A title not named Call of Duty comes out. Considering this, coupled with a complete dirty of marketing, it's not surprising the game failed to reach a broader audience. Last time I checked, the online scene is basically a ghost town. It's a shame because those first several months when the lobbies were alive and kicking were some of the most hilarious and memorable multiplayer games I've had in recent memory.

So, from sources whose opinions I trust on the matter, this year's Wrestlemania was a total shit show and you were likely to get more entertainment out of reading twitter commentary than from actual matches. If so might I suggest ashing out the bad aftertaste by booting up your PS3, logging onto PSN and buying the best wrestling game I've ever played? But of course I'm talking about the amazing Fire Pro Wrestling Returns!

So why buy this awesome game? What does it have going for it? Well...

-You can make a few hundred of your own custom wrestlers including looks, moves and even AI behavior.
-Deep, rewarding gameplay mechanics that reward timing and skill
-Hundreds if not thousands of moves to choose from to make your wrestler's massive move list.
-Combat styles from the likes of American wrestling, lucha libre, puroresu, MMA, boxing, judo and more
-Customizable promos, rings, belts and logos
-Modes from exhibition, tournaments, tag matches, free for all, hardcore, cage match and most other fights you'd want.
-Sprites! Glorious animated sprites!

On top of all that it's a steal at a mere $15 dollars. The game is basically a gigantic toy box that gives you pretty much all the stuff you'd want in a comprehensive wrestling game including great fight mechanics. Don't let the dated look for you. Thy may be sprites instead of 3D models but this game is pure arcade goodness with more customization options than I can recall seeing in most games. I can't praise it enough. Was one of my fave games from the 6th console generation. Give it a go!

https://youtu.be/Q7jzDsu5L5s

Yesterday I was informed and was able to verify that the Marvel Ultimate Alliance games, probably two of my favorite comic book games ever, have been re-listed on Xbox live and are currently selling for only ten dollars each until the end of the weekend!

For those who don't know, around 2010, publisher Activision lost the Marvel license or some other licensing complication occurred that resulted in them having to remove several games and, more importantly, some great great DLC from digital marketplaces. While used copies of these titles are still available, the DLC removal complicated things. Said DLC for each title included packs of playable characters. Good ones too. Characters like Hawkeye, Hulk, and Juggernaut. For MUA1 this could somewhat be addressed by tracking down Gold Edition and Platinum Hits versions of the title, but people who own these tend to be aware of their relative scarcity and prices reflect that. For MUA2 there's no such alternative. If you missed the DLC the first and second time they were up, you've been shit our of luck.

Fortunately, an source has indicated that these new digital download versions have said DLC included in them so now is your chance to pick up these two great games for an incredibly affordable price. Even if these didn't include the DLC, $10 each is an absolute steal for the value you get. MUA was one of my favorite games last gen an the sequel was similarly great. I highly recomend you get them while your still can.

Hell, if they do well enough, maybe some executive somewhere will get the idea that gamers wouldn't mind a Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3. Wishful thinking for sure, but still a fun thought to entertain.

If you can, please spread the news. This is a golden opportunity.

<3

So as I'm sure everybody knows by this point, the Deadpool movie debuts this weekend. My experience in a comic shop is that this new exposure is going to bring with it a new wave of interest of an already tremendously popular character. I myself am a pretty big Deadpool fan. I have been for over 15 years and I figure I might as well take this opportunity to talk about one of my favorite characters in all of comics and maybe guide new readers through the stormy waters of comic books to help them avoid the crap and find the good stuff. I'll try to limit this to what are arguably the most significant runs and at the end of each section I'll list any collected editions I'm aware of. This is all my opinion of course but, if you'd like to read more about Wade Wilson, the Merc with the Mouth, I hope this can be a helpful resource.

The Good Stuff

Deadpool: The Minis
After making his debut in New Mutants and having guest appearances in several books throughout the early 90s, Marvel decided to test the waters by giving Wade a miniseries titled "The Circle Chase", written by one of his creators, Fabian Nicieza, and illustrated by Joe Madureira. This was followed up with a second mini by Mark Waid and Ian Churchill. These two minis definitely look and read like a product of their dark and edgy time, but they aren't bad and definitely worth reading for the sake of character history and context. Nicieza and Waid were laying the foundation for what would eventually come, establishing important character elements like Wade's snarky attitude, depression and disfigured appearance as well as frequent supporting characters like Weasel and Siryn.

-Deadpool Classic Vol. 1

Deadpool v.1 #1-33
Here's the big one, the seminal run by Joe Kelly. Every comic hero has that run that fans look back on and the best in their publication history. For Deadpool, this is that run without question and I'm of the opinion that one can't truly be considered a Deadpool fan if they haven't read it. Kelly took the groundwork laid and ran with it in Deadpool's first monthly ongoing, exploring his moral ambiguity and giving him a tragic backstory to establish the notion that Deadpool is damaged goods who uses his jokes and comedy as a way to mast his pain and profound self loathing. Don't let that fool you into thinking the story is all. There is plenty of comedy and it's great. Wade taking a precook to gamble in Rio, fighting Wolverine to get maimed for therapeutic reasons and an utterly hysterical issue where he gets teleported into the past in a Silver Age issue of Amazing Spider-Man are some highlights that immediately come to mind.

Art on the whole is great too with a young Ed McGuinness staring it out and many other fine artists along the way. One of the most magical things about this run is the amazing balancing act between drama and humor that never loses sight of the arc the whole thing is about. It's a clever parody of gritty anti-heroes as well as a profoundly compelling character study of a broken man trying to reclaim some of his humanity. Deadpool isn't insane. He's emotionally unbalanced, sure, but not coo-coo crazy. He's lived a thoroughly horrible life and that reflects in how he was and, in a lot of ways, still is a pretty unsavory character. Yet in spite of that, in spite of failures, he's trying to be a better person. That to me is why this is one of the best runs of any comic I've ever read. Read it.

-Deadpool Classic Vol. 1-5
-Deadpool by Joe Kelly Omnibus

Deadpool v.1 #65-69
After Joe Kelly wrapped up his story with Deadpool, the character was handled by several writers with the output being entertaining but generally unremarkable quality. This was through no fault of its own mind you. Kelly set the bar monstrously high. Yet near the end of Deadpool's first ongoing we got a short but sweet run by Gail Simone and the artists of Udon. Yeah, the Capcom guys. The manga- style art can be a turn-off for some, but the writing is there at least. It was incredibly brief run but it was the closest to recapturing that Kelly vibe of Wade being kind of a jerk but deep down has the making of a potential hero. There's great comedy and great serious moments. That this run basically solidifies a begrudging friendship between Deadpool and Taskmaster (another personal fave) is just icing on the cake.

-Deadpool Classic Vol. 9

Cable & Deadpool
Deadpool creator Fabian Nicieza returned to his creation for this delightful run. If one wanted to read a more lighthearted Deadpool book without the heavy themes of the Kelly run or the raging stupidity on more recent takes, this is the series to look into. The decision to make the book an odd-couple, buddy story seems odd at first considering the lead anti-heroes at surface level seem a poor match outside of their shared history in New mutants and other 90's books but the formula actually works amazingly well. Cable has often been absurdly serious and Deadpool can easily be written as too goofy so pairing the two together helps to even out their extremes and finds a happy medium that allows them to play off each other well. Deadpool makes headway in his personal quest to be a better person with Cable's help and Cable learns to lighten up a bit. This run is also more comical in general, satirizing and having fun with some extremely self serious event that went on during the same time, including House of M and Civil War. Still, Nicieza knew when to scale things back again and more serious character moments are also good. Both characters grow a bit and seeing them develop a mutual understanding and respect is always an arc I've enjoyed and this is just another to add to that list. Cable left the book for roughly the last 5th of the story so at that point it became mostly comical hijinks to wrap up the series. Still, it ended on a very fun note.

-Cable & Deadpool Vol. 1-8 and Deadpool vs. The Marvel Universe
-Deadpool & Cable Ultimate Collection Book 1-3
-Deadpool & Cable Omnibus

Deadpool v.3 and v.4
This is the most current run by Gerry Duggan and Brian Posehn. I have to confess I haven't been reading it with much so my opinion is not terribly informed on this one, but what I have read has been so-so (Dead Presidents) to terrific (The Good, the Bad and the Ugly). Having stellar artists like Tony Moore and Declan Shalvey onboard occasionally certainly doesn't hurt either. I've heard quite a bit of positive feedback from other Deadpool fans and while nobody is putting it on par with Kelly, the near unanimous consensus is that it's a major step up from it's predecessor which is all one could ask for. Volume 3 went for 45 issues before Secret Wars happened. Volume 4 is a direct continuation starting at #1 again in fall so it's as good a starting place as any near as I can figure.

-Deadpool (Marvel NOW) Vol. 1-8

Avoid like the Plague

A little context here. Much as I love Deadpool, I haven't been a regular reader for just over seven years or so. I still dabble but I don't read all Deadpool anymore for a very good reason: Marvel has whored out the character.

I don't know exactly when it started happening but around the mid-2000s Deadpool started becoming more prominent in the minds of internet goers thanks to word of mouth and samples of his zany antics and 4th wall breaking (which he used to do rarely for the most part). Over time more people who had never read a Deadpool book thought they knew what the character was all about because they saw a panel of him Dragon Punching Kitty Pryde or talking to the audience or dropping pop culture references. To the uninformed general public, Deadpool had mutated into Marvel's resident clown, a character whose sole contribution, as far as they knew, was to be a funny man. This led to...

Deadpool v.2
The insufferable "Waypool" run by hack writer Daniel Way. In line with the above perception of Deadpool, Way decided to pander to this preconception and give the non-readers exactly what they expected. The end result is the most lambasted as we'll as the most popular run on the character by far. Opinions of this series appear to be highly polarized depending on prior familiarity with the character. Those with none seem to like it for being an irreverent silly comical. Those who read material before seem to hate it for the exact same reason. I myself fall in the latter camp and cannot recommend enough that you look elsewhere. Keep in mind I got about halfway through it before dropping the book entirely so my knowledge of the run is incomplete. Still, I don't think one should have to wade through 30 issues of crap to get to something good and I have heard very little positive about it after that.

The Way run started okay with decent comedy which I could accept as a way t ease in new readers, but then quickly devolved into the Screwball Misadventures of Deadpool. Every new story was him just getting into wacky antic with very little purpose. There was no deeper characterization and no point to anything. Better ideas of past Deadpool stories were regurgitated and diluted into more slipshod stories. Deadpool was no longer tragic or even likable. He was just a impulsive dick for the most part. Part of what made Deadpool endearing before was his sincere attempts to be e better person. Even if he was still a jerk to a degree, he was trying and that made you relate and root for him on his road to redemption. In the Way run his motives are almost always selfish if he has any real motives at all, making him extremely unsympathetic. Coupled with this were the voices in his head. Again, pandering to the notion of him as crazy, Wade would talk to himself in captions. The only reason these were added was so that Way had an easy tool to drop jokes and pop culture references on a whim without having to worry about context or having any point to the plot at all. I recall people hating Family Guy for the same reason.

I can understand people wanting a funny character to read. Comedy is definitely one of Deadpool's biggest draws. But even so, despite being the most comedy-focused run the character has had, it's just not as funny as stuff that's come before. Kelly, Nicieza and Simone managed to be hysterical as well as clever. Deadpool can make a reader laugh without having to spout a torrent of internet memes. It's shallow, it's dumb, and it has no purpose other than cheap giggles. If you need a Deadpool fix, I implore you to look elsewhere.

Your Mileage May Vary

The beginning of the Daniel Way also heralded Deadpool entering the mainstream consciousness in a big way. Marvel not being ones to pass up a business opportunity began saturating the market with all manner of Deadpool minis and supposed ongoings that ended up running short. The sheer volume is too immense to cover them all so I'll simply give you a general warning that the bad seems to outweigh the good. However there are a few I can recommend. Suicide Kings was a great 5 issue mini and a fun team up book. As of now there is a Spider-Man/Deadpool mini being done by Joe Kelly and Ed McGuinness which was promising in concept and has not disappointed in the least. There is also a Deadpool & Cable mini by Nicieza so they got two of Deadpool's best scribes writing him again. On the flip-side. I despised Wade Wilson's War.

Oh and while you're at it.

Deadpool is a playable character in the Marvel Ultimate Alliance games. He's voiced by John Kassir (The Crypt Keeper, Monsoon) and he's awesome. The games are great fun and you should play them. He's also playable in Marvel vs. Capcom 3. He's voiced by Nolan North (Every bland everyman protagonist ever) and he's cool enough. Those games suck though and you shouldn't play them. Play Ultimate Alliance instead!

Welp, that's it guys. Hopes this helps you out should you decide to check out Deadpool's home medium!

So from after Christmas and over New Years I had my good friends  Muddyness and  jaeh visiting my neck of the woods.

It was a great time and I just felt like sharing some of the highlights of things we did because it's fun to recollect. It was a really great way to end one year and start another. I couldn't ask for better. And Jaeh, Muddy, if either of you two are reading this, feel free to add anything else I may have missed.

-One thing that made the visit particularly special was after getting rain up until mid December, we got a shit ton of proper "White Christmas" style snow and Jaeh had never seen snow before in such volume. Watching him make a snow angel was like seeing him turn into a kid and anytime we walked outside he went out of his way to walk in the high snow. It was precious.

-There was some gift exchanging. Jaeh got me JoJo shot glasses and Muddy got me Yoshikage Kira's necktie. Now I can be JoJotastic when I get drunk and look stylish while doing it! Thanks guys! I got Muddy the rest of the Bendis/Maleev Daredevil run because he's become more interested in the character after the Netflix series and I mailed the Kamen Rider OOO sword earlier. Muddy gave Jaeh the Tajaspinner so now he's only missing the Putotyranusaurus Axe and now debating getting Birth toys. XD

-Muddy informed Jaeh and I that he had never seen anything related to Evil Dead. It became a mission to rectify this cosmic mistake. Over the week we ended up watching the entire movie trilogy and the entirety of Ash vs Evil Dead, mostly after 1am when the fam was asleep so we could watch it on the big tv downstairs in HD. He had to be a bit quiet and keep the lights off save the X-mas tree. Gave the viewing a warm and slightly spoopy holiday atmosphere. Muddy is now a fan. Mission Complete!

-We went to Hell's Kitchen, a restaurant I love. Jaeh tried a Juicy Lucy for the first time and I treated everybody to Dead Nazis. We played Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate on the light rail to and from downtown. Good way to kill time.

-First time at the Mall of America is always fun. Great excuse to go on the rides. There was a TMNT themed one where we had a contest to see who could do the most 360 rotations on the ride. I won! =D

-We played Until Dawn to completion. Not a good game in my opinion but fun to go through with friends because we'd debate the decisions like it was Inside Out or something and e were so familiar with the truckload of horror cliches that we were also kind of riffing it along the way. We didn't use a guide and ended up finishing with everybody surviving. We pretty much hated everybody from the get go but we played in a way that we were trying to have everybody better than we thought they were and for the most part almost everybody wound up deing decent people we liked. We initially hated Mike a lot for being a douchey jock but he ended up being a more earnest guy and pretty heroic. We really liked the Ashley/Chris pairing too. We despise Emily and wanted her to die without us proactively trying to kill her. XD

-Snow tubing! Another thing that da boid had never done before and seemed to really enjoy doing. Afterwards we ordered pizza. A good way to warm up if you ask me.

-We didn't drink too much on New Years but I made sure to make everybody Chateau Romani courtesy of Drunken Moogle. We've had it before and it's super good.

-Other games we played a lot together included Fire Pro Wrestling Returns, Panzer Dragoon, Mortal Kombat X, Prototype 2, and especially MH4U. Lots of our free time was spent on nerdy endeavors.

-On Wednesday before tubing we went to my workplace to see my comic buddies and regulars. They all hit it off immediately. Jaeh drew my boss as Zeus (based on a funny story I may explain later) and everybody dug it and we all started face-palming when Muddy got into a bad Joke-off with with a local friend who also tells terrible jokes. XD And of course comics were bought. Muddy bought the classic Wolverine story by Claremont and Miller as well as the original Devil Dinosaur by Jack Kirby. Jaeh totally splurged and bought all the Mike Grell Green Arrow collections that have been released thus far as well as a new Scarecrow action figure for his collection. It was great introducing everybody and it was a great reminder that I have an amazing job. <3

It was a wonderful visit and I hope to see my friends again soon. Dropping them off at the airport hurt so bad. I have the best friend I could hope for. Probably better than I deserve and I love them so much. If you have friends like that, do what you can to see them. It's a real personal morale booster.

I'm sure FA will be swarming with the usual holiday cheer over the next 48 hours so I thought I'd jump the gun a bit and wish everybody a Merry Christmas and a happy new year. But I also wanted to take a moment to share some words for those closest to me.

I've never been one to make a big deal about new years. It's just another year as far as I'm concerned but the last couple of days I've really caught myself thinking back on what 2015 was like. It, like all years, was a mixed bag with its fair share highs and lows and while some of the low stuff is still ongoing and weighs on my shoulders more often than I like, because of the time of the year it's easier than usual to look past that and take a moment to appreciate the good times and what I actually have right now. My health is adequate, I have an amazing job with an amazing clientele who many of which I love spending time with, but most of all, there are those of you reading this right now who I have the amazing fortune of calling my friends. You know who you are but you people are amazing. The time we spend, even if it's just online if probably the most consistent "good" in my life. I feel so lucky to know so many people willing to engage with open hearts, open minds, and a great sense of humor and just getting along. That you folks have the patience and the compassion to put up with my myriad bullshit, that means more to me than you can imagine. Friends like you are what make life worth living for me and I love you all so much just for being there.

I wish I could end this with a poignant phrase or something but I'm not that creative so fuck it. Have some Queen instead.



https://youtu.be/0AIlz08fZos

This is a follow-up to a journal I posted a few months ago wherein I went over some upcoming Marvel titles being released as part of their new sales initiative so far. You can read that over here:

https://www.furaffinity.net/journal/7061722/

It's been a while now and most all of these have at least one issue released so far so I thought I'd post thoughts on them based on issues read up to this point. It's just my own personal opinions on them at the moment. I encourage everyone to look into what they're genuinely curious about. That's the best way to find things you like, especially in a medium as huge as this.

Comics that were on my radar

Black Knight
2 issues - Well darn, this hasn't been as good as I'd hoped. I'm rather lukewarm on it at the moment. Art is passable but a little rough looking at times and the writing isn't quite all there either. Dane in particular seems off. I don't know how he is usually but he struck me as remarkably flippant in a sort of annoying self-referential way. I'm not sure how to explain it. Not to mention there was a guest appearance by an Avengers team as early as issue two which really sends a negative vibe to me. Early guest appearances to me feel like attempts to put over a character editors may not have faith in. The jury is still out on Black Knight but thus far it's been unremarkable. I'll give it another few issues.

Daredevil
1 issue - Goddamn now this is what I'm talking about! It's only been one issue so far but what a first issue! Finally Daredevil is back to being miserable, just the way I like it. Garney's art is gritty and gorgeous and the the minimal color palette gives it a great noir look. Soul's writing seems on the mark with characterization and the current state of things has me intrigued. Matt's an assistant DA now? He has a sidekick called Blindspot? Very strong first issue. Totally following this one. Can't elaborate too much. I loved it. It's that simple.

Doctor Strange
3 issues - A very strong showing so far. Aaron's writing is fine so far with a good balance of drama and comedy but the art is what really sells the book. Bachalo is the star here to be sure. His style is esoteric and creative enough to really convey the weirdness that Strange encounters. He's really cutting loose and doing some creative things with colors as well. Definitely worth checking out for the art if for no other reason.

Hercules
2 issues - For going into this with next to no expectations I'm surprised I've liked it as much as I do. I'd honestly say this is probably in my top three of these ongoings I've been checking out and easily the one I'd recommend most because it's a kind of hero book I've wanted for a long time. The art is good but what really endeared me was the writing and character interactions. I love the premise. It's sort of like the New 52 Aquaman in that it lampshades how Herc is seen as something of a joke as he's trying to clean up his act and be a worthy hero again for the modern age. It can be comical too but not in a stupid way. For example, at one point he fights giants with a grenade launcher but instead of going the easy route of having him bumble around and cause a mess of collateral he's actually competent and uses smoke grenades prepped specifically for the giants. It subverts expectations but is still funny just for the juxtaposition of Herc with a grenade launcher. There's also some really tender, sweet moments. I don't want to spoil too much though. Bottom line the writing is great. It's clever and respectful to reader intelligence and holds a lot of promise. This book is the total package and the kind of thing I've wanted for a long time: a fun, heroic romp without any real cynicism or conceit. More of this please!

Karnak
1 issue - Good issue for the reasons you'd expect from Ellis' writing. Wasn't sure what to expect from a Karnak solo but it turned out pretty good. Karnak was always the more philosophical and intellectual of the Inhumans and this basically cranked it up to eleven and turned him into a pretty badass warrior monk. However he's also now a much bigger dick than I ever recall him being so there's some bad with the good. The art is decent but very sketchy looking. It has a "flavor" to it that I don't hate but I don't love it either. It definitely won't be everybody's cup of tea. Biggest detriment to me was the plot is still somewhat focused on finding more Nuhumans or whatever who I still give noshits about and I still don't care for the new status quo for the Inhumans in general. Still, in spite the drawbacks it was a worthwhile read and I'll stick with it for a bit I think.

New Avengers
3 issues - Oy vey, I was right on the money with this one. Just horrible and a good chunk of my shop's patrons agree. First things first, let's talk about Sandoval's art. It's better than usual but still pretty friggin' bad. For god sake, when he draws Skulls they look like elves from World of Warcraft. No sir I don't like it. Al Ewing's writing here is absolutely horrid as well. Everybody has the exact same voice and is snarking up a storm as if this thing was written by a fanfiction.net author doing their damnedest to emulate Joss Whedon. This book in general has no real identity. It's trying to be Young Avengers and Secret Avengers with a dash of Thunderbolts all at the same time. I have no idea why these people were chosen for the team, they have very little chemistry and, worst of all, Songbird, my main reason for checking out the book at all, has barely been given any panel time. Yeah, three strikes you're out. Just abysmal.

Uncanny Inhumans
4 issues - I'm including the #0 issue that came out way back in spring. I was worried about this one but after reading three issues I can safely say I'm on board. I was lukewarm on #1 but #2 kicked ass and #3 was just as good. Despite half the royal family being absent the good strong core of Black Bolt and Medusa is there which in my opinion is vital to a good Inhumans story. Turning it into a love triangle with Johnny Storm as Medusa's consort is a dynamic that's working out better than I initially expected. Nuhumans are largely secondary which is good for me. The only prominent ones are the ones I actually don't mind. Beast being on the team is still kind of weird but oh well. The story is already getting big and weird and bombastic with a time travel plot involving Kang and their son. The elements for good royal family drama are there. And of course McNiven's art is absolutely gorgeous. Very solid book. Not a total home run but better than I could hope considering the current state of things.

Tried on a whim for varied reasons

All New Wolverine
2 issues - I'm not an X-Men mark or any particular fan of Wolverine but considering how a lot of mantle-passing has been causing disputes to varying degrees, I was surprised to hear this one getting overwhelming positive feedback from some of the most hardcore Logan fans I know. I can see why. X-23 is a cool character and this decision to make her Wolverine makes sense as a progression of her character, especially with Logan being dead. Good call. Art is good and the writing is there too with nice dialogue and an overarching theme of trying to be a better person and leaving a positive legacy which from what I gather has been a running theme in Wolverine books more recently. Good art and colors too and I actually want to keep reading because the last issue left off with a teased fight with Taskmaster who I love. It's a very strong start for a character that certainly deserves a bit more time in the limelight. Also, kudos for Marvel handling a legacy character right for once, for now anyway.

Totally Awesome Hulk
1 issue - I keep dipping my toes into Hulk books but never manage to stick with it for too long don't know why. I checked this one out mostly out of curiosity. I'm not terribly familiar with Amadeus Cho so I was wondering how he became a Hulk. Also, the creative team made me think it was worth looking at. I like Frank Cho's art a lot and Greg Pak is solid, not to mention often mentioned as arguably the best Hulk writer along with Peter David so it's a writer who clearly has a handle on the character. The book was great looking but the writing didn't quite do it for me. Not that it was bad, it's just it kind of read like a teenager hero which are books I generally don't care to keep up on. Something about the vibe they tend to have just doesn't resonate for me. It wasn't a bad book. It just didn't really do anything for me story-wise, probably due to my preferences. Not my cup of tea but worth checking out to see if it's yours.

The Ultimates
2 issues - I mostly checked this out of desperation to find a decent team book. Pleasant surprise that it turned out to be really damn good! Even crazier when one considers it's written by the same guy doing New Avengers. Story quality here is a complete 180 from that piece of crap. It's dealing more in high sci-fi concepts. Hell, the first story was about solving the "Galactus problem".Really cool roster too. Black Panther obviously makes me happy. The awesome but often mishandled Blue Marvel is there as well as past and current Captain Marvels and some girl I'm unfamiliar with but she seems alright. Basically it's a band of geniuses and powerhouses, perfect for big scale stories like this. Art is gorgeous too with exquisite line work and vibrant color. It's a feast for the eyes. Really glad I decided to check this one out. I'd argue it's Marvel's best current team book by a mile and the closest thing to a proper "cosmic" comic in ages. Yes, it's and even better cosmic book than Guardians of the Galaxy. Not that that's a high bar to pass. Check this out. It's great.

Venom: Space Knight
1 issue - I wasn't initially going to look into this because it's spinning out of one of the single most retarded retcons I've seen in recent memory but it's Flash Venom who I really like so I couldn't just completely write it off. Glad I did because it's pretty solid. I still think this whole angle of symbiotes are really space knights for cosmic justice is one of the most moronic character changes ever and it feels like such an internal contradiction when people know about it in the book and it eliminates the most interesting thing about the symbiote. That's mostly my personal hang-ups on continuity but thankfully Flash is still Flash and in the writing here he feels true to character and thank god for that. They also seem to hint at the possibility of the symbiote getting "re-corrupted" so there's hope. Either way this was a generally fun action romp with some stellar art. I'm not sure how to explain it but it has a beautiful painted look. There's not really any major plot hooks to this though. It's a straightforward popcorn action hero story which isn't a bad thing. Just don't go into it expecting the depth of Remender's run and you'll probably be okay. I'd stick with it to see where it goes.

The Vision
2 issues - I never looked much into this before launch because my initial impression after reading about how it was going to be about Vision having a family and living in a suburb I almost immediately wrote it off, thinking it would be another hipster book in the vein of Unbeatable Squirrel Girl. In my defense, it is a pretty stupid sounding idea. Only reason I read the first issue was to see just how bad it actually was. Boy was I way off the mark and thank goodness for that! It's actually way closer to an Asimov story. It's very dark and kind of creepy, exploring the uncanny valley involved in the prospect of a family of androids trying to live and maintain a relatively normal life. It's very odd and definitely not a super hero story but I'm very into it for what it is. I've always really enjoyed these stories about artificial life trying to get in touch with humanity. I'm going to keep an eye on this one a bit longer.

Quick summary

If I had to boil it down to my absolute favorites so far I'd have to say at the moment it's as follows.

1 - Hercules
2 - The Ultimates
3 - Daredevil

Daredevil would be higher if I had more issue to base my opinion on and they happened to be as good as that stellar #1. I also don't want to undersell Doctor Strange and Uncanny Inhumans. Those are both super solid books as well. Above all else though be willing to experiment and go outside the box a bit. There's very little my local scene has almost universally reviled so chances are you can find something that suits your tastes fine.

I encourage (desperately so) chat in the comments. I do love me some comic book talk. <3

I saw the trailer earlier today for this film. I've got a lot on my mind about it that I wouldn't mind chatting about it in the comments. Anyway, thought I'd shoot some thoughts off the cuff about it based on what little has been shown.

-Won't lie, I'm highly worried by this film. First Avenger and Winter Soldier I was totally on board with. This one not so much.

-Though its significance and impact is undeniable, I hated the Civil War event so much. For many reasons as well. This film being even loosely based on it is cause for concern to me.

-I hope Cap is still the central focus. I go to a Cap film to see Cap, not Avengers 2.5

-The number of heroes in this film terrifies me. It sounds so bloated it could be a possible train wreck. I especially don't want Evan's to have to fight Downey Jr. for screen presence in his own damn movie.

-Profoundly disappointed that this film is going to be the cinematic debut of Black Panther. It should have been his own damn movie. He's not established in the cinematic universe yet. If he's similar to his comic self he should give next to no shits about Civil War. If he's not like the comics then he's really Not Black Panther anymore.

-I feel like the hero film market is getting saturated. Starting to wonder when this bubble will burst and these films stop being profitable.

-General Ross' talking about Cap's lack of oversight as if it's a problem is laughable. It's worked pretty well so far. He's helped save the day at least three times, at least once from your own fucking government. He's even helped reign in the big green guy that gave Ross headaches. Near as I can tell there's no catastrophic event like the Stamford incident so please enlighten me,

-I read afterward the villain is Zemo, except he's going to have little in common with his comic counterpart. Lame. I like Zemo in the comics.

-"The Captain" would have made a better basis for a movie plot but obviously Civil War has more marketing oomph. This is why I've become cynical of the Disney/Marvel approach to these films after the first Avengers. Starting to feel more like exploiting a license rather than taking advantage of one, if that makes any sense.

Sorry for the little delay between journals. Been a bit hard to get motivated to write between reading my massive backlog of comics and novels as well as now spending an hour at the gym after my 10 hour work shifts. Still, I'm going to see this through to the end, even if it's a little slower than planned. So here's day three!

Prototype

I remember when this game was released I had paid next to no attention to it and I picked it up as a pure impulse buy maybe based on some promotional material I had seen recently. Little did I suspect this game to wind up being probably the best impulse purchase I'd make all last generation. This game is so naughty. It's that devil on your shoulder telling you to "do it". I remember a youtube video of seniors playing Grand Theft Auto and almost immediately going on a rampage when they learned how to steal cars and shoot guns. Prototype expertly taps into that basic id and it feels so good to just cut loose.

The game is ostensibly a "superhero" sandbox game with main missions and a plethora of side-quests allowing you to augment your abilities. I put superhero in parentheses because while you have superpowers, you are essentially John Carpenter's Thing on crack, fighting in the middle of a zombie apocalypse on a Manhattan in the grips of martial law. There's really no good guys and thank god for the lack of my much despised morality system because this game puts you in the place of a duplicitous murder engine, pats you back and says "have fun" before unleashing you to paint your sandbox red. This is one of the most oddly empowering games I've ever played. I'm hard pressed to think of another time I've ever felt like such an utterly unstoppable force. There is a lot of powers you have, most all of them made with the purpose of killing on a massive scale whether it's bisecting every zombie in a 50ft. radius or elbow dropping tanks like Randy Savage on a caffeine high. By the same token it's also the little things that add to this sense, like running up sheer walls, gliding up multiple city blocks or blitzing down a road at 70mph on foot, mowing down everything in your path. Combat is simple but fun. You're often fighting dozens if not hundreds of npcs at once and all the combat results in fountains of glorious 80s style ultra-violence and gore, something I have a real soft spot for. Also major props to the developer for being able to render so much mayhem at once.

But then there's also the sneaky moments I love. Sometimes the most fun you can have is acting like a normal person, a wolf in sheep's clothing if your will, mingling among the normal. Eating a civilian to take his appearance and elude pursuit is extremely gratifying and makes you feel like such a sneaky bastard. Same goes for when you trick soldiers into attacking one of their own by acting like somebody else is you. The whole eating people is also a clever way if unraveling a rather interesting conspiracy story. The main narrative is nothing to write home about but the backstory is told by eating people who know the history and piecing together their memories to put together the events leading up to this outbreak. It gave me a X-files kind of vibe and I loved it.

Prototype wasn't perfect and I can see how some people may think the missions were repetitive, but I personally never had that issue. I had a ball trying to beat my high scores on the graded challenges and if the main missions ever got dull I'd mess around. Maybe I'd karate kick a helicopter out of the sky. Maybe I'd hijack a tank and make zombie jam under my treads. Maybe I'd even eat a grandma, turn into her, grab her husband and powerbomb him off the empire state building. Bottom line, the game was just fun because it understood if you give players complete freedom in a virtual space, they're going to want to abuse it time to time. As such, it tried to make abusing your freedom as over the top, cathartic and fun as it possibly could. Like I said in the beginning, this game is very naughty but goddamn if I didn't love every minute.

Bionic Commando

I am of course referring to the 3D one one. Now I should confess a profound bias on my part here. I adore Bionic Commando. It was my very first video game I ever played and my first to own so I was going to love this game on some level pretty much no matter what. However, I believe with 100% sincerity that this game is legitimately good and gets a lot of unfair flack for some admittedly irksome design decisions that get blown WAY out of proportion compared to what the game not only does well, but does extremely well. Bionic Commando, to me, is an action platformer with possibly the most exciting marriage of level traversal and combat I can recall in recent memory, and it's all tied to the thing that has defined the series up to this point: the bionic arm.

The arm is used for everything. You use it to swing around industrial completes. You use it to scale vertical walls or pull yourself quickly to the ground to take cover. Swinging has a real weight to it. It may feel a bit sluggish at first but once you get a sense of your momentum and the physics at work, it's a blissful experience to traverse the levels with speed and grace, soaring like Icarus. When combat enters the picture it's even better. Being a military man, you obviously employ guns, but if anything they supplement the fighting maneuvers you can use with the arm. You can grab enemies and pull yourself in for a dive kick, lift them and shoot them while airborne, throw them at other enemies, throw debris at other enemies, the list goes on. The very best moments of the game are when you use your acrobatics in the heat of battle, zipping around like greased lightning, taking potshots during hang-time before zipping in to get up close and personal before diving off a cliff to resume the offense elsewhere. It felt so good. Also, I never would have imagined that a tacked on multiplayer could be so enjoyable. It was a broken mess to be sure, but firefights are hectic enough as is. Can you imagine team death-match against a team of veritable Spider-Men with shotguns and assault rifles? How about capture the flag? This multiplayer was insane in the best possible way. Not bad for an afterthought.

Now I can concede the game has flaws. The story is, no lie, maybe the worst story I've ever been subjected to (My arm is a wife!), Steve Blum is on the cast, an anticlimactic ending makes the game feel a bit incomplete and linearity enforced through invisible walls that cause death certainly sucked at times. Still, I was able to overlook all these things. Part of that is probably my fanboyism but I do believe a bigger part of that is because it's core gameplay mechanic is so strong and well developed. It offers something fun that no other game really did last gen except maybe Just Cause 2 from what I've seen. Considering that the game had its funding repeatedly slashed by Capcom to crank out Resident Evil 5 ahead of schedule, it's honestly kind of amazing the game turned out as well as it did. It's a flawed game to be sure, but it has all that sort of quirky charm that results in cult classics. There's several moments that will stick in my mind for a long time. Swan diving off a skyscraper never felt so liberating.

A rather eclectic mix of titles today. I hope more people comment. I like to interact and discuss these games since they were so fun. I'd like to talk about them if possible.

No More Heroes

I have a rough threshold for what it takes to make me bite and get new console. Rule of thumb is at least 5 games I'm enthusiastic about the prospect of playing. However there are some specific things that basically get me to pick one up asap and several years ago, No More Heroes was the game that convinced me to get a Wii. Ever since Killer7 I've been a huge mark for games made by Grasshopper and Suda51. There's just an indelible charm to pretty much every game they make which regardless of gameplay shortcomings almost always makes the experience memorable and enjoyable to me. No More Heroes is par for the course and then some when it comes to the Suda-style quirkiness I love so much. I think Suda is one of the few game creators acutely aware of potential and the limitations of video games as a creative medium.

I knew from the first teaser this was a game I needed to get. The notion of a geek who gets a lightsaber online and decides to become an assassin is so deliciously silly. It was a solid beat-em-up with some stellar boss fights and one of the best soundtracks last gen courtesy of the always awesome Masafumi Takada. I remember it especially stood out to me because back then before shovelware took over the Wii, waggle was still the major "in" thing and NMH was one of the few games that had very little emphasis on that and was better for it. I also loved it's subtle satirical edge. The Letz Shake level and fight are a shining example. And I loved the little touches like the wrestling moves, the wardrobe customization and using the Wiimote like a cell phone. It was just a wonderful experience from beginning to end and probably my favorite Grasshopper game to date, just a smidge over Killer7.

Asura's Wrath

I think on some level it's kind of weird putting Asura's Wrath on a list of my fave last gen games considering I personally barely consider it a game at all. Still, it would be unfair to omit it from this countdown because the fact is it was one of the most enjoyably memorable experiences of last gen for me. Really, calling it a game is a joke. At it's core, Asura's Wrath is really just a protracted cutscene that would make Metal Gear blush, peppered with button inputs to make you feel like you have some control or input when for the most part you don't. So why do I like this game so much? Well, because of everything else about it, not including Capcom's modern DLC policies anyway. That's more the company's fault than the game's, right?

Seriously, other than the interactive aspect Asura's Wrath murders a lot of other stuff when it comes to production qualities. Graphics? Gorgeous. Soundtrack? Epic. Acting? Pretty damn good. Art design? Inspired! Of god the art. I have to say, when it comes to aesthetics, Cyberconnect2 are masters of the craft. Just the whole look of this science fiction world based on east Asian religion/mythology is so well realized and the way it's conveyed in game still floors me. That these god's and deities look like this living, cybernetic lacquer statues what crack and shatter as they are hurt still utterly floors me. And the story is such a treat. It's a classic hot blooded shonen sort of tale that really reminds me of Fist of the North Star in a lot of regards. I don't want to spoil to much but I'll at least say there were a lot of powerful emotional moments for me. And a lot of flat out bonkers awesome moments too. Seriously, this is some of the most over the top action I've seen animated in any medium and damn I loved it. So yeah, Asura's Wrath is definitely flawed as an interactive experience, but whatever it is, I adore it and won't soon forget it.

Assassin's Creed

This seems to be an uncommon sentiment, but I love the first Assassin's Creed and firmly believe it to be the best installment of the series among installments I played. I could ruminate on the sorry state of this once promising franchise but that would be beating a dead horse far as I'm concerned so I'm going to avoid it where possible. Still, I think I'm going to have to dip into that from time to time when explaining my love of this title. First, the main reason I like this game at all. Well, on one hand I'm tremendously fond of good stealth games, particularly the Hitman series. On the other hand I was a big fan of the parkour and acrobatic platforming of the Prince of Persia titles. Put the two together just like mixing chocolate with peanut butter and out comes Assassin's Creed! Gameplay wise it's as simple as that really. When I wasn't actually getting ready to kill a target I would constantly just explore these vast cities, learning the roads and the alleys and the rooftops. I'd move discreetly and get acrobatic when I needed too. Part of the charm of the series that endeared me was this idea of being free to roam in these old cities in a historical context and explore them like a trained acrobat whenever you chose,sometimes dodging danger as needed. It was exhilarating and I still think the cities in this first outing were the most engrossing so far. Also, the soundtrack by Jesper Kidd is awesome. He also made Hitman music by the way.

More than any other game in the series, this was the one I was able to get most immersed in. Part of that may be it was the first outing but I think more than anything I think it's because this installment more than any sequel had the greatest focus and a razor sharp vision of the game it wanted to be: A game about assassinating. AC sequels have become increasingly bloated for the sake of content. Renovating buildings buying art, tower defense, guns, poison, smoke bombs, etc., all that stuff was there for no other reason than to be there. But in the first Assassin's Creed, this stuff was minimal. Sure, flags and Templars were there to encourage exploration but towers, side quests, all those were components to build to the game's climax moments, the assassinations. Doing reconnaissance and stealing stuff may have been a bit mundane but it got me into the role of assassin. I enjoyed it because it got me into that mindset of a born killer getting ready to strike. The kills in this game were so, so much more memorable than any on the sequels because they were what every leg built up to, more so than in the sequels. I didn't even mind the Matrix framing deice of the plot because it was fairly minimal and unobtrusive. Also, Abstergo still seemed like a credible threat and there was no Scooby Doo gang in sight. So while Assassin's Creed was definitely unrefined it's still by far my favorite installment because the clarity of vision it had and its profound ability to immerse me to the the point that just walking around was fun to me. Truly a great experience to me.

So here we go. It's day 1 of my retrospective of some of my favorite games from last generation!

Marvel Ultimate Alliance

Friends of mine know I'm a pretty big fan of comic books, especially super heroes. I didn't start to really get into them until the early 2000s when I started getting a bit more disposable income. Up until then my knowledge was mostly cartoons and the comics about Moon Knight and Deadpool. However when I started getting more int the medium I came to learn I really didn't care much for the X-men. They just weren't my cup of tea. The X-men Legends games came out around this time and while they were good and I love me a good dungeon crawler, the fact they were X-men games had me wishing I could play more of Marvel's other super heroes. Enter Marvel Ultimate Alliance.

Marvel Ultimate Alliance has the distinction of being the very first game I owned for a next gen console and I played the hell out of it. It's basically Gauntlet Legends with Marvel heroes and more RPG elements and I adore Gauntlet. The timing of the release was nice too because I was just branching out in comics and trying to sample more of what was being offered. At the same time, I was playing this game which acted kind of like a road guide to this universe I just starting to explore giving me a good idea of which characters I was most intrigued by. Now that I'm more knowledgeable of the Marvel Universe, the game has only gotten better in retrospect because it plays like a big love letter to the best elements of the comics I love. The original story is pure cheesy comic goodness and a great excuse to showcase what this world had to offer. The playable roster is huge and well chosen, the locales are grand and memorable and the character customization allows for tons of replay value. That's why I still play it. Even though there's a sequel that plays a bit smoother and looks a bit prettier, the original is still the one I bring along when visiting friends. It may have less polish, but it's got more content, and a lot more heart.

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All-Star Battle

It's no secret I'm a JoJo fanatic, so when it was announced CyberConnect2 was making a JoJo fighting game, it was a given I was going to import it. Pleasant surprise that it actually turned out pretty damn fun. I remember getting so hyped I took the day off and flipped out when I missed FedEx, driving all the way to their dispatch place to pick it up rather than wait to next day.Now, there was never any doubt in my mind that CC2 would absolutely nail the look of JoJo. They're supposedly HUGE fans of Manga and Anime and it shows in their prior work. Any initial concerns I had were more rooted in how the game played. Their Naruto titles always seemed rather basic so I was glad when I found out ASB tried a more conventional approach with normals, specials, cancels, meter management and so forth, along with some more unique flourishes to capture that JoJo feel. It also had a stellar roster covering the entire series with, honestly, probably the best approach to DLC I've seen in years.

Now, I give major props to CC2 for taking a crack at making a conventional fighter, but if I'm going to attempt objectivity, JoJo ASB is by no stretch a "quality" fighter. Balance is horribly skewed, hit-boxes are weird, netcode gargles balls and the stylish dodge is a broken game mechanic. But you know what? I don't care! I still had a ball playing this game. It falls into that special category of fighter that is crap, but it's still super fun, maybe even in part because it's crap and it's fun trying to play around with the broken stuff. It's in the same camp as stuff like Bloody Roar for me. After I unlocked everything I kept on playing it in training just to see how much I could exploit the mechanics for fun. Even without that I still think the game was functional enough to be enjoyable in a non competitive, messing-around kind of way. Still the game definitely wouldn't have been on this list if not for the fact it's a JoJo game that absolutely nails the visual and artistic qualities that made me a JoJo fan in the first place.

Fist of the North Star: Ken's Rage 2

Oh look, another title based on a franchise I love. Are you shocked? Far as I'm concerned though, this combination of genre and franchise is a match made in heaven. Getting to play as any number of iconic characters from the seminal shonen classic and run through levels, killing scumbags and mooks by the hundreds with martial arts that make then explode in visceral geysers of sweet, delicious 80s ultra-violence is, as fr as I'm concerned, one of the two best ways you could possibly play Fist of the North Star in game form. I know the Dynasty Warriors/Musou formula is a niche genre that gets a lot of flak for repetition and lack of variety and so on, but I enjoy the genre a lot. Some days you just want to come home from a long day, relax, and not play a game that will take to long or be super involving. Musou titles are great for that, and this game, as well as its predecessor were my titles of choice.

Realistically I could consider both Ken's Rage games for this spot because both are pretty different while still offering similar experiences. KR1 has far better combat mechanics and a much better Dream Mode but KR2 has a roster that's three times as large and online co-op. Both are great and I've played both to death, unlocking every trophy, A ranking all levels, maxing the stats of all characters and so on. I still play KR2 on an almost bi-weekly basis if for no other reason than to co-op with buddies and farm scrolls. I've already accumulated over 500 hours of play time and it'll no doubt keep getting higher and higher so long as friends are willing to play. There were a lot of great Musou titles last gen but for me, this one takes the cake. Now if only I can get even more friends to check out HnK.

Hey guys. Just a heads up for a little thing I want to do over the next few days that I hope you'll stick around for. I'm a console gamer. I don't play video games as often as I used to and with the 8th generation well underway I still see no reason to jump aboard that ship. However I still consider myself a game fan and this last console generation had some amazing times, especially in the beginning when everything seemed possible. I'm more likely to go back to the old titles I enjoyed than the new shiny boxes so over the next few days I'm going to kind of reminisce over some of my favorite games of the last console generation.

I've kind of whittled it down to an arbitrary 15 so I can talk about 3 a day. They won't really be in any particular order other than being alphabetized. I may go in an ascending pattern where the games I'm more fanatical about I save for closer to the end but this is still a mostly disordered thing. These will all be games I was absolutely in love with for various reasons and in spite of flaws, so this won't so much be a critique or review so much as just a fond trip down memory lane and talking about why these games will stick with me.

Hope you guys hang around for the ride. ^.=.^

So supposedly the final boss in the upcoming JoJo game is a never before seen version of Dio Brando with a Stant called "World Over Heaven".

http://i.imgur.com/59P2F4R.jpg

I'm curious is Araki had any input on the design. My gut says no. Regardless after looking at his face the very first thing I thought of was this:

https://youtu.be/cF4ZTcuhixc

I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing. Probably a bit of both.

I've said it numerous times when talking about Bloody Roar or Koei's Musou games or what have you but, just to reiterate, I really have a soft spot for cheesy butt rock. The butt-er the better. So while I don't want to share my thoughts on the recent Transformers: Devastation game juuuuuuust yet, I will say I ADORE how 80's cheesy some of this glorious soundtrack is. Here, have a sampling.

https://youtu.be/dqhT3rGllhY
https://youtu.be/UIay9eqSmSU
https://youtu.be/IcQVHasOJsY

If anybody is justified having "wub wub" in their theme song, it's Soundwave.

Hey guys. Kind of a follow-up on my last wrestling journal. I've got an idea in mind for my sona's in-ring personality and I need a little help coming up with an entrance song. I was hoping for some suggestions. If it helps you think of ideas, just keep in mind I've settled on being a rudo/heel with a space themed gimmick. Feel free to link to songs in the comments! <3

Holy shit you guys! A while ago Takara announced a masterpiece Ironhide and just today I spy a prototype of this one-eyed beast!

http://news.tfw2005.com/2015/09/24/.....ncoming-301849

And here's Ironhide for good measure.

http://www.bigbadtoystore.com/bbts/product.aspx?product=TAK12153&mode=retail

HRRRRGH!!!

Shockwave is easily one of my all time fave transformers. Now, I couldn't care less about Ironhide but redecos are a sure thing and there is no way Takara isn't going to at least recolor it into a Ratchet down the line and I friggin' LOVE Ratchet.

Dear god...by spring next year I may just have Masterpiece figures of all four of my favorite Transformers!!! 8D

Just a silly question I felt like fielding.

I'm thinking of coming up with a luchador identity for my sona and I'm trying to come up with a personality and gimmick. Thought I'd see what you come up with for shits and giggles. I can't seriously be the only wrestling fan on this site. =P

Also, honest question: Do you think I'd be more fun to watch as a tecnico (face) or a rudo (heel)? I'm having trouble deciding because I see merits and fun in both. XD