InFormers: Robots in the News

1. Over six months before he’s due in stores, some lucky person has gotten ahold of TransFormers: Animated Lockdown, and has been kind enough to review him.
2. Plus, you can see Animated Starscream in various stages of production.
3. If you can get your hands on Titan UK’s TransFormers comic-magazine’s 6th issue, you can follow the further adventures of Jazz from the Movie, and issue 8 follows Ironhide as he ties up that loose end with Scorponok running around in the desert.
4. A number of reviews and galleries from Ben Yee today, including Fast Action Battler Barricade, Robot Heroes Ultra Magnus and Megatron, and TransFormers Collector’s Club exclusive Chromia-10 pilot, aka Airrazor from Beast Wars.

Assorted Mushrooms

1. Eeesh, this really sucks. But at least Will Smith seems to be alright these days.
2. A court in Rome summons Tweety, Donald, Daisy, and Mickey to the stand. And as a result, the court is held up. Brilliant, or wasteful? You be the judge.
3. Two new pics from the 5th turtle show off a pair of backdrops for the NECA TMNT figures, including the fire hydrant/curb and a manhole/lamppost, the latter in both Peanuts and final colors.
4. For the ladies reading this (if there are any), He-Man.Org has reported that She-Ra t-shirts are available on Play.com. Wear the honor of Grayskull today.
5. eToys has released a list of safety tips to keep in mind when doing Christmas shopping for toys.
6. Pool contortionism: for when you just have to make that shot.
7. I’m happy to say that this is one prank I would probably never fall for. Booze + Placebos = Fun. Guess those Princeton types aren’t THAT smart, after all.
8. They say that if you give a thousand monkeys a computer (typewriter, whatever), one of them will eventually turn out the works of Shakespeare. Fanfiction.net has pretty much debunked that theory, I’d imagine, but now the kingdom of Kong is looking to outdo us in another catagory: math.
9. A Batty Christmas to all, and to all, a good Knight.
10. …was going to end that one with “a good bite,” and use that as a link to this abomination. Seriously, I thought we quit trying to kill that country fifty years ago, what gives?

    …sigh. Actually, kill the onions and broccoli, and I’d try it. BUT ONLY ONCE!

11. Much as it would be for, say, an unfortunate penguin or polar bear, I suppose that catching fire is a rather ironic end for a zamboni.
12. Centripetal force does indeed rock. I don’t think I’d ever try this, though.

    I wonder how they get out? Does that thing disassemble, or what?

13. IGN looks back at the many costumes donned by the friendly neighborhood Spider-man over his many web-slinging years.
14. Michael Bay: HD conspiracy theorist?
15. Seems that if the Spider-man movies continue, then J.K. Simmons would like to keep playing J. Jonah Jameson.

Video Power

1. You’ve no doubt seen a few versions of “live-action Pac-Man” on YouTube by now, but from the country that brought us “Human Tetris” comes the coolest version yet (not counting the “movie” trailer).

   Where else do the ghosts beat Pac-Man down with sticks when they corner him?

2. Part 4 in Capcom’s series of behind-the-scenes fine-tuning of Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix finally gets to one of my favorites– Ken– and includes a neat animated gif from the Van Damme movie to boot.
3. When the Wii’s controller was first announced, I saw a lot of potential in it (and still do), though I (and others like me) were concerned about input for more traditional fare, such as Mario. Fortunately, it seems that we don’t need to worry about that any time soon, as Nintendo apparently knows that there ARE some things you just can’t mess with, as revealed within the link.
4. Gandalf the Gray, Gandalf the White, Monty Python and the Holy Grail’s Black Knight… among many, many others, those aren’t the Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny. That honor is reserved for a more personal endeavor to many known as Black Friday, and as Wack Friday shows us, not everyone can be a winner.
5. Those Zelda games for the CDi? Turns out they aren’t so bad after all… *ducks rocks* …on their own merits. And avoiding the Russian (seriously) animation. Read on and find out the truth behind these most hated of titles, and maybe you will learn to feel a little pity for those who put their best into them.
6. MTV’s Stephen Totilo finally got his hands on Freshly-Picked Tingle’s Rosy Rupeeland, and he thinks the game is quite mean.

   Me, I find it enticing, and when you think about it, there’s a game where a strategy guide could really make some money, and not because it’s impossible to find out things on your own (at least not in this case). Might have to import it someday…

7. Can you imagine if Sonic the Hedgehog 2 got the same HD treatment that Super Street Fighter II Turbo is? It might look a little something like this.

   How about Super Metroid?

8. Either Nintendo gives people too little credit, or maybe just too few deserve it. Whatever the case, if you want to know how to use the Wii Zapper, the Big N has got you covered.
9. Elsewhere, some ambulance chaser tries to pretend they’re doing good by telling you what games to avoid giving your kids… through the ages.

   Uneducated comments seem to further undermine her point.

   “I don?t understand why anyone would want to be a part of glorifying violence. A game to me is Candyland, Monopoly, the games we used to play as a child. Scrabble. These are games.”

   Lady, the things you don’t understand would probably sink a cruise ship. And guess what? You’re not a child any more. Times change, and things change. Kids’ interests change. Why do you think kids don’t talk about Thundercats any more?

10. Microsoft tells Microsoft that Microsoft will do just fine this holiday season.
11. The day before, Sony’s Jack Tretton got to share in that same spotlight as he discussed their missteps and future with the PS3. Reggie’s on later today.
12. For some reason, one analyst expects that console sales will go up this month.

    I think the notion is pure poppycock. Why would people buy more systems NOW, of all times?

13. Ubisoft explains why being on board with the Wii so early on was very important to them.
14. I don’t play World of Warcraft, but if I did, having a custom figure based on my character’s likeness would be nothing short of awesome, though pricey.
15. Lucky for me, I haven’t really played much in the way of WWE games since Attitude on the PS1; that said, a lot of the rehashed stuff in Smackdown vs. Raw 2008 would still be new to me. Gametrailers’ review makes it sound like a decent rental, but hopefully the next one will get a little more work on it.

    Though, as an annual game, it seems unlikely. Which is strange; with a year between titles and using the same basic mechanics, you’d think they’d have more time to tweak and make the games even better.

    On a side-note, the review is fun, just to see Guile from Street Fighter doing things around the WWE. On another, I wonder if maybe Chris Jericho has a chance to be downloadable content?

16. GameTrailers has a series of amusing shorts surrounding the other eagerly-anticipated wrestling game, Fire Pro Wrestling Returns.
17. Wrestling not your cup of tea? Then how about some… dodgeball? But not just ANY dodgeball, but Pirates vs. Ninjas Dodgeball.
18. GameTrailers’ review of Contra 4 does nothing to stifle my desire for the title.

    Nor does ScrewAttack’s look back at the included Super C.

19. IGN does what so many others do, time and again: rank the top 100 games of all time.
20. IGN’s newest Hero Showdown pits not only Mario vs. Sonic, but their respective Player 2′s as well.

    Of course, going by what I understand are the stated official heights (seemingly ignored in the games they appear in togeter for aesthetic appeal), Mario would still be taller than Sonic, even without the mushroom.

21. Burnout Paradise producer Nick Channon talks to IGN about what it’s like moving a classic franchise into the future.
22. The boys behind Super Mario Galaxy seem to have become real media darlings after the game’s launch, as Next Generation and GameDaily now add more interviews to the growing list across many websites.

    The big one, however, seems to be over at Game|Life.

23. GameDaily gets all Retro-Rewind on classic sports games, including Punch-Out!! among others.

    I might’ve said this before, but I think for a new Punch-Out!!, Nintendo needs to toss Mr. Dream (or just make him lower-tier), and contrary to many people, I say forget Mike Tyson.

    Mr. T’s Punch-Out!! Has a nice ring, doesn’t it? And after seeing him throw down in Rocky, I think he’d make a damn fine successor.

24. GameDaily takes an in-depth look at Link in preparation for his role in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.
25. Games Radar looks at more endings that’ll make you cry “WTF?!”

    Most of these, I’ve not played. I don’t know for sure if that’s a good thing, or a bad thing.

26. This is pretty awesome; a kid gives up his Wii to charity.
27. …Sonic? Is that you?!

    And what’s with Mario? And Mario?

28. At least someone seems to understand that you don’t have to crack a book to be reading.
29. Wow, it’s been a long time since I’ve seen an actual cover for Weekly Famitsu. Here’s their recent cover that sports Super Mario Galaxy.
30. Cracked.com has a top 10 list of the “Most Irritatingly Impossible Old-School Video Games.”

    And RMC, no one should be happy to have a reason to use that art. Ever.

31. Just felt like posting this so I could say that there can not be any material on Earth that could stick to a posterior like that.

    Not that I have any complaints, mind you. I’m just saying.

32. Seems MTV is following in the footsteps of CollegeHumor.com and offering some spoofs based on video games.

    On the bright side, I can actually see these. But the constant PSP ads suck, and I don’t care HOW funny the rest is, I’m not putting up with that “Get Your Own” guy any more than I can help.

33. Gizmodo has eight reasons the PSP will never overtake the DS. They missed one. See above.
34. If you happen to feel Super Mario Galaxy is vastly overrated and have about a day and a half to spare, then it turns out there’s one guy who seems to absolutely hate the game. About 7,500 words worth.
35. Eager to improve your score in Link’s Crossbow Training? Zentendo will show you the way.
36. Guitar Hero: inspiring gamers to try the real thing.
37. Still need to score a Wii for the big X-mas day? Wired is here to help.
38. And the winner of the “Ken Kutaragi Crazy Quote Award” is…
39. Boo Mario? Piece of cake!
40. Even if Metroid were ever really an arcade game, I doubt it’d ever look this cool.
41. I’ve been pushing for something like One Laptop, One Child for awhile now, but I think what it needs to improve it are discs that can replace the back-breaking textbooks people have to lug around from elementary school through high school or college.
42. In her own contribution to the yearly trend of gift guides, 1up’s Jenn Frank has her own ideas for some low-cost expenditures.
43. 1up now has the first part of their retrospective of Final Fantasy by the lovely Nadia.

…and FINALLY, I AM DONE. Zzzzzzz…

–LBD “Nytetrayn”

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 5th, 2007 at 8:14 am and is filed under Points of Interest. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.