InFormers: Robots in the News

1. Review: EvolvedTwincastconhero at The Allspark has gotten his hands on an early production sample of Animated Megatron in his Cybertronian mode, and has posted pics and a review.

Assorted Mushrooms

1. Blogging: The 5th turtle has a few things going on in this post, including a pic of the original NECA Raphael figure sculpt, and that they need to “light a fire” if they want to get the rest of their products approved on schedule. Also: why the Turtles like pizza.

   Also, the reason the pics have been few turns out to be because Toy Review has an exclusive deal– and they don’t seem to be too happy that some pics were leaked already.

2. Blogging: If you’re into The Price Is Right, then this may interest you.
3. Video: Be careful who you choose to move in with… there are some strange people out there.
4. Interview: Newarama has a piece with Spider-Man Editor Steve Wacker, who “brings a breath of fresh air” to all the “One More Day” crap with what he knows, and what’s to come.

   At least the guy has a pretty good sense of humor about things, all said.

5. Website: Marvel has just launched MarvelKids.com, the perfect place to lure your children into the trappings of the devil by showing them all the good that can come of making deals with the lord of Hell.

Video Power

1. Newsbit: Press the Buttons, via Racketboy’s Retro Gaming, have revealed what could be the rebirth of the SEGA Neptune, a Genesis/32X hybrid system that didn’t see release.
2. Article: Less than two months after its release, Jeremy Parish is looking back at Super Mario Galaxy, and also seems to hit on part of why Galaxy seemed so much more splendid than Sunshine.
3. Videos: More curiously time-displaced Virtual Console videos, this time for Chew Man Fu, Three Kingdoms IV, and Sword of Vermillion.
4. Videos: GameTrailers has a series of videos that show off what happens when Pandemic has real-life mercenary Jim Holston visit to check out Mercenaries 2.

   It’s… kinda funny, up to about the last half of the last video. Then it’s just kind of saddening from there.

5. Gallery: GameDaily picks one of my Dead Or Alive favorites, Hitomi, to be their Babe of the Week.
6. Article: Games Radar presents their Anti-Awards of 2007, taking all the year’s suckage and cramming it into one piece of writing.
7. Article: N=Philes takes a look at why comics and video games don’t always mix.
8. Videos: More Earthworm Jim Saturday morning cartoon fun from Go Nintendo.
9. Interview: A new interview with Satoru Iwata appears!
10. Pic: The Seattle Post (conveniently near Nintendo of America’s HQ) put an interesting image together, combining sports and Mario.
11. Blogging: Seems the Director of God of War didn’t like Super Mario Galaxy enough because the storytelling was “vapid.”

    Eh, whatever floats his boat. I don’t know, I remember a time when game story was pretty minimal; you played the games because they were fun. I think that when the story is your sole motivation to get through a game, then something is definitely wrong on the “game” end of things. Sadly, I have played some games where the story is what kept me going, though.

12. Newsbit: Sigh, some people.

    A 7-year old boy had his Wii stolen (no jokes, please). The mother things they were targeted due to the disposed-of packaging, which makes sense. So if you’re going to get rid of that stuff, then take the proper precautions!

13. Article: 16 Virtual Console titles you just can’t live without.

    I agree with about half of them, anyway. Mostly the top half.

14. Video:Conan O’Brien.

    Rock Band.

    ‘Nuff said.

15. Merch: Cool custom crochet mushroom scarfs, and they’re made to order. I wonder if I can get that in PMO style?

–LBD “Nytetrayn”

InFormers: Robots in the News

1. Pics: Some new high-res imagery is available of TransFormers: Animated‘s Starscream figure.

Assorted Mushrooms

1. Interview: Captain America is back!! …sort of.

Video Power

1. Pics: Updated images of the Halo Master Chief mini-busts (coming in red, blue, and green) are now available.
2. Newsbit: Wanna be a star? Well, this may not have you walking the red carpet alongside Britney Spears and Lindsay Lohan (wait, that’d be a good thing then, right?), but a fan movie is being put together by a gent named Eddie Lebron based on Mega Man, and he is taking auditions.

   Even if I could get out there, though, looks like I’m in between the two desired age brackets. Not that it would stop me, but it’s too far for me to go right now. Dang.

3. Newsbit: If you’re a paying Gold member of Xbox Live, then there’s good news for you, after all this downtime and service issues that the service has had over the past week.

   Even though the service was never completely down, Microsoft is still taking the incident to heart, and as a result, will be offering Gold members a free Xbox Live Arcade game for their troubles.

   Not too shabby, but we’ll wait and see what these upcoming “details” entail before judging. As for me, well, I’d probably be among them, but as it turns out, the Gold membership we got as a gift from a friend in America doesn’t work here.

4. Video: GameTrailers has the opening cinema from Harvey Birdman.
5. Preview: Speaking of which, 1up also has a mini-preview of Birdman’s courtroom escapades.
6. Newsbit: Nintendo may not be interested in creating a sequel to Wii Sports (pity that, I suppose), but that doesn’t mean that Hudson isn’t interested in filling the gap with Deca Sports, a similar compilation disc of games that seems more suited to complement the Wii pack-in, rather than usurp it. The games included, which of course will use the Wii’s motion controls, are beach volleyball, snowboard cross, badminton, basketball, curling, figure skating, archery, supercross, soccer, and kart racing. Deca Sports ought to hit the field in summer.
7. Newsbit: Now, my recollection might be a tad fuzzy here, but it seems like the local news somewhere was chasing ghosts by saying the Nintendo DS was a top target for predators to stalk children. Yet, I don’t seem to recall them ever saying anything about Xbox Live, which I imagine is now painted as a more viable threat.

   Go figure. This seems to go beyond the game service, anyway.

8. Newsbit: The Smash Bros. DOJO!! may not be updating this week, but luckily, there’s some new info anyway.
9. Newsbit: Hope you didn’t like the Metroid Prime 3: Corruption preview channel TOO much… it’s gone now.

   I think it’s all archived at GameTrailers, anyway, so not a tremendous loss…

10. Newsbit: Mega Man ZX Advent has finally been dated for a European release of… February 29th? *shrugs* Ok then.

    Word of advice, though: play on EASY. You’ll thank me when you reach the end.

11. Newsbit: Pre-registration for your Wii Guitar Hero III replacement disc is now open.

–LBD “Nytetrayn”

Assorted Mushrooms

1. Video: From Mark Evanier’s blog comes this piece about one of the last interviews given by William M. Gaines, the publisher of MAD Magazine, before his death.
2. Article: Apparently, Joe Q missed a few points in explaining his take on how Spider-man‘s story “One More Day” played out. Luckily, the story’s original writer, J. Michael Straczynski, is here to straighten things out.

   This, you have to read to believe.

3. Interview: Speaking of reading to believe, let’s see how much further Joe Quesada can bury himself in part 4 of Comic Book Resources’ series.

Video Power

1. Newsbit: Once upon a time, as memory serves, the Guiness Book of World Records used to record video game records. Then, I believe it was the sheer abundance of video game releases and high scores attained that made continuing such a listing unfeasible.

   However, with video game back on the rise, it seems that the Guiness folks have reconsidered somewhat, as those World Record types are now planning a gaming edition of the publication.

2. Article: Figure.com looks back at 2007 to pick the year’s best video game action figures.
3. Video: ScrewAttack’s Video Game Vault opens up with a look back at Konami’s Cybernator for the Super NES and Virtual Console.
4. Videos: For some reason, there’s a big list of old Virtual Console games sitting on GameTrailers’ front page. And since I’m a sucker for oldschool, let’s toss ‘em here: Kirby’s Adventure, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Dragon’s Curse, and Bravoman.
5. Pics: Not every video game hero is a 100% certifiable Grade-A badass like Solid Snake, Bill and Lance, Master Chief, or Samus Aran. GameDaily checks out some of gaming’s… ah, “more introverted” heroes.
6. Video(s): Well, this is convenient. Someone’s gathered up all the cutscenes from The Simpsons Game.
7. Video: Wow, hard to tell where to put this. But I guess since it came from a game site, here is best.

   Anyway, it seems that Canadian officials don’t take kindly to video game parodies of their blunders, such as tasing a guy to death in an airport.

8. Article: Lots of crappy Wii games? Apparently, it’s not the fault of developers.

   I don’t know. Just tells me they have no pride in what they put out. But I guess that’s been a truth for a lot of the industry for some time now, hasn’t it?

   The upside? No need for fans of the Angry Video Game Nerd (and his imitators) to worry about forced retirement any time soon.

9. Interview: Violence in games… do we really need it? Metal Gear maestro Hideo Kojima gives Assassin’s Creed overseer Jade Raymond his thoughts on the matter.

–LBD “Nytetrayn”

InFormers: Robots in the News

1. Newsbit: IDW is planning a trip down memory lane… to the very beginning, in fact, as they seem to be poised to explore the original 13 TransFormers.

Assorted Mushrooms

1. Newsbit: Ok, even if you COULD replace sleep with some sort of brain-hormone spray, I’m not sure I’d really want to. At least, not regularly.

Video Power

1. Newsbit: Could Bill Gates be poised to deliver a big Xbox announcement come CES 2008?
2. Newsbit: Over in the UK, Nintendo’s General Manager sees “huge room for improvement.” As most gamers there would probably say, “duh.”
3. Newsbit: Hitting Xbox Live Arcade now is Metal Slug 3, of which GameTrailers provides two videos.
4. Newsbit: No plans for Rock Band on Wii at this time? Phooey! I wanna rock!
5. Pics: If I had a nice, big server of my own and could handle the potential traffic, I’d be hosting these new pics and screens of Bionic Commando myself. But since I don’t and I’m not, there you go.
6. Videos: And only a week and a half late, GameTrailers lets us see a little footage of Christmas Eve Virtual Console release Donkey Kong Country 3.

   Less late is this week’s New Year’s Eve releases, Light Crusader, Top Hunter, and Bubble Bobble.

7. Newsbit: Looks like Best Buy is clearing out some old stock, including eReader cards for 99 cents a pack. Damn, wish I could get my hands on some of those, especially if there are any Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3 packs.
8. Newsbit: A look at the fighting within No More Heroes. Plus, some new screens and art.

–LBD “Nytetrayn”

InFormers: Robots in the News

1. Pics: Newsarama takes a look at the unofficial-official online comic TransFormers: War Journal.
2. Ranting: As this IGN Mailbag letter shows, reading rants is more fun when the person can’t spell to save their life. Until you get tired of it, anyway.

Assorted Mushrooms

1. Newsbit: Yahoo has a recap of the first night back on the air for Letterman, Leno, et al. Many of whom now sport beards.
2. Video: Tip for hosting the news: be careful what you say.
3. Video: I have no idea if the stuff at Whopper Freakout is for real or not, but I have a hunch that these NSFW reactions to the same situation in Minneapolis aren’t real.

   Or maybe they are. Truth is stranger than fiction, after all.

4. Blogging: Trying to figure out which Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Fast Forward figures they did and didn’t release? The 5th turtle is here to help!
5. Blogging: Remember back when Garfield & Friends used to air, and every week (well, maybe not as often as it seemed, upon viewing the DVDs) Garfield would end the opening with a different line, not unlike the habit The Simpsons and other shows would adopt? Turns out that back in the day, one quip caused a slight ruckus.

   Evanier talks a little more about the openings themselves here.

6. Article: Another look at Spider-man “One More Day” over at Newsarama. But how much more is there to say?

   Apparently, as the writer doesn’t seem perturbed by what’s transpired at all. But many disagree with comments such as “If this story were poorly orchestrated or delivered, that would be one thing—but taken on its own storytelling merits (which is all that matters really) this is an incredibly well told story.” Myself among them.

7. Interview: Speaking of the story in question, here’s Joe Quesada to fill our minds with more of his BS and tripe.

   Actually, it seems that in explaining where some things are, not everything is as bad… but still definitely weird, perhaps nonsensical, even for comics. Now I’m even more confused, though.

Video Power

1. Pics: Racketboy kicks off retro gaming in the new year with the best NiGHTS Into Dreams art he can find.
2. Newsbit: Amazing what people do…

   A kid gets frustrated at not getting his turn on the Wii, so what does he do? He decides to play wee instead.

   (I thought we were past these jokes by now.)

   The parents are taking it pretty well, all considered. Makes you wonder how hard it was for them to get one.

   The family is hoping that their insurance will cover the damage, of which the father jokingly remarked:

   ??It must surely be counted as a leak.?

   Yeah, good luck with that. Even if they do cover it, good luck finding a replacement anytime soon.

3. Pics: GameDaily’s latest Retro Rewind looks at the era of the Super NES.
4. Newsbit: Further call for adaptive scoring to more casual fare.
5. Video: At long last, Yahtzee has made a Zero Punctuation review of Super Mario Galaxy.
6. eBay: If you’re anywhere near the nutty collector that I am, then it may interest you to learn that some classic Nintendo toys are on eBay now, and commanding a decent chunk of change.

   And I don’t mean stuff like Mario figurines and Zelda nightlights, but stuff Nintendo made before becoming video gaming kingpins. Interesting to note is the use of caucasian kids adorning the boxes of Japanese product.

7. eBay: Also of interest might be this purported Nintendo PlayStation controller… that seems to have no guarantee to its authenticity, but is neat for a look-see anyway.
8. Article: While Dave Perry sees media ownership as a dying concept, it leads me to wonder where that leaves folks like me, who like having collections of solid, physical media around.

–LBD “Nytetrayn”

InFormers: Robots in the News

1. Newsbit: Good news for lovers of pink femmebots and beaten women, as Hasbro seems to be releasing Battle Damage Arcee from the Movie line all by her lonesome.
2. Newsbit: The latest on the second movie seems to indicate that we might see more robots in disguise, but it might take a little longer. Maybe.
3. Newsbit: Still can’t find Masterpiece Starscream at a Wal-Mart near you? Then worry not, for he is now in stock at Wal-Mart.com!
4. Newsbit: Latest word on the black Soundblaster bust featuring Ratbat is that it’ll be available this May for $60. He’ll be 6″ tall and limited to one thousand pieces.

Assorted Mushrooms

1. Newsbit: From WebbAlert: Walmart’s online video service is gone. It was six days before anyone noticed.
2. Newsbit: For fans of Osamu Tezuka’s Phoenix and Black Jack, Organic Hobby has something special coming for you.
3. Newsbit: Coming soon: the six-armed Spider-man mini-bust. Buy three so he’ll be perfectly capable of enacting dirty deeds for the devil!

Video Power

1. Newsbit: These system-bricking updates are getting out of hand. I’m starting to miss the days when games were made around a system’s limits, not by trying to change them. It seems to do more harm than good.
2. Newsbit: Good to know Microsoft has finally decided to at least look into Skyllus’ unfortunate situation of being hacked out of his Halo 3 Recon armor. And all it took was some bad publicity!

   Remind us to find a creative way to kill ourselves in a popular game the next time we need help from Microsoft.

3. Newsbit: Rare has stepped forth and given a little more info surrounding the upcoming Banjo Threeie.
4. Newsbit: It’s not much, but Reggie Fils-Aime shared a little tease of what to expect of the DS in the coming future.
5. Newsbit: Oh, great. The Wavebird wireless GameCube controller? Nintendo’s stopped shipping them. But if you want wired, you’re still good.

   Dammit, I still need to get one or two.

6. Newsbit: To ring in the New Year, the Virtual Console has brought forth yet another three games: Light Crusader for the Genesis, Top Hunter for the NEOGEO, and Bubble Bobble for the NES.
7. Newsbit: Hmm, I think the title says it all here:

   Pepsi Develops New Videogame To Combat Mexican Fatness

   Maybe it’s time for another Pepsi-Nintendo partnership?

8. Newsbit: If you have $700 handy, but not a Wii, then Toys R Us may just have a deal for you!
9. Warning: It’s probably best that, out of the different Wii remote chargers that are on the market, you don’t get Psyclone’s.
10. Newsbit: Seems some Wii Fire Emblem discs have run afoul of problems, and Nintendo is making good to repair the discs.
11. Newsbit: Apparently, gamers aren’t the only ones miffed by the problematic Xbox Live service as of late; Major Nelson finds it unacceptable as well.

–LBD “Nytetrayn”

InFormers: Robots in the News

1. Blogging: Simon Furman looks at the year that was before getting stoked for what’s yet to come.
2. Pics: Many new galleries of TransFormers toys await you at the Allspark. Sorry, not listing them all this time.
3. Merch: Want your very own Nightbird ninja robot or Quintesson Bailiff? Then cast your eyes over at Impossible Toys to see about filling out your collection just a little bit more.
4. Reviews: BWTF.com continues updates with reviews and images of Movie Cliffjumper and Stockade.

Assorted Mushrooms

1. Blogging: The 5th turtle wondered just where in the hell those two wildmen Eastman and Laird got the idea for the original April O’Neil. And by George, he got the answers, too!
2. Video: While its taste in music may be questionable, this bird certainly knows how to get down.
3. Blogging: David Cross apparently had a few things to say about his appearance in Alvin and the Chipmunks.
4. Linkage: Much like Wikipedia, Snopes, or Jump the Shark, TV Tropes is a great, informative timewaster. Though, if you learn new things from it, is it really wasting time?

   The best part is, it even covers video games, anime, comics, and more.

5. Video: Think you’re good with a paper airplane? Then can you top this?
6. Video: Remember the NSFW Angry Grandpa video? Well, he’s back, and as NSFW as ever when he finds out how popular the first video was.
7. Video: Worried your governing body might be corrupt? Here are a few quick ways to tell.
8. Video: What were the top 10 videos of 2007? Let’s find out.
9. Roundtable: A group of folk from Newsarama gather ’round to discuss the final part of Spider-man: One More Day, which I hate to say has effectively tainted the character all across the board for me. Needless to say, they don’t like it much, either.
10. Interview: While over at Comic Book Resources, they continue talking to Joe Quesada himself about it, which is only fueling fans’ ire.

    Also, the science that Joe was going to apply to the retcon of the marriage would have made over 30 years of Spider-Man books worthless, because they never would have had happened. We would have also had a “Crisis” in the Marvel Universe because it would have reset way too many things outside of the Spider-Man titles. We just couldn’t go there and in the end we weren’t expecting that kind of story.

    …and that isn’t what we’re dealing with here?

11. Video: I don’t give much of a damn about beer, but it does produce some funny commercials.

Video Power

1. eBay: Not a dream! Not an imaginary story! Not a hoax!… well, ok, maybe it’s a hoax. I’m not really sure, but if someone DID manage to get Jack Thompson to sign a copy of Grand Theft Auto III to put on eBay, with the profits going to Penny Arcade’s Child’s Play, then that’s probably more unbelievable than the dream, story, or whatever.
2. Video: Among many other awards at GameTrailers, one of the most interesting has to be the Most Disappointing Games of ’07, along with the Biggest Surprise award.
3. Articles: Congratulations to Press The Buttons on 1,500 entries! To celebrate, Matt takes a look back at some of his faves of the bunch.
4. Article: And to kick things off this year, he has also put together a Wish List of what he’d like to see come this year.

   And I don’t think I disagree with a single thing there.

5. Video: Thanks to the efforts of Frash, we have found at least one part of the ultra-rare Super Mario Bros. 3 “fairy tale” anime on YouTube.

   Regretably, there seemed to be some sort of subbed version up that’s no longer available.

6. Video: Oh, how can ANYONE expect to get the right thing for Christmas with all these crazy, newfangled terms floating around out there?

   Luckily, some actually know of such things. But just in case, it’s probably best to clarify just what it is you want, rather than just what it’s called.

7. Warning: The news is so nice, I’m saying it twice: if you value your Wii remotes, don’t use a Psyclone charger.
8. Video: ScrewAttack.com may not have liked Virtua Cop 2, but I liked the games, and would like to see those released on the Wii.
9. Video: Another year, another lot of bad games. “Stuttering” Craig and “Handsome” Tom have a look back at the top 10 Angry Video Game Nerd moments of 2007 in which he gave them what for.
10. Editorial: Over at Next Generation, Joe Keiser has a few ideas on how the industry can shape itself up a little in the coming year.
11. Article: Games Radar singles out five things that the MMO genre needs to cut out.

    …the “Depression” one is really alarming. You’d think this is the kind of stuff Jack Thompson and his ilk would be petitioning, the problem is probably far worse than what they’re going on about.

12. Article: On a slightly related note to the two above stories, here are the top 7 gamers’ New Year’s resolutions.
13. Pics: I’ll have a collection like this… someday.
14. Comic: The truth about Contra 4.
15. Article: Not all celebrity-based games suck… just most. Here are some of the worst offenders.
16. Article: It’s been a hell of a year for Microsoft, and a year of hell for their customers. Joystiq takes a look back at 2007 and all the pain they caused.
17. Reviews: And finally, over on 1up, Parish rates every single Final Fantasy game, and even a few non-Final Fantasy games.

    …Super Mario RPG isn’t worth it? I don’t know about that, I think I’d still rather play that than anything else on the list.

–LBD “Nytetrayn”

InFormers: Robots in the News

1. Pic/Newsbit: The next issue of the TransFormers Collector’s Club magazine is going to show off the next wave of Classics, and we already get a sneak peek at a S.W.A.T.-themed Onslaught from the cover!
2. Pics: Plus, some pics of two Movie recolors have come up, those being a red Dropkick-recolor thought to be named Salvage, and a black version of the ’09 Concept Camaro Bumblebee toy, sporting some gold highlights. THAT, I want. Bad. It was nice of Hasbro to make the toy in my colors, but I just hope I can afford it when it reaches shelves.

Assorted Mushrooms

1. Blogging: Sounds like the same interim agreement that Dave Letterman’s Worldwide Pants company agreed to are the very same terms which the media conglomerates walked out of on December 7th. That’s gotta sting, for someone. But it could be beneficial to the WGA in the long run.
2. Birthday Greetings: A day late here, but just the same, Happy Birthday to Stan Lee, of Marvel Comics fame.
3. Poll: And speaking of Marvel Comics, Newsarama is running a poll to gauge fans’ reactions to the Spider-man “One More Day” storyline.

   Let’s just say that people aren’t exactly full of support. By a wide margin.

Video Power

1. Pics: For those who like Halo action figures (and really, who wouldn’t?), here are the first pics at McFarlane’s version of the Arbiter.
2. Video: Great news! The first footage of Street Fighter IV is now available!

   Awful news! Your only way to see it (presently) is to sit through The 1up Show to see it!

   Talk about a ploy to get people to watch…

   Whoops, back to good news! They eventually uploaded some seperate videos of it in action!

   Ken seems to look ok, but what the hell’s with Ryu?

3. Newsbit: So Banjo 3 finally has a name– I think. It’ll apparently be called Banjo-Threeie, but is that what they were calling it before? It just sounds so danged familiar.

   The game will also have a new form of multiplayer, and be more “play-oriented,” meaning less time spent watching cutscenes. There will also be new game mechanics, classic settings brought back, and “a change to the collecting aspect of the title,” which I’ve long heard to be a chief complaint with the originals.

   More questions and answers are yet to come, and hopefully the game will be one to look forward to.

4. Newsbit: If you missed out on a Wii for Christmas, and are still searching, try your local CostCo.
5. Newsbit: Guess this would explain why I can’t even shop the damn Xbox Live Marketplace for demos, now that I finally have the thing hooked online. Way to prep, Microsoft.
6. Newsbit: If you’re in the market for an HDTV, then shop smart, and you could get a PS3 with it.
7. Newsbit: What on Earth could be causing the wires and analog sticks on Wii Nunchucks to turn pink?
8. Pics/Videos: Some new screenshots for Endless Ocean. I haven’t followed this one very closely, but it looks like it might be kind of interesting.

   There are also some videos of the game, too.

9. Newsbit: Go Nintendo says that the Virtual Console releases for this Monday will be Bubble Bobble for the NES, Light Crusader for the Genesis, and Top Hunter for the NeoGeo.
10. Newsbit: Ghost Squad, for ten dollars? Sigh, now if only I had a Target near me…
11. Newsbit: Oh, this is rich:

    In a press release sent out yesterday, controversial attorney Jack Thompson claims he has found a correlation between the gaming industry and the US Department of Defense, who, he adds, are using videogames to teach “an entire generation of kids that war is glamorous, cool, desirable, and consequence-free.”

    Read on for more, at your own risk. PMO is not responsible for fits of laughter nor injuries sustained by eye-rolling.

12. Newsbit: I’ve been hesitant to follow Destructoid, ever since they put a spoiler in one of their headlines, but by chance I got to glimpse a couple of stories from them today, one being that Sony is surprisingly quite ok with replacing your hard drive on your PS3. We’ll see how long that lasts, though.
13. Newsbit: …but what really got my attention was this piece, which we’ll close out with today.

    Remember that story awhile back, where the developers of Halo at Bungie were giving away Recon armor to users who made cool videos, such as this suicide shot?

    Turns out that one of those winners had their account hacked somehow, and Microsoft won’t do anything about it, even going so far as to hang up on the guy, and adding to the numerous complaints that Microsoft’s customer service is, in a (NSFW) word, absolute shit.

    With this, telling people to go back to England, and numerous other discrepancies reported far and wide across the net, I’m imagining I’d get no help from them regarding the Xbox Live cards I got from people who live in the US but won’t work in Canada (anyone interested in buying?).

    The whole lot of it disgusts me, makes me sick, quite frankly. Question is, what can anyone do about it?

–LBD “Nytetrayn”

InFormers: Robots in the News

1. Video: A video review of Animated Cybertron Mode Optimus Prime has been posted on YouTube, courtesy of someone from TFW2005 who got a packaging sample of the toy.
2. Review: And BWTF.com brings us another, more standard review as well, this time of Movie toy Camshaft, an Autobot redeco of the Decepticon Swindle toy.

Assorted Mushrooms

1. Video: Apparently, South Park‘s Mrs. Garrison has an interesting, NSFW view on how the theory of evolution works.
2. Video: A neat video here of a chemical plant explosion. Nothing TOO horrible, it seems, but it did make quite a mess and shake some people up.
3. Pic: For those who want their Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles figures to be 100% true to the original comics– none of this “color” crap, red or otherwise– NECA is putting together this little beaut for you.
4. Video: Here we have Carl Reiner and Mel Brooks (as introduced by Johnny Carson) doing an old comedy routine.
5. Linkage: I was disappointed when I saw that the LiveJournal community “Improved Archie” disappeared, along with its founder, Mighty Godking, who has created some awesome Marvel comics parodies in the past. Fortunately, amidst all this “One More Day” hub-bub, someone posted a link to his new site/blog, which I’ll be keeping an eye on now.
6. Interview: Speaking of “One More Day,” Comic Book Resources has managed a spoiler-ridden five-part interview with Marvel Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada about the whole thing, the first part of which you’ll find here.

   Response to this hasn’t been especially cheery, either.

7. Reviews: I don’t usually look at or even think about comic book reviews, except maybe if it’s a graphic novel or something, rather than an individual issue. But when I saw IGN’s sole feature update yesterday as being comic book reviews, and with the latest in Spider-man, well, I simply could not resist.

   Hell, I’ll even throw in IGN’s own excerpt from the review:

   “My Christmas is ruined, and I blame it all on the team behind One More Day. I’ve had more than a few comics make me angry over the years. Until recently, Countdown to Final Crisis did it on a near-weekly basis. However, I never actually ripped a comic to pieces out of sheer frustration until I read Amazing Spider-Man #545 today. This comic is infuriating and downright disrespectful to anyone who has come to love Spider-Man comics over the years. It’s undoubtedly the worst comic Marvel published in 2007. The funny thing is, though, it’s not actually that badly crafted.” – Jesse

8. Video: Action 9 News brings the latest regarding Loading.Ready.Run’s opposition to the WGA strike.

Video Power

1. Blogging: The Mumbling Kitsune talks a little about her feelings on these new Castlevania movies that are in the pipeline.
2. Review: Figures.com has a new review available for the first wave of Castlevania figures by NECA.

   And I’ll be frank: I could give a damn about the Succubus, removable top or not. I’d have much rather seen Maria or Charlotte, among others, make it into the first wave. But the rest look excellent, though I wish Simon’s flail held the length used in the games.

3. Video: Just in case I hadn’t mentioned it before, a word of advice: Don’t piss off Sonic the Hedgehog.

   You might not be lucky enough to have Eggman there to save your ass.

4. Article: Press the Buttons has found a neat piece which discusses the relation between Donkey Kong and Cranky Kong.

   Myself, I’m of the camp that thinks that the DK we use today is the same DK we used back in DK Jr.

   And speaking of the necktie, I’d love one like that, except with the “K” replaced with the star-centered “O” from the Donkey Kong logo.

5. Article: Racketboy’s Retro Gaming finishes out the year strong with the best retro games of 2007.

   I myself can personally vouch for Contra 4 and Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles. What little I’ve played of The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass was fun, and I still want to try out Metal Slug on the Wii and Pac-Man Championship Edition.

6. eBay Merch: Show someone you care by giving them a plasma grenade, direct from Halo.
7. Pic: Now here is a loving artistic tribute to video game controllers from the past.
8. Analysis: Wow, I think the cost of game production is getting just a little bit out of control.
9. Article: Next Generation has a look into why the video game industry has “fallen in love with the Wii.”
10. Articles: GameDaily brings in a pair of Top lists: the 10 best new Smash Bros. features, and the biggest f-ups of 2007.
11. Article: Games Radar looks at what they believe are 50 ways fandom hits rock bottom.

    14, 18, 22? (need to count), almost 25, 33, 34 (well, once upon a time… who didn’t when the SNES came out?), and 42, those are me.

12. Comics: I regret not posting this sooner, but N-Europe has a rather amusing sprite comic starring Wario and the Nintendo crew for Christmas.
13. Pic: Apparently, Energizer recommends using their rechargable batteries in your Wii remote.

    I forget just what we got ours for (that very kind, I believe), but the damn thing didn’t work well at all.

14. Article: CVG takes a look at their best and worst in box art for 2007.
15. Video: Go Nintnedo has brought back their Saturday morning cartoon posts, starting with Earthworm Jim.
16. Pics: A custom Clerks Wii, made for Kevin Smith? Pretty damn slick. The Wii remotes look good in black, but do the lights still work?

    So long as RMC is asking, I wonder what a PMO Wii would look like…

17. Article: Here, we have some of the most overlooked DS games of 2007. I have Hotel Dusk, it’s quite cool; the rest of these, I wouldn’t mind trying, either, especially Custom Robo Arena.
18. Blogging: Over at Game|Life, Chris Kohler shares his Christmas gaming experience he had with his family.
19. Pics: Kotaku looks back at the many Arcade Flyer Art Saturday entries made over the past year, as well as news of a new format for the coming year.
20. Pics: …er, wow. Just what I always wanted.

    To shoot at enemies onscreen in Wii games by jerking off a shark. Gee, Pega, how can I ever thank you?

21. Video: And to conclude, we’ve got Kotaku’s Worst of Street Fighter, the cartoon.

    Really, though, the show wasn’t THAT bad. It certainly had its quirky moments, as seen here, but given what they had to work with at the time overall, they pulled off a decent cartoon for its day.

    But seriously, of all the parts seen there, this was the greatest. How can anyone NOT love that?!

–LBD “Nytetrayn”

InFormers: Robots in the News

1. Pics: Some new pics depict the difference between the original Sky Lynx, and the encore version. Nothing huge, though.
2. Newsbit: The TransFormers Collector’s Club has revealed the focus of their Spring special, a Timelines comic set in the Classics/Marvel universe, featuring Slag, Sludge, Siren, and Nightbeat in a new bod!

Video Power

1. Newsbit: So, at first, Xbox 360 had their Dead Rising and Lost Planet exclusives, and PS3 owners had Devil May Cry 4 and… maybe something else as an exclusive. Then Capcom said they were putting Devil May Cry 4 on Xbox 360, and PS3 owners complained, wanting at least some games coming back their way.

   At first, Capcom said “no dice,” but then later caved with Lost Planet. And now, word is spreading that the PS3 version of Devil May Cry 4 may just be the superior version after all.

2. Video: Another Virtual Console pick-up for earlier this week is Blades of Steel.
3. Newsbit: Amazon had a strong holiday, with Wiis going at a rate of 17 per second from the online retailer.
4. Newsbits: Go Nintendo has some new info on Super Smash Bros. Brawl, including Kirby feeling more like his N64 self, and Rosalina as an Assist Trophy (awesome, Galaxy is in!). Be sure to check the comments for more.

   And in other news from the Smash Bros. DOJO!! itself, we find out about sharing, and a new multipart item, the Dragoon from Kirby Air Ride.

5. Video/Newsbit: I had a pretty good Christmas when it comes to DVDs, particularly the kind based on video games. I now have pretty much every classic Nintendo cartoon’s DVD set, save for Zelda, thanks to some great friends who helped me get what I was unable to find in Canada.

   Of course, then there’s still Sonic, whose latest set for Sonic Underground has just come out. But honestly, Underground is probably at the bottom of my list…

6. Newsbit: GameStop has a pretty good preorder bonus for Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword: a sword-shaped stylus, complete with sheath! Pretty slick, if I do say so myself.
7. Preview: …they’re making a Final Fantasy fighting game? I don’t really play the games, but this seems kind of fun, especially since they’re taking characters from all over the franchise, from the first and second to VIII and IX.

   Let’s get us a Rydia/Tifa/Rinoa/Garnet rumble, shall we?

8. Newsbit: Midway takes a big step this year, promising fewer, bigger, and better games.

   C’mon, Midway. I know you’ve got the magic there somewhere, let’s see you bring it back.

–LBD “Nytetrayn”