Holy crap, is this my fourth post today? What's gotten into me?
I actually saw this movie a couple of weeks ago. Sorry for the delay in writing the review. I'm not sure if it's still in the theaters anymore. If it is, though, you should definitely go see it. Tim Burton and Johnny Depp strike gold once again.
This sequel to the original Alice in Wonderland (I wish they had changed the title so people could tell this wasn't a remake) is set something like ten or twelve years later. A now grown up Alice finds her way back to Wonderland with no memory of her first trip. The Red Queen, brilliantly played by Helena Bonham Carter, has everyone cowering in fear. It's up to the Mad Hatter (Depp) and the other familiar Wonderland characters to get Alice to help them fight back. There's a lot of great humor here that pretty much all ages can appreciate. It is Disney, after all. But there's also plenty of stuff that only the adults will catch.
I also want to add, I saw this movie in 3D. Now, with all the 3D movies coming out these days, I got kind of caught up in backlash. I pretty much thought the idea of 3D was a stupid gimmick. Not after actually seeing it, though. The glasses were nice, sturdy things, not the flimsy cardboard junk I expected, and they were big enough to actually fit over my regular glasses comfortably. And the effects were just awesome! Every time the Cheshire Cat was on screen, I wanted to reach up and pet him. He was right in your face! It was very cool, and I'm looking forward to seeing more movies in 3D in the future. **cough*StarWars*cough**
So, again, I apologize for the late review. It may be too late for you to see this in the theater now, and in 3D, but even without the added effects it's still a great movie. Anyone who's a fan of Tim Burton and/or Johnny Depp can't miss this!
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
An update on TNA
I've decided I won't be doing weekly reviews of Impact anymore. I'm not sure if I'm going to catch the show every week, and I figure there are plenty of other places online people can go to get show results. That said, I will continue to post my opinions on how the company is doing when I can.
The last few weeks, ever since the move to Mondays, have been surprisingly good. I'm really happy with most of the new talent TNA has brought in (they can lose Bubba the Love Sponge right now, though, that guy seriously makes me want to change the channel), and there's been a good ratio between matches and segments. It was really nice to see Jay Lethal back on TV this week.
Keep up the good work, TNA! I'm looking forward to Lockdown.
The last few weeks, ever since the move to Mondays, have been surprisingly good. I'm really happy with most of the new talent TNA has brought in (they can lose Bubba the Love Sponge right now, though, that guy seriously makes me want to change the channel), and there's been a good ratio between matches and segments. It was really nice to see Jay Lethal back on TV this week.
Keep up the good work, TNA! I'm looking forward to Lockdown.
Game Room update
I felt the need to make another post about Game Room. So far I'm really digging the concept of this game/application. The selection of titles available for it so far is pretty decent, and from what I hear there are supposed to be new games every week. There is, however, one very glaring problem so far. This thing is glitchy as hell! I've had more problems with Game Room than any other 360 game. I've had achievements not unlock for me, only to unlock way later when I'm not sure why. I've had achievements unlock that I shouldn't have gotten (not a bad glitch, admittedly, but still a glitch). I've even had trouble actually buying new games. Worst of all is the challenge system. Trying to send a challenge to a friend is never guaranteed to actually work, and completing a challenge can be even worse. Sometimes after you complete a challenge, the game will attempt to contact the server to let the other players know, but it won't be able to do it, so you'll have no choice but to forfeit the challenge. This is frustrating, to say the least.
I don't want to be too down on this, it's still a very cool idea. I just think Microsoft released it a bit before it was ready. It's desperately in need of a patch. On the bright side, not everybody seems to have these problems. They're only affecting about half of the people I've talked to. So it could be that you won't have any problems. I think I'm going to hold off on playing any more Game Room until a patch is released. Some of you might want to do the same.
I don't want to be too down on this, it's still a very cool idea. I just think Microsoft released it a bit before it was ready. It's desperately in need of a patch. On the bright side, not everybody seems to have these problems. They're only affecting about half of the people I've talked to. So it could be that you won't have any problems. I think I'm going to hold off on playing any more Game Room until a patch is released. Some of you might want to do the same.
I discovered a new web comic
Well, new to me, at least. Apparently this comic has been around since 2003. I guess I was just under a rock, or something, because apparently it's pretty popular. On the off chance that anybody reading this happens to be as oblivious to it as I was, I'd like to point you towards Questionable Content.
Picture Tenchi Muyo or Love Hina, done Western style, with twenty-something indie rock hipsters. And little robots. It's very funny and very well written, you just have to get past the author's music snobbery. There are currently 1600+ comics (which I spent the last couple of days reading) and counting. The site is updated every weekday, which is nice. Go check it out.
Picture Tenchi Muyo or Love Hina, done Western style, with twenty-something indie rock hipsters. And little robots. It's very funny and very well written, you just have to get past the author's music snobbery. There are currently 1600+ comics (which I spent the last couple of days reading) and counting. The site is updated every weekday, which is nice. Go check it out.
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Game review - Game Room
Okay, for those of you that are achievement whores and completionists, I want to issue you a warning about the new Xbox Live Arcade game, Game Room.
Game Room is kind of a non-game game, actually. What it is, is a room that you fill up with classic arcade and console games. You can play these games and earn medals and such, and you can go to your friends' arcades or invite them to yours. It's a very interesting idea. The problem is, you have to buy all the games you want to place in your room. With Microsoft points. 240 points a piece, or $3. That's better than standard Live Arcade games, but still adds up if you want to add a lot of games to your room. And you will want to do that, because that's how you earn achievements in Game Room. You have to play a lot of games, earn medals, and unlock new items and themes for your arcade. Depending on how good you are at the games you play, you may have to spend upwards of $70 to get the complete 1,000 achievement points. Yes, I said 1,000.
Now, this on the surface is okay by me. It's not too different from Family Game Night. Some people may not like it, and that's fine, you just don't buy it. But here's the kicker. Game Room is free to download (only the games you add to it cost money), but the moment you load it up you get a five point achievement. There's no going back after that, you can't remove the game from your list. If you're a completionist, you'll have no choice but to buy up a bunch of games to get the rest of the achievements.
Now, personally, I don't have a big problem with this, but I know a lot of people are upset about it, so I wanted to make sure you have all the information beforehand. If you're a completionist, and you're not interested in spending a lot of money on classic games, don't load up Game Room.
On the other hand, if you're like me and you love classic games, check it out. It's a very cool concept.
Game Room is kind of a non-game game, actually. What it is, is a room that you fill up with classic arcade and console games. You can play these games and earn medals and such, and you can go to your friends' arcades or invite them to yours. It's a very interesting idea. The problem is, you have to buy all the games you want to place in your room. With Microsoft points. 240 points a piece, or $3. That's better than standard Live Arcade games, but still adds up if you want to add a lot of games to your room. And you will want to do that, because that's how you earn achievements in Game Room. You have to play a lot of games, earn medals, and unlock new items and themes for your arcade. Depending on how good you are at the games you play, you may have to spend upwards of $70 to get the complete 1,000 achievement points. Yes, I said 1,000.
Now, this on the surface is okay by me. It's not too different from Family Game Night. Some people may not like it, and that's fine, you just don't buy it. But here's the kicker. Game Room is free to download (only the games you add to it cost money), but the moment you load it up you get a five point achievement. There's no going back after that, you can't remove the game from your list. If you're a completionist, you'll have no choice but to buy up a bunch of games to get the rest of the achievements.
Now, personally, I don't have a big problem with this, but I know a lot of people are upset about it, so I wanted to make sure you have all the information beforehand. If you're a completionist, and you're not interested in spending a lot of money on classic games, don't load up Game Room.
On the other hand, if you're like me and you love classic games, check it out. It's a very cool concept.
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Concert review - HammerFall
Saturday, March 13th, 2010. Peabody's, Cleveland, Ohio. HammerFall.
I've been waiting a few years now for a chance to see this band, and they didn't disappoint. But before I get into that, let me go over the support bands. There were only two on the bill, but there wound up being five. First up was a band called Erebus. I searched for them on Myspace, and found a handful of other Erebuses (Erebii?), but not the one I saw. They said they were from Ohio, and I can pretty much guarantee you that not a one of them was out of high school. These guys had harsh, screaming vocals. Not usually something I choose to listen to, but decent live, and I'm always impressed with people's ability to keep up those vocals. Their drummer was pretty solid, too, but their guitarists need to keep practicing.
Next was a band called Insignia. I can't seem to find a Myspace for them either. They had more of a straight up rock sound, and their guitarist was really good. He was especially impressive since he was handling both the lead and rhythm parts.
The third band of the night was called Suffer the Wicked. They had a great crunchy metal sound, and a female singer with a strong voice. I'm a little biased, since I usually like female-fronted metal quite a bit, but this was definitely my favorite of the support acts. Check them out.
Next on the bill (and my feet were getting pretty tired at this point) was Wretch. These guys were pure, unadulterated classic thrash metal. Just straight up, bang your head, throw up your horns metal, and it was great!
Lastly came Powerglove. If you grew up in the '80s, you'll love this band. They play heavy metal versions of 8-bit and 16-bit video game music, as well as cartoon theme songs. Let me tell you, there's nothing quite like being in a crowded room full of metalheads, singing along to a metal version of the Transformers theme song. You just have to experience it to understand. And when they played the Zelda theme, I got a big smile on my face that wouldn't go away. Very cool.
But now, the main event of the evening, the headliners, HammerFall! If you've never heard these guys, they're one of the biggest bands in Sweden, and they play power metal. Like I said before, I've been waiting a couple of years for a chance to see these guys. I've seen Blind Guardian and I've seen Edguy, HammerFall was the last of my personal big three of power metal that I needed to see. It was very crowded, and I had been on my feet (standing in virtually the same spot) for about six hours at this point, so I was sore and miserable, but when HammerFall took the stage it just didn't matter anymore. They played almost everything I wanted to hear and sounded great the entire time. I can easily say it was the best show I've seen in about six months. Then again, this was the first show I've seen in six months, so that probably helps, but it really was awesome. If you like metal and get a chance to see this band, do so.
Before I finish up, I just want to add one more thing to anyone out there reading this who happens to be in a band. Especially you unsigned, local acts that get to open up for the big guys that come through on tour. Please, please for the love of God, remember to say your name! And not just once! Say it when you come out, try to drop it once again during your set, then say it again when you're finished! If we like you, we want to know your name so we can look you up! When you only say it once it's too easy to forget, or worse, not hear at all. Then there are those bands that get up on stage, play, and never say their name! Come on, guys! This is your big shot! Promote yourselves!
Anyway, that's my rant. So check out the links I provided for the bands, see if you like them, and go out and see a show for yourself!
I've been waiting a few years now for a chance to see this band, and they didn't disappoint. But before I get into that, let me go over the support bands. There were only two on the bill, but there wound up being five. First up was a band called Erebus. I searched for them on Myspace, and found a handful of other Erebuses (Erebii?), but not the one I saw. They said they were from Ohio, and I can pretty much guarantee you that not a one of them was out of high school. These guys had harsh, screaming vocals. Not usually something I choose to listen to, but decent live, and I'm always impressed with people's ability to keep up those vocals. Their drummer was pretty solid, too, but their guitarists need to keep practicing.
Next was a band called Insignia. I can't seem to find a Myspace for them either. They had more of a straight up rock sound, and their guitarist was really good. He was especially impressive since he was handling both the lead and rhythm parts.
The third band of the night was called Suffer the Wicked. They had a great crunchy metal sound, and a female singer with a strong voice. I'm a little biased, since I usually like female-fronted metal quite a bit, but this was definitely my favorite of the support acts. Check them out.
Next on the bill (and my feet were getting pretty tired at this point) was Wretch. These guys were pure, unadulterated classic thrash metal. Just straight up, bang your head, throw up your horns metal, and it was great!
Lastly came Powerglove. If you grew up in the '80s, you'll love this band. They play heavy metal versions of 8-bit and 16-bit video game music, as well as cartoon theme songs. Let me tell you, there's nothing quite like being in a crowded room full of metalheads, singing along to a metal version of the Transformers theme song. You just have to experience it to understand. And when they played the Zelda theme, I got a big smile on my face that wouldn't go away. Very cool.
But now, the main event of the evening, the headliners, HammerFall! If you've never heard these guys, they're one of the biggest bands in Sweden, and they play power metal. Like I said before, I've been waiting a couple of years for a chance to see these guys. I've seen Blind Guardian and I've seen Edguy, HammerFall was the last of my personal big three of power metal that I needed to see. It was very crowded, and I had been on my feet (standing in virtually the same spot) for about six hours at this point, so I was sore and miserable, but when HammerFall took the stage it just didn't matter anymore. They played almost everything I wanted to hear and sounded great the entire time. I can easily say it was the best show I've seen in about six months. Then again, this was the first show I've seen in six months, so that probably helps, but it really was awesome. If you like metal and get a chance to see this band, do so.
Before I finish up, I just want to add one more thing to anyone out there reading this who happens to be in a band. Especially you unsigned, local acts that get to open up for the big guys that come through on tour. Please, please for the love of God, remember to say your name! And not just once! Say it when you come out, try to drop it once again during your set, then say it again when you're finished! If we like you, we want to know your name so we can look you up! When you only say it once it's too easy to forget, or worse, not hear at all. Then there are those bands that get up on stage, play, and never say their name! Come on, guys! This is your big shot! Promote yourselves!
Anyway, that's my rant. So check out the links I provided for the bands, see if you like them, and go out and see a show for yourself!
Some quick game reviews
Okay, once again sorry for the delay in posting. I had a pretty busy few weeks, but now I've got some time to catch up, so here are some game reviews.
First up, Ghostbusters!
I was very excited about this back when it came out, but at that time my 360 was busted, so I never got around to buying the game. I finally got a chance to play it recently and it was flat out awesome. This game was actually written by Harold Ramis and Dan Ackroyd, and it's an official part of Ghostbusters canon. Not only that, but it stars the same cast as the movies. Yes, Ackroyd, Ramis, Bill Murray, and Ernie Hudson voice the Ghostbusters in this game! So this game is pretty much Ghostbusters 3. If you're a long time fan of these movies this game will be a total treat for you.
As far as the actual gameplay goes, it's pretty great. There's a bit of a learning curve, but once you figure out how to wrangle those ghosts into the traps, you'll be busting like a pro. On the higher difficulties, the game can be quite a challenge. Getting the achievement for beating the game on its highest difficulty was just plain hard, but doing so made me feel really good about my skills. Just as good as beating The Force Unleashed on its highest setting did.
There is online multiplayer for this game, but I didn't play it. It sounded really cool, a lot of different modes where you both co-operate and compete with your fellow players. Problem is, two of the online achievements are currently glitched. They simply can't be unlocked, no matter what you do. So, no K'ing this game. Sorry, achievement whores. But you can still squeeze 800+ points out of the offline achievements.
Next, Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga.
I played the first Lego Star Wars on GameCube. This was Episodes I-III. I ran through the story mode, but never bothered to do anything else. Lego Star Wars II (Episodes IV-VI) I played on my 360, and because of the achievements I finished it 100%. Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga was the perfect opportunity for me to revisit Episodes I-III and score some achievements at the same time.
If you've played either of the other Lego Star Wars, then you've already played at least half of this game. But if you love the Lego games and/or Star Wars, and you're looking for 1,000 easy achievement points, you'll want to pick this up. It takes a lot of time to K this game, but it's still easier than Lego Star Wars II. It takes much less money to buy the score multipliers in this game.
At the moment, I'm playing The Orange Box, Lego Rock Band, and Saw, so expect reviews on them soon.
First up, Ghostbusters!
I was very excited about this back when it came out, but at that time my 360 was busted, so I never got around to buying the game. I finally got a chance to play it recently and it was flat out awesome. This game was actually written by Harold Ramis and Dan Ackroyd, and it's an official part of Ghostbusters canon. Not only that, but it stars the same cast as the movies. Yes, Ackroyd, Ramis, Bill Murray, and Ernie Hudson voice the Ghostbusters in this game! So this game is pretty much Ghostbusters 3. If you're a long time fan of these movies this game will be a total treat for you.
As far as the actual gameplay goes, it's pretty great. There's a bit of a learning curve, but once you figure out how to wrangle those ghosts into the traps, you'll be busting like a pro. On the higher difficulties, the game can be quite a challenge. Getting the achievement for beating the game on its highest difficulty was just plain hard, but doing so made me feel really good about my skills. Just as good as beating The Force Unleashed on its highest setting did.
There is online multiplayer for this game, but I didn't play it. It sounded really cool, a lot of different modes where you both co-operate and compete with your fellow players. Problem is, two of the online achievements are currently glitched. They simply can't be unlocked, no matter what you do. So, no K'ing this game. Sorry, achievement whores. But you can still squeeze 800+ points out of the offline achievements.
Next, Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga.
I played the first Lego Star Wars on GameCube. This was Episodes I-III. I ran through the story mode, but never bothered to do anything else. Lego Star Wars II (Episodes IV-VI) I played on my 360, and because of the achievements I finished it 100%. Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga was the perfect opportunity for me to revisit Episodes I-III and score some achievements at the same time.
If you've played either of the other Lego Star Wars, then you've already played at least half of this game. But if you love the Lego games and/or Star Wars, and you're looking for 1,000 easy achievement points, you'll want to pick this up. It takes a lot of time to K this game, but it's still easier than Lego Star Wars II. It takes much less money to buy the score multipliers in this game.
At the moment, I'm playing The Orange Box, Lego Rock Band, and Saw, so expect reviews on them soon.
Friday, March 19, 2010
A quick update - 3/18/10
Hey there. I'm still here, just to let anyone who reads this know. I've had a very busy couple of weeks, that's why the updates have been slow. I promise I have some game, movie, and concert reviews coming up.
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
TNA Impact review - 3/8/10
I just got done watching this, and I have to say wow. I was impressed. If you've been reading my blog, you know that TNA has been disappointing me for the most part since Hulk Hogan took over the show, but tonight was really good.
I hadn't planned on watching it live on Monday night, so I Tivoed it just in case I decided to watch it later. After hearing from my buddy Shin DT that it was a great show, I had to check it out. I was mostly impressed at the amount of matches. It seemed like they were non-stop. And in between the matches, there were actual old-school wrestling segments that consisted of guys talking in the ring to promote their feuds or backstage interviews. No more of this soap opera style garbage of guys having overly long, way too serious conversations in the back rooms. If it's not in the ring or in the interview studio then it shouldn't be on the air. There are exceptions to the rule, of course, but that's the way it should usually be.
Now, to the matches. First off we had the main event (yes, I know this is unusual, but they were calling it that) of Hogan and Abyss vs. AJ and Flair. This didn't last too long. After a few minutes the lights went out, Sting appeared, and he beat the crap out of Hogan and Abyss. So the match was ruled no contest and Hogan decided that they would finish it later that night with no disqualifications.
Next we have a great segment in the ring between X-Division Champ Doug Williams, #1 contender Kaz, and Christopher Daniels, all arguing about who best represents the X-Division. Eric Bischoff comes out and tells them if they want to argue about it that bad, they can have a match. The bell rings, and the three of them go at it. Williams wins to retain his title with one of the sickest finishers I've ever seen. I believe he called it the Chaos Theory something or another. I've only seen this move done in video games before, never real life. Williams, from behind, splashed Daniels into the corner, then pulled him backwards into a roll-up, but instead of just pinning him there he kept going, flipped Daniels all the way around and suplexed him! With a bridge! I had to replay it like a dozen times! Insane! It really upped my respect for Doug Williams.
After the match ended, Shannon Moore came running out and attacked Williams, and Bischoff announced that Williams would defend the title against Moore at the next pay-per-view, Destination X. Moore is a really talented guy, but that make-up he wears is just goofy.
Next we had a three way tag match for the held up Knockout Tag Team Championship. It appears Awesome Kong is done with the company, so her and Hamada no longer hold the titles. As a quick side note, I want to say that TNA is making a huge mistake letting Kong go just so they can keep Bubba the Love Sponge. That dude is a piece of human garbage that brings nothing whatsoever to the show. I have to force myself not to change the channel every time I see him. *Ahem!* But I digress.
The match consisted of Taylor and Sarita, Tara and Angelina Love, and the Beautiful People, represented by Velvet Skye and Madison Rayne. Lacey Von Erich was at ringside with them. It was a pretty decent match, but it ended a bit too quickly. Out of nowhere, Daffney slides into the ring with Tara's Knockout Championship belt and clocks Tara! The Beautiful People take advantage of the chaos and score the pin, becoming the new champs. So I suppose this means we'll see a feud now between Tara and Daffney. After the match, the Beautiful People celebrate backstage and declare that Lacey is a champion too, even though she wasn't a part of the match. Maybe TNA will let them decide which two members of the team will defend the belts in each title defense, similar to what the Fabulous Freebirds and Demolition used to do.
Next we were supposed to have a match between the Pope and Desmond Wolfe, but Wolfe attacked Pope during his backstage interview and messed up his ankle, so the match was called off. More on this later.
Now we get Sting vs. a mystery opponent. This match was made directly by Dixie Carter, who vowed to never get involved with match making, after Sting got in her face after the incident with Hogan and Abyss at the start of the show. So Sting goes down to the ring, some strange music starts playing, and the crowd goes nuts. But because the cameramen aren't shooting the entrance ramp, we can't see the video package that is airing and don't know right away who it is. Turns out to be Mr. Monday Night himself, Rob Van Dam! RVD comes rushing out of the crowd and stuns Sting, landing a few quick hits and then his Rolling Thunder finisher to score a really fast pin! After that, though, Sting gets up and whips the crap out of RVD with his bat. Not really the best debut ever for RVD. I mean, sure, he came out and scored a win on Sting, but then proceeds to get his butt kicked. Hard. Hogan even comes out to try and help and Stings whips Hogan as well. I don't like seeing Sting as a heel, but I have to say I do like seeing him beat Hogan down.
Next we get Kevin Nash and Eric Young in the ring calling out Scott Hall and Sean Waltman. Nash says he convinced Hogan to give them a contract, one night only, for a fight at Destination X. Hall and Waltman come out and suggest that if they win, they should be allowed to stay. Eric Bischoff appears on the screen at this point and agrees, but says if Hall and Waltman lose then they have to go away from TNA for good. Hall and Nash shake on this, and EY extends his hand to Waltman, but Waltman sucker punches him for his effort. Instead of the usual farce of security trying to hold everyone back, Bischoff declares that EY and Waltman should be allowed to go at it. Hall and Nash are escorted away, and EY proceeds to whip Waltman in another match that was good, but too short.
Next, a load of soldiers dressed in fatigues come down and line the ramp, followed by Kurt Angle. The soldiers then surround the ring, lumberjack style. Kurt's really going for this whole all-American soldier supporter gimmick, isn't he? Kurt starts cutting a promo on Mr. Anderson, same as we've seen in the previous weeks. This time, though, when Anderson appears on the big screen to fire back, Kurt wastes no time running backstage and attacking him. Angle pulls Anderson out to the ring, where he proceeds to beat him down and let all the soldiers have a turn as well. It was this lumberjack style atmosphere that made this an entertaining segment, to me. After the beatdown, all the soldiers hoisted Angle up on their shoulders and carried him away, while Angle proudly waved an American flag. By the way, I found it ironic that the whole time Anderson was ripping on the military he was wearing a Captain America t-shirt. Angle tried to rip it off of him at one point, but seemed to be having trouble. It being live TV, he abandoned the idea and instead just spit on Anderson.
Next, the low point of the show for me, was Bischoff's continued testing of Jeff Jarrett and Mick Foley. Jarrett had to wrestle a handicap match against Beer Money, and Foley had to referee. Foley tried to help by providing Jarrett with a barbed wire bat, but another ref ran in and stopped it from happening. Beer Money won, and this angle just keeps getting older and older. Enough already.
Lastly, the continuation of our main event, Hogan and Abyss vs. AJ and Flair, no DQ! I swear, Hogan and Flair will die in the ring one day. They're both showing their age a lot worse than ever, both very slow. It's obvious that the younger guys were trying to be careful with them. But, they both still bleed really well. Both of them were wearing the crimson mask by the end of the match. We got to see a cool spot where Hogan and Abyss both Hulked up at the same time, and the match ended with Hogan slinging AJ into a Black Hole Slam from Abyss. After the match, Desmond Wolfe comes running out for some reason to help Flair and AJ, and then the Pope comes limping out to stop him. All six men fight for a few minutes before Jeff Hardy appears! He comes running out to help Hogan as well. The show ended at that point, but I read online that Hogan and his boys chased Flair and the heels out of the ring.
So, we had seven matches if you count both of the Hogan/Abyss vs. Flair/AJ matches separately. Most of them were good matches, though many of them could have gone longer. We had some new feuds started, some good work advancing existing feuds, and a couple of new additions to the show. I just hope that TNA can keep this level of product up. They're going to need to in order to survive on Monday nights.
I hadn't planned on watching it live on Monday night, so I Tivoed it just in case I decided to watch it later. After hearing from my buddy Shin DT that it was a great show, I had to check it out. I was mostly impressed at the amount of matches. It seemed like they were non-stop. And in between the matches, there were actual old-school wrestling segments that consisted of guys talking in the ring to promote their feuds or backstage interviews. No more of this soap opera style garbage of guys having overly long, way too serious conversations in the back rooms. If it's not in the ring or in the interview studio then it shouldn't be on the air. There are exceptions to the rule, of course, but that's the way it should usually be.
Now, to the matches. First off we had the main event (yes, I know this is unusual, but they were calling it that) of Hogan and Abyss vs. AJ and Flair. This didn't last too long. After a few minutes the lights went out, Sting appeared, and he beat the crap out of Hogan and Abyss. So the match was ruled no contest and Hogan decided that they would finish it later that night with no disqualifications.
Next we have a great segment in the ring between X-Division Champ Doug Williams, #1 contender Kaz, and Christopher Daniels, all arguing about who best represents the X-Division. Eric Bischoff comes out and tells them if they want to argue about it that bad, they can have a match. The bell rings, and the three of them go at it. Williams wins to retain his title with one of the sickest finishers I've ever seen. I believe he called it the Chaos Theory something or another. I've only seen this move done in video games before, never real life. Williams, from behind, splashed Daniels into the corner, then pulled him backwards into a roll-up, but instead of just pinning him there he kept going, flipped Daniels all the way around and suplexed him! With a bridge! I had to replay it like a dozen times! Insane! It really upped my respect for Doug Williams.
After the match ended, Shannon Moore came running out and attacked Williams, and Bischoff announced that Williams would defend the title against Moore at the next pay-per-view, Destination X. Moore is a really talented guy, but that make-up he wears is just goofy.
Next we had a three way tag match for the held up Knockout Tag Team Championship. It appears Awesome Kong is done with the company, so her and Hamada no longer hold the titles. As a quick side note, I want to say that TNA is making a huge mistake letting Kong go just so they can keep Bubba the Love Sponge. That dude is a piece of human garbage that brings nothing whatsoever to the show. I have to force myself not to change the channel every time I see him. *Ahem!* But I digress.
The match consisted of Taylor and Sarita, Tara and Angelina Love, and the Beautiful People, represented by Velvet Skye and Madison Rayne. Lacey Von Erich was at ringside with them. It was a pretty decent match, but it ended a bit too quickly. Out of nowhere, Daffney slides into the ring with Tara's Knockout Championship belt and clocks Tara! The Beautiful People take advantage of the chaos and score the pin, becoming the new champs. So I suppose this means we'll see a feud now between Tara and Daffney. After the match, the Beautiful People celebrate backstage and declare that Lacey is a champion too, even though she wasn't a part of the match. Maybe TNA will let them decide which two members of the team will defend the belts in each title defense, similar to what the Fabulous Freebirds and Demolition used to do.
Next we were supposed to have a match between the Pope and Desmond Wolfe, but Wolfe attacked Pope during his backstage interview and messed up his ankle, so the match was called off. More on this later.
Now we get Sting vs. a mystery opponent. This match was made directly by Dixie Carter, who vowed to never get involved with match making, after Sting got in her face after the incident with Hogan and Abyss at the start of the show. So Sting goes down to the ring, some strange music starts playing, and the crowd goes nuts. But because the cameramen aren't shooting the entrance ramp, we can't see the video package that is airing and don't know right away who it is. Turns out to be Mr. Monday Night himself, Rob Van Dam! RVD comes rushing out of the crowd and stuns Sting, landing a few quick hits and then his Rolling Thunder finisher to score a really fast pin! After that, though, Sting gets up and whips the crap out of RVD with his bat. Not really the best debut ever for RVD. I mean, sure, he came out and scored a win on Sting, but then proceeds to get his butt kicked. Hard. Hogan even comes out to try and help and Stings whips Hogan as well. I don't like seeing Sting as a heel, but I have to say I do like seeing him beat Hogan down.
Next we get Kevin Nash and Eric Young in the ring calling out Scott Hall and Sean Waltman. Nash says he convinced Hogan to give them a contract, one night only, for a fight at Destination X. Hall and Waltman come out and suggest that if they win, they should be allowed to stay. Eric Bischoff appears on the screen at this point and agrees, but says if Hall and Waltman lose then they have to go away from TNA for good. Hall and Nash shake on this, and EY extends his hand to Waltman, but Waltman sucker punches him for his effort. Instead of the usual farce of security trying to hold everyone back, Bischoff declares that EY and Waltman should be allowed to go at it. Hall and Nash are escorted away, and EY proceeds to whip Waltman in another match that was good, but too short.
Next, a load of soldiers dressed in fatigues come down and line the ramp, followed by Kurt Angle. The soldiers then surround the ring, lumberjack style. Kurt's really going for this whole all-American soldier supporter gimmick, isn't he? Kurt starts cutting a promo on Mr. Anderson, same as we've seen in the previous weeks. This time, though, when Anderson appears on the big screen to fire back, Kurt wastes no time running backstage and attacking him. Angle pulls Anderson out to the ring, where he proceeds to beat him down and let all the soldiers have a turn as well. It was this lumberjack style atmosphere that made this an entertaining segment, to me. After the beatdown, all the soldiers hoisted Angle up on their shoulders and carried him away, while Angle proudly waved an American flag. By the way, I found it ironic that the whole time Anderson was ripping on the military he was wearing a Captain America t-shirt. Angle tried to rip it off of him at one point, but seemed to be having trouble. It being live TV, he abandoned the idea and instead just spit on Anderson.
Next, the low point of the show for me, was Bischoff's continued testing of Jeff Jarrett and Mick Foley. Jarrett had to wrestle a handicap match against Beer Money, and Foley had to referee. Foley tried to help by providing Jarrett with a barbed wire bat, but another ref ran in and stopped it from happening. Beer Money won, and this angle just keeps getting older and older. Enough already.
Lastly, the continuation of our main event, Hogan and Abyss vs. AJ and Flair, no DQ! I swear, Hogan and Flair will die in the ring one day. They're both showing their age a lot worse than ever, both very slow. It's obvious that the younger guys were trying to be careful with them. But, they both still bleed really well. Both of them were wearing the crimson mask by the end of the match. We got to see a cool spot where Hogan and Abyss both Hulked up at the same time, and the match ended with Hogan slinging AJ into a Black Hole Slam from Abyss. After the match, Desmond Wolfe comes running out for some reason to help Flair and AJ, and then the Pope comes limping out to stop him. All six men fight for a few minutes before Jeff Hardy appears! He comes running out to help Hogan as well. The show ended at that point, but I read online that Hogan and his boys chased Flair and the heels out of the ring.
So, we had seven matches if you count both of the Hogan/Abyss vs. Flair/AJ matches separately. Most of them were good matches, though many of them could have gone longer. We had some new feuds started, some good work advancing existing feuds, and a couple of new additions to the show. I just hope that TNA can keep this level of product up. They're going to need to in order to survive on Monday nights.
Friday, March 5, 2010
TNA Impact review - 3/4/10
I skipped Impact last week, but since this was the last Thursday edition of the show I decided to watch it tonight. I wasn't impressed. I'm not going to do a detailed review, because there was hardly anything to review. There were, I think, four or five matches, and all of them were only a few minutes long, with the exception of the main event. One of these matches, Jeff Jarrett vs. Sean Morley, happened in a public restroom that Jarrett was cleaning at the time, and Jarrett didn't even know about it until Morley bust in on him with a referee.
It's just ridiculous what TNA has become in the two months that Hulk Hogan has been running the show. It's become so hard for me to keep interested. There's hardly any wrestling anymore! I may try and watch the first Monday show, I may not. Either way, I doubt I'll stick with it on a weekly basis anymore.
It's just ridiculous what TNA has become in the two months that Hulk Hogan has been running the show. It's become so hard for me to keep interested. There's hardly any wrestling anymore! I may try and watch the first Monday show, I may not. Either way, I doubt I'll stick with it on a weekly basis anymore.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Game review quickies - 3/2/10
Since my 360 had been broken for the better part of last year, I wanted to up my gamerscore a bit now that I have it back. So recently I played a few quick games to do just that. Here are the reviews.
Fight Night Round 3
I'm not big on sports games in general, boxing games in particular, so I have to admit I took the cheap route to the K in this game. Set the game to easy, turn off DQs, then just groin punch your way to victory. You rarely lose a fight this way. The game only has eight achievements and you can get them all in about five hours. An easy K. Now, if you wanted to take the time to learn the game legitimately, it seemed like it could be fun. Using the right stick to control your punches was something I hadn't experienced before. If you like boxing games, you might really dig this if you take the time to learn it. Or, you could do like me, spend a night punching people in the groin and get an easy K.
TMNT
This game was actually more fun than I thought it would be. This is the first Ninja Turtles game I've played since the NES days, so I don't know how they've been lately, but this one is decent. Of course, it still has lots of problems. Publisher Ubisoft put their stink all over this game, giving the Turtles all kinds of Prince-of-Persia-style moves, running up and along walls, swinging from poles and things like that. It's pretty cool, except for that you don't have to push a button to get them to do it, they just do it. As a result, you wind up running all over places you don't mean to, and often off into pits and dying. A lot. Fortunately, there are checkpoints every few minutes, so it's not that big of an issue. The combat is okay, but very simple. The game was obviously intended for a younger audience. The best part is that the twenty-three achievements are all very easy to get. Most of them you get just going through the game, and the ones you don't only require you to replay one level. I got all thousand points in one sitting. Easy K.
The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
This one will take a bit more time than the others, but it's a fairly easy K as well. It's far from a perfect game, but in the end I still had fun playing this. It was developed by Traveler's Tales, the same folks responsible for the current Lego crossover games (Star Wars, Indy, Batman, etc.) and actually plays pretty similar to them. There are only six levels in this game, each with a number of sub-missions you must complete. The combat kind of sucks. Have you played any of the Lego Star Wars games? You know how when you're controlling a Jedi, and you swing your lightsaber at an enemy directly in front of you, but somehow you still miss? Yeah, this game is like that. It gets pretty annoying, especially because many of the achievements are to kill so many enemies with certain characters. Still, it's not terrible. I managed to get every single player achievement just going through the game. You will likely want to find a guide for this, though, as you have to collect a great number of hidden treasure chests to get all the achievements and some of them are tough to find. There are two co-op achievements. If you have a friend who wants to play with you (either local or online) you can get these easily. If not, just do what I did and find an easy mission in the first level, sign in another controller, and run through that mission the required number of times. Sounds annoying, but it was actually quick and easy to do. Two days playing time, and I have another thousand points for my gamerscore.
Jumper: Griffin's Story
Okay, here's where things get ugly. I actually started playing this game a long time ago. Like at least a year. I got to the end of the third level and got stuck, so I quit and never came back. After playing the games above, I saw this turd sitting on my shelf and figured I'd try and go back to it. There are only twenty achievements in this game, each worth fifty points. I already had a few from before, but ones I still needed included beating the game, beating it very quickly, and beating it without dying. I was not optimistic. But then I figured the game out. See, you have to understand that this is a bad game. Horrible camera, questionable fighting controls, uneven health pickups, etc. The fighting is based around teleportation (this movie is a prequel to the movie Jumper from a few years back, with Sam Jackson and Hayden Christensen), and to attack guys you press a button and teleport to that side of their body and attack. You have to watch this little ring around your targeted enemy's feet and try to press the button that corresponds with the green spot on that ring. If you hit it you build up your meter for power moves. If you hit the red spot on the ring, the enemy will block and counter you. Sounds simple enough, but the enemies always move around, thus moving the position of the ring, thus changing the context of your buttons. You have to think quick, and that gets pretty tough when there are five other enemies all trying to attack you at once. But once you figure out the rhythm, once you get the game down, it starts to get a lot easier. As you progress through the game and upgrade your weapon, it starts to get even more easy. At the end of the game you get a sword that literally cuts through dudes like a hot knife through butter. And the best part is, you can carry all your collectibles, weapon upgrades, and experience over to a new game after you beat it. So, muddle through it once, learn the combat system, and collect all the weapon upgrades, then you can start a new game and basically be unstoppable. On my second run through, I had no problem beating it without dying, and I did it in about a half an hour, too. After that it's just a simple matter of finding the collectibles, and you can use a guide for that. So this game is not an easy K, at first, but if you can force yourself to figure it out the achievements will soon fall into place for you.
So there you have it. Four games that, with a little work and patience, can really pad out your gamerscore. Rent them if you just want easy points, or if you're like me and have a compulsive urge to collect, pick them up on the cheap from your local used game store.
Fight Night Round 3
I'm not big on sports games in general, boxing games in particular, so I have to admit I took the cheap route to the K in this game. Set the game to easy, turn off DQs, then just groin punch your way to victory. You rarely lose a fight this way. The game only has eight achievements and you can get them all in about five hours. An easy K. Now, if you wanted to take the time to learn the game legitimately, it seemed like it could be fun. Using the right stick to control your punches was something I hadn't experienced before. If you like boxing games, you might really dig this if you take the time to learn it. Or, you could do like me, spend a night punching people in the groin and get an easy K.
TMNT
This game was actually more fun than I thought it would be. This is the first Ninja Turtles game I've played since the NES days, so I don't know how they've been lately, but this one is decent. Of course, it still has lots of problems. Publisher Ubisoft put their stink all over this game, giving the Turtles all kinds of Prince-of-Persia-style moves, running up and along walls, swinging from poles and things like that. It's pretty cool, except for that you don't have to push a button to get them to do it, they just do it. As a result, you wind up running all over places you don't mean to, and often off into pits and dying. A lot. Fortunately, there are checkpoints every few minutes, so it's not that big of an issue. The combat is okay, but very simple. The game was obviously intended for a younger audience. The best part is that the twenty-three achievements are all very easy to get. Most of them you get just going through the game, and the ones you don't only require you to replay one level. I got all thousand points in one sitting. Easy K.
The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
This one will take a bit more time than the others, but it's a fairly easy K as well. It's far from a perfect game, but in the end I still had fun playing this. It was developed by Traveler's Tales, the same folks responsible for the current Lego crossover games (Star Wars, Indy, Batman, etc.) and actually plays pretty similar to them. There are only six levels in this game, each with a number of sub-missions you must complete. The combat kind of sucks. Have you played any of the Lego Star Wars games? You know how when you're controlling a Jedi, and you swing your lightsaber at an enemy directly in front of you, but somehow you still miss? Yeah, this game is like that. It gets pretty annoying, especially because many of the achievements are to kill so many enemies with certain characters. Still, it's not terrible. I managed to get every single player achievement just going through the game. You will likely want to find a guide for this, though, as you have to collect a great number of hidden treasure chests to get all the achievements and some of them are tough to find. There are two co-op achievements. If you have a friend who wants to play with you (either local or online) you can get these easily. If not, just do what I did and find an easy mission in the first level, sign in another controller, and run through that mission the required number of times. Sounds annoying, but it was actually quick and easy to do. Two days playing time, and I have another thousand points for my gamerscore.
Jumper: Griffin's Story
Okay, here's where things get ugly. I actually started playing this game a long time ago. Like at least a year. I got to the end of the third level and got stuck, so I quit and never came back. After playing the games above, I saw this turd sitting on my shelf and figured I'd try and go back to it. There are only twenty achievements in this game, each worth fifty points. I already had a few from before, but ones I still needed included beating the game, beating it very quickly, and beating it without dying. I was not optimistic. But then I figured the game out. See, you have to understand that this is a bad game. Horrible camera, questionable fighting controls, uneven health pickups, etc. The fighting is based around teleportation (this movie is a prequel to the movie Jumper from a few years back, with Sam Jackson and Hayden Christensen), and to attack guys you press a button and teleport to that side of their body and attack. You have to watch this little ring around your targeted enemy's feet and try to press the button that corresponds with the green spot on that ring. If you hit it you build up your meter for power moves. If you hit the red spot on the ring, the enemy will block and counter you. Sounds simple enough, but the enemies always move around, thus moving the position of the ring, thus changing the context of your buttons. You have to think quick, and that gets pretty tough when there are five other enemies all trying to attack you at once. But once you figure out the rhythm, once you get the game down, it starts to get a lot easier. As you progress through the game and upgrade your weapon, it starts to get even more easy. At the end of the game you get a sword that literally cuts through dudes like a hot knife through butter. And the best part is, you can carry all your collectibles, weapon upgrades, and experience over to a new game after you beat it. So, muddle through it once, learn the combat system, and collect all the weapon upgrades, then you can start a new game and basically be unstoppable. On my second run through, I had no problem beating it without dying, and I did it in about a half an hour, too. After that it's just a simple matter of finding the collectibles, and you can use a guide for that. So this game is not an easy K, at first, but if you can force yourself to figure it out the achievements will soon fall into place for you.
So there you have it. Four games that, with a little work and patience, can really pad out your gamerscore. Rent them if you just want easy points, or if you're like me and have a compulsive urge to collect, pick them up on the cheap from your local used game store.
Monday, March 1, 2010
The Winter Olympics
I've always been a big fan of the Olympics. Every two years when they roll around I try to watch as much as I can. I tend to prefer the summer games to the winter, but winter is still cool.
I really enjoyed watching the winter games this time around. Maybe it was because America did so well this time. The winter games aren't always our best. I enjoyed watching curling, even though our teams did terrible, and the hockey was some of the best I'd ever seen. Too bad America couldn't pull out a victory at the end. Silver is okay though, and I suppose it's nice to see Canada win gold in their own national sport.
Congratulations to all the medal winners from Team USA, thanks for putting us on top of the medal count once again!
Now the long wait for London 2012 begins.
I really enjoyed watching the winter games this time around. Maybe it was because America did so well this time. The winter games aren't always our best. I enjoyed watching curling, even though our teams did terrible, and the hockey was some of the best I'd ever seen. Too bad America couldn't pull out a victory at the end. Silver is okay though, and I suppose it's nice to see Canada win gold in their own national sport.
Congratulations to all the medal winners from Team USA, thanks for putting us on top of the medal count once again!
Now the long wait for London 2012 begins.
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