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Today’s Poll: The Incredible Hulk vs. Taxi

It’s time for a sad poll! Today it’s a battle of morose television theme songs. In the red corner is “The Lonely Man” from The Incredible Hulk. Most episodes of the show ended with David “Bruce” Banner walking off into the sunset to this sad song. In the blue corner is “Angela” from Taxi. This star-studded sitcom opened and closed with this excellent song by Bob James. It has a special place in my heart because it made one of college roommates sad (hi Steve!). As a prank, I would blast the song, take off, and leave Steve with his sorrows.

Kindly give both tracks a listen, vote in the poll below, and explain your choice in the comments section!

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Coffee Talk #495: Your Favorite Streaming Audio Service

Streaming audio is more popular than ever. Spotify, Rdio, MOG, Rhapsody, and Pandora are just some of the popular services you can use. Today I’d like to learn about your favorite Internet audio services and why you use them. Are you stuck on Pandora out of habit? Did seeing your Facebook friends use Spotify or Rdio…

Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames, Verve’s Kenya Gaku Peaberry, Roger Federer’s awesome Wimbledon victory, or stalking Katie Holmes, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

Streaming audio is more popular than ever. Spotify, Rdio, MOG, Rhapsody, and Pandora are just some of the popular services you can use. Today I’d like to learn about your favorite Internet audio services and why you use them. Are you stuck on Pandora out of habit? Did seeing your Facebook friends use Spotify or Rdio influence you at all? Perhaps Dr. Dre (gangsta) threatened you into using MOG. Or do you not care about streaming audio at all?

As for me, I was a Pandora user back in the day and played around with Spotify a bit in 2011. While the social aspects of streaming music are cool, I haven’t found a service that I really like (yet). For the most part, I buy music from Amazon, iTunes, and Google Play. I like having the file on my physical devices and being able to stream it through Amazon Cloud Player or Google Music.

From what I understand, artists get more money from file purchases than stream listens (though I also understand it’s a small amount of money vs. a tiny amount of money). As a former (crappy) musician and something of an artist (verbal entertainers are artisans, right?), I feel better about more of my money going to the talent.

Having said all that, I’m willing to give any Internet radio service a go. That’s where you and your thoughtful recommendations come in! What’s your favorite streaming audio service and why?

Win Chun Li and Ryu Street Fighter Bobble Budds

Here’s your chance to win a pair of Street Fighter II Bobble Budds, courtesy of Multiverse Studio! Chun Li and Ryu Bobble Budds are up for grabs in this super-simple contest. I wrote about these sweet toys back in May and now you have the chance to walk away with a pair of your own! All you have to do is:

1) Follow me on Twitter

2) Share this post using the handy “Tweet” button below

3) Wait until the winner is randomly chosen at (roughly) 5PM PT on Monday July 9, 2012

If you’re interested in purchasing all the awesome Street Fighter Bobble Budds, head on over here. You can also keep up with the latest Bobble Budds news on Facebook. If you’re headed to San Diego Comic-Con then be sure to visit Multiverse Studio at booth #2846. While you’re waiting for the winner to be crowned, please leave a comment on which Street Fighter Bobble Budds toy looks best to you.

What Are You Playing This Weekend?

Roger Federer’s excellent Wimbledon semifinal win over Novak Djokovic has inspired me…to play tennis videogames. Ha! It looks like a 3DS weekend for me, featuring Mario Tennis Open. I’m hoping that my copy of Theatrhythm Final Fantasy arrives today. That’ll mix things up nicely. I’m so amped by the possibility of another Federer grand-slam victory that I’m thinking about busting out some classic tennis games.

How about you? What’s on your weekend playlist?

NiGHTS Into Dreams HD Remake Coming This Fall

Sega has announced that NiGHTS Into Dreams will be getting the HD treatment 16 years after its original release for the Sega Saturn. The game will be available this Fall as a digital download for PlayStation Network, Windows PC, and Xbox Live Arcade. According to Sega’s blog…

Sega has announced that NiGHTS Into Dreams will be getting the HD treatment 16 years after its original release for the Sega Saturn. The game will be available this Fall as a digital download for PlayStation Network, Windows PC, and Xbox Live Arcade. According to Sega’s blog:

This new version will bring Nightopia to vivid life with improved HD graphics and a 16:9 aspect ratio, as well as added support for leaderboards, trophies, and achievements. It will also feature an optional Saturn Mode that will let players experience the game with the original graphics intact.

NiGHTS is a beloved platformer among hardcore gamers and one of the Saturn’s shining moments. I’m thrilled that it’s making a return, but I wonder if the game will resonate with younger gamers.

Any of you psyched for NiGHTS Into Dreams HD?

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Olivia Munn: Duke PhD, Columbia Adjunct Professor

Episode two of The Newsroom featured the debut of Olivia Munn’s Sloan Sabbith. When I found out that our beloved Bolivia Bunn was playing a woman with a PhD from Duke, I laughed. When I learned that her character was also an adjunct professor at an Ivy League university, I snorted. Several days later, it still seems hilarious to me. I know this is acting and all, but this is just completely unbelievable. It reminds me of Denise Richards portraying a nuclear physicist in The World is Not Enough. Please don’t mistake this as me being sexist. There are lots of women that can play economic geniuses. Olivia Munn?!? Yeah… I’m not feeling it.

Of course I could be wrong. What do you think of Olivia Munn’s character on The Newsroom. Do you buy her as a woman with a PhD from Duke?

Random Thoughts on The Amazing Spider-Man (Not a Review!)

Comic-book nerds around the world were polarized going into The Amazing Spider-Man. Some felt that it was too soon to reboot the franchise. Others were excited by the potential of a new cast and crew. Last week, I attended a Spider-Man screening thanks to my pal at Marvel. I enjoyed the movie, but wanted a little time to put it in perspective. After some thought, I feel that it’s a very good superhero movie that’s not quite great. Compared to recent spandex adventures, it’s not as good as The Avengers or the Iron Man movies. Compared to the three previous Spidey movies, I’d say it’s better than all of them save for Spider-Man 2. The rebooted Spider-Man is off to a great start, but the movie had one major weak point. Here are some random thoughts (not a review!) on The Amazing Spider-Man.

Andrew Garfield Kicks Tobey Maguire’s Ass: For the most part, Andrew Garfield was wonderful as Peter Parker/Spider-Man. His version of the wall-crawler felt fresh and current. Tobey Maguire is a fine actor, but I never really loved him as Spider-Man. After getting past the whole Facebook thing, I really enjoyed Garfield’s performance. He did a great job at displaying a wide range of emotions — vulnerability, strength, uncertainty, etc. He was a hero that was easy to identify with (and he went on to be a founder of Facebook!).

That’s not to say he was perfect. One of my favorite aspects of Spider-Man is his overuse of humor to deal with threatening situations. There was only one scene where I got a good sense of that. There were a few Peter Parker scenes where Garfield was over-emoting and shaking his head to the point of being distracting. Like the movie in general, Garfield is off to a very good start and has room for improvement. Also like the movie in general, he was better than his predecessor.

Emma Stone Kicks Kirsten Dunst’s Ass: This one was tough for me to admit. I adored Kirsten Dunst in Bring it On. I interviewed her once and found her to be very charming. I just didn’t like her as Mary Jane Watson — not enough of an edge. I’ve been an Emma Stone fan since Superbad. She performed exactly as I expected her too in The Amazing Spider-Man — cool, cute, awkward, and edgy at the same time.

Her character was given aspects that were a bit too convenient, but none of that is her fault. She did a great job with what she was given. Emma Stone was simply charming in this movie.

The Chemistry: Garfield and Stone had great chemistry onscreen…which helps explain why they’re currently boning offscreen. Maguire and Dunst come off as flaccid by comparison. The chemistry helped their scenes come off more powerfully and believably.

CG and Posing: The Spider-Man CG was fantastic, which was to be expected given advancements in technology. There wasn’t much in the way of breathtaking 3D, but the scenes of Spidey swinging around the city and fighting baddies were more than thrilling enough. One of my friends from Sony mentioned that there were a lot of cool Spidey poses. He was on the money with that comment. A lot of poses and moves that are considered Spider-Man’s signatures are found in the movie. Very cool stuff.

The Lizard: Now for the movie’s weak point — the villain. In the comic books, The Lizard was always kind of lame. A giant walking lizard wearing a lab coat?!? I suppose that’s literally scary (lab coats are menacing) but it seems silly by 2012 movie standards. The Lizard in The Amazing Spider-Man had some slick CG, but still came off as ridiculous. Rhys Ifans did a decent job with what he was given, but he was weak compared to Willem Dafoe’s Green Goblin and (especially) Alfred Molina’s Doctor Octopus. In fact, the latter is really the measuring stick. Doc Ock is kind of a silly character, but Molina utterly owned that role. Ifans was merely serviceable.

Part of the problem was that several great Spider-Man baddies were already used. I already mentioned Green Goblin and Doctor Octopus. Venom and Sandman have already appeared in the previous movies. The Vulture is arguably more ridiculous than The Lizard. Do you go with Kraven the Hunter? Personally, I would have preferred the rebooted Spider-Man to battle bank robbers, muggers, etc. That would have left more room for characterization and relationships. Of course there’s pressure to include a super villain to combat the superhero, but the villain was the movie’s biggest weakness.

Conclusion: I enjoyed The Amazing Spider-Man. Admittedly, my expectations weren’t super-high or anything, especially coming off the outstanding Avengers. The cast is more talented than their predecessors and the crew is working with better tech. For the most part, I liked it better than the previous Spider-Man movies, except for Spider-Man 2 with Alfred Molina’s incredible performance.

When you see The Amazing Spider-Man, I’d love to hear your thoughts on the movie. Did you dig it? How do you think it stacks up against Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man trilogy?

Final Fantasy VII Coming to PC With Achievements

Square Enix has revealed that Final Fantasy VII will be rereleased for PC “soon” with achievements, character boosters, and cloud saves. Two of the three new features are self-explanatory. Character boosters let you “increase your HP, MP and Gil levels to their maximum, all with the simple click of a button, leaving you to enjoy your adventure”. They will presumably be in-app purchases.

The system requirements for FFVII are relatively modest: Microsoft Windows XP/Vista/7 (32/64-bit), 2GHz Processor or faster, 1GB RAM, and a DirectX 9-compatible graphic card. The game will be sold exclusively through the Square Enix store.

While people constantly argue about how “good” Final Fantasy VII is, it’s undoubtedly the most popular and influential game in the series. A PC rerelease is a huge deal. Naturally, I want to know if any of you are excited to play Final Fantasy VII on PC with achievements, character boosters, and cloud saves.

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