There’s not a whole lot going on this week, but if you want quality over quantity then this is a brilliant week to be a gamer. Disney’s Epic Mickey will be one of the most critically acclaimed games of the year. I’m a huge Warren Spector mark, so I hope you give the game a try. As most of you know, I’m an RPG mark as well, so I’m super psyched for Golden Sun: Dark Dawn.
Any of you picking up new games this week?
I hope everyone had a fun, relaxing, and food-filled Thanksgiving. Let’s ease back into things by talking about the first videogame console you owned. My videogame friends span a broad age range; some of them started off with the…
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, the RPad.tv Cyber Monday sale, your favorite turkey leftover dish, or Manny Pacquiao’s next opponent, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.
I hope everyone had a fun, relaxing, and food-filled Thanksgiving. Let’s ease back into things by talking about the first videogame console you owned. My videogame friends span a broad age range; some of them started off with the Atari 2600, while others kicked off their game lives with the Nintendo Entertainment System. How about you?
As for me, I started off with the Fairchild Channel F (and chucked a controller at my friend’s face days after opening the box). My dad brought it back home one day as a surprise. I was so young that I had no concept of videogame consoles. Being able to control what was happening on the family television was pure magic to me — just completely fascinating. For the record, I had nothing to do with my father’s purchase, so it’s really his fault that I love videogames so much. Ha!
Now it’s your turn! What was your first videogame console?
I just watched the premiere of the Young Justice on Cartoon Network. As a standalone cartoon, I thought it was great — lots of fun and quite enjoyable. As a huge fan of the Young Justice and Teen Titans comics, I had some problems with it. I’ll definitely be watching the series regularly and have high hopes for it, but I’ll have to get used to some things. Here are some binary thoughts on the premiere.
Bad: Using Earth-16 as the show’s setting gives the writers a lot of freedom. It also allows the writers to piss off fans of the mainline comics. As I mentioned earlier in the week, the show mixes elements of Young Justice and the Teen Titans books. In some cases, it takes the best of both worlds (5150). In other cases, the writers unnecessarily create new elements that will annoy comic-book fanboys (like me).
Good: The premiere was well paced, with snappy writing and fun action. The team is a good mix, with Robin providing the book smarts and Aqualad bringing calm wisdom. Kid Flash wasn’t defined well and Superboy didn’t add much (which makes sense from a storytelling perspective). I’m confident that Supes will come along, but I worry about KF being redundant (more on this later). I’m really looking forward to Miss Martian, as she’s one of my favorite characters in the current Teen Titans books…and green chicks are totally hot.
Bad: This complaint has everything to do with me being a fanboy. Although the Robin in the Young Justice cartoon is supposed to be Dick Grayson, he’s more like an amalgamation of the first three Robins. Like Dick, he has incredible acrobatic skills and reacts well in most situations. Like Jason Todd, he’s impetuous and sometimes acts without thinking things through. Like Tim Drake — one of my favorite characters over the last few years — he’s a skilled computer hacker. I really don’t like this mix. I wish the writers went with a pure version of Tim Drake; in the comics he’s the least physically powerful member of the team, but his leadership, computer skills, maturity, and intellect make him the perfect leader. In the cartoon he’s kind of an impetuous and goofy kid that can flip around and hack computers.
Good: I like the Aqualad is the smart one in the group…mostly because I like that the brown kid is the mature and logical one.
Bad: Would someone explain to me why Aqualad is brown? If he spends most of his time underwater, I don’t see how he (or his ancestors) can maintain a tan.
Good: I loved Speedy’s (Green Arrow’s sidekick) portrayal. He was excellent as the rebellious youth.
Bad: Sadly, Speedy bails 11 minutes into the show and it doesn’t look like he’ll be a regular.
Bad: What’s up with Young Justice being Batman’s covert operations team? I suppose this makes the show a mix of Young Justice, Teen Titans, and The Outsiders, but shouldn’t Bats use…I don’t know…adults for covert-ops missions?!? Perhaps Batman was watching too many episodes of 21 Jump Street when he came up with this brilliant idea.
Bad: I worry about Kid Flash being redundant. While I like that Robin and Kid Flash have a tight rapport (Dick Grayson and Wally West are best friends in the comics), they were too similar in the premiere. It made me wish that the writers used Impulse (Bart Allen) instead. Bart’s goofy innocence — kid was raised in the future in a lab and doesn’t quite understand how the world works — would have made for a more distinct character. Then again, the “not understanding the world” thing would have conflicted with Superboy (a clone) and Miss Martian (a…uh…Martian).
Even though I listed more bad things than good, I’m really looking forward to watching more Young Justice. I just have to get used to the show’s setting and the spin on characters I know so well from the comics. I’m sure it will be fun and, at the very least, I’m sure I’ll dig all the cameos by the adult heroes.
If you happened to watch the premiere, let’s talk it up! I’d love to hear your thoughts on Young Justice.
Today’s Coffee Talk is a double bonus edition…which means you have to treat it like a double rainbow. I expect you to cry with glee and ask, “What does it mean?” Seriously though, today I want to hear about your Black Friday wishes.
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, SAP being fined $1.3-billion for stealing Oracle software, trying out Coava coffee, or the magic of cranberries, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.
Today’s Coffee Talk is a double bonus edition…which means you have to treat it like a double rainbow. I expect you to cry with glee and ask, “What does it mean?” Seriously though, today I want to hear about your Black Friday wishes. Are you looking for games, computer stuff, new televisions, an iPad, or other goodies?!? Will you brave the crazy crowds or surf the Internet for specials (like this lovely Amazon list!)?
After you’ve grabbed your Black Friday loot, kindly post your purchases here. As for me, my Black Friday plans have been killed by a lack of income. Ha! I’d love to grab an iPad when Apple slashes prices on Friday, but I’m way too poor. Instead, I’ll draw on a piece of cardboard and pretend it’s an iPad. Ha!
Now get with your Black Friday wish list (please)!
It’s Thanksgiving weekend — a great time to catch up on gaming and/or try out new games! What are you playing this weekend now that you have two extra days? As for me, I have an ambitious lineup of WWE SmackDown vs. Raw, Splatterhouse, Majin and the Forsaken Kingdom (if it arrives in time), Enslaved, and WordFeud for Android.
How about you? What’s on your Thanksgiving weekend playlist?
The “Era of Awesome” has begun! The Miz (Mike Mizanin) is your new WWE Champion!!! From MTV’s The Real World to Tough Enough, The Miz has come a long way from reality television.
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, Brad Childress’ next job, the Coava Kone, or your favorite Thanksgiving dish, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.
The “Era of Awesome” has begun! The Miz (Mike Mizanin) is your new WWE Champion!!! From MTV’s The Real World to Tough Enough, The Miz has come a long way from reality television. Due to his atypical background, The Miz had to work extra hard to get a top spot in the WWE; some people resented that he didn’t pay his dues in the traditional way and made things difficult for him. Through hard work, continuous improvement in the ring, and extraordinary mic skills, The Miz has made it to the top — WWE Champion and the cover of WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2011!
How do you think he’ll do as WWE Champion? Will he be a strong enough heel to lead a chasing face all the way to WrestleMania? Or will he be a transitional champion? Will his incredible promos retain their edge now that he’s not chasing the prize? Or will he be better than ever now that he can gloat to the entire WWE roster? I’m digging WWE’s youth movement and hope the company lets The Miz run with the belt for several months. What do you think? How will The Era of Awesome play out?
A lot of videogames have a famous name attached to them. Some have athletes (Frank Thomas: Big Hurt Baseball). Others have game designers (American McGee’s Alice). And some have…
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 Panama Elida Estate Natural, Derek Jeter’s contract negotiations, or Sergio Martinez vicious knockout of Paul Williams, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.
A lot of videogames have a famous name attached to them. Some have athletes (Frank Thomas: Big Hurt Baseball). Others have game designers (American McGee’s Alice). And some have musical groups (The Beatles: Rock Band). Today I want to hear about your favorite “name” games.
As for me…well, it’s a little embarrassing. I should say that it’s Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2, but I’ll admit that it’s Britney’s Dance Beat. It has the same gameplay as the excellent Bust-a-Groove and was released before Britney lost her mind.
Now it’s your turn! Lay your favorite “name” game on me and enjoy these Britney Spears photos.
After 72 years of delays (not really), Sony is finally releasing Gran Turismo 5 for PlayStation 3. Whether or not the game is worth the wait, it’s sure to sell millions. The games I’m looking forward to this week are from Namco Bandai: Majin and the Forsaken Kingdom and Splatterhouse. Need some pop in your life? Then check out Michael Jackson: The Experience. Last, but not least, is Raving Rabbids Travel in Time.
Random note: as of this writing, GT5 is #2 and Michael Jackson: The Experience is #11 on Amazon’s videogame best seller list.
Any of you picking up new games this week?
I was playing a game of WordFeud for Android against a random player. He/she had two of the three 10-letter tiles and busted out two seven-letter words. I was getting slaughtered…but I kept with it.
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, the RPad.tv merchandise sale, Bud Selig expanding the MLB playoffs, or San Antonio Spurs players hiding their wives from Tony Parker, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.
I was playing a game of WordFeud for Android against a random player. He/she had two of the three 10-letter tiles and busted out two seven-letter words. I was getting slaughtered…but I kept with it. Through a combination of clever letter placement, dumb luck, and poor choices by my opponent, I ended up winning the game. It was a glorious and I almost sent my opponent a message that said, “Don’t call it a comeback!”
Do you have any stories like that? Have you had any ridiculous gaming comebacks where the odds were completely stacked against you but you managed to pull out a victory? I’d love to hear your stories. Share and be proud!
Here’s my video from last night’s launch party for Need for Speed Hot Pursuit. Entourage’s Kevin Dillon and Jerry Ferrara were on hand to follow up the fine work they did in the game’s commercials. I also caught up with Playboy Playmate Jenna Bentley, 24’s Roger Cross, Heroes’ Greg Grunberg, and more. Since RPadholic N8R mentioned her in a comment, I was sure to get some footage of Shannyn Sossamon too! Please, please, please check out the video and let me know what you think!
Confession: when I started editing this piece, I was still drunk from the party. I’ve written previews and opinion pieces while buzzed, but this is the first time I edited a video while inebriated. I think it’s a fun clip…but I’ll have to watch it again after I wake up. Ha!
Also, what do you think was up with Ethan Embry last night? I found him thoroughly entertaining…but a bit strange.
