Coffee Talk #517: Confusing Moments in Pro-Wrestling History

Today’s column was inspired by a chat I was having with RPadholic Tokz_21 on the RPad.TV Google+ Messenger group. On last night’s WWE Monday Night Raw, wrestling legend Jerry Lawler suffered a heart attack on air. It’s sad and I hope everyone sends positive vibes to Jerry, hoping for a speedy recovery. Now to be completely honest, initially I wasn’t sure if it was real or if it was an angle. Pro-wrestling can be funny that way. The writers have no boundaries and have crossed several lines over the years. Would an angle involving Lawler’s age (he was in the ring that night too) be out of the realm of possibility? Of course not. Sadly, the heart attack was real, but the whole thing had me thinking about times when I wasn’t sure what was real and what wasn’t in pro-wrestling…

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, wishing that Andy Murray becomes a one-hit wonder, Emma Watson searches leading to computer viruses, or iPhone 5 fever, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

Today’s column was inspired by a chat I was having with RPadholic Tokz_21 on the RPad.TV Google+ Messenger group. On last night’s WWE Monday Night Raw, wrestling legend Jerry Lawler suffered a heart attack on air. It’s sad and I hope everyone sends positive vibes to Jerry, hoping for a speedy recovery. Now to be completely honest, initially I wasn’t sure if it was real or if it was an angle. Pro-wrestling can be funny that way. The writers have no boundaries and have crossed several lines over the years. Would an angle involving Lawler’s age (he was in the ring that night too) be out of the realm of possibility? Of course not. Sadly, the heart attack was real, but the whole thing had me thinking about times when I wasn’t sure what was real and what wasn’t in pro-wrestling.

When Owen Heart died due to a harness mishap during the Over the Edge PPV, I initially thought it was an angle. He was playing The Blue Blazer, a masked idiot that thought he was a superhero. He was actually supposed to have a botched fall to the ring, keeping with his character. Sadly, the harness released him too soon and he suffered a tragic fall. I distinctly remember watching the PPV at my friend Justin’s place and arguing that it was a work. It wasn’t until the cameras completely pulled to the crowd that I was aware that something very bad and very real happened.

On a lighter note, a pair of WCW angles vexed me for a long time. The first involved Brian Pillman. In an “I Respect You” match against Kevin Sullivan, Pillman suddenly bailed with the words, “I respect you, booker man!” I knew that Sullivan was a WCW booker, but this was something that was never said on air. Pillman was fired and that’s where things got cloudy. Did he really get fired or was it part of a storyline? Former WCW exec Eric Bischoff said it was part of an angle and that Pillman was supposed to develop his “Loose Cannon” character in ECW before returning to WCW. Pillman said that he wanted to get fired and had no intention of going back to WCW. He ended up going to ECW and eventually brought the “Loose Cannon” persona to WWE.

Kevin Sullivan was involved in an angle with his wife, Nancy Sullivan, and Chris Benoit. The story was that Benoit, who was feuding with Sullivan on TV, took things too far by stealing his wife. Sullivan booked it so that Nancy and Chris traveled together, ate together on the road, and stayed in the same hotels. Art imitated life, with Nancy and Chris actually falling in love and eventually getting married. For a long time, I thought it was just an elaborate angle. It wasn’t until kayfabe went out of style that I realized, “Oh…that really happened.”

Anyway, those are some wrestling moments where I wasn’t sure what was real and what wasn’t. I’d love to hear about some angles that you weren’t sure about. Please share some stories in the comments section!

New Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition Screens

Overhaul Games has released a new batch of screens for the upcoming Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition. A remastering of one of the greatest PC RPGs of all time, this game is set to hit Windows, Mac OS X, and iPad this month, with an Android release to follow later. This is the game that turned me into a BioWare fanboy back in the day and I can’t wait to play it again, but with modern graphics. When you have a chance, please check out the screens below and let me know what you think!

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This Week’s Videogame Releases

The traditional summer drought has come to a close! Leading this week’s new releases is Tekken Tag Tournament 2. Fighting game fans and tournament players alike are amped for another dose of Tekken action. If you prefer balling to bashing then check out NBA Baller Beats. This Xbox Kinect game uses a real basketball as a controller. Watch Justin play the game and get the skinny from the producer in the video above. Fans of traditional sports games will want to pick up NHL 13. If you’re LTTP on the latest Battlefield game then Battlefield 3 Premium Edition will bring you the game and all the DLC in one convenient package. Lastly, Nintendo’s lovable pink puff celebrates his 20th birthday with Kirby’s Dream Collection: Special Edition.

Any of you picking up new games this week?

David Crane: The First Major Kickstarter Videogame Flop?

David Crane is a gaming icon. He has designed some of the earliest and most influential videogames of all time. Pitfall!, Ghostbusters, and A Boy and His Blob are just some of the titles he has worked on. He was the co-founder of Activision, the biggest and most powerful videogame publisher in the world today. Like Larry Zbyszko, he’s a living legend. With his accomplishments and stature in mind, it’s kind of sad that there’s a high chance that his next project will go down as the first major videogame flop in the brief history of Kickstarter.

The video below is from the Kickstarter page of Crane’s upcoming project Jungle Adventure. On paper it seems like a fantastic idea — the originator of jungle adventure games making a new jungle adventure game with modern technology. With only five days left to go, Jungle Adventure isn’t anywhere close to reaching its funding goal. As of this writing, it has only $28,392 of $900,000 goal. Ouchie.

There’s an odd backlash towards this project. Some people within the Kickstart community think that Crane is asking for too much money. Some indie developers feel that someone with Crane’s experience should be pulling from other sources and that he’s ruining Kickstarter for indies. He isn’t helping his cause either. Some of the things he said in this Gamasutra article can be interpreted in a negative way. Kickstarter has a reputation as this shiny, happy place where the little guy can get money to make his dream project a reality. For various reasons, David Crane’s Jungle Adventure has brought out Kickstarter’s dark side.

Anyway, I wanted to get your take on the Jungle Adventure situation. Are you surprised that someone with Crane’s history is struggling on Kickstarter? Or is the project simply too vague and the price tag too high? Please leave a comment and let me know!

Coffee Talk #516: Anti-Apple Fanboys Are Everywhere

Recently, I’ve had a bunch of Apple-related discussions on message boards that have little to do with technology. I was surprised to find myself in an Android vs. iOS discussion on a boxing forum. I was amused to read several “tablets are awesome” and “iPads suck” posts on a travel board. Whether it was talking about Apple, iPad, iPhone, or iOS, there was one thing that was consistent — people with an irrational hatred for Apple.

If you don’t like Mac OS or iOS, that’s fine, but some of the reasons I’ve heard for people not wanting to buy Apple products are stupid and ignorant. One of my favorites is…

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, deciding between plasma and LCD televisions, Ryan Reynolds’ marriage “downgrade” to Blake Lively, or getting excited for Britney Spears on X-Factor, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

Recently, I’ve had a bunch of Apple-related discussions on message boards that have little to do with technology. I was surprised to find myself in an Android vs. iOS discussion on a boxing forum. I was amused to read several “tablets are awesome” and “iPads suck” posts on a travel board. Whether it was talking about Apple, iPad, iPhone, or iOS, there was one thing that was consistent — people with an irrational hatred for Apple.

If you don’t like Mac OS or iOS products, that’s fine, but some of the reasons I’ve heard for people not wanting to buy Apple goods are stupid and ignorant. One of my favorites is “Apple forces you to only buy from them!” I’m not aware of how Apple forces anyone to do anything. Does the company have a secret ninja army forcing people to buy music and movies from iTunes? Certainly if you have an iPhone then it’s easier to buy media through iTunes. If you have a Mac then it’s easier to buy programs on the Mac App Store. So what?!? Apple is proving hardware, software, and services that make for a pleasant experience. Besides, that’s not stopping anyone from buying music on Google Play or books from Amazon and using them on an iPad. Apple and Amazon (with its Kindle Fire tablets) have shown that a certain amount of digital content curation is what the majority of consumers want.

Another anti-Apple sentiment I’ve read several times in the last couple of weeks was, “Their ‘It just works’ motto is a scam!” I strongly disagree with knocking the usability of Apple products. I own Android and iOS products. Although Android is my preferred mobile OS, it’s clear that iOS is easier for more people to use. I own OS X and Windows products. Honestly, this one isn’t even close. OS X is just a smoother and more refined experience than Windows.

The funny part is that many of the people I chatted with that blasted Apple products also admitted that they haven’t used one in a long time. So really, the hatred is based on ignorance. There’s nothing wrong with not being familiar with the latest versions of iOS and OS X, but it’s silly to blast Apple products when you don’t know what they offer. I understand having a preference for or being a fan of a particular platform, but I don’t understand why some people feel the need to automatically hate the competition. That kind of logic only works with professional sports (die Red Sox!!!) and sports entertainment (Cena sucks!!!).

A lot of people on the Internetz complain about Apple fanboys, saying that they’re arrogant loudmouths. There are certainly some vocal Apple users and many smug tech bloggers that are unapologetic about their Apple fandom. At least they’re making noise because they love Apple products. Some people call them iSheep because they love practically everything that Apple releases. In many ways, the anti-Apple crowd is worse. They’re hating on Apple and its fans without knowing what the hell they’re talking about.

If you’re going to hate on Apple products then at least know what they offer. At least then you can back up your hatred with knowledge. Be like Mark Wahlberg’s character from The Other Guys. As a youngster, he learned ballet so that he could make fun of the kids that were studying ballet. Dude knew the score.

Today’s Poll: Amazon vs. Motorola vs. Nokia

Three big companies had three big press conferences this week: Amazon, Motorola, and Nokia. Which press conference excited you the most? Kindly vote in today’s poll and discuss!

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As for me, I’m going with Amazon. Motorola showed off some nice upgrades to its RAZR line of Android phones. I love the design and materials of the RAZR, but my next phone will not have a pentile screen and I don’t like Moto’s Android skin. Nokia showed off beautiful hardware, which wasn’t a surprise because the company always shows off beautiful hardware. Unfortunately, it didn’t have hard dates on availability. Besides, Windows Phone isn’t really for me.

That leaves Amazon. While I’m personally not interested in a Kindle Fire HD, I’m fascinated to see what it will do for the U.S. tablet market. I expect the low prices of the Kindle Fire HD — both hardware and LTE access — to continue the tablet craze. As for the Kindle Paperwhite…I want one now!!!

Now it’s your turn. Please vote in the poll and expand on your answer in the comments section.

Lusting For the Amazon Kindle Paperwhite

While I’m not the least bit interested in the new Kindle Fire HD tablets, I’m terribly excited for the Kindle Paperwhite. This is the e-reader of my dreams! It offers the great benefits of e-ink (fantastic battery life, low eyestrain) with the addition of front-lighting. The lighting scheme isn’t the only exciting thing though. Check out some of the new features of the Kindle Paperwhite:

  • 212 pixels per inch (62 percent more pixels than the previous model)
  • 25 percent more contrast than last year’s version
  • Eight weeks of battery life with the light on
  • New, adjustable fonts (including my all-time favorite, Palatino!)

The last book I read on my iPad was A Dance With Dragons. There were times when I simply had to stop reading because the iPad’s LCD was roasting my eyes. Keep in mind that I do a lot of reading late at night and in bed. The front-lit screen of the Kindle Paperwhite is perfect for me. The higher pixel density and improved contrast are most welcomed too.

The Kindle Paperwhite ships on October 1, 2012. It costs $119 with advertising and $139 without. This is a definite purchase for me and I know that RPadholic smartguy is down for one as well. How about the rest of you? Are you psyched for the Kindle Paperwhite?

Nike Designer Darrin Crescenzi’s Game of Thrones Logos

Nike designer Darrin Crescenzi is a big Game of Thrones mark. He’s so much of a fanboy that he created a series of A Song of Ice and Fire icons. They’re pretty awesome. I could totally see a pair of basketball sneakers with a Lannister logo or hoodie with a Stark dire wolf patch. Here’s what Crescenzi had to say about turning Westeros houses into brands:

These brands become such a key part of the reading experience. Night’s Watch black might as well be Tiffany blue or UPS brown or T-Mobile pink.

I never thought of the project as a series of logos; The approach was much more that of creating an icon set. All I wanted to do was give them a sort of unexpected and unified visual language.

Be sure to hit up the source to see more of Crescenzi’s Game of Thrones icons. Very cool stuff!

Source
(Thanks for the link Koh!)

What Are You Playing This Weekend?

My gaming weekend will pretty much be a rerun of last weekend: lots of Final Fantasy Dimensions and a good bit of Outernauts. The former is just a brilliant old-school JRPG. There are a lot of gamers that complain about the newer Final Fantasy games because they’re quite different from the old ones. They should stop complaining and pick up Dimensions. It’s especially excellent for fans of FFV. As for Outernauts, it’s something I go to multiple times a day. You should play too! Oh yeah, I also got my beta key for StarCraft II: Heart of the Storm. That’s probably too good to pass up.

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