Monday, April 29, 2013

Musical Powers

I've decided that it would be pretty cool to have super powers based around playing music. For example, flying while playing an instrument. Something like this guy playing a jazz adaptation of the Skyrim theme:
A little more than halfway through the video, he starts flying. But he's completely unaffected by gravity, air resistance or wind. He just plays in a standing position while his body flies through Skyrim and into space. And that's exactly the kind of musical flight I want. Also, I realize that the sidescrolling background was just an effect and not intended to show acual motion, but effortlessly sliding sideways without moving my feet is also something I'd like to be able to do. I don't know how to play the sax, and I'm more of a rock n' roll guy anyway, so I'd probably end up learning to play the guitar. I do know how to play the piano and viola, but those don't quite work for this. My vocals are pretty awesome though (even if other people don't think so), so I suppose I could do that if I had a microphone, but a guitar would be best.
Peace!

Mail Truck

In a post apocalyptic, Mad Max-esque situation, I've decided on what I want my ride to be. As you may have guessed from the title of this post, I want a modified mail truck. One of the little short white ones. One of these:

Basically, I want to add a powerful engine and slightly bigger tires for improved functionality, but there are also some more fun things I want to do with it. I'm thinking some flamethrowers would be pretty cool, and maybe some rockets to clear debris in this post-apocalyptic world. Also a couple lawnmower blades or something like that wouldn't hurt (wouldn't hurt me at least) to keep irradiated mutants zombies and stuff away. And of course, some armor plating would be in order, and probably a new paint job while I'm at it. Maybe some flames painted on would be nice, since everyone knows things with flames on them are more awesome. The biggest question is what to do with the back. Maybe I'll leave it empty for cargo or passengers, or maybe I'll put something in it. Probably just some weapon racks, and I think a mounted weapon of some sort would be nice. Ideally a minigun.

Like this, except out the back of a pimped out mail truck. Yeah that's right. Can you think of an awesomer way to mow down zombies, rad-scorpions, and other post apocalyptic monsters? I think not.

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Injustice: Gods Among Us

So I picked up Injustice this weekend, and I'm impressed. The people who made it are the same ones who did Mortal Kombat, so they know what they're doing. It has almost everyone in it that I wanted except Ra's Al Ghul and Darkseid, but you can play as Doomsday, so that makes up for Darkseid. Also there are already a few Batman characters, so I can understand why they didn't want more. On the plus side though, Darkseid is a part of one of the stage transitions. Each stage has three areas you can fight in, with cool transitions in between. So one of them involves kicking your opponent through a portal to Apokalips, where Darkseid will putt a serious hurting on him, then throw him back through the portal, thus transitioning to a nearby but different area. Each stage is also unique and interactive, with lots of items that are useable in different ways depending on the character. The only other problem I see is that the story is pretty short. Granted, no one buys a fighting game just for the story mode, but a little more of it would've been nice. Especially since the story is pretty good and most of the characters have pretty cool alternate costumes. Sinestro gets a weird helmet, which I don't like that much, but some characters like Shazam look cooler in the alternate universe than the main one, and some of them are about the same in coolness, but a change is still refreshing. Besides appearance, NetherRealm had done a great job making every character feel unique. A big part of that is the fact that now there's a button for a unique character power. For example, Bane juices himself up with Venom, Batman summons some flying bat projectiles, and Wonder Woman changes her fighting style from hovering and wielding her lasso to standing and using a sword and shield. Super moves are also very character appropriate, besides being just plain awesome. Deathstroke tosses his sword into the air, shoots his opponent, kicks his sword into them, then shoots some more, which is something he would totally do in the comicbooks. Same with Aquaman (who's actually pretty sweet in this game) stabbing someone with his trident, then feeding them to a shark. NetherRealm has taken steps to make Injustice very different from Mortal Kombat, which is definitely a good thing, but the one thing I wish they kept is finishing moves. They don't need to be fatalities, but I just want some sort of cool move to use once you've won and want to further humiliate your friends. Overall though, they did a great job with this game, and if you like DC, you should totally go buy it. Even if you're not, but you like cool fighting games, check this one out!

Saturday, April 13, 2013

Comicbook Mercenaries and Assassins

In both Marvel and DC, the mercenaries and assassins have always been some of my favorite characters. For example, Marvel has Bullseye, and Taskmaster, DC has Deadshot and Onomatopoeia, and Deadpool and Deathstroke are each one of my favorite characters in their respective universes. I love Deadpool's randomness and Deathstroke's sheer toughness and ability to beat anyone if he has time to prepare. I was pretty happy when Deadpool's game was announced, then Deathstroke was announced for Injustice, and now that they've announced Arkham Origins and showed that he'll be in it, I'm a happy man. Especially since they've said that the story of the game is that eight of the world's best assassins have gathered in Gotham to kill the Batman. Now that sounds exactly like the kind of game I want to play. I know that the Penguin and Black Mask are in the game, but they're not part of the assassin squad. Where they're concerned, the only member we know of is Deathstroke, but Deadshot has already been in an Arkham game, so I wouldn't be surprised if he shows up too. I just wish there were more comicbook stories about villains-for-hire. I've read Suicide Squad and The Thunderbolts, but I don't count those. Those are villains being forced by the government to do hero stuff. I want there to be an ongoing series about villains doing some antihero stuff and some villain stuff that ends up working out for the greater good. No government involvement though. They have to choose to do what they're doing or else it's not as good. There are tons of stories with costumed mercenaries in them, but I want them to be the protagonists so they can do what they do, but actually win. Maybe the story could involve some assassins being hired then betrayed by another villain, then seeking revenge. Ir maybe one of thise miniseries type things that take place during a massive crossover event and details what's going on with other characters. Either way, their actions serve the greater good but they're still not trying to be herpes. I am happy though that my two favorite mercs will both be playable in upcoming video games. Deadpool gets his own game, but Deathstroke is playable in Injustice and is a major antagonist in Arkham Origins, so they're both doing pretty well. And that's all for today. Later!

Monday, April 8, 2013

Giant Swords

Many fictional characters use oversized swords, about which I have mixed feelings. Sometimes I think a huge sword looks cool, others it gets a little ridiculous. I'll try to find some pictures as I go to illustrate what I'm saying. Mainly it comes down to who's using the sword. Enormous swords aren't feasible for normal people to use, so there are only some excuses a character can have for using one. For example, Cloud and Sephiroth from Final Fantasy would be normal people if not for artificial genetic enhancements. That just doesn't quite... Cut it for me. Plus I guess I'm biassed since I've never been much of a Final Fantasy fan. And besides looking using weird looking swords, everyone in those games kinda looks like their oversized weapons are compensating for something. Sorry if you're a Final Fantasy fan, but you have to admit that there are manlier looking characters out there. Which brings us to someone else who uses a gigantic sword: War from Darksiders. War uses a large sword, but there's no questioning his masculinity. Especially since he is a horseman of the apocalypse and the living embodiment if war. War being war is also why he can use carry his massive Chaos Eater blade without me questioning it. He's freakin' War, so if he wants to use a huge sword, he gets to use a huge sword! Same with his brother, Death, in the sequel. He can use a variety of really big hammers, axes, etc. but it's ok because he's Death! All horsemen of the apocalypse, gods, demons, and even some half demons can use whatever weapons they want! I mentioned half demons in an attempt to smoothly transition to someone else who can get away with using a pretty big sword: Dante from Devil May Cry (did it work?). Some people like the old games, some like the reboot, some like both, and some aren't fans of any DMC games, but Dante is a pretty cool dude no matter how you... Slice it... Anyone? No...? Okay... So anyway, Dante is the son of a demon, so he can do what he wants. Also his sword isn't quite as big as some others, so it's reasonably sized for a half demon.







Thursday, April 4, 2013

The Zombie Apocalypse

I've posted about zombies before, but not about the actual event. I think that obviously it would be very bad, but there would be good parts. Like they say in Walking Dead, a world ruled by the dead would force us to truly start living. Looking for supplies would be a pain, but if my group and I could find a secure place to live, I think it wouldn't be too terrible. Speaking of my group, I have some ideas for who I want to meet up with. I'm not one of those people who chooses group members from lots of unrelated franchises, but I think it's reasonable to go from zombie related things. Dont even get me stryed on who i want in my group if i can choose from anyone. For real though. Don't. You'll be here all day. Anyway, my ideal group includes Leon and Chris from Resident Evil, Frank West and/ or Chuck Greene from Dead Rising, Coach from Left 4 Dead, and Darryl Dixon from Walking Dead. Chris and Leon are just generally tough, Coach is the token black character, Frank and Chuck can use pretty much anything as a weapon, and Darryl is Darryl. 'Nuff said. Plus all of them know not to waste time trying to help zombies or cure them or whatever those clueless hippies always seem to think. I'm inclined to thin I've played enough video games and seen enough movies to know how to survive the apocalypse, which I think luckily would probably be like Walking Dead. No mutant zombies or giant monsters. I wish it would be like Dead Rising, which is pretty much the same except zanies can be killed using whatever is around. (If you can't tell, I like that game). After playing a lot of DR, I think I have a pretty good idea of what common items can be used as surprisingly useful weapons. But I think I would carry a crowbar too, since it's a pretty versatile tool and wielding one in battle would make me one step closer to being Gordon Freeman. Hopefully me and my group would have a few cars (and motorcycles if Darryl and Chuck are present) to transport people and supplies, then find either a prison or something. An island with no zombies would be nice but unlikely. Especially since there's a movie (I don't remember which) that ends with the survivors being ambushed on an island they thought was clean and all being killed, plus the whole Dead Island thing is something I'd rather avoid.

Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Next Gen Consoles

As a console gamer, the announcement of the next generation of game consoles was a pretty big deal for me. The PS4 is the console that all the news is about, and that doesn't really apply to me since I play Xbox and don't plan on switching and I'm too cheap to buy both, but I assume the next Xbox will be very similar. Some of the features they announced sound pretty nice, like a considerably bigger hard drive, a light bar on the controllers which are charged while the machine sleeps if they're connected, and the ability to record and share game footage for every title, but there are some things I'm less than thrilled about. There's nothing that I think will make it worse, but games will cost more, plus the console itself will be far from cheap, and I don't like being forced to pay for things that I don't necessarily need. For example, the console comes with a headset, which I would probably buy anyway, but I would prefer to choose one that, at risk of sounding like a cheesy commercial, is right for me. There's a fair amount of variety in headsets and I want to choose one without also being forced to buy the one that comes with the console. Especially since I don't play a ton online, and when I do, there always seems to be some kid who sounds way too young to be playing whatever game it is, and who doesn't know how or when to shut up. I pretty much never play Call of Duty, so I avoid the worst of it, but it's still a problem. Also, the graphics on these new consoles are going to be a lot better, which is good, but I don't know if I care enough for it to be worth the extra money for every game. Unless a game's graphics are extremely bad (and I mean extremely), I don't really care that much about them. I play and rate games based on fun gameplay, good story, creativity, originality, music, voice acting, how well it keeps with the series if applicable, loyalty if it's based on something else, THEN graphics. I've always thought that playing a game just for the graphics is like reading a book for the font it's written in. No matter what people try to convince you, video games aren't about looking good. They're about feeling good. Sorry, I kind of went into a rant there. I hate raging and swearing 9 year olds on Xbox Live, and I hate when people think graphics are the most important characteristic of a game, but I think the next consoles will be pretty cool! I said I'm not thrilled about some things, but that wasn't an understatement in order to express unhappiness. I meant that I'm literally not thrilled. I'm happy though. I'll probably wait a while before buying one, and an even longer time before I stop playing 360 if they're not backwards compatible (which they had better be or Imma shank someone), but I have high hopes for next gen consoles.
Until next post!