Captain America Man Out of Time

In honor of the Captain America 2 movie I decided to read Captain America Man Out of Time. Yes, I know the Captain America 2 movie follows the Winter Solider story arc, but I couldn't get my hands on that comic. Plus, this comic was written by Mark Waid, who is doing an excellent job on Daredevil, and I wanted to read more of his work. So here's my review...I kind of liked it.

Game Review: ImmorTall

About a year ago I found this great flash game by Pixelante called ImmorTall. The game takes about five minutes to play and when I was done I wanted to cry. Ok maybe not cry, that's not manly, but it sort of left me with this weird sad feeling. It's a very simple game, but a very good one. You, an alien from another planet, have crashed on a war torn earth. It is up to you, if you choose, to protect a family of four from the violent world that threatens to kill them. I don't want to say more because I'm afraid it might ruin the experience. I will say that the haunting music and the beautiful graphics play perfectly into the game's theme. Even though none of the characters speak, the game says a lot. Hit the jump to play the game.

Review: Batman The Court of Owls

I’m not a fan of Batman. I can’t stand the brooding and all the drama that comes with Old Batsy trying to do everything by himself. Why build a team of children if you’re not going to use them? The only time Batman is palatable to me is when he is paired up with Superman. The dynamic between DC’s two power houses is great and often funny because of the clash between their radically different personalities. The Superman/Batman series is a perfect example of these two heroes working together...for the most part. So when a friend told me to check out the Batman Night of the Owls crossover extravaganza, I basically brushed it off. Eventually I caved (mainly out of boredom) and gave Batman: The Court of Owls Volume 1 a chance to dazzle me and boy did it dazzle.

Featured Art: Marvel Ultimate Alliance

Marvel Ultimate Alliance SD-c by DRa90NBoi. Check out more work by DRa90NBoi on his DeviantART page by clicking here. Awwww isn't the Marvel universe adorable when it's tiny.

Featured Music: Morning Thinker

OC Remix of Morning Thinker from the game Silent Line: Armored Core. Remixed byDragonAvenger

A Great Way to Motivate

Have you ever wondered how to get people to exercise, recycle, or do your bidding? If you have, then there is a new scientific discovery that will help you on your way to change the world for good...or bad Mwahahahahahaha!!!! It's called the Fun Theory and it basically states, "fun is the easiest way to change people’s behaviour." Yes through fun you can help save the world or brainwash a nation, the choice is yours. Here is an example of a positive application of the fun theory, the Bottle Bank Arcade Machine. It was designed to get people to recycle their glass bottles by making it fun

To check out other Fun theory ideas, like the piano stair case, check out TheFunTheory.com

Handling the Playstation Network Attack

So yes, the Playstation Network (PSN) has been hacked, so what? This sort of stuff happens all the time. No really it does, remember that Epsilon fiasco that happened three weeks ago? Whether the bad guys are getting smarter or the good guys are getting lazier, you as a consumer must always be prepared to handle the unfortunate possibility of having your personal information stolen. Especially if you’re putting your information out on the inter-webz. So is Sony at fault? Absolutely, but I can’t just put all the blame on them. As far as I can tell Sony made two glaring mistakes.

1. Sony is in the middle of a law suit with an organization named Anonymous. Anonymous basically didn't like Sony's handling of the PSN or the lawsuit against one of their own, George Hotz. To make a point, Anonymous found some wholes in the PSN's security protocols and decided to exploite them. Now I’m not claiming that Anonymous is responsible for the recent hacking, I’m just saying Anonymous pointed out some huge problems with the network and Sony didn’t act with immediate urgency.
2. The fact that it took Sony 6 days to say there has been, “a compromise of personal information ” is a little ridiculous. Sony, did you know it only takes an hour or so to ruin someone’s credit? What took you so long to tell us that we needed to change our passwords and throw our credit cards into a shredder?

Like I said, this stuff happens so lets stop pointing fingers and do something a little more productive. Now that we know the PSN has been hacked, what can we do to protect ourselves? Thanks to Joystiq’s article on the situation, I feel we have some options. First off lets determine what was taken.

Stolen Information

Name, address (city, state, zip), country, email address, birthdate, PSN/Qriocity password and login, and PSN online ID 

Outcome: Nothing too bad, worst case scenario, be prepared to get your email and regular mail spammed.

Information That May Have Been Stolen

Purchase history, billing address (city, state, zip), your PSN/Qriocity password security answers, and of course your credit cards numbers

Outcome: This is a lot more serious mainly because a credit card number has been stolen. Worst case scenario: You have just furnished someone with multiple new cars, a trip around the world, and a state-of-the-art robot butler.

Solution

Change your passwords and cancel those credit cards immediately. While I believe 90% of PSN users probably won't run into any troubles, I always find it better to err on the side of caution when it comes to hackers who can financially ruin you. Don’t let the PSN hackers bum you out, PSN will be back and better than ever and we will all go back to playing MvC3 and Call of Duty in no time. 

Teach Me: How Video Games Can Teach a Generation

I'm a strong believer that games can be a force for good rather than the mindless entertainment some games come off as e.g. Grand Theft Auto or Super Mario Bros. Yes, I will agree there is a degree of strategy to these games and you can definitely learn something. Like, a hooker will fly very far when you hit them at full speed when you're being chased by cops. While I don't ever see myself applying this information, at least I can say I learned something. But video games have the potential for so much more. In this Extra Credits video, they show how tangental learning (the process by which people learn if the topic is exposed to them in a context that they already enjoy) can be applied to video games. After watching the video do you think games can be a good way to teach or are they strictly for entertainment purposes?

Street Fighter x Tekken...Yes Please!

This is me phoning it in super late. Oooooo, look at the pretty trailer for Street Fighter x Tekken. Word on the street says Street Fighter x Tekken will feature 2-on-2 battles between four players and Tekken's bound system (aka ground bounces). There's actual game play footage, but it was boring in comparison to this rocking trailer with cinematics. 

My Thoughts on the Green Lantern Movie Trailer

This looks awful! The end.

What? I need to write more? Fine, it looks really awful, is that better?

No?

Alright, well this youtube video is from 2011’s Wondercon and it shows off some of the more flasher aspects of the Green Lantern movie. I‘m a huge fan of Green Lantern, because who wouldn’t like to see the bad guys get stopped by a giant green pair of floating scissors? While I think the rapper Common would make a better John Stewart than Ryan Reynolds as Hal Jordan, I really have no room to complain about which Green Lantern is in the 1st movie because Hal Jordan is obviously Earth’s first Green Lantern. What I can complain about is the over use of CGI. The alien worlds do not look appealing and I fear that the movie might fall into the same trap G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra fell into with its big crazy effects, but little to no plot. Will I go see the movie? Of course, but I have no expectations that this will be a good movie. Have a look for yourself and decided if I’m right or wrong.

SSF4 Gen's Laugh out Loud Infinate

I am not a fan of infinite combos in any fighting game. Props to anyone who takes the time to learn and execute infinites flawlessly, but to the average player, like myself, they are just freaking frustrating. When I get stuck in a long combo, all I can do is watch my character slowly die and there is nothing I can do about it. So when I heard that Gen had an infinite combo in SSF4, I had to know what this new devastating combo looked like just in case I started running into a lot of Gen players in the online arena. I was expecting a basic tutorial on how to pull off the combo, but instead, I got this rather hilarious video. Technically it’s not an infinite, but as you will see it can be very annoying.

C2E2 2011: After Thoughts

Oh yeah, C2E2 is back...well it has passed, but I’ve got to write about it anyways so here we go. C2E2 returned to Chicago’s McCormick Place back in March (Yes, I’m late with this review, but I had a good reason...My dog ate it. What! You don’t believe me? Well, I don’t have time to explain the digestive nature of a dog that may or may not be real). C2E2 was even better the second time around and that’s saying a lot considering how great it was last year. This being the second year of the cons existence, it obvious that the people in charge were taking notes from last year. So what made C2E2 even better? I’ll sum it up in one word...variety. Yes, there was a little something for everyone, from the hardcore comic book nerd to the casual bystander who might say, “comic what?” anyone who walked through C2E2's doors would have been pleasantly surprised. 

A New ThunderCats Cartoon

Thunder! Thunder! ThunderCats! HO!!!!!!! Yes, that’s right, one of the most beloved TV shows of the 80’s is getting a remake and it’s about time. While the remake is probably not news to most fans (I have to admit, I feel like I’ve been stuck in a hyperbolic time chamber when it come to pop culture) the reboot is still something to get excited about, especially since there is now concrete evidence that the show is real and not just some horrible prank. 

Mediated Mortal Kombat

Can't We All Just Get Along

Oh yes, isn’t it something when even video games like Mortal Kombat can teach us how to get along with one another. In this video from College Humor, we see what the ultra violent video game Mortal Kombat could have been, if they had replaced the blood and gore with wholesome family values.  Move over Big Bird, Mr. Rogers, and Dora the Explorer, there’s a new group of lovable characters dying to teach children that violence just isn’t the way.

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

Scott Pilgrim vs The World Trailer

Scott Pilgrim, one of my favorite comic book series created by Bryan Lee O’Malley, is almost done getting its movie makeover...yay! In the film, Scott Pilgrim vs The World, a boy named Scott (duh) played by Michael Cera falls in love with a girl named Romona, played by Mary Elizabeth Winstead, in what can only be called the greatest love story to ever hit the silver screen...well, not quite.

Nintendo’s 3DS: 3-D Gaming in Your Pocket

All right people, what’s up with 3-D being such a big deal. Almost every animated movie now a days needs to be 3-D, but you know what, they don’t, especially if the 3-D affects look gimmicky. Anyways, Nintendo has jumped on the 3-D bandwagon again, lets not forget the Virtual Boy fiasco, and is upgrading the DSi to resemble what I can only imagine as a 3-D pop-up book for Nintendo’s little handheld. Don’t believe me, then check out this official announcement from Nintendo...did you read it? Well if you could, kudos to you because I can’t read japanese, but I can clearly read the 3DS in bold, so there’s something special going on.

Super Street Fighter IV Trailers

Wahoo! I have New Super Street Fighter IV trailers hot off the press....everyone get pumped! What, these trailers are over a month old...Yeah I know, I’m a little (very) late with these, but whatever, I just found them, and I’m super excited, and I’m going to talk about them anyways. The game features 10 new characters that are a mix of Super Street fighter II, the Alpha Series, and Final Fight characters with a couple of newbies thrown into the mix. Our ten new characters for Super Street Fighter IV are:

Psychic Pinball

Yes! Read the title again....psychic pinball, welcome to the 21st century everyone, lets play some video games. The research group, Berlin Brain-Computer Interface (BBCI), demonstrated the results of their hard work by plugging a person's brain waves directly into a pinball machine with a portable EEG hat. In order to control the pinball flippers, the player only needs to think of moving their right hand to move the right flipper and think of moving their left hand to move the left flipper. In the video below, the player looks like he has complete control of the flippers with little or no lag time between his thoughts, and the pinball machine's action.

Shhhh! Quiet in the Library, We're Playing Video Games

It’s a Monday night, the computer lab in the library is full of high schoolers doing their homework....wait, they’re not typing book reports or doing research, so what are they doing? Would you believe playing video games.....yeah I would too, but how about learning how to make video games of their own. Last week the Palatine Public Library hosted a workshop called Video Game Design Lab and as the name suggests you got to design your own video game.

Come Home Sonic...Come Home

As you may or may not know, Sonic the blue blur hedgehog is finally returning to his 2D roots after years of 3D fiascos in Sonic the Hedgehog 4. You might be asking why Sega decided to go back to 2D. Perhaps it was the wild success of Street Fighter 4 and Mega Man 9. Both games stuck to their 2D roots which might have caused Sega to shout, “EUREKA!!!! people do like playing 2D games.” Thanks Sega for not listening to your grumbling fans and waiting to see what other companies do before you make a game. Geez, stop being such a money grubbing corporation. Following in the footsteps of other companies, it looks like Sega wants to prove they can make stylish 3D graphics too and have rendered the zippy hedgehog in 3D. Thankfully they’ve kept everything else fairly straightforward and have put sonic back on his linear track.