Techpedition

So this game has been out for a few months now. Having finally played through this game twice I can honestly say that the blasting this game got from the major site’s and “professional” reviewers was overly harsh. This is a very fun game, but it does have flaws that stop it from being totally awesome. Continue Reading…

The wait is over.  Turtles fans can finally exhale because  Turtles Forever has aired. What’s Turtles Forever you might ask.  Well, as reported earlier this year, Turtles forever is the series finale for the 2K3 TMNT television series that is not only a straight to TV/DVD full length feature film, but also the first time the multi-verse of turtles properties has been leveraged to create a cross-over experience spanning 25 years of Turtles history.  So, needless to say, its huge piece of Turtles fan service.  Definitely the biggest piece of fan service that the franchise has ever seen and a fitting conclusion to one of the most important years in turtles history. Continue Reading…

Left 4 Dead 2 takes what was already a solid but short game and improves upon every single aspect of gameplay, thus making it one of the strongest games of the year. However, some things could have used some more tweaking.

Just like in L4D there are 4 survivors and you use them to kill a seemingly endless numbers of zombies in an effort to get rescued from the infected city. The core game of L4D hasn’t changed at all. You still must stay with your group and work you way through hoards of regular and special infected, helping each other along the way. It’s still a huge co-op experience that bring laughs, scares and controller launching frustration. Luckily Valve knew that they created a great core for a deep game. They just failed to provide the “deep”, the first time around. Continue Reading…

“It’s the most wonderful time; of the Year.”

That’s right.  It’s that time of the year again.  The encroaching moment when the retail industry can finally start using black ink for their financial reports instead of red ink.  Yes, you heard right,  Black Friday gets its name from the fact that most retailers operate at a loss (financial reports in red ink) all year until the “Seasons of Giving” arrive, and people “burn” that money, thus helping most stores make over 60% of their fiscal year profits in a single month.

As always, with this time of the year, companies make their black Friday ads and try to hide them until the Monday of the week of Thanksgiving.  Well thanks to the internet we can all get early access to all those wonderful ads and build a plan of attack, well before the grandmas who have been doing this for over half a century.  I am not gonna tell you which site to check for these ads.  You may already have your own favorite.  Below are some things I might be buying.  Thanks to www.bfads.net for the info (my source).

Here are my Top 11: (In no specific order)

Left 4 Dead 2 $29 (Gamestop)

32in LCD 720p $244 (Walmart)

Laptop  15.6in 2gb Ram  $198 (Walmart)

Blu-ray Player with Netflix Streaming $99 (BestBuy)

Dremel Tool with free Detailers $44 (Home Depot)

Heath Ledger Joker Graphic hoodie size 3x $7 (Walmart)

8 in Digital Photo Frame 512mb built in mem $29 (Walmart)

Blu-ray player Magnavox $79 (Walmart)

17 in Laptop $398 (Walmart)

Over 30 Blu-ray movies $10 each (Walmart)

50in 720p Plasma $598 (Walmart)

We had a pretty weak turnout for the Assassin’s Creed 2 and Left 4 Dead 2 launch at Gamestop, but fun was still had by all enjoy the coverage. P.S. Sorry for the jacked up intro, the footage we got was almost unusable.

Oldboy, Oldboy, Oldboy. Yours is a twisted tale. One which can sicken the faint of heart, but bring so much joy to those with passion for a gut-wrenching, suspense filled tale. Oldboy is a winding road of discovery, spattered with action, which eventually brings protagonist, Dae-su, to the realization that is every bit as disturbing as anything I have ever seen or heard.

Background. Oldboy, a Korean film directed by Park Chan-wook, was released in 2003 and is a loosely based film adaptation of a Japanese manga of the same name.

Plot. Oh Dae-su, a Korean businessman, husband, and father finds himself kidnapped and placed in a holding jail that appears to look like a run down hotel room with no access to the outside world other than a television set. After days of yelling and trying to get someone to give him some sort of explanation, he gives up and begins watching his television. Soon after, he learns that his wife has been murdered and that he is the number one suspect. Days turn into weeks, weeks to months, and months to years. The notion that he as been imprisoned for no apparent reason torments him and he often times loses his sanity. Thinking that at some point he may have the chance to escape from this living hell and ensue revenge on his captor’s, he trains feverishly. After 15 long years he is released with no explanation, rhyme or reason. Dae-su begins a quest to find his captors and figure out the reason why he has been imprisoned for the last fifteen years of his life.

The Good. Nothing in Oldboy is taken lightly. The extremeness of the plot and action is the hook. This film will easily have you running the gamut of human emotions. That being said, this movie is also extremely well paced. I often have problems with most action-suspense movies because they contain way too many dead spots, or don’t offer up enough story to keep me glued. This movie has a great balance of action, suspense, and reveals that will keep you on edge and guessing throughout. Ultimately the story is not as complex as it seems, but the mayhem that is distributed to reveal this perceived complexity, is all too appealing.

The Bad. The only bad thing I can see here is the sickness of the plot. Although this is also one of the movie’s strong points. So I don’t know if I can really say if it’s a bad thing. I will say that most people won’t find the scenarios that this movie reveals socially acceptable. But with most movies, how often do we really find the plot socially acceptable? I can’t really go into further explanation here, you just really have to see the movie.

If you read my last review for District B13, then you know I’m strongly opposed to reading subtitles. Fortunately the Netflix version of this movie does offer up an English dubbed audio track. Good that it’s there, but kind of disappointing that it’s poorly done. At first I felt like I was watching an old kungfu movie. Good thing is, as the movie goes on, you barely notice. But as I stated in my last review pertaining to subtitles, I can’t demerit the film for this (albeit the localization staff stands to lose a few points).

Conclusion. All in all, this is a great movie. I absolutely loved it. Because of the plot, I would think that this is not for everyone. But if you love action and have a tooth for good suspense, then this is definitely the movie for you.

Also, there have been rumors of an American-made adaptation of the original Japanese manga for quite some time. Supposedly Steven Spielberg was to head up the project, with Will Smith portraying the role of Dae-su. Seems the US version of the film has been tied up due to legal litigation as explained by AnimeNewsNetwork. Seems the manga publishers and the film makers are at odds over selling movie rights. As of right now, the project is reported to be dead.

Verdict: Must See

So, on the last episode of Dragon Ball Z, FUNimation released the DEFINITIVE EDITION of Dragon Ball Z DIGITALLY REMASTERED IN HIGH DEFINITION. Yeah, right. Continue Reading…

Two things that I can really appreciate about an action film: authentic fighting and authentic stunt work. You know, fighting that isn’t riddled by camera cuts to make the action seemingly more exciting than it really is, and stunts in which there is no possible way you can tell if it’s real or fake. I know, it seems that these types of films may be few and far between, but every now and then, a film lives up to these expectations. Enter District B13.

Background. District B13 is a 2004 French film, which is widely known for it’s numerous parkour sequences, which were said to be done without any wire or computer effects. Parkour, as stated by Wikipedia, is the physical discipline of French origin in which participants run along a route, attempting to negotiate obstacles in the most efficient way possible, as if moving in an emergency situation, using skills such as jumping and climbing, or the more specific parkour moves. Mirror’s Edge, eat your heart out!

Plot. In 2010 B13, a slum in the suburbs of Paris is riddled with violence and mayhem and eventually a wall is constructed to contain this area. Soon after schools close, there is little to no law enforcement, and all hope is lost. One person, Leito, stands against the terror and soon finds himself on the bad side of the drug lord Taha. Taha kidnaps Leito’s sister, Lola, and after an unsuccessful rescue attempt, Leito finds himself on the wrong side of the few, crooked cops left in B13. Meanwhile an experimental bomb is stolen and taken into District B13. In an effort to retrieve the missing weapon, a hotshot undercover officer, Damien Tomaso, teams up with the detained Leito in an attempt to rescue Leito’s sister, and take back the weapon.

Main Characters. Leito, the main protagonist, is a streetwise acrobatic resident of B13 who knows the distinct like the back of his hand, and is the one shining light of B13. His character is portrayed by David Belle, who is largely credited as the founder of parkour.

Capt. Damien Tomaso is a star undercover officer who firmly believes and lives by the law. His character is portrayed by Cyril Raffaelli, who is a martial artist and stuntman, and is credited with parkour coordinator on the latest Incredible Hulk film.

The Good. Okay, no need to beat around the bush on this one. This movie is entirely about the action. It makes you appreciate the art of seeing the human body at it’s best. Simply put, Cyril Raffaelli and David Belle are awesome. And although the storyline isn’t the deepest around (and often times predictable), the movie does offer up a plot twist at the end which will keep you on edge through the closing minutes.

The Bad. Subtitles, I hate subtitles. There may be an English dubbed version of this film out there, but the one and only reason I saw this movie, was because it was on Netflix instant streaming. Unfortunately, it was just subtitled, which took me away from all the great action. Says a lot that I still love this movie, even though I had to read the entire time. I can’t fault the movie for that, but it was still annoying. Also, why give a date in a movie? 2010? Really? This movie makes the mistake of giving itself a date of 2010 as the future when it’s really not needed. They could have easily said, “In the not too distinct future”. By giving a date, they age the movie. It was made in 2004, and seeing that it’s 2009 right now, it just seems silly and very unnecessary to give the date in the film. It only adds unnecessary age to the film, which, if it wasn’t for them mentioning the date, I would have thought it was just made.

Conclusion. This movie has more action than you can shake a stick at. Great stunts, great fighting, with an okay storyline. What more do you want? As fore mentioned it’s available for instant streaming via Netflix. So if you can stomach reading subtitles, it’s a go. Next up, Oldboy!

Verdict: Must See

Band Hero PS3 Review

Band Hero is a potentially interesting take on the Guitar Hero franchise with a different paint job and musical focus. At first glance it may seem like the entire game has been overhauled, when it fact, the changes are primarily cosmetic.

Its good to see that all of the benefits added in Guitar Hero 5 are present in Band Hero.From the Instrument challenges to the party play, each mode in GH5 is faithfully copied and coated with bright glossy colors to be consumed by the masses. However, the problems with Band Hero don’t lie with the features that it HAS, but more with the features that it doesn’t have. Continue Reading…