• Marvel/Disney – This is already “old” news, happening well over two weeks ago, but there are two things I want to happen out of the Marvel/Disney merger. Firstly, I want a Marvel TV show on ABC. There are many ways you can go here, with a “Heroes for Hire” concept pitched somewhere, or, to capitalize on the X-Men brand – an X-Factor series. Runaways is an option, or a S.H.I.E.L.D. (with a potential H.A.M.M.E.R title change after season 4 or so) espionage series. Personally, I would like a “Marvel Street”-type show. The Marvel Universe is ripe with street-level characters, and a show jumping from character to character would be very interesting. You could have an ensemble cast of Luke Cage, Iron Fist, Daredevil, Punisher, Elektra, Spider-Woman, Jessica Jones, Hawkeye, Ronin and many, many more. Every once in a while, feature a big name character like Captain America or Spider-Man. The show, however, should focus on the lesser known heroes and weave story lines between them – think Heroes, just not crappy. The second thing I want to see out of the Marvel/Disney deal is a fleshing out of the Epic imprint, and have Marvel turn it into a worthy competitor to Vertigo. I think a creator-owned line powered by Marvel ideology will be a wonderful thing, and just thinking of the type of stories we’ll get to see out of such an imprint is putting a smile on my face. We can see the amount of effort Marvel are willing to put into a creator-owned book with Ed Brubaker’s Criminial, which is a spectacular book. Think 20-40 of those a month. Glory will be had by all.

• True Blood Season 2 – The finale just aired, and I gotta say, I’m disappointed. This season of True Blood was insane, and it seemed there was no holding the creators back. The scene in the penultimate episode, where Sookie wanders through her own house and just witnesses one long line of crazy was spectacularly eerie, and I expected more of those for the finale. The actual finale was very laid back, predictable and boring. When MaryAnn finally meets her demise, I checked the time stamp and saw the episode was only halfway through. I knew we were heading for trouble right then and there. It was all over too easily. Maryann was built up to be this awesome big bad, and it just fizzled at the end. The egg was pointless, Eggs was pointless, and I was never quite clear on how exactly Tara fit into the Maryann equation – if she summoned her, how did Maryann sleep with a young Sam? Tara in general seems to be the weak link of the show, I never liked her, and probably never will. Her whole story arc throughout this season was disjointed and chaotic. And then we were left with the myraid of loose-end tying scene. The writers apparently decided to turn the camp up to 11, as any scene involving Bill was painful to watch. I can honestly say I’ve grown accustomed to his incredibly thick accent and odd sentence structures, but this was unbearable. Overall, I’d give the episode a 6-6.5 in a season that as a whole was more like a 9. It’s a shame that such a great season to a great show leaves us with a sour taste in our mouth… though that might be because we licked an ostrich egg with blood.

• Arkham Asylum – Damn, this game was brilliant. I’ve finished the main story and started venturing into the challenge room, but it’s nice to have a superhero game done right, and a Batman one to boot. Developers should watch very closely what Arkham Asylum did right and take notes. From the story (which, granted, wasn’t mind shattering, but it served its purpose) to the superb voice acting, to a unified, inventive design perspective, this is how you do it folks.

While Sony didn’t have an earth-shattering annoucement like Microsoft did with Final Fantasy XIII, they did showcase some pretty cool stuff.

First and formost is the launch of Sony’s media service, which, in a nice twist, will hit the Playstation Store tonight. I don’t know how often I’ll actually use this feature, but it’s nice to know it’s there and competing with XBox’s Netflix deal.

Some pretty sweet looking games were showcased. Resistance 2 looks great, as wel as MAG which is a great undertaking. I’m not a personal fan of shooters, but I can appreciate the genre enough to know that 256-player battles are damned epic! A new Ratchet game for the PS3 was announced, in the PSN title “Ratchet and Clank Future: Booty Call”. It’s much sooner than I would have expected a new Ratchet game, but I’m not complaining.

Infamous is a game that looks amazing, even though the storyline does look a bit generic. LittleBigPlanet once again looks totally awesome, and Sony used it to give the business part of their presentation, which was a great way to speed that boring segment up. Then of course there’s the God of War 3 trailer, which looked bloody awesome. Lastly, DC Universe Online is a great addition, especially me being a HUGE comic fan (albeit a Marvel one). It was awesome seeing Jim Lee on stage, and the game looks very stylized.

I’m really suprised Sony didn’t spend more time showcasing Home. It’s really their number 1 selling feature right now, and us Sony fans have been waiting eons for it. But all we got was a 2 minute trailer, showing us stuff we mostly already know (though the game-specific Spaces were a nice new addition). Why not spend 10-15 minutes of the conference talking up your biggest feature? It’s Home that sets Sony apart from the competition, I honestly don’t understand that descision.

All in all, what the Sony conference showed, was that although they lost a major exclusive with Final Fantasy, it still has a decent number of quality exclusive content, with games like Metal Gear Solid, Resistance, LittleBigPlanet, God of War and so on and so forth.

Plus, we still get Final Fantasy Vs. XIII.

For those who don’t know the Microsoft Press Conference at E3 just wrapped up and it had some great announcemets. The problem being of course, that I’m a sony advocate. I want the big, black monster to do well and am among the throngs eagerly awaiting LittleBigPlanet and Home.

As the title said, the press conference almost made me want to actually get a 360. Aside from awesome game demos like RE5 and Gears of War 2, Microsoft debuted some pretty cool services. Ranging from a partnership with Netflix (which means didlly-squat to me, not living in the US) to a new avatar system (a stylized little rip-off of Home, but still).

These are but small things compared to the big hits Sony was taking – first it was the whole Rock Band 2 coming out on the Xbox several months before other consoles. Now we learn the 360 will get additional GTA IV for content, where as the PS3 won’t (apparently, it’s old news, but I didn’t know about it). During the press conference it was revealed that the 360 will get an exclusive Portal expansion (cleverly titled: Portal: Still Alive). I orginally though it was Portal 2 that was exclusive and nearly shat myself, but still, I too want an expansion…

But the biggest hit of all came at the very end. When the representitive retook the stage and showed off a new trailer. It took some time to figure out what it was, but once you did, it was sad. Final Fantasy XIII will be made for the 360. It hurts. It really does. I’m happy for Square to be expanding and spreading the beauty of Final Fantasy to other consoles, but it hurts. Final Fantasy was our thing, it was Sony’s prized RPG series. It’s what made me buy a PS1, PS2 and a PSP.

End of an Era...

Don’t get me wrong, it’s not that I’m pissed at Microsoft or Square or anything – hell, if Square sells more copies of FF XIII and makes more money so they can make more games – all the better. It’s a sadness really, cause Final Fantasy goes hand in hand with all my favorite Playstation experiences.

Maybe Sony will unleash a monster tomorrow. Maybe they’ll announce Halo 4 as a PS3 exclusive, who knows. For now though, it feels like we lost a child.

To comment, Green Lantern Batman -

Fanboy Dream?

Honestly, I’m not in the least bit excited about this. I actually think I may *shudder* pass on this one.

This suprises me more than anyone, as I’ve been clamoring for a Super-Hero fighter ever since Marvel Nemesis proved to be a total and utter failure. There are several reasons why this isn’t really giving me the geekgasm it should:

1. The premise is stupid. Sure watching Sub-Zero freeze Batman is cool and all, but there needs to be one hell of an explanation to how Sonia Blade can even touch Superman, let alone beat him in hand to hand combat. I don’t know why it bothers me so much, I have no problem with the Star Wars characters in Soul Calibur IV, even though it makes even less sense. It just doesn’t sit right, I could accept it more if it was Marvel chatacters, as they tend to be more street level, but it’s the whole Johnny Cage vs. Flash that seems ridiculous to me. Thought that scene of Catwoman dry-humping Sonia is a nice one.

No fucking way...

2. Mortal Kombat has long since lost its charm. Sure MK 1, 2 and 3 were great. Deadly Alliance, Deception and the many others that have come since weren’t. Fight load times were unbearbly long, and the game wasn’t flowing as well as it should. There seem to be roughly 3 fighters coming out at the same time – Soul Calibur IV, Street Fighter IV and MK vs. DC, I only have money for one, so I’m gonna go for the sleekest one. And yeah, Soul Calibur has already been pre-ordered.

Sonia... always a pleasure.

3. I want a Super-Hero fighter, dammit! Not a Super-Hero and some other guys fighter. Or better yet, let me rephrase – I want the Marvel Super-Hero fighter from EA Chicago. We only saw about 2 minutes of footage before EA Chicago closed down, but hot damn, that was SWEET. I want THAT game.

Obligatory "Meeeow" joke.

4. Cheating in the game will be incredibly easy. All you have to do is choose Batman, it’s an automatic win. If this is not a feature in the game, well then…

I like Sony’s stuff. It started with me being a Final Fantasy die hard, and the only way to play the games was on the Playstation, and it just stemmed. And now, finally, Sony is starting to win – with the announcement of Firmware 2.40 and the inclusion of Trophies. Now I always thought the Achievements were the only thing Microsoft’s console had going for it, as I’m not into shooters and those are pretty much the only good games on the XBox (that are not on the Playstation as well). It’s cool having these little extra things to do while playing, Gotta Catch ‘Em All and all that.

So Achievements are cool and all, but Trophies… Trophies are better. First up is the division of Trophies into the 3 classes, and letting the developers play around with their distiribution. Then there’s the leveled score, which granted, means about as much as the Gamerscore, but Levels are cooler than a random number, they add a certain element of prestige. Lastly, the future integration with Home. That’s something XBL is never going to have – physical representation of your accomplishments. I can already imagine the creative ways companies will depict their trophies – can you just imagine the “1 Million Headshots” Resistance trophy?

I’m psyched, I just hope companies like Rockstar or Insomniac begin patching their games to include Trophies for great games like Ratchet and Clank and GTA IV, instant replayablity!

Here’s the video explaining the features for 2.4, enjoy:

I’m psyched for Web of Shadows, it looks like it’s gonna revolutionize Spider-Man games. I’m not all that psyched about the story – a Venom virus attacks New York? Sounds pretty m’eh, but that combat looks slick.

In other Marvel Gaming news:

Ultimate Alliance 2′s general plot was revealed – Civil War.

The next Spidey game’s (after Web of Shadows) plot will have something to do with the Marvel Zombies.

Still no word on the final fate of the EA Marvel Fighter, now that EA Chicago closed.

It’s been the most hyped game to ever have been released. It received top scores from pretty much everyone. It broke three Guinness world records! GTA IV could only be described as with one word – phenomenon. So does it live up to the hype? Is Grand Theft Auto IV the best game ever?

I find myself agreeing with the masses, to a degree. GTA IV is, in fact, a great game. I wouldn’t go so far as to call it the best game ever made, but it’s definitely up there with Starcraft and Final Fantasy VII in the best of the best categories.

The most amazing thing about the game is its scope. The game is huge. Liberty City is one of the greatest cities to ever be featured in a GTA game. While it does not cover as much area as San Andreas, the space in Liberty City is much more condensed, and the city lives and breathes. Gone are the same models used over and over, Liberty City has a citizenship that does not make you feel like you’re living in a Cylon city, with hundreds of copies of the same people. Each building, each street corner has its own unique and distinct feel. You eventually begin to familiarize yourself with the area, much like you would in a real city.

Liberty City also has a lot to keep you occupied (while you’re not executing people or going on shotgun rampages). Full length TV shows, hours of radio, even complete Stand-Up comedy shows by Kat Williams and Ricky Gervaise (the stand-up really is funny). You could call a buddy and go drinking, eating, play pool, darts or bowling, you can even catch a cabaret, if that strikes your fancy.

Since I brought it up, one of the coolest new features in GTA IV, and a feature I predict many games will begin to mimic in one way or another, is the cell phone. Pretty much all social interaction is done through the cell phone. You can call your mission contacts, receive text messages from your girlfriend, and call up your buddy to spend a night out on the town. All these are done through your cell. But that’s not all – multiplayer access is also done through the phone, it’s easy and comfortable. You just hit a button, and within seconds you’re racing with a friend through the streets of Liberty City.

But all this would be worth diddly-squat, if it weren’t for engaging characters. And no GTA character is more engaging than Niko Belic. Niko comes off as a genuine person, with thoughts (and deep ones at that) and a personality. He reacts to the things that happen to him with a genuine humanity. The conversations he has with the people around him range for the silly to the profound, but theres always a truthfulness to them. It is Niko who makes GTA IV the stand-out game that is. Never has a character stood out this much in a game of this type, and the bar has been raised in the field of character development. Complimented by terrific voice acting, GTA IV is the most engaging character-game to be found. It rivals Final Fantasy VII in its unique and terrific characters.

In conclusion, GTA IV really is a terrific, terrific game. More companies should pay close to attention to what Rockstar are doing, because this, ladies and gentlemen, is how you make games.

In the spirit of list-loving, I give you – 10 things I’m looking forward to.

First up on the list – the second half of the fourth season of Lost. It has been recently reported that the shortened season (due to the writer’s strike) will end up with an extra hour, in the form of 2-hour finale, as opposed to the 1-hour finale previously planned. This is great news, as the fourth season is shaping up to be the best season of the show so far, chock-filled with revelations and answers.

Next up – the remainder of Secret Invasion, from Marvel. The first issue hit last week, and it was an absolute blast. Marvel, with Brian Michael Bendis at the helm, have planned an event 5 years in the making. With key Marvel figures out of the picture, things don’t look for the various non-Skrulled Marvel heroes (whoever they may end up being). Secret Invasion is the comic-event to read, and the one I’m looking forward to the most.

The Iron Man movie is something special. It is the first Marvel movie to be produced by Marvel. The one major advantage of having Marvel produce their own movies – now they don’t owe anything to anyone. No big company to force a villain into a movie, or demand that a certain character get more face time. If it doesn’t suit the story – it’s out. That and the fact that the cast for this movie is incredible make Iron Man one of the two most anticipated movies in the coming months.

The Dark Knight is the other superhero movie coming out this year (ok, there’s Hulk too, but it doesn’t even begin to stack up to Dark Knight and Iron Man), and one that I have been waiting for since that last scene in Batman Begins. Batman’s rogues make for great stories, and personally I’m hoping this series gets to all of them. But right now, I’ll settle for Joker (with a sprinkling of Two-Face and Scarecrow on the side).

Forget Tekken, forget Mortal Kombat, forget Street Fighter. The Soul Calibur series is the definitive fighting game series. Soul Calibur IV seems to uphold the series’ traditions – The rich, diverse characters, the weapon-based combat, and the spectacular artistic design – this game is just beautiful. And with the recent announcement of Vader (for the PS3) and Yoda (for the XBox 360) making an appearance, this game is gonna be awesome. Add to that the fact that the PS3 is greatly missing an awesome fighter, this is eagerly waited for.

What is shaping up to be the most creative game for the PS3, LittleBigPlanet (that’s right – no spaces) caught my eye the first time I saw it being presented (I believe it was GDC 07, but I’m not sure). The sheer amount of options you have at your fingertips had my mind racing with the possibilities. With what looks to be a great community, this game is going to be on the PS3s biggest hits, and I want in.

Playstation Home is Sony’s answer to Microsoft’s Xbox Live. And once it hits sometime in the next couple of months, it’s going to eat Live, er, alive. Sony’s online network is going to be a fully 3d, fully interactive world, where players can communicate with each other, hang out, and engage in various activities. Sony is taking a long time with Home (it was originally slated for release last November), and I hope that is to iron out all the kinks in it. So it’s gonna be great!

The brainchild of Sims developer Will Wright, Spore looks to be one of the biggest games ever made. Spanning the course of several million years, the game has you follow a creature from the primordial pool, all the way to conquering the universe (if that’s your cup of tea). The game promises to offer gamers a completely individual experience, with truly open ended gameplay. I hope the game rejuvenates the PC gaming field, a field that has grown stale over that last couple of years.

Since it first came out, back in 1997, fans (present company included) have been waiting for Starcraft II. The original is probably the best real-time strategy game ever made, and was so incredibly balanced – people still play it in tournaments. The screen shots and game footage already released prove that the game is still the same good ol’ Starcraft, but with an added layer of polish and better gameplay.

What’s so special about the Tokyo Game Show? Why not list one of the zillion of other shows out there? Well, the Tokyo Game Show 2008 is different for me because, well – I’m going to be there! I’ve planned a trip to Japan and one of the trip highlights is the TGS. Awesomeness indeed.

It’s quite a short game, but fun throughout. You can tell Valve knew what they were doing, in that they give you enough game-time so that the game never gets repetitive, and they finish it before it starts getting boring.

Plus, the game is genuinely funny.