MrNepathy's Blog

Star Wars Celebration V was in Orlando, in August. But I’m from Maryland so heat and humidity are quite familiar to me. Plus over the past few weeks it’s not like Milwaukee has been exactly Hoth. More like Dagobah, but without the Muppets. The touristy nature of Orlando, combined with the somewhat overwhelming weather conditions, kept some of my friends from wanting to attend. I, however, was eager to go, especially since Orlando is just two hours away from my brother’s place in Gainesville. See family, see my nephew close to his first birthday and see Obi Wan scarfing down a soft pretzel? Sold. (more…)

I like open world games where I can run around and cause chaos. Give me a city, a controller and an unsuspecting populace and that’s usually all it takes for me to have fun. Since I also like super beings, mixing the two should be a wonderful concept. A lot of people gave good reviews to Infamous, which I thought was serviceable but had flaws, such as repetitive missions (Wow, I have to go to the sewer, restore electricity, then gain a power and have to use that power to get out… Amazing that people always put powers in the exact place you’ll need them) and the less than stellar cut scenes. Prototype, which wasn’t as highly acclaimed, had similar flaws. After a few missions I stopped caring what the story was. In a very original twist, it was a government-sponsored genetic experiment that went horribly wrong. The powers were cool, but, it just couldn’t hold my interest. Both of those games are superior to Crackdown 2. Though both are older than Crackdown 2, they are also better looking games. (more…)

In the interest of full disclosure, I should point out that I know Jonah Knight. His wife, Lisa, has been a friend of mine since high school. When asked about writing a review for his album, I was a little hesitant at first because it’s a little hard not to be biased. Or hard to be honest, if you’re timid. (more…)

In order to write a review of the album Ghosts Don’t Disappear by Jonah Knight, I’m going to start with a mini review of his previous album, Singer/Songfighter, because I listened to that one first. Singer/Songfighter is a mixture of song styles, some leaning towards acoustic and folk while others have a light punk sound. Some of those styles, particularly the acoustic ones, work better. They’re a bit like Obadiah Parker if you removed the piano, or Kings of Convenience in that the music skews towards the lighter tones. “Cameron’s Dog” and “Everything Will Be Fine” are where this style really clicks whereas “Calling” feels like an odd mixture of New Orleans style guitar and folk vocals. Stylistic experimentation within a single album is fairly common. Compare “Christians in Black” to “Like I Needed” by Rogue Wave from Asleep at Heaven’s Gate or “Devil” to “Dakota” from Stereophonics on Language, Sex, Violence, Other. (more…)

Normally I do a review in December for the year in pop culture, but as sometimes things get lost in the shuffle and we lose praise as time moves on, I thought I would do a “Year So Far” list. That’s what you’re reading now. Go. (more…)

Now I have been an Iron Man fan since before I was a teenager. For a while I bought the issues one at a time at the local 7-11 or at the comic book store. Eventually I subscribed to it back in the days when comic books arrived in brown paper sleeves in the mail. Though I read other comics on occasion, like Groo the Wanderer or The West Coast Avengers, Iron Man was my only subscription. I subscribed just in time to get issue 200 in the mail. That issue came out in 1985. So in reviewing Iron Man 2, there are two ways to look at it: as a film in general or a film about Tony Stark/Iron Man. (more…)

The following blog only covers the first hour of Red Dead Redemption so you can read this without worry of spoilers beyond that. The game starts with your character, John Marsters, going to a fort to confront his old friend Bill Williamson who isn’t the brightest star on the horizon. If I were Douglas Adams this is the point where I might write, “Before I continue, I should tell you that the worst that happens is that someone gets shot in the gut and also a shirt is ruined, but otherwise no one is harmed.” But I’ll just say Bill Williamson sleeps in his own bed that night and your unconscious body is picked up by two people traveling by. You wake up and meet Bonnie who paid fifteen dollars to the doctor to have you patched up. She’s a nice lady who runs a ranch and once you recover asks you to help out to earn your keep. (more…)

Before I launch into my case against Nintendo fan boys, I have to say a few things first. I grew up on Nintendo. After the Atari 2600, the Nintendo was the next console I had. I played Zelda on the gold cartridge and subscribed to Nintendo Power to get a free copy of Dragon Warrior. My brother and I slaughtered many a gold golem to earn money for better swords and armor. I believe the first Final Fantasy game I played was on a Nintendo system. I’ve owned the Nintendo, Super Nintendo, Nintendo 64 and still have a GameCube somewhere in the basement. I have a Wii though ever since I stopped using Wii Fit, my Wii has been pretty much dormant. It got moved out of the way during the Oscar Party at my house and it’s still tucked away to the side and practically out of sight. Though I don’t play the Wii, I cannot argue against the Wii’s success or the brilliance behind its design and marketing. The problem with the Wii is it’s meant for everyone, not hard core gamers. So it sold millions of consoles to nursing homes and adults who would not have considered buying any other system. Your Uncle Roger probably has it and he probably has Wii Resort. Meanwhile Microsoft and Sony are selling the latest Call of Duty game to KingStabber74 and XNinjaSniperX who are probably your cousins. (more…)

I was thinking about video games that I would like to exist, and that got me to thinking about other things I would like to see. Hollywood or video gaming industry, if you are reading these, make them happen and I will buy them. Thanks.

• An updated version of X-wing, the classic PC game, for the consoles. I’d like to be able to fly through space, shoot down TIE Fighters, attack Star Destroyers, etc. I don’t want ground missions where I have to fly the Y-wing, but let me have the option of taking the Y-wing on missions, or the A-wing or the B-wing. Please note I want this in the era of the Rebel Alliance. No clone troopers, no dead Chewbacca. Put me in Rogue Squadron, or even Wraith Squadron. I don’t care. Keep escort missions to a minimum.
• Need for Speed: Most Wanted 2 – Before you say, “What about Carbon” or “What about that one you didn’t buy?” I don’t want to drift race. I don’t want to just race. I want car chases with helicopters and tire strips, I want a body shop where I can paint my cars in the amount of detail that I could in Forza 2, but I don’t want to adjust the angle of the tires or the RPM setting. Let me buy “Engine 4” which is faster than “Engine 3.”
• A TV show starring Bradley Whitford and Matthew Perry. I don’t care what it is but it should be funny.
• Star Wars: Episodes VII-IX – These better be the Thrawn trilogy.
• A good mech game – It can be from Robotech or like Front Mission 3, but I want to modify my mechs and I want my mechs to lay waste to things. Make it an RPG, make it an action game, whatever.
• A TV show about a zombie apocalypse – It would be a drama about a small town trying to survive, like Jericho meets Dawn of the Dead.
• A video game where I can buy a space ship, hire a crew and travel through space. I could make it as a smuggler, legitimate trader, help the allied government or work against it. The ship would be modifiable both in design and in parts. No magical powers, no crazy technology. It would play like Mass Effect, but set in the Firefly universe. It doesn’t even need to have playable versions of the feature characters, but they could make an appearance for missions and such.
• A new version of Soul Reaver – It can be a remake of the original or a new story, but it should be more like the first game than the second which seemed to lack real boss fights.
• A new Toad the Wet Sprocket album – They’re touring together, and Glen is writing music for other things, it’s not entirely impossible, but I’m also one of the few people on the planet that wants this.
• A good Iron Man video game – Stop trying to rush the game out to coincide with the movie release. That’s always bad. Base the game around the era of the Armor Wars. That would provide for some good villains, henchmen and even a few hero appearances.
• Action figures based on the World War II G.I. Joe versus Transformers comic series
• An HK-47 action figure
• A movie about Hawkeye the Avenger – Cancel Antman, make this instead. Sure, he’s a guy that wears a lot of purple and orange, and his power is “good at archery” but on the plus side… he’s not Antman. Doesn’t have to be a live action film, it could be along the lines of the cartoon movies about Dr. Strange, The Avengers or Hulk Vs. Wolverine.
• Lego Marvel – either as a video game or just toys. The game could work like Star Wars where different characters can do different things. Strong characters (Hulk, Thor, Thing, etc) could lift objects out of the way. Elemental characters (Storm, Iceman, etc) could put out fires. Flying characters (Iron Man, Human Torch, Storm, etc.) could get to otherwise inaccessible switches. Melee characters (Wolverine, Deadpool) could slash through objects. Smart characters (Mr. Fantastic, Vision, Iron Man, etc.) could hack computers like R2D2 did in Star Wars.

Pretty soon I will write a review for a music CD and I think in order for people to know how to interpret the review, they will need to know my musical preferences. After all there’s plenty of good music that I don’t fully appreciate. For instance I wouldn’t say I’m a jazz fan, nor am I big into rap, but I like a song here or there from both genres. Also while I might like a film that I wouldn’t call good, like Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, I’m a little pickier when it comes to music. I figure music is like a video game. I’ll be investing hours into it because a quality album should be listened to often without losing its appeal much like a good video game should be playable for an amount of time that makes the $60 worth it. Clearly CDs don’t cost $60, but for whatever reason I find it more regrettable to buy a bad CD than I do a bad movie. With music I feel almost lied to when the album is vastly different than the single. The song on the radio will be one thing, but it turns out that song is the exception to the rule. (more…)