Macross Plus X-9 Ghost now a reality!

Back in 1995 Macross Plus came out and when I first watched it I was instantly hooked and it was around that time I started doing some research and discovered the show I watched as a child, Robotech was actually a bastardization of Super Dimensional Fortress Macross!
Macross Plus was one of the definitive anime's of the 90's, even more so for fans of Macross. 
The story revolves around three childhood friends Isamu, Guld and Myung who had a falling out but fate reunites them. Isamu and Guld become rival test pilots at New Edwards AFB on Eden. Isamu pilots the  YF19  and Guld pilots the YF21, the two aircraft manufacturers are competing for the contract to replace the aging VF11 in the UN Spacy fleet.
Later in the movie COL Milliard who is overseeing Project Super Nova informs the two pilots hat the project has been scrapped and UN Spacy has opted to go with the secret X-9 Ghost drone fighter...
Ok so I just read an article http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=493_1368584221

about the first unmanned fighter launched from the deck of the USS George H W Bush aircraft carrier. The X-47B can be seen in the below video.
As the saying goes, if humanity can think of it they can achieve it.....eventually. What was Sci Fi in the mid 90's is now reality!
Are we in the midst of the unification wars and don't even realize it?

Transformers Prime: S3E57 Project Predacon recap

I actually really enjoyed this episode it was much more light hearted and the fan service was all over the place with comments about Beast Wars, Dinobots, We get to see Prime's new vehicle mode as well as Ultra Magnus' vehicle mode. We also see that team prime is having growing pains, there's a little tension between Wheeljack and Ultra Magnus...
The exposition between Megs, Shockwave and Starscream felt a bit shoehorned but it did what it had to and the episode moved on nicely with the battle over the predaclone remains.
I'm pissed the series ends with this season because I would love to see the series follow the old comic where Shockwave becomes the Decepticon Commander and actually suceeds in killing all the Autobots!

I'm so glad Transformers Prime has made Shockwave the cold calculating, methodical character he was always meant to be and not the joke character he turned out to be in the G1 series. I really love his alt mode in this series also! And the scene when he returns with the Predaclone fragment and Megs questions him about engaging Otimus Prime was so well done. I can totally see a sub plot power struggle between Megatron and Starscream annd Shockwave....but Shockwave waits for just the right time to enter the fray!
"Clarity of Thought before Rashness of Action"
Oh and the new intro is cool with some of the new characters in it!

Europa Report Trailer

Scientists that act like scientists!? Shut my mouth and call me quiet!
Curious how this trailer hit like a week after the Gravity trailer hit the web.
This may actually be smarter than Prometheus....
Here's the movie's synopsis:

"EUROPA REPORT follows a contemporary mission to Jupiter’s moon Europa to investigate the possible existence of alien life within our solar system. When unmanned probes suggest that a hidden ocean could exist underneath Europa’s icy surface and may contain single-celled life, Europa Ventures, a privately funded space exploration company, sends six of the best astronauts from around the world to confirm the data and explore the revolutionary discoveries that may lie in the Europan ocean. After a near-catastrophic technical failure that leads to loss of communication with Earth and the tragic death of a crewmember, the surviving astronauts must overcome the psychological and physical toll of deep space travel, and survive a discovery on Europa more profound than they had ever imagined."


For more info about Europa Report check out the OS @ http://www.magnetreleasing.com/europareport/

Transformers Prime Returns tonight

Transformers Prime returns tonight with episode 57 Project Predacon. With the Decepticon Citadel destroyed, Optimus Prime back and the Predacon doing his best impression of a popcicle the tide has turned in the Autobots favor, and now we're gonna see how the story will segway in the introduction of the Dinobots via the "Predaclone's"...Can we say Beast Wars?

Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare review

 

So after completing Okami HD I finally decided to return to the West.....the wild west that is. RDR Undead Nightmare had been sitting on my XMB for so long due to a tremendous back log of games to play. I really loved RDR so I was glad to return....Feel free to read my RDR review , to see why I say Red Dead Redemption is one of the best games from this generation.
So I strapped on my gun holster and fired up RDR:UDN. Being that I haven't played RDR for a long time I was a bit rusty with the controls but it only took a few minutes to re familiarize myself and I was off killing the undead in Blackwater!
This was a perfect time to play this DLC as I'm getting serious Walking Dead withdrawal!
Undead Nightmare is an alternative story line to the events of RDR after John Marston and his family are reunited and are back at the ranch.
The zombie apocalypse has engulfed the land and John must find a way to end it or die trying. Through your travels John will revisit many of his past stomping grounds to battle against hordes of the undead to help the survivors, along the way John also helps find missing souls and brings them back to their friends or family....this is a spin on the battles against gangs and bounty's. You'll also bump into some old friends like Bonnie MacFarlane, Seth, Marshal Johnson, Nigel West Dickens, Landon Ricketts, and Abraham Reyes.


Similar to the main game, Undead Nightmare has horses that can be broken and then you can ride them, the cool thing with Undead Nightmare is the four horses of the apocalypse are out there waiting to be found and broken! And each has a special attribute....Death is pretty bad ass, Pestilence is useful when doing the ambient challenges...
As cool as the four horses of the apocalypse are they pale in comparison to the pure fabulousness that is THE UNICORN! Nothing screams The Good The Bad and the Fabulous more than Zombie Marston riding across the land on a Unicorn with butterfly's fluttering  around and a rainbow wake trailing behind you!
This was an enjoyable addition to the main game and with Undead Nightmare you can also access the Red Dead Redemption multiplayer. I just wished I could use my fabulous Unicorn in multiplayer!

10/10 

Riddick Trailer

Before Vin Diesel was racing cars in the Fast and Furious he was a shadowy criminal in Pitch Black, whose character was further expanded in Chronicles of Riddick. A good sequel to the original but perhaps a bit over ambitious in my opinion. The third film in the series, simply titled Riddick, has just released the first trailer and by the looks of it the third film appears to more akin to Pitch Black but it's hard to say from a two and a half minute trailer. Why is Riddick even bothering with merc's when he controls the entire Necromonger Army?

Gran Turismo 6 Announcement Trailer

I've been playing the Real Driving Simulator since 1998 on the PS1....I did however skip GT5. I defended the delays stating that I'd rather the game be delayed so that the online racing was as good as can be....but alas when  the GT5 time Trial came out in 2009 and then GT5 Prologue came but by then I had moved on...so I'm excited for this new GT!
Gran Turismo 2 review
Gran Turismo 3 Review

Gran Turismo 4 Review

Almost Human Announcement Trailer

Fox just released a slew of trailer for new shows coming this Fall!
The one I'm most interested in is called Almost Human. The show takes place in 2048, Carl Urban plays Detective Kenix (Ken 9 maybe) who loses his partner and apparently a leg and takes a 2 year hiatus. When he returns he's partnered with an MX unit, a synthetic but that is short lived I think based on the trailer and then get paired up with a DRN unit Dorian a replicant....oops I mean a prototype model that is indistinguishable from a human....ok Replicant works well.
I was a fan of Fringe till the final episode and if there's anyone these days who can do a good sci fi TV series it's Abrams, Orci and Kurtzman! Set DVR's to record.

Happy Mothers Day!

Mothers day is upon us, and it's very important that we make them feel like a queen for the day! See that picture over there to the left....it's true. So to all the mothers in my life CHEERS! Have a magical day!
Love,
Your Son, Husband, Son in Law

Suit's that Fly JT/RDJ mashup

Ok when JT's new song came out months ago I was probably one of the few who didn't trash it.
Alotta comic fans are crying fowl with IM3 but when you take JT's Suit and Tie and RDJ's Iron Man you get the best of both world's in this very well done mashup!

Gravity Trailer

This trailer looks great, reminds me of Sunshine, and Moon but....then I saw the names attached. I'm sorry I just can't see miss congeniality in this type of movie, Clooney was good in Solaris, but the queen of romcom's in a sci fi movie is gonna be a hard sell....

Movie Review: Iron Man 3

IM3 starts with Tony Stark partying like it's 1999,  and he's partyin' like a Gatsby!
Fast forward to the present, a few months after the events in NYC and Tony is suffering from serious insomnia and anxiety.
Pepper is runnin' Stark industries like a boss and Happy bein' promoted as the senior manager of Human Resources where he proposes outsourcing Human resources to robots had me laughing. IM3 has plenty of quirky humor throughout and feels more lighthearted than IM2 but is also well balanced  and has plenty of serious undertones.
Guy Pearce was amazing as Killian, and in my opinion eclipsed Mickey Rourke's Ivan Vanko. I found Pearce's character, Killian to be quite similar to Sam Rockwell's Justin Hammer but much much more competent and intelligent.
Which brings me to The Mandarin played by Ben Kingsley, Kingsley's portrayal of the Mandarin was amazing....now I never read the Iron Man comics as a kid but BK's Mandarin performance was equivalent to Heath Ledgers Joker in TDK until M. Night Shamalamadingdong apparently got a hold of the script! Like I said I never read the Iron Man comics and didn't know anything about the Mandarin but when I found out he was gonna be in IM3 I did my due diligence and researched the character. Lets just put it this way comic book fans are TRASHING what Marvney did to the Mandarin and I have to admit they blew an opportunity with what they did.
I'd also like to point out that Joe movie goer that doesn't know shit about the Mandarin will see Kingsley's Mandarin and automatically see Osama Bin Laden NOT a son of a Chinese Billionaire that finds ancient alien tech and the 10 rings of power and is hell bent on world domination.
And maybe it's just me but William Sadler as President Ellis had an uncanny resemblance to George W. Bush and the location for the final fight in IM3 had me wondering if Marvney was trying to make some sort of political statement and then there was that one comment Stark makes when someone yells "hey it's a free country!" and his response was "sure it is".....those things really jumped out at me while watching IM3.
Don Cheadle's Rhodey felt more like Robin to Batman than Tony Starks buddy defending the world from a terrorist in Iron Man armor. But Cheadle's a good actor and did a good job with the roll regardless of the screen time.
I may be of the unpopular opinion but I really enjoyed Gwyneth Paltrow's performance in IM3,  Pepper rocking the IM armor....hawt. There are gonna be those that won't like the scene at the end between Pepper and Killian but I enjoyed it and it reminded me of the only good thing in Xmen3....Famke Janssen becoming Dark Pheonix at the end of X3.
And lastly I enjoyed the chemistry between RDJ and Ty Simpkins who plays Harley, Harley reminded me of Tony Stark's version of Short Round from IJatToD.
All in all I enjoyed IM3 more than IM2, some great action scenes like the attack on Starks home, and the Air Force One rescue, Ben Kingsley's performance as the Mandarin was amazing and I can't fault him for what happens in the second half of the movie.
Guy Pearce once again impressed me as Killian, he seems to shine in rolls where he plays an ambiguous villain, but once he reveals his true nature in IM3 there was no mistaking his affinity!
The extremis soldiers worked well as a plot device but seemed like extraordinarily power zombies with the ability to control spontaneous combustion.....umm did AIM unwittingly create a regenerative power supply and not realize it?
Iron Man 3 is a fun start to the 2013 summer movies, if you go in with zero expectations and/or pre conceived notions of how the Mandarin should be based on the comic books you'll enjoy the movie.
IM3 is better than IM2 but not IM1
B

The One Thing Capcom Missed During SF25th....Street Fighter I Remastered!

If you know me or read my blog, you may notice I have an unhealthy addiction to the Street Fighter franchise. I began playing Street Fighter before the craze of Street Fighter II The World Warriors, back when Ryu wore red slippers and Birdie was white lol.
So last year Capcom celebrated Street Fighters 25th anniversary and hosted a global tournament to celebrates and had some impressive merchandise, like a sweet chess set, the monopoly game, and that amazing box set. But in retrospect  they didn't give much props to the original, the banners at the NYSF25 tourney had the timeline and the games history which was nice but it would've been this warrior dream if  Capcom dropped a surprise by making an announcement  of a digital download of the original Street Fighter on PSN and XBLA with the below changes.
True fans like myself would've grabed this no questions asked! Many have dreamt of playing the original Street Fighter with all the characters playable with updated controls and complete movesets.
Kudos to the capcomunications staff that made this via the mugen fighting game engine!

Remember Me: Memory Trailer

Just in case you're still unsure about Capcom & Dontnod's Remember Me, Capcom just put out a new trailer that is narrated by the creative director and gives a very detailed explanation of the games story and the games mechanics!
The game sounds very intriguing with a hint of Ghost in the Shell inspiration.
I was sold on this new IP when I first heard of it, I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say this game is worth it and should be on many gamers radar!

Street Fighter High: The Musical

While we wait for Street Fighter Assassins Fist, lets look back at one of the funniest and well done fan films I've seen! Street Fighter High The Musical!
I laughed, I cried I'm going to see it again and again!
This musical is PERFECT!

Call of Duty Ghosts reveal trailer

Some wear masks to protect themselves....
Some wear masks to protect others....
Some wear masks to P A R T...Why? Because they gotta!
So here's Activision/Infinity Ward's trailer for the next CoD

Someone needs to work this clip into IW's trailer for CoD Ghosts...

Video game commercials Then and Now

  I did this back in 2008, A look at  video game console commercials then and now and after seeing some recent game trailers I've been inspired to revisit this topic!
Lets begin with the 1980 commercial for Atari's Dig Dug, Ahhh nostalgia....always best viewed with rose tinted glasses!
 

And this gem for Pole Position! My first racing game I owned....I wonder if I saw this commercial and said I gotta own this game! Doubt it.
 

And this commercial for the original Legend of Zelda on the NES...looks more like a PSX U R not E commercial.

 Moving to the next generation... Super Mario World for the SNES, at this point the VG industry is firmly planted as a legitimate form of entertainment and not some 80's fad that was going to pass, so the commercials had to improve..

 

Interestingly game commercials overseas definitely took a more mature approach and didn't categorize video games in the same genre as toys.....here's a perfect example! The first commercial is for Street Fighter II for the Sega Genesis in the US the second commercial is for Street Fighter II in Asia.....see what I mean?



 And here's one from the book of irony!The Atari Jaguar Video Game Marketing 101 commercial...I guess Atari played hookey that day because the Jaguar has a very short painful life :/

 

Lets fast forward twenty one (21) years...two freakin' decades and check out how far we've come! Video Games now have trailers....commercials are for toys!
REX POWER COLT!!!!



DUB STEP CANNON!!!!!



MICHAEL, FRANKLIN AND TREVOR!!!!

GTA V Michael, Franklin, Trevor trailers 3 in 1

R* has put out 3 trailers for GTA V's three protagonists Michael, Franklin and Trevor. Below is the 3 in 1 trailer, the game looks amazing and the 3 guys are infinitely better than Niko Belic! LMAO at Trevor, that dude is one sick fuq!