SDCC 2011 Day One

So! At long last, I am posting my Comic-Con blog! I'll try to remember all of the awesome stuff that went on, but no guarantees!

First of all, I'd like to say that Andrea and I definitely underestimated how busy it would be at the convention. It was a constant problem throughout our adventures, and we'll be sure to plan for the crowds in the future. On Thursday when we arrived was the first and possibly largest miscalculation on timing that we had. We got up and ready and took the shuttle to the convention centre at around 8:30am thinking we'd be early enough to get in line for our badges and be on our way in by the time it all opened. Turns out, there were already several thousand people in line, and we had quite the wait ahead of us.

The line was crazy, it wrapped almost the entire way around the convention centre and then doubled back down the waterfront walkway a significant distance. I don't remember exactly how long it took us to get through the line, but I'm thinking it was probably a couple hours at least. The one fun thing about waiting in line was the constant stream of people heading past us toward the end of the line, many of which were dressed in awesome geeky t-shirts or a wide variety of costumes.

Once we made through the seemingly endless line, we got into the building and followed the crowd to the badge pick-up area which was part of a massive tent-like room upstairs in the convention centre. We made it through the crazy mass of people, got our badges, and got our first bunch of free stuff: a giant comic-con bag, two books, and a lanyard to hang our badges on. We, unfortunately, got the Vampire Diaries comic-con bags, but as we made it through a couple of girls asked if they could trade us for our bags. Theirs featured Lego Harry Potter Years 5-7, so Andrea and I were all too eager to trade. Win-win!

The place was set up so the badge pick-up and autograph signing, as well as a large sitting area were all in this massive tent-like room which was on the upper floor and more-or less smack-dab in the middle of the convention centre. On either side of this room were all of the halls in which the different panels would be held. Almost the entire bottom floor of the enormous building was the exhibit hall where there were probably thousands of booths dedicated to everything from comic book stores, comic studios, web comics, graphic novels, to movie studios, television studios, toy companies, video game companies, and a whole artists alley. The other part of the lower level housed Hall H, the largest of the halls used for the biggest and most exciting panels.

We really had no idea where to start, so we explored the exhibit hall. It was crazy how many people were there. It was hard to wade through the crowds to see everything. We saw the Marvel booth, but there were so many people that we couldn't really stop and see it. We also saw a replica of the TARDIS sitting at a random booth, got our picture taken with Pikachu, saw some awesome Lego statues, spotted some random celebrities at the Fox booth, and just when we were about to leave the hall to check out some panels, accidentally found Felicia Day and the cast of The Guild, and got posters signed by the six of them. They were all really cool. I loved Felicia Day's comment about the posters, she pointed out that her character had big boobs and said "that's all the artist" as she covered her chest.

We had made an attempt to check out one of the panels earlier in the day but soon realized that we'd miscalculated the lines to get in once again, so we made sure we were extra early to get into the Marvel's Next Big Thing panel. There was a Batman panel before it that we ended up making it into, but I really wasn't overly impressed by it. I'm not a DC comics fan. The only part I actually enjoyed was the sexy Scottish accent from Grant Morrison.

The Marvel: Next Big Thing panel was a lot more interesting. Alex Alonso, CB Cebulski, Greg Pak, Jonathan Hickman, Nick Spencer, Daniel Way, Steve Wacker, and David Gabriel were all on stage with moderator Arune Singh. They talked up a lot of what Marvel's got coming our way over the next while, some of which excites me, some of which doesn't. There was talk about the Hulk, and an upcoming Villains for Hire book, and stuff with the FF which all was interesting but they're not really my favourite Marvel titles. What WAS exciting was all the talk about what's coming in the Ultimate line of books, which as prompted me to decide to start collecting all four titles spinning out of Ultimate Fallout. Tlhere are also some new Avengers origin stories coming down the line, and some change-ups happening with Avengers Academy which have me thinking I might just have to start picking that one up again. There wasn't much else to offer, but they did give away a free Hulk comic book which is kinda cool (except I don't really like the hulk...).

After the panel we explored the exhibit hall for a while longer and I got to see Jeph Jacques! My favourite web comic creator! Except there was a giant line. And there was a huge crowd around the Rooster Teeth booth (which Andrea really wanted to see) so we gave up and headed to Hall H to check out another panel that seemed interesting. On our journeys through the convention centre Andrea kept seeing celebrities that I somehow managed to miss. While waiting for the Marvel panel earlier she spotted Jon Heder, but I missed him. I did see the guy who played Pedro, though. And then while wlking through the Exhibit Hall she spotted Bruce Campbell, but I totally missed him. We walked RIGHT BY him.

Te end of our day was spent in Hall H watching a panel featuring a couple of famous directors, John Favreau and Guillermo Del Toro. The one big thing I got out of it? Guillermo swears like a sailor. And there was some awesome exclusive footage from Cowboys & Aliens. It was pretty interesting, although probably moreso to Andrea than to me.

After the panel was over, the convention was closed for the day so we headed back to the hotel to relax after a crazy day. It's actually crazy how tired we were that night. Comic-Con is tiring!


Disclaimer: I am a terrible photographer so please excuse the awful quality and/or content of the included photos.

SDCC: The Journey

So, I bring this update to you LIVE from the Seattle Airport! The always amazing Andrea and I have spent all of today using various methods of transport to get us to San Diego Comic-Con 2011! Our feet, a skytrain, a shuttle bus, and an airplane have all gotten us this far, and soon we will be boarding another plane that will take us the final leg of the way.

I can't tell you how excited I am right now! In only a few more hours we'll make it to San Diego, and tomorrow the main event begins! It's funny how nervous I've been too. Going through customs at the border for whatever reason had me feeling uneasy, but I was just being silly. The people were really nice and we were on our way really quick. And I was a little nervous in the Bellingham Airport too, but the people were really nice and even asked us questions about our comic fandom, and mentioned there were a lot of Comic-Con goers passing through!

Anyways, this is already longer than I meant it to be, I just wanted to make a quick post about Comic-Con, and that is done, so off I go to get ready for the last leg of the trip there!

WE'RE the survivors of Oceanic flight 815!

Here we come to the second post in my Lost marathon series. I finished season two a few days ago, and I've been itching to start season 3, but I decided that I have to have this post done before I continue, so here we go!

One of the interesting things about Lost is the timeframe of the show. The entire first season took place in 44 days. The second season takes place in 33. This means there really wasn't a lot of downtime on the island. There's always something going on. It also makes things harder for filming and production. It's very hard to make sure people look the same through an entire year of filming. The most difficult example of this would be Walt, and I think that's why he disappears from the show. Kids grow like weeds and go through so many changes that it would be hard to insist that only a few months have gone by after several years of filming.

This season started off immediately after last season ended. We find Jack and Locke at the hatch, the survivors still terrified about the impending invasion by the others, and the rafties adrift in the ocean, struggling to stay afloat on the wreckage.

The hatch turns out to be just as strange and mysterious as we all anticipated, if not more so. A combination of ordinary (bunker fitted with all the amenities the 70s had to offer) and the strange (a button that has to be pressed every 108 minutes, using the ever mysterious numbers), the Swan station of the Dharma Initiative (as we now know it) provides quite a bit of mystery, and we're also introduced to a couple of other stations throughout the season.

New characters also show up. Desmond Hume is introduced as a madman living in the hatch until the Losties break in and take over. Also of note is the fact that Jack has met him before off the island. The survivors from the tail section of the plane (that were hinted at in season 1 right before Boone plunges to his death) also show up, although by the time they make it to the other side of the island, there are only 4 of them left. And finally there's Henry Gale. He seems like he's just a little creep, but we eventually learn that he is a much bigger creep than we thought. And at the end of the season we get a hint that he's much more than what we originally thought.

I enjoyed the various reunions featured in this season. There's the Losties and the tailies. Jin and Sun (again, my favorite couple), Rose and Bernard (who are just too cute a couple too), Hurley and Libby (although the former doesn't remember, and the latter we're never really sure on), the rafties and the Losties, Michael and Walt, Jack and Desmond, Jack and Ana-Lucia, and Shannon and Boone (sad face).

I'm still somewhat amazed at how poorly received Ana-Lucia was as a character. She was hated by the fans of the show, and I just don't get it. She was one of my favorite characters of the whole run of the show! Most fans were happy to see her killed off, but I was pretty sad to see her go. I was also really sad to see Libby get killed off with SO many unanswered questions about her character, but they needed a death that would have impact, and since no one liked Ana-Lucia, she had to go too.

This season was also the first time we get a good look at the "Others." at first it seems like they are just savages living on the island, but as the season goes on you find out all isn't as it seems. A flashback of Claire's shows Ethan and several more of the "Others" in doctors' garb, and there are fake beards and costume materials found in the same location later on, so there's something up with their appearances. "Henry" clearly knows more than he lets on, and Goodwyn is way too good at infiltrating the tail section survivors. And in the final episode, there are more hints to the fact that the "Others" have a lot more going on than just huts and teepees.

Overall, I really quite enjoyed this season. There's so much going on, new interesting characters, new locales, new mysteries, and just a few answers to make it feel like I'm learning a little more about what's going on (even if it's just false hope). The character growth and interactions are interesting and exciting, and the cast does such a great job at making these characters feel like people I need to know. And with that, I bring part two to an end. Part three, coming soon!

Why yes, I AM a nerd, thanks!

I am a huge comic books fan.

You're totally shocked, right? Hah, yeah right. There's no surprise there. I'm a huge nerd! Anyway, I love comic books. To be specific, Marvel comics. I have over a thousand, probably around 1200 by now actually, boxed up or spread around my apartment. Which would be fine if I lived alone. Sorry Darcy! (no I'm not.) In the 7-8 years I've been collecting comics, my "pull list" has grown pretty much out of control. Originally I started with only a couple of titles (Exiles and New Mutants), but since then I've expanded to 12-15 titles every month, not to mention special one-shots and limited series. It's crazy.

But what I wanted to talk about, 'cause I really have no one around to listen to me drone on about comics (locally), is a couple that I'm really excited about right now. First up:

Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man

The Ultimate Marvel line of comics was launched as a separate continuity from regular Marvel comics to make it easier for new readers to enjoy comics without having to be bogged down by decades of backstory. My favourite title in the Ultimate line is Spider-Man. It's a version of Peter Parker very similar to the original, but still back in high school, not all grown up like the Spider-Man we all know and love.

This title has actually come to an end with the Death of Spider-Man story that recently came out. I'm not gonna lie, I was pretty bummed by this. Not only is it one of my favourite comic books, but the title of that final story should be a pretty obvious clue. They killed Spider-Man. Peter Parker is dead.

They did such an amazing job with the story, it was really epic how it all happened, and I really advise you to go read it if you haven't already because even though I'm sad, I can't help but be at awe of the story. It was so tragic, but in the end, Peter Parker dies a real hero (not that there was any denying it before anyway).

The title is relaunching in a few months with a new man behind the mask, and I'm actually really interested to see what's going to happen. The new costume design is really interesting, but there really hasn't been any info revealed about the new Spider-Man. The only info I've heard is of what his motivation is; that Peter's death is to him what Uncle Ben's death was to Peter. Very intriguing... Also of note is that Ultimate Comics: X-Men is finally getting a new start after the dust settles here, and it looks like Johnny Storm, Bobby Drake, and Kitty Pride will all be featured there, so that's pretty awesome.

The second title I'm excited about right now hasn't actually come out yet, but I just read the "Prelude" miniseries today so it's got me pretty much on the edge of my seat wondering what's going on:

X-Men: Schism

The next big X-Men event. X-Men: Schism is a limited series starting in a couple weeks. What I know so far is that there is something bad coming. It's a threat beyond anything the X-Men have ever faced. And in dealing with this threat, Cyclops and Wolverine come to a conflict of opinions that can't be resolved, and the X-Men are all forced to choose a side, dividing the X-Men "forever" (gotta throw the forever in there for dramatic effect).

Part of what has me excited about this event is to see what the heck it is that will cause the split of the X-Men. They are a family, and now a nation, united against all threats to the mutant race. But what could cause them all to turn on each other? It's gotta be something big! And I haven't been disappointed by an X-event yet!

The other part is that it means we'll have separate teams again! I liked the good old days where each book had it's own set of X-Men, with the occasional crossover and/or cameo. The last few years have had the same core characters appearing in every. single. book. I didn't mind when it was Wolverine appearing in every comics 'cause he's awesome, but I'm getting really tired of seeing Emma Frost, Colossus, Kitty Pride, Wolverine, and Cyclops in ALL of the X-Men books, leaving so many characters out in comic book limbo. I'd love to see a unique set of characters in each of the X-books.

After Schism comes to an end, Uncanny X-Men will relaunch with a new #1 issue, and that is where you will find Cyclops and those who choose his side. Those that take the other side will appear in Wolverine and the X-Men. So that is at least two teams that will be totally different. X-Men: Legacy will hopefully continue to focus on it's own team as well. That leaves X-Men and Astonishing X-Men to establish where they will fall after the Schism, plus titles like New Mutants, Uncanny X-Force and X-Factor that could see some shake-ups as well. Oh, and Generation Hope. But I don't really care about that one. At all.

Woo! So that's just SOME of what's going on in comics right now that's got me excited! If I continued, this post would never end, so I'll leave it here, but expect follow-ups to this, 'cause you know, I'm a comic book nerd, so what else am I gonna blog about? Leave a comment below if you've got anything to say about these comic events! I'd like to hear what you've got to say! (and good on you if you actually made it through this whole post!)

More Evidence That I'm a Nerd

So, I had planned on typing up this great big E3 review blog (and I had actually typed most of it), but I decided that there was far too much useless stuff that I just didn't care about in it, so this is E3 blog attempt number 2! Every year I get super psyched for the Electronics Entertainment Expo (or E3, for short). It's where all of the big gaming companies get together with the press and show off all the new stuff they're working on. It's all very exciting for a nerd like me. This year I was actually a little bit disappointed with a lack of actual release dates for games, but I was pleased with what they showed off.

Now, the main events of E3 are the "Big Three" press conferences, those three being Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo. There are a few other "big" press conferences, but I'm not gonna lie, I didn't watch them 'cause they seemed pretty darn boring. But even two of the "big three" were pretty boring to me.

Microsoft kicked off E3 with their press conference, showing off all that's new with the Xbox 360. Which really wasn't exciting to me at all. I actually quit watching partway through. What I did get out of it was that they are really trying to push the Kinect (which I don't want) and they have a lot of sequels and remakes of games I don't care about (war games, shooters, and more Halo...). Tomb Raider actually looks alright, but I don't think I'll play it. Fable: The Journey seems like a step backward for the series, I like free play, I don't want a game-on-rails. The new Xbox Experience (dashboard) looks pretty cool though, and TV through the Xbox would be cool (but Telus already does that here).

Sony held their press conference on everything Playstation later that evening and this one I got to watch live 'cause it was after work. Once again, I wasn't overly impressed. There was a lot of similar stuff to the way the Microsoft show went. Sequels of games I don't care about (war games, shooters) and a real push to get with the 3D gaming experience (I don't like 3D). They did release a cool 3D monitor bundle, and talked about the new feature that eliminates split screens using 3D glasses technology, but I'm still not buying it. They also talked about the NGP, now dubbed the Playstation Vita, or PSV as I'm gonna call it. Looks like a pretty nice piece of hardware, but it seems like they are just trying to cram as much into it as possible to make it seem cooler than the 3DS. I may buy it, especially since it's only gonna cost $250, but so far there aren't any games that interest me coming for it.

Nintendo was the star of E3 once again this year (as far as I'm concerned anyway). They opened up the show with a special look at the 25th anniversary of the Legend of Zelda. They did some fun little musical stuff, and talked about the Zelda games they've got coming out this year. Link's Awakening being released on the 3DS Virtual Console that day, the N64 classic Ocarina of Time 3D coming to the 3DS on June 19th (which is this coming weekend! I pre-ordered mine, did you?), GBA classic Four Swords coming to the DSiWare shop for free this September, and Skyward Sword for the Wii on it's way this holiday season. There was some more stuff to do with that but it wasn't important enough to remember.

After that, they showed off a string of 3DS games on their way: Mario Kart (which appears to have a few new gameplay elements added to it, air and underwater racing sections), Star Fox (boooooring), Super Mario Bros. 3D (which looks AWESOME! Can't wait to get my hands on that. Tanooki suit!!), Kid Icarus: Uprising (looks cool, but is really old news since it's reveal last year and STILL no release date), and Luigi's Mansion 2 (So cool! I don't even know why! I had no interest at all in the first one but I want this one so bad!). They also talked about a few 3rd party games but they were all dumb so I won't mention them.

Afterwards, they announced the Nintendo Wii U! It looks pretty exciting, but as time goes on, I lose enthusiasm, so I really should have blogged about it sooner. It's basically an HD Wii, for the most part, even using the Wii controllers and such, BUT it's got one big difference. The main controller for the system is basically a tablet computer fused with a motion sensing controller, with buttons. Minus the CPU. It can be used as a second screen for all kinds of different things, plus some games even allow you to switch gameplay from the TV over to the controller so someone else can use the TV for something else. See how it doesn't sound all that exciting? But it IS! I SWEAR! Watch the videos! Maybe I'll make another post entirely devoted to the Wii U later. Good plan, I think.

Anyway, that was pretty much it for the Nintendo conference, the rest was them talking about the Wii U and different developers weighing in and pretty much from there it was just boring crap. Elsewhere at E3 Nintendo also announced a few other games. A new DS Kirby game that looks a little lame. A new Wii Kirby game that looks AWESOME. And... uh... I don't remember what else. There was nothing new about Paper Mario, which made me sad. There was a new trailer for it, but that was it. Square Enix was pretty weak on their presence at E3 with an absence of ALL of the games I'd been looking forward to see from them. They DID however have some good stuff on FFXIII-2 which looks like it will be good. Now just to finish the first one... Natsume brought their new Harvest Moon and Rune Factory games which look very nice (I like the farming games...). There was also some new stuff on X-Men: Destiny which I want very very badly, and a new Spider-Man game which looks like it will be good, but I doubt I'll play it.

And I think that is pretty much it. I really had to rush through all that 'cause there was a lot of stuff announced. I'll probably do future blog posts dedicated specifically to certain game/system announcements once I absorb more info, and you can expect a review of the Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D sometime in the near(?) future 'cause I went down and pre-ordered it today. I'll probably be there right when they open to pick it up on Sunday too. To be fair, they open at noon, and I'll just be leaving my weekly family coffee thing right about then, so it's not like I'm a rabid fan or anything. Anyway, until next time...

4 - 8 - 15 - 16 - 23 - 42

Today I am bringing you the first of a series of six posts that will show up periodically over the next few months. The theme? Lost! Or, a look back at Lost, to be more precise. I recently completed my Lost DVD collection, so I've begun a Lost "marathon" of sorts. Now, "marathon" would usually imply watching the entire series from start to end in one go, buuuut 6 seasons of Lost would take me almost a week to watch, and with work, sleep, and life in general to get in the way, it's more of a series of mini-marathons.

Anyway, to the point. I finished the first season of Lost today, and so, first post. It's really interesting going back and watching the first season again after seeing how the series ends. I really noticed a lot of hints of things to come, and also noticed a lot of the hints to mysteries that never get explained.

I still absolutely love the opening scene to Lost. Starting with the eye opening, and Jack waking up in the woods, finding his way to the beach and seeing the chaos that is the planewreck in the sand. It was just amazing. I think that scene is what really hooked me. Even without knowing anything about what was to come, I was completely taken in by that scene, and the rest of the episode just sealed the deal.

The format of the show is something very original, too. We meet all of these characters, not just on the island, but off the island too in a series of flashbacks that give us a little bit of insight into who they are that their fellow castaways don't get to see. It would be easy for these flashbacks to seem out of place, but there is always something specific in the flashback that ties to what is going on. We also see that a lot of the flashbacks show the specifics of what led these people to get on that plane.

One major think that came to mind today when I was watching the last few episodes was the tragic story of Jin and Sun. I won't get into it too much because that would be spoilers, but they are my very favourite couple of the show. They will definitely come up in future posts, but the end with their goodbye as Jin gets on the raft just breaks my heart, even though I know what comes next.

There are so many elements introduced in this first season that I would love to touch on, but I could go on all day. The "Adam and Eve" in the cave, the Frenchwoman and her seemingly crazy stories, the whispers, the smoke monster, the Black Rock, the numbers and Hurley's curse, Walt's abilities, the "others", the hatch, the snatching of the baby, the cord on the beach, the radio transmission, and the radio message Boone hears before he dies. All of these things are just little clues, or tips of icebergs, of what's to come.

With so many mysteries unfolding, the season ends in a cliffhanger with the hatch open (despite so many things pointing to leaving it alone), the mysterious "others" kidnapping Walt and blowing up the raft, leaving Jin, Michael, and Sawyer for dead, and the rest of the Oceanic survivors fearing some sort of attack. I know what's coming, but I can't wait to go through and watch for all of those things that I never noticed the first time through, or whose significance I just didn't quite get until the series came to a close.

Thor! And Other Marvel Films

If you've read my blog even once, or ever met me for that matter, you know I am a huge nerd. And most should probably know that I have a lot of nerd-love for Marvel comics. So it should be no surprise that I was looking forward to Thor! Right from the original announcement I've been waiting to see this one. And see it I did. Twice even. Double the Chris Hemsworth. Yum.

I have been really impressed with the quality of movies Marvel has been putting out lately.
Iron Man: Top notch! The first of the new Avengers themed/lead-up movies that really raised the bar!
Incredible Hulk: Great! Huuuuuuuuge improvement over the previous iteration (which I consider unwatchable, so anything would have been an improvement).
Iron Man 2: Almost as good as the first one, and still fantastic! And then...
Thor: Just all kinds of awesome! I have literally no complaints at all! (except that it was in 3D...)

I love these movies 'cause they all tie in together. Each one has little nods to the others and they build off of each other. Thor had it's fair share of that. They mention Tony Stark and refer to Bruce Banner, and the inclusion of Agent Coulson in a more prominent role, along with SHIELD making more of a presence made this movie a lot of fun. Also, Clint Barton (AKA Hawkeye!)!! And that is all just the extras!

I am really not much of a Thor fan, so I was going into this movie knowing very little about the character and his history, not to mention the cast of supporting characters. I really enjoyed my introduction to Thor and the other gods of Asgard, as well as Jane Foster (and the clever way they mentioned Dr. Donald Blake). So much so that I had to go online afterwards and spend hours researching.

It's interesting that these Marvel Studios movies are so fantastic, while all of their co-produced films are just kinda crap in comparison. I am really excited for X-Men: First Class this summer, but I know it won't be the same calibre of film. It's gotta be better than X-Men Origins: Wolverine, but really, I could make a better movie in my backyard (if I had a backyard) than that Wolverine film. Marvel needs to rope in the rights on all of it's different franchises and take creative control back 'cause all of these different co-productions are killing Marvel movies. I think it would be awesome if we could see little cameos and mentions in all of Marvel's movies. Have Spider-Man swing by in the background of an X-Men film. Have the Avengers consult with Beast. Mister Fantastic video conference with the leaders of the other major Marvel teams. Or just the casual mentions of other Marvel characters in the films. No more of these completely separate universes.

Anyway... The next major Marvel film will be Captain America: The First Avenger this summer (while Andrea and I are at Comic-Con!) and I really can't wait! It looks like another great one (even if it is gonna be in 3D...). What do you think of Marvel movies? Fan? Not-so-much? Lemme know!

If you'd like a proper review of this movie, visit my good pal Andrea's blog. I agree with her on most parts. Except Natalie Portman. I loved her in this movie.

Why Do You Hurt Me, My Love?

I was just reading an article on Gamespot about how Nintendo is planning on stepping up marketing for the 3DS due to lower than expected sales of the system. I don't think I have to tell you that I am a huge fan of Nintendo, and I think the 3DS is fantastic. You already know that. But they really don't get it. Marketing is not the problem.

The marketing is great! The system itself is great as well! The problem is that there is a severe lack of good games for the system! That and the fact that they still haven't released the promised update that will allow online capabilities such as the web browser and eShop (which includes the DSi Shop and Virtual Console library). When they decided to release the system, they really should have pushed to release at least one of the big games they announced way back when the system was first revealed. Give us Zelda, or Paper Mario (although I think that one might just be me that's super excited for it), or Kid Icarus. Something!

But no, they chose to release the system with a very limited selection of games and features, and now they are paying the price. Literally. They've got the Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake coming out in a couple of months, but that is about the only big game they've got on the way soon. I love you Nintendo, but you've really gotta figure this stuff out. You can't sell a system without games to play on it! Your die-hard fans (me) will buy your stuff anyway, but then we suffer waiting forever for the games!

I really hope Nintendo learns its lesson by the time the recently hinted at successor to the Wii comes out, otherwise we may see them spending far too much effort and resources on marketing and seeing the games suffer.

I Eat My Words

In this latest entry of The Nintendo Hero, I eat my words. On January 21st, I posted another entry on the 3DS in which I said that I probably wouldn't bother getting the 3DS at launch day... I pre-ordered it a few weeks ago. And technically I didn't get it on launch day, but I got it the following day. Let me tell you. It is AWESOME! I'm a big fan.

So yeah, I pre-ordered from Future Shop, 'cause they had a better price for the game I picked up with it, and the 3DS also had a pre-order bonus in the form of a starter kit which includes all kinds of useful things, like a car charger, carrying case, screen protectors, and I dunno what else 'cause it's gonna be a little bit delayed in getting to me. But that doesn't really matter.

With the system, I decided to pre-order Nintendogs + Cats: Golden Retriever and New Friends (there's a mouthful). It was really the only launch game that seemed even relatively interesting to me. And I'm actually pretty happy I did pick it up. I've got my little Shiba Inu puppy named Bean, and I'm teaching her tricks and stuff. If I can't have a real dog, this is the next best thing!

But again, I'm getting side-tracked, I really just want to talk about the system itself. The Nintendo 3DS is a pretty nifty piece of technology. The obvious improvement over the original DS and DSi is the 3D top screen. I'm really not a fan of the 3D craze going on right now, but for this system, I think it really works. The 3D effect works without glasses, so that's one big hurdle gone for me. I hate wearing the stupid glasses. And the effect can be turned off and you can enjoy the games in 2D.

The 3D cameras on the outside, coupled with the system's motion sensing technology (accelerometer and gyroscope) make for some pretty fun times as well. The AR cards are one feature of this, you can play a whole game based on one little card sitting on the table. The other more interesting one (in my opinion) is the Face Raiders game preloaded on the 3DS. You take a picture of your (or someone else's) face, and then play a game where little flying robots with the faces you've used fly around and attack you. I was dancing around my living room turning this way and that avoiding and attacking the weird little face-bots. Clearly more of Nintendo's attempts at more active gaming.

Now, the feature that I find most interesting is StreetPass. When you leave the 3DS in sleep mode (closing the lid without actually turning it off) it will still search for other 3DS systems to communicate with. If another 3DS in sleep mode comes in contact, they will swap StreetPass info (depending on whether or not you have it enabled, and what you choose to share). Different games use the feature in different ways, but the 3DS StreetPass Mii Plaza has it's own exciting uses of the feature. Every time you run into someone, you'll swap Miis, and with the Mii, you will also get a piece of a puzzle that presumably creates something fun. And there's another game within the Mii Plaza called Find Mii, which is some sort of RPG game that requires you to run into other Miis to help you along your quest.

So far, I haven't actually run into anyone else with the StreetPass feature 'cause I've only had the system for 3 days and have yet to take it out with me anywhere, and somehow I feel like it might be a little bit difficult to find other 3DS users in my little northern city. But I suppose I'm gonna have to start carrying it around with me so that I can check out the StreetPass features. Aaaaaand that's it for this post. I'll probably think of something else fun to write about later, so look out for a follow-up post down the line!

The Nintendo Hero Returns, or Pokémon Master

So! The new Pokémon games came out a week ago, and I've decided that that is exciting enough to bring back The Nintendo Hero! The new games: Pokémon Black Version and Pokémon White Version. I've only played a small portion of the games so far, but I am very impressed!

The biggest improvement is the graphics. The games keep their 2D sprites for the characters, but they've made the game world a much more 3D environment. They had a pseudo 3D effect in the previous generation, but it's much better done this time around.

The other great graphics improvement is the battle screen. Previous games have included small amounts of movement in battles, but this time around the pokemon are in constant motion in battles. The pretty much just appear to hop around, but when they use sound attacks, their mouths open, and when put to sleep their eyes close. It zooms in and out on the attacking pokémon and has a much more interactive feel.

I've got a lot further to go in the game because I spent nearly a week trading between the two games until I got all three starters in both games. I'm not sure how I feel about the starters in this game. I guess I like Snivy, and I do like Oshawott, but Tepig is pretty lame. But in comparison to the previous generation, I do like these starters better.

The rest of the pokémon introduced in this generation are a mixed bag. There are definitely some nice ones that I do like quite a bit, but it seems like there are quite a few really lame designs. The ice cream looking one, and the garbage bag, and the gear one. They seem very unoriginal, but I guess I don't really have to have them on my team.

I'm curious how difficult it will be to fill the Pokédex this time around. That has always been my main focus of the Pokémon series, the collection aspect. There are all those people that spend endless hours making their perfect competitive battle teams, but I'm really just not interested in that at all. I just want to get every single pokémon possible. On a related note, the only game I've ever completely filled the Pokédex is Pokémon Blue. The next closest is Pokémon Diamond where I'm only missing Deoxys.

So far, I'm really enjoying the game. The graphics are better, there are 156 new pokémon to catch, and the story so far is pretty engaging. I've only just gotten to the second gym, but I'll give updates as I make it further into the game!
Pictures borrowed from Nintendo and Bulbapedia.

Relay for Life

This is just a very quick post (hopefully with a real post on the way soon). I just wanted to talk about the Relay for Life! It is a great fundraiser that is done all over Canada to raise money to help fight Cancer.

I have a couple of personal connections to this. I lost my Dad just over 4 years ago to brain tumors. It was an awful thing to go through, and far too soon afterwards my amazing friend Sylvie lost her mother to Cancer as well. Last year, Sylvie started a team in honour of her mother, Team Betty Boop (her mother was a big fan). Last year I walked with Sylvie, but I wasn't actually on the team, so I'm making up for it this year.

So if you want to help me fight, go to my Relay donation page and make a donation!

Oscar Update

My final score? 8 out of 25! Way better than I expected! In third with 13 correct: Andrea's Mom! And the winning score of 15 out of 25 was a tie between Andrea and Kim! Woo!

Oscars

So, I am currently watching the Oscars. Not how I had planned on watching them, which was decked out in my nicest clothes at my friend Angie's place for her Oscar party. The plan was to dress up and bring some celebrity themes food and whatnot. But! Due to the crazy snow coming down outside, the party was cancelled, so I am sitting here in my Charizard pajama pants watching the Oscars on my couch.

Now, one of the fun parts about watching the Oscars is predicting the winners. Well, it's supposed to be fun. But I never seem to have any luck with the predictions. For some reason, all of the movies that I think look really boring are always the ones that make it into the Oscars. The movies that I think are awesome? Not a one. That's not actually true though, 'cause a few movies that I really liked were nominated, but I'll be amazed if they actually win anything.

It would also help if I actually understood what the categories meant. I have no idea what the eff cinematography is. And how in the world am I supposed to judge sound editing? Or film editing? Sound mixing? Is that different than editing? I've also got this problem with choosing the movies that I want to win versus the movies that I think will actually win. For example, The Social Network is probably going to do really well again, but I have no interest in watching a movie about Facebook. I already don't trust Facebook and think Zuckerberg is a douche.

So it is not surprising that so far my score is two for seven. I'm actually impressed with that score. I'm thinking I probably won't get any more right, but I will update you if I do.

I've never really paid attention to the Oscars before. Last year was the first time I'd ever actually sat down and watched them and did the whole prediction thing, and that was only because I was invited to an Oscar party at my good buddy Andrea's place. Since then Andrea has moved away from the frozen north, so we're keeping track online. Andrea, her mom, our friend Kim, and I all submitted our predictions, and Andrea is tracking them on twitter. Surprisingly, Andrea, the big movie buff, is not in the lead at the moment. Oh, correction, it's just been tied across the board... minus me...

This just kind of proves that I should never be a movie reviewer. I know what I like, but I don't know what makes a "good movie" apparently. I should be the nerd movie reviewer. Is the a geek awards show? There should be. If not, I'm gonna start the anti-Oscars. The awards show for all the movies that are actually good. The categories will be more interesting too. There will be Coolest Super Hero Movie. Best Alien Movie. Best Action Movie. And the best lead actor and actress would be whatever hotties were in those movies and not some boring people like most awards shows. And there would be a Suckiest Movie category. For movies that are lame. Like The Social Network.

Latest update, I am now at three points out of twelve. Rock on. My favourite part about this awards show is the hosts. Anne Hathaway and James Franco are both really awesome. Anne sung a song dissing the sexiest man alive (Hugh Jackman) and James has come onstage in drag. And there was an old man hitting on Anne at the beginning, and I thought he might die before he got through with the category. Apparently he's a big deal so I am probably being rude. But he was actually hilarious.

I think I've rambled on long enough for one post, so I'm gonna leave it here with my score sitting at 5 out of 16! Not as bad as I thought I'd be at! I'll give an extra update with my final score once the show is over.

More About Comic-Con

So, the Comic-Con ticket sales website was an epic fail. But chances are you've already heard as such. I went on the website that morning at 9am, and it took until mid-afternoon before I was finally able to get through their "over-capacity" screen and actually purchase tickets. Unfortunately, once I finally got through all I was able to get my hands on were the Thursday and Sunday tickets. Next year, Comic-Con really needs to rethink their ticket sales options. Ticket Master maybe? The best option would probably be to just buy next year's tickets at the show this year if we decide to go back. And why wouldn't we?

That's enough whiny-geek. Next on the to-do list for Comic-Con: travel and accommodations! Andrea and I have been researching flights, and it looks like the best bet would be to bus it from Vancouver to Bellingham, and then fly out of there to San Diego. Of course, I've gotta add the flight from the middle of nowhere to Van, as well, but still! Not bad! We are gonna try to get the best deals possible.

I'm hoping that hotel information will crop up soon. Hopefully there will be some good deals for Comic-Con attendees, and in nice hotels. It's interesting trying to look at hotels somewhere so far away. Websites aren't always 100% accurate. But really, I don't plan on spending much time in our room anyway, so it's not that big a deal. As long as it's decent enough to sleep in, it's good.

There's still more research to go. Gotta figure out what else we'll do while we're down there. And there's a few other details to iron out, but it is definitely coming together. Also, I need to talk to my granny about my costume idea... Perhaps she'd be able to help me design/create it. Okay! I'm off!

Comic-Con

So! Comic-Con tickets go on sale TOMORROW! This means that one more piece of the puzzle is about to fall into place, and my buddy Andrea and I will be one step closer to San Diego. Figuratively speaking, of course. I think I take a lot of steps closer, and then further away again, every day if you look at it geographically.

I was just thinking about what I should bring with me when we go. Once we know a little more about the guests that will be there, I'll have to pack some things to get signed and such. But I wonder if I should get my butt in gear and attempt some writing to bring with me. I've heard of people being discovered at Comic-Con before, but I seriously doubt I could come up with anything stellar by then. But maybe.

A coworker of mine told me yesterday that I should dress up for the convention. To this I responded, "even I'm not that big of a nerd... Wait... I'm going to Comic-Con. I totally am." So that is another idea. But I'm thinking it's gonna be stinking hot down there, so a costume would probably add to that. And I'm not hot enough to go as any of the semi-naked heroes out there. Maybe that's another project to work on.

That's all I've got for today. Time to go to work. And find something to eat. Not in that order.

Through the Stargate

Today, i would like to talk about the Stargate franchise, one of my favourite sci-fi series. Stargate is an epic story about the people of Earth who find their lives changed by a piece of, originally thought to be alien, but actually Earthly, technology. The Stargate itself is a great big metal ring with a second movable ring covered in different symbols. Each symbol represents a constellation of stars, and different combinations of these symbols create addresses to other Stargates out in the galaxy. When a correct address is entered, a wormhole is created, and people and objects can travel through the oneway path to a different planet in the galaxy. It is so much more complicated than that, but I really don't feel like writing on the function of the Stargate anymore.

Stargate SG-1 is the show that started it all (if you don't count the movie... which I don't). It centers around the titular team, SG-1, which is part of Stargate Command, a secret division of the US Military. The team originally consists of Colonel Jack O'Neill, Captain Samantha Carter, Dr. Daniel Jackson, and an alien named Teal'c. The team roster changes later in the series, but to be honest, I haven't actually seen the whole series.

I originally started watching it with my Mom way back when the show first began airing. That was probabably 12-13 years ago? I'm not sure. It was one of those shows that we watched together, but at that point I was more interested in cartoons, so when Mom lost interest, so did I.

I have just recently begun watching the series again after having been re-hooked by the show's two spinoffs, Atlantis and Universe. So far I have picked up the first 4 seasons on DVD, and I'm nearly through with season 4. I think my favourite part of the show is The discovery process, as they learn new things about the gate and the Goa'uld and all that fun stuff. And the different alien races they meet along the way are all really interesting. The Asgard, the Replicators. The Nox.

Now, the real point of this whole post is that I am sad. I am sad because, once again, Stargate has been cancelled. This time, it is Stargate Universe that was cancelled after it's second season. The show was planned out for five, I think, but now we won't get to see what was supposed to happen with this group of characters. Between the three shows, there are 17 seasons of Stargate, and I'm just not satisfied apparently.

I think there is a campaign somewhere online to save Stargate. I should find the link and post it here. Perhaps there is a chance to save the show. So if you are a fan, or I've at least piqued your interest, look into it and consider using one or more of the methods mentioned on the following website to save the show! Thanks for reading!

http://www.savestargateuniverse.org/

Edit: I found the website I was originally looking for, which has been tweeted by one of the stars of the show. http://www.facebook.com/SGUnite

SDCC 2011

This year, for the first time ever, I will be going to Comic-Con International in San Diego. I don't think I can sufficiently express how excited I am for this in words. I will be making the epic journey with my amazing pal, Andrea, and we will have a fantastic time. I am a little nervous, though. I haven't been to the States in about 16 years. I haven't been out of the country in about 5. I do really enjoy travelling, but I really don't do much of it, so it is a little nerve-racking every time a trip comes up. And most of my trips over the last few years have been within Canada (Vancouver a few times, Toronto once, and some other places not worth mentioning). This small-town Canadian nerd just doesn't get out enough.

Anyway, I am very excited for San Diego. I'm interested to see what artists and writers will be at the convention, not to mention celebrities and what-not. And we'll be right in the action with any of the exciting news and announcements that always seem to come out of these things. And there is no one in the world I'd rather go to something like this than my right-hand-geek, Andrea. Now if only registration would FINALLY open up.

Well, this post isn't anywhere nearly as exciting as I had intended it to be, but it wasted a few minutes of my boring Saturday night at home, so mission accomplished! Now I'm going to research things to do in San Diego and the surrounding area. If you have any ideas, let me know! (he says to his non-existant following...)

The History of Gaming

Today I'm going to introduce another recurring theme post on my blog. Again, it is video game related, but don't be fooled into thinking this is a video game blog. Oh no. It is about more than that. It is full of ALL KINDS of geeky stuff! But I'm getting off topic.

The History of Gaming! Now, I don't mean in a general sense. I mean MY history in particular. And in the beginning, there was NES. The Nintendo Entertainment System. We got the NES when I was probably 3 or 4 years old. Clearly I was a Nintendo fan right from a young age. I don't really remember much about life back then, but my earliest memories are of my cousin Brandi staying with us for a bit and playing one of the Mario games pretty much non-stop.

It wasn't until a few years later that I really learned how to play video games. We had the old Mario Bros. 1 through 3, the second (which isn't really a Mario game...) was mine, and I loved it. I remember getting it for Christmas one year. It was a big deal. We also had Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, some dumb football game that I could never figure out, and my favourite, Bubble Bobble.

One of my fondest memories of Bubble Bobble was playing it for hours with my Dad. I was terrible at it, so eventually it would just be him on his own, but I had so much fun. Blowing bubbles and popping enemies, running away from the evil skeletal whale thing that terrified me. Eventually, the fun would end when my older brother let a friend borrow the game, and that friend's house was burglarized, resulting in the loss of my favourite game.

But all was not lost, we still had our other games, and we would occasionally rent new ones. I'm not sure for exactly how long we had the NES, but it seemed like forever when I was a kid. But one fateful day, when my younger brother and I were playing Super Mario Bros. 3, the unthinkable happened! Do you remember the minigame that you could play when both of you selected the same level on the world screen? It was actually an even older iteration of the Mario Bros., I believe. Well, Paul and I were playing the minigame, and I kept winning ('cause I'm amazing! and also modest), so he got angry and threw the controller at the floor, as we often did when we got angry playing games. There was thick shag carpeting! Nothing bad would happen! ...right? Wrong. The controller ricocheted off the floor and hit the NES with enough force that it never worked again. I was devastated. We tried to make it work again, but eventually we realized that it was kaput, and my gaming life was over.

Except it wasn't. But that's another story for...

The History of Gaming!

The Nintendo Hero

So! With this post, I'm going to introduce a new recurring theme post I'd like to call The Nintendo Hero. See how it's similar to The Noble Hero? You know, thenoblehero, my chosen nickname? Yeah, that's what I was going for.

So, what's this new recurring theme post about? My love for Nintendo, of course! I would like to take a moment to point out that I am in no way affiliated with or sponsored by Nintendo, but if they noticed me, that would be cool too.

Anyway, I wanted to make this post to commemorate the introduction of the Nintendo 3DS! The announcements have been coming in for a while now, but the official North American press thingie was a couple days ago, so new news! Woo!

The USD price point of $249.99 isn't surprising, and to me seems totally fair, considering what all the portable gaming device has to offer in comparison previous handhelds. One interesting thing I've noticed in my online research, though, is that the price is the same in the US as it is in Canada! I had fully expected to be paying $279.99 or $289.99, but with the dollar being pretty much on par, it appears the pricing will be the same! This new revelation does ruin my plan of buying it in the States when I'm down there in the summer, but really, it's probably better this way. I won't have to worry about packing a big chunk of extra cash on me. I can save my money for more important things, like food and souvenirs.

The release date of March 27th would be exciting and have me lining up to get one on launch day, except that there aren't really any games I want coming out at launch. I think I might pick up Nintendogs + cats, but it's hardly exciting enough to run out and get the 3DS right away. Where's Paper Mario 3D? Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D? Even their flagship title that they've been pushing, Kid Icarus: Uprising, won't be out at launch. It is interesting to note that the Future Shop website has Kid Icarus and Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance (the other game that I really want) with a release date of March 27th. I'm curious where they've gotten their information, if they are jumping the gun, or if they've got some inside info that no one else has.

So, that's pretty much all I wanted to say. I'm totally stoked for the Nintendo 3DS, and I can't wait for both the 27th of March, and more info on release dates of all the awesome games! Until next time...