I’ve spent long stretches of time the last couple of months without a computer, which means that when I had a working one in my apartment again I devoured new games with more enthusiasm then usual. And I usually have a lot of enthusiasm for games! I also spent a lot of time playing games on my brand new iPad. So for this casual game review column, I’m going to offer a grab-bag of different games for both PC and iPad. Also, to make up for the absence of a column last month, I’ll include a few quick recommendations at the end of this one!
First, there’s THOR: Son of Asgard. I know, I know, games based on movies are most often somewhere from mediocre to gorram terrible, but I really enjoyed this one. The tutorial level will get you comfortable with the easy to use, intuitive controls that allow you to use basic attacks and awesome foe-smashing special powers. The graphics are excellent and the game play engrossing. One of my favorite aspects is the storytelling cinematics, which play out in comic-book art form and are very nicely rendered. There are some downsides here though. I got the game for $.99 on sale, but it usually costs $4.99. The game does feel short and I generally do not like dropping five bucks on a shorter game, but for this one I probably would have as I could see myself replaying it several times. Also, from my understanding the game currently does not work well with iPods, so buyer beware if you don’t have an iPad!
Welcome to your extra long conference edition of Ur W33K 1N G33K!
X-Men: First Class is being widely hailed as the best super hero movie since The Dark Knight, and it ruled the box-office this weekend grossing $56 million. The prequel to the X-Men series may have beat out other current films on its opening weekend, but it doesn’t measure up to any of its predecessors, or in this case protégés. First Class had the smallest opening weekend audience of any of the X-Men movies. Despite all the critics praise, the film appears to have suffered from the sins of its…future, as the past two X-Men movies (X-Men: The Last Stand, and X-Men Origins: Wolverine) nearly destroyed all the credibility the series had built. Still, they’ve managed to win back many of their estranged fans and currently hold an audience rating of 88% on Rotten Tomatoes.
The release of X-Men: First Class is just days away, marking the second of four major super hero movie releases to come this summer. In a recent YouTube viral video, A Toast To Green Lantern, all the super heroes with their own movies harassed Hawkman as he tries to get his own film. As it turns out, the joke was on the makers of the video as Warner Bros. has a Hawkman movie in the works. The current logline listed on It’sOnTheGrid is:
The weekend came and went with no signs of raptors or the rapture (except this). In fact, no apocalypse of any kind occurred, much to the disappointment of Harold Camping’s followers, and the delight and derision of most of the nerd population. That’s not to say that the CDC didn’t already have it – and you – covered, as they explained with the release of America’s official Zombie Apocalypse Preparedness 101 outline this last week. While there was no immediate need to put it to use, it’s very existence grants a bit of extra hope for the American citizen (except for those of us who can make out that massive gaping holes in the plan).
The other day I came across a picture which had the caption: “OMG, I love macaroni so much. I’m such a nerd.” This irked me to the very core of my being. Your quaint quirks don’t make you a nerd. Going to see a comic-based movie doesn’t make you a nerd.
Jeff Foxworthy has his famous You Might Be A Redneck If… sketch, and with the rising mainstream popularity of geek culture, there comes a necessity to distinguish true nerds from recent converts, so I thought I’d come up with a similarly styled list of rules to help separate the fo’ realz from the wannabes.
Now, many other lists say that nerds must wear glasses (preferably with tape around the bridge), speak Klingon (binary, C++, or some other geeky language), and have all the social graces of an ostrich with its head in the sand, but these should not be the required defining hallmarks of a great, eclectic group of hardcore fans of all things geek: video games, science, science fiction, comics, etc.
We are more than the negative stereotypes that have often been levied against us. So without further ado, I present my homage to Foxworthy and true geekdom, You Might be a Nerd if…
On May 13, the longest running superhero based television series, Smallville, came to a close. The final episode brought back many of the past characters, including Michael Rosenbaum as Lex Luthor. Avoiding other major spoilers, we’ll just say there is both flight and tights action involved.
That wasn’t the only action stirring in the world of superheroes this past week though. Rob Williams, author of the new Ghost Rider series, announced that the next Ghost Rider will be a female. Johnny Blaze, the current Ghost Rider, will be offered a chance to pass his curse on to someone else, and while Blaze will no longer be the Rider, he’ll remain a part of the series.
Generally, there isn’t a lot of stigma being a shy, quiet geek. After all, as a group, us nerds aren’t known for being boisterous. We play our games, download/stream our shows, and read our comics all from the safety of our solitary couches. However, with the recent surge in mainstream desire for geek culture, we’ve been thrust off of our couches and into the social scene.
You know you’re a hardcore gamer when you can watch someone else play a game with the same satisfaction you would received if you played it yourself. I’ve “played” many a game sitting next to the controller as the go-to strat guide girl or the rapt spectator rooting my friends on. Generally, my shy nature doesn’t preclude me from enjoying the ridiculous level of gaming that I expect from my daily life. But sometimes you just have to be the one pressing the buttons to get the full joy from the experience; sometimes, you can feel a little left out sitting on the sidelines…and it’s then that I lament my epic shyness.
