Buying Online

A little bummed today. I've never had a problem buying online before, but this week I received a PS2 game I ordered using half.com and it was nowhere close to the promised condition.

Long story short, I'm having to get Half.com involved in securing a refund (the seller has been non-responsive to my e-mails), a process that can take up to 30 days. Blech.

Good thing Neverwinter Nights has been keeping me plenty busy!

"New Frontier" Initial Thoughts

Just picked up this DVD yesterday and finished watching it today. I'll do a full-length review next week if I can, but my initial reaction is that this is a vast improvement over the Superman Doomsday DVD movie.

I forked over the extra $7 to get the 2-disc edition, so I'll have to let you know if the features on disc 2 are worth the extra money, but the movie itself is great.

If it's available for rent and you're a comic book fan, do yourself a favor and check it out.

Try Not To Gag

Saw this on G4 and thought I'd share this little "gag reflext test" with all of you. Enjoy!

The Flash On Notice

I still love this picture. But I can't say the same of Mark Waid's current run on The Flash.

I LOVED the idea of Wally being a married man and a dad and balancing that with being the Flash. But Waid has made the book a "superhero team" book starring the Flash and his two kids.

I'm not interested in seeing his kids learning to fight crime and have their own costumes. And the fact that the two kids might be dying because of their powers made a weak reason for their dad to be okay with them running around fighting crime. It's just not working for me. And I'm sure it's going to be the final straw for many comic fans who think a book about a "family man" superhero can't work. It CAN. But it's not working here.

I never thought Mark Waid could do wrong after his awesome re-defining of the character in the 90's, but I'm afraid to say that he needs to either find a new approach quick, or get off the book. Until then, I'll be flipping through each issue before buying. Any issue with one of his kids in a costume (unless they are dying) get's put back on the shelf. I'll get the rest of my Flash fix in JLA and Titans.

"Something Clicked..."

I'm not sure what happened. I've had the diamond edition of Neverwinter Nights for a couple of years now. I'd played it for a few hours at a time at the very beginning, as a magic user, but the game play was too encumbered with strategy and I was looking for either a Diablo or Final Fantasy experience.

Not to mention I couldn't find a way to stay comfortable with a mouse and keyboard for any length of time. You just can't lounge the way you can with a controller.

But last week I decided to start the game over using a fighter, and my experience was completely transformed! Originally I had been planning to use this game just to keep me busy until "God of War 2" comes in the mail for me. But now I'm so immersed in the action and the storyline that I don't know WHAT I'll do when I have to choose between Kratos and Vincent Craft. (The name of my fighter. Yep, I couldn't resist.)

I've heard the solo player game is already pretty long. Add to that the expansions it came with and the official and user made adventures all over the internet and I can see that I may not need to look for another RPG for awhile!

I'm even considering trying out the multi-player aspect at some point, since it doesn't cost any money. But we'll see. I'm still not keen on getting the crap kicked out of me by some kid who's angry 'cuz his mom told him to take the garbage out one too many times.

The Reliance, #11

DC HEROES RPG

"The Doomsday Program, Part 1"

After completion of their first epic adventure overseas, The Reliance takes some much needed time for rest.

Still bombarded with phone calls from the news media for interviews, the heroes have put responding on the back burner for now.

Alex Noir, AKA Iron Hand, put on a fantastic showing for Amanda Waller (National Security and Defense Representative and head of the Belle Reve Meta-human Incarceration facility), demonstrating the power and flexibility of the armor he designed for WayneTech. Based on his designs for the Iron Hand armor, Noir's "Titan L" and "Titan H" models displayed efficiency in taking down a "volunteer" prisoner named "The Fiddler" as he was given the opportunity to make his escape.

Although Waller saw room for improvement in Noir's designs, she also saw great potential and offered Noir and WayneTech a 5 year contract. In six months she expects an improved version of both models and in one year she expects designs that will be superior to anything LexCorp has to offer in the same department.
Bruce Wayne personally called Alex to congratulate him, although sounded a little distracted by "female companions." It was a good day for Alex Noir.

Tommy Franklin, AKA Surge, also had good fortune as he interviewed at the Coast City STAR Labs branch for an internship with Doctor Tina McGee. He fell a little short in the general intelligence exam but showed tremendous ability in the technical field of project analysis, for which he was specifically interviewing. Dr. McGee saw great promise in Tommy and offered him an internship consisting of 30 hours a week, Monday- Friday from 8am-2pm. The sky is the limit for Franklin's future at STAR labs, provided he makes a habit of coming to work on time.

Phanuel has vanished once again. Although her team-mates have grown used to her times of solitude among her arcane books, they have no idea where she's gone this time. They decide to see a late movie on Sunday night, hoping that when they return to HQ afterward, she will be back. On their walk back from the theatre, however, their plans are interrupted by the sight of Superman, chasing three large robotic wasps across the night sky. To everyone's surpirse, the Man Of Steel is knocked out of the sky by the strange robots. Arriving on the scene as quickly as they can, Surge and Iron Hand find a six-foot crater left by Superman's fall, but no Kryptonian to be found. Instead, they manage to get the jump on two metal wasps the size of mini-vans and a metallic ant the size of a motorcycle.

Iron hand smashes through the exterior of one wasp and gets a good look at its insides. A strange mix of car and home theatre parts, the design of the creature is a puzzle. Eventually scrambling outside again, Iron Hand smashes the wasp into submission, while surge takes advantage of the insect's conductive nature, frying them with a bolt of lightning.

The ant had been loading a wooden crate full of standard circuit boards into one of the wasps, but the heroes have no idea why.

Inside the warehouse they've arrived at, they greet and attack three more ants and a giant robotic spider. But this time they don't find the advantage. Surge takes a crushing blow from hungry steel mandibles while Iron Hand is covered and pinned to the floor by a sticky puss-like substance shot from the giant spider. While surge remains the only hero free, the massive arachnid closes in on Iron Hand for the gruesome kill...

He-Man's coming!!

Although I won't be able to review this DVD officially until after its release next Tuesday, I'm chomping at the bit to get my hands on it!

Not simply because I collected He-Man toys when I was a kid, but because this all too short-lived animated series was a fantastic marriage of "sword and sorcery fantasy" and "action sci-fi". Never outside of "Final Fantasy" games have I seen the two genres blended together to such great effect!

I wish the whole series was being released at once, but I've waited long enough that I'll take it however I can get it!

Why not "Alwayssummer Nights"?

I'm giving Neverwinter Nights another try. I bought the "Diamond Edition" of the game more than a year ago in search of an RPG, since the PS2 had none at the time worth playing.

This was my first attempt at a very "PC" RPG. By that I mean an RPG that uses alot of mouse and keyboard, instead of the the controller I'm so used to.

I'm not as much of a PC gamer partially because I like to be able to lounge and lean back while I play, and you can't really do that with a mouse and keyboard game.

This game is VERY complex and basically represents the D&D experience on a computer. Sometimes cool, but sometimes not. I've played close to 10 hours as a magic user, but that was over the course of 6-9 months.(Obviously my interested faded in and out.) Magic use in this game takes more thinking and strategy than I'm interested in. Besides, I've got a magic user on Diablo 2 that I'm still playing.

So although it goes against my tendency, I'm going to try and play Neverwinter Nights again from the beginning, but this time with a fighter or barbarian type. Hopefully the simplicity of the character class will streamline the experience for me. The game itself is wonderfully complex enough that on my first time through, I'm hoping my character can feel a little simpler. We'll see!

Anyone have any thoughts, strategies or advice about this game?

Console War

At some point down the road, maybe this summer, I'll probably be upgrading to a Next Gen console. I've been onboard Playstation since the PS1, solely because that's where Squaresoft (Now SquareEnix) was taking their RPGs.

I'm seeing very few ads for PS3 RPGs and a LOT more for the 360. So right now I think that's where I'll be headed. However, I have some level of fear about the "red ring of death" that kills 360s if you play too often for extended marathon game sessions.

I don't have time much for video game marathons, the but thought still concerns me.

So I thought I'd like to open up the floor for input if anyone would care to share. What system should I upgrade to for the most RPG fun at the lowest price/risk factor?

Are their specific RPGs on your console of choice that you'd recommend or that may even be a "system seller" in your mind? I've heard great things about Elder Scrolls: Oblivion and Mass Effect. Lost Odyssey also looks pretty frickin' cool. Any thoughts?

Crossover

Lately I've been thinking about reviving an RPG campaign concept that I used a few years ago. Back then we simply called it MEGS, named after the rules system we used to play it. But now I'm thinking of calling it "Crossover". The basic concept is that characters from various entertainment mediums find themselves working together, traveling through time and parallel dimensions in an effort to not only return to their homeworlds, but stop the multiverse from being destroyed by the "Paradox Wave".

So while playing in the "Crossover" setting, you might have a group of player characters consiting of:

Neo, Robocop, The Predator, Spider-man, Duncan McLeod, Anikan Skywalker and Kratos. These characters will find themselves in classic dungeon crawls, spaceship battles or modern espionage as they jump from world to world, dimension to dimension.

I'd LOVE for a game like this to be made, but trademarks being as guarded as they are, it'll never happen. But Mayfair's Exponential Game System lends itself to a wide range of genre flexibility, and many of the above characters already have unofficial stats created for them online.

Back with my old group, we had "The Terminator" in our group. And part of the rules was that he started out naked in every new world we visited. That all by itself was a source of gut wrenching laughs. He's killed(or at least knocked out) and stolen clothes from: Darth Vader, a shopping mall Santa and even Robin the boy wonder. (And yes, it was the classic green underwear and elf slippers Robin.) All you have to do is picture Arnold Schwarzenegger in either of those last two to get an idea of what the game was like sometimes.

Anyway, I've got a great DC heroes campaign going right now, but eventually my group will get through every adventure printed for that game and it never hurts to plan ahead!

Book Review, Anyone?

I'm at a bit of a crossroads in terms of what fantasy book I will read next. I finished the Terry Goodkind series and went back to start reading Terry Brooks' "Magic Kingdom Of Landover" series. Halfway through the first book in that series, I realized that my tastes have changed since Junior High and the light-hearted nature of an inept wizard and a canine court scribe no longer do anything for me. I like my fantasy serious and oftentimes even dark.

I'm re-reading a Shannara book for now, but it won't be long before I'm ready for something new. I COULD get the paperback of Weis and Hickman's "Dragons of the Highlord Skies", but I'm inclined to wait until the third in that trilogy is done so that I can go back and read them all with the original Dragonlance trilogy in chronological order.

Terry Brooks' newest book is still only in hardcover and I'm not quite gung-ho enough to get it before the paperback comes out.

I'm giving Robert Jordan another glance right now. A few years ago I started reading "Eye Of The World", the first in his mega-long series. I stopped before the end of chapter 2 because there seemed to be more names of places, people and organizations than I have the memory to keep track of. However, in the absence of other fantasy, I'm thinking of giving it another try if I can find a used copy for sale. (I've also read that despite the author's death, the final book will be finished and released in 2009 by someone else, using Jordan's extensive notes.)

So I'm putting out the call right now for a review on this book. I know there are plenty of reviews online, but if you're reading this you either know me or at least a little something about my tastes from reading this blog now and then, so I'll give your opinion more weight. I don't mind lots of detail, but will the characters be in enough danger to keep the book interesting, or is it all mainly political intrigue? (Barfff!)

While you're at it, can you recommend any fantasy I might like?

I've already read: All of Terry Brooks, all of Terry Goodkind, all of Moorcock's Elric books, All of Harry Potter, all of Weis and Hickman's Dragonlance stuff (their solo efforts have mostly fallen short for me, except for the Amber series by Weis) and Peirs Anthony's Incarnations of Immortality series.

Anyhoo, thanks for your input!

CodeBreakers Rocks!!

If you've never heard of the "CodeBreaker", I'd recommend checking it out. It seems like cheat device companies come and go in phases. At first they're very independent and underground. Lots of user created content/codes.

But as soon as they become popular, they hammer down on anybody creating unofficial codes! (Ironic, since game system companies historically have tried to come down on cheat device companies.)

I've seen this trend of "Indy to Corporate" in the Game Genie and Action Replay, but thankfully, Codebreaker isn't falling prey to that pattern. They even support forums on their site for user created codes!

I'm really pumped, because it was a user created code that finally solved the problem of monotonous leveling that's been keeping me away from Rogue Galaxy. (An otherwise FANTASTIC game!)

So now I can get back in and saddle up to save the universe!

(Cue cheesy grin and 'thumbs up') "Thanks CodeBreaker!"

Check 'em out at http://www.cmgsccc.com/

Fast Fantasy Fix

I've determined that my schedule is just a little too tight to allow for an involving RPG video game right now.

The classics of the NES/SNES era required much less personal memory to be utilized for keeping track of the story and various characters. And while I'd love to get into a game like "Elder Scrolls: Oblivion", I just can't fit it into my schedule.

I've also effectively used up the various Action-RPGs that suit my liking, but even they can require you to remember details between potentially weeks of sitting down and playing, that I just won't be able to retain.

So I'm branching out into the realm of straight-up action games, although still with a fantasy theme. Selling a couple old games and movies to gain some trade credit and shelf space, I've picked up "Demon Stone" (an enjoyable game that I almost purchased once, but backed out of in favor of an action RPG) and "God Of War", a critically acclaimed action epic that I now have the right cheat codes to enjoy.

I've got seven days to determine if I will keep one or both of them before my unconditional refund window closes. (Gamestop is an awesome store, isn't it?) I'll probably have my decision before the weekend is out, but hopefully I'll wind up with two great games that scratch just the itch I need to right now.