Author: admin

Amish Otaku, Comics, DC

Watchmen: Superheroes in Dystopia

 
 

If you’re the kind of person who thinks comic books are for kids, you’re like most people who missed one of the most significant literary releases of the 1980’s.

Alan Moore’s Watchmen is a classic among graphic novels. Originally published in 12 issues from 1986 to 1987 by DC Comics, it’s now available in its entirety as a trade paperback.

The story revolves around a group of superheroes who have (mostly) retired from heroics and find themselves dealing with life without the mask while the world crumbles around them. Watchmen takes place in the fall of 1985, although it is a 1985 with a partially different past. In the world that Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons have created, superheroes first show up after World War II. That’s where things start to get a little different. In their world of superheroes the Vietnam War is won due to their influence, and technology takes a leap forward due to the advanced mind of one of these heroes. Continue reading “Watchmen: Superheroes in Dystopia”

admin
Amish Otaku, Video Games, Xbox 360

Guitar Hero II: The Future of Red Octane’s Crown Jewel

Like many, I have been eagerly awaiting the release of Guitar Hero II for the Xbox 360 since it was announced. Despite already owning the game for the Playstation 2, I picked up another copy because the game quite obviously has the potential to be the far superior product.

Unfortunately, almost 48 hours after launch, a large number of people have reported through various forums that their X-plorer controllers are defective, particularly the whammy bars. Some complaints even go so far as claiming to have completely non-functioning guitar controllers. Continue reading “Guitar Hero II: The Future of Red Octane’s Crown Jewel”

admin
Amish Otaku, Manga

Blade of the Immortal

This series just plain kicks ass.

Manji is a ronin samurai, an outlaw wanted for the murder of his own lord.

Rin is the daughter of a renowned dojo master who had been slaughtered over a feud begun generations past.

These two soon find themselves in each others company as Rin is on a quest to avenge her father’s death and Manji has vowed to kill 1,000 criminals in his quest to atone for past crimes. Continue reading “Blade of the Immortal”

admin
Amish Otaku, PC, Video Games

World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade

 

“You are not prepared!” Illidain challenges as the opening cinematic plays. I wasn’t prepared, either, for the gameplay changes anyway. As for Illidain himself, he’s not even in the game yet. By the time Illidain shows himself, everyone who plays WoW seriously will be ready … and waiting in line to take a swing at him.

As a softcore raider, I lived in a dungeon with my guild on weekends. After a few months, my gear was shiny and, dare I say it, 133t. Not the best of the best, but that was for the hardcore raiding guilds who threw themselves into dungeons on a daily basis. So imagine my surprise when I venture through the Dark Portal and am greeted with scores of quests that give me better gear than I could find in the most dangerous instances back on Azeroth! Continue reading “World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade”

admin
Amish Otaku, PC, Video Games

Supreme Commander: Giant Robots Make Tanks Very Flat

 

So this game’s been hyped up for the past eighteen-hundred months, a game that claims to revolutionize the RTS genre for everyone. So what does it have?

New system? Nope.

Really awesome graphics with low requirements? You wish.

No, it really just dives right into the inner geek of everyone who loved playing RTS games, who said to themselves, “Hey, if I could just step on them, then they’d like… die faster.” So hey, someone heard you! Continue reading “Supreme Commander: Giant Robots Make Tanks Very Flat”

admin
Amish Otaku, PSP, Video Games

Ratchet and Clank: Size Matters

 

The best new product for Sony’s PSP is Ratchet and Clank: Size Matters, developed by High Impact Games. While I haven’t played any Ratchet and Clank games up to this point, Size Matters seems to keep the same visual style and platforming controls as the previous games.

The parts of the game where you play as Ratchet have been the most fun for me. You start out exploring the beaches and islands of a resort planet, fighting your way back to your ship to rescue a young girl who’s been kidnapped. Continue reading “Ratchet and Clank: Size Matters”

admin
Amish Otaku, Video Games, Xbox 360

Crackdown: Police Brutality with a Superhuman Edge

I haven’t dabbled in the world of sandbox games since the days of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. Although not much has changed since then, this game takes a refreshing step in a new direction.

Crackdown borrows heavily from the conventions of the GTA series in much the same way most new shooters borrow heavily from Halo (don’t mess with something that works). Although you now play the role of a law enforcement agent instead of a criminal, little has changed in the mechanics and conventions of this game. While you can’t pay and then kill prostitutes in this game, you can appropriate any vehicle you please as long as you stop it or catch up to it.

There are still radios playing in all the cars you take, providing the soundtrack for the game. For instance, in the area dominated by the Latin gang, the majority of the cars will have Latin music. Not tejano or mariachis, but some of my personal favorites like Molotov and Control Machete, two deliciously heavy Latin bands. Continue reading “Crackdown: Police Brutality with a Superhuman Edge”

admin
Amish Otaku, Saturn, Sega, Video Games

Segata Sanshiro: The Legendary Unknown

 

Most video game consoles find a mascot to represent the company and sell their product—this idea is nothing new. Established franchises tend to take the stage and sell based on brand identity. However, not every mascot originated in this way. In fact, one of my favorite advertising campaigns of all time involves the use of a completely unknown actor to sell its product. The video game console is the Sega Saturn and the mascot I speak of Segata Sanshiro.

I first encountered this mysterious character when I was watching a subtitled Dragonball Z on VHS about seven years ago. I was really excited about the upcoming brawl between Majin Buu and Vegeta, but that momentum was slowed by a very odd commercial. In the commercial, a man was kicking a soccer ball at a goal. The goalie, a large man in a karate gi, gave a shout and lifted one side of the enormous goal. He lifted the goal onto its side so that the ball passed by the net. The voice announcer then launched into the promotion for a soccer game, but I paused the tape to absorb what I had just seen. I was in total awe of this odd man and the catchy music that accompanied his appearance. It wasn’t until many years later that I rediscovered this odd fellow and learned more about him. Continue reading “Segata Sanshiro: The Legendary Unknown”

admin
Amish Otaku, Comics

300: Stylish and Powerful

 
 

Most of us are familiar with the story of Frank Miller’s 300 by now if only because of the beautiful movie trailers that have been showing up recently. It is the retelling in comic form of the historic Battle of Thermopylae, where 7,000 Greek soldiers led by Spartan King Leonidas and his 300 personal guard defended Greece from an army of Persian soldiers led by King Xerxes I (estimates of the size of this army range from 200,000 to 2,000,000). Although the 300 Spartans died to the man—as well as 1,200 of their Greek allies—they defended the retreat of 5,500 other Greeks and inflicted anywhere from 20,000 to 80,000 casualties on the Persian army.

The pages in this book are not standard size. Each is over twelve inches wide and over nine inches tall. The large page format is from the original comic books, which had a double page spread throughout. These spreads give Frank Miller and Lynn Varley large canvases on which to tell their stories, giving 300 one of the most original styles in all of comic art. Continue reading “300: Stylish and Powerful”

admin
Amish Otaku, Comics, DC

Superman: Red Son

 
 

His tights had been drained from the cheery blue, yellow and red to a dishwater-dull gray, with the exception of the violent crimson that fills the mechanical pentagon on his chest, the entirety of his cape and his belt buckle. Cold and determined, his eyes bear an eternal stare; his body is torqued and wound for action. He grips a silver pole with the scarlet banner of the former Soviet Union that bears a hammer and sickle similar to the one emblazoned across the top half of his torso. This was my first introduction to the world of Superman: Red Son, through the expertly crafted figure made by DC Direct.

Although it was released more than a fifteen years after the end of the Cold War, the effect of seeing Superman in that costume is still staggering. Always a huge fan of both Superman and controversy, I knew I had to tear through Red Son, and finally got the opportunity to do it after I realized how easy it would be to work graphic novels into my budget. Continue reading “Superman: Red Son”

admin