Had a bunch of VX Gaming Famiclones laying around, was going to do individual videos on each one, but then never got around to… but rather than make an effort, I decided to go with a general overview of these consoles. Not a sales pitch or sponsorship deal; just curious as to why Giant Tiger continues to sell these things every so often.
A Reminder That WCW In The Year 2000 Sucked
Famed internet wrestling critic Scott Keith recently revisited every episode of Nitro and every WCW from the year 2000 and confirmed what most people already knew: that WCW in the year 2000 sucked ass.
I’ve revisited some WCW 2000 stuff in recent years, which I’ve come to regret for the most part. And mind you, not everything can be blamed on Russo because there were those few months before the “reboot” that he wasn’t in charge of and we just went back to the Hogan train. But the fact of the matter is that even back in 2000 when I was wanting to watch as much wrestling as possible, I had no interest in watching WCW around this time because it was just such a horrible television program.
And while everything can’t be blamed on Russo, the reality is that this was the guy who had a hand in Attitude Era WWF and tried to copy and paste some of his homework in his new place of employment, only to find that it didn’t quite work. The reality is that when I have the option to watch WWF or a shittier version of WWF, which do you think I’m going to go for? Never mind the fact that WCW didn’t have anyone I could remotely care about and the few I did were treated like such tools that they ended up jumping ship to the other company and the few that stayed behind saw their value die out horribly.
I do recall watching some of the PPVs. I do recall watching these things play out live. I do recall wondering why I even waste my time with this shit. Vince Russo, for all his talk about how wrestling fans confuse him with the character he plays on TV, is a horrible actor. I don’t buy him as a credible character. He comes across as a parody of an authority figure. He’s essentially a skinnier Eric Cartman; nobody is respecting his authoritah.
Given the choice between watching WCW 2000 and today’s current product, I’ll probably stick with today’s product. Some of the storytelling is pedestrian and boring, but at least I can look forward to some decent wrestling and at the very least, I can fall asleep at some point, which is an added benefit. WCW 2000 is a chore to watch, I feel miserable for having watching it, and at this stage in life, I’ve no interest in being miserable through self-inflicted means. Fuck that noise.
That said, I’ve heard good things about Vinny Ru’s run in JCW, which recently came to an end. I’ve seen a couple episodes here and there. It’s not for me, but they’re the best stuff involving Russo in a good long while. He found a show that suited his style. I wish him the best in whatever he does next, but to anyone thinking he should be brought in by either of the major promotions, that’s not happening. The guy’s old. Let him enjoy his time off doing his little podcasts. He doesn’t need the headaches anymore.
That’s my little blurb. I’m going to bed. Good night.
Castlevania 40th
In celebration of Castlevania’s 40th anniversary, we’re playing Castlevania I… again. But this time, it’s on mobile.
This isn’t what I had in mind originally… we’ll get to that one of these days, but not any time soon…
Review #1373 – Bowling (Atari 2600)
Who do you think this game is I am… is not featured in this video.
The Very Epitome Of “But Why?”
Some time last year, the Hamster people behind the Arcade Archives series of arcade game emulations launched a new series for PS5 and Switch 2 called Console Archives, where they’d port a bunch of console games. Today’s Console Archives release is the terrible NES port of Karate Champ… why?
I did a review of Karate Champ years ago. You can watch that here if you wish.
COMIC REVIEW – Power Rangers Unlimited #3
Our third and final issue review for this series (for now anyway – we’ll do another one if it starts getting interesting again) is going to be a short one. Basically, today’s story has a bunch of Rangers infiltrating a SPD villain party to steal an old villain’s warzord. There’s a nice little bit of sneaking around, showcasing each of the Rangers’ unique gifts and special abilities before we get another fight. And there’s some advancement towards the overall plot… for whatever that’s worth.
Once again, I reiterate my point about how this would have been better off as an anthology series of self-contained stories without the need for an overarching plot because I feel that’s the one thing holding back. Most of the book is a fun little romp over the theft of SPOILER and then we’re reminded that this is a thing that exists because… it has to?
Not entirely sold on the overall plot, but I did like the story as a standalone. The story continues, but I’m done with these write-ups… holding up on Green next.
Review #1372 – Demons To Diamonds (Atari 2600)
From a game that could have used a knob to a game that does use a knob. Let’s check this game out and see how bad it really is… or something. I don’t know. People like this game, apparently…
TNA Bound For Glory 2016
Well… it’s something, I suppose.
Yeah, so whenever I prep these slots, I’ll leave a quick blurb in the intro before starting the musings proper. Once that’s done, I could try and cook up a proper intro for the post. As it turns out, this show gave me a whole bunch of nothing and thus, “It’s something, I suppose” is just about the best thing I could say about this show.
Anyway, let’s get it over with.
And Down The Drain We Go…
Days after I praised Strange New Worlds for providing me with some “good fucking Star Trek” in the form of Orders of Magnitude, we return to the Well of BIG SWINGS with Once La’An A Time, where the Enterprise goes to Fairy Tale land and instantly regrets it. Although if we’re going to be fair here, I didn’t really mind this. TOS had Shore Leave with its Easter Bunnys, robot knights, and stuff. TNG had QPid. How many holodeck episodes on Voyager? The Wild West planet in Enterprise?
It’s a silly episode in a series of silly episodes… and I wouldn’t mind these if there were more non-silly episodes to offset the silliness… but we’re all about big swings that the cast and crew are sorry/not sorry for… and honestly, neither are the viewers who abandoned this show as a result… which explains why they’re no longer in production. Still, I can’t hate this for no other reason than La’an gets a new friend… no spoilers beyond that tidbit.
And yes, Jimmy is here again… goddamn, he must be the only first officer in Starfleet who doesn’t stay at the starship where he’s the first officer of. Is this the point where Pike just goes “fuck it” and offers Kirk the captaincy right then and there? That way, we can remove all pretense of this being a Pike show and just jumpstart this Year One thing that’s never going to be its own series.
Only one episode remains on this journey of BIG SWINGS before the wait for the final season to roll around. The name of the episode in question? Tomorrow’s Enterprise. I have yet to see the previews for this thing, but I’d imagine that Jim Kirk will be around, won’t he? He’s like the Steve Urkel of this show; sooner or later, the whole show is going to be about him.
Oh wait…
Review #1371 – Off The Wall (Atari 2600)
“You know somethin’, mean Gene? Those kids whose parents got them that 2600 from the 70s need something new to compete against those Japanese wankers, jack!! So whacha gonna do, mean Gene, when the 10.1 inch box runs wild on you? Huh?! WHACHA GONNA DO?!”
“How about Breakout with ethnic foreigners and you can only play with a joystick?”
“That works for me, brother.”