Category: Musings

Sonic X Shadow Generations… No Guns. No Buys.

The latest trailer for Sega’s upcoming butchering remastering of a classic 3d Sonic title, Sonic X Shadow Generations. It’s allegedly the same Sonic Generations game you’ve played in the past, but now with a Shadow The Hedgehog sidegame that introduces new powers and such.

We call this the year of Shadow and yet we’re purposely veering away from the one game to bare Shadow’s name… You know, the ones with the guns. That’s the one everyone wants to see remade, but I guess that would be too much work. Either in rights fees or redubbing the whole game with the current cast. Probably why they’re not doing anything with the Sonic Adventure games, which is the stuff that people actually want to play.*

I joke about this being a “No Guns, No Buys” deal for me, but honestly, it’s less to do with that and more to with having a perfectly functional Sonic Generations game on Steam (and also PS3) to play at home. I bought the Sonic Colors Deluxe or whatever it was that came out a few years ago and all it did was make me want to revisit the original Wii version, instead.

Anyway, we’ll see about this one. Sonic X Shadow Generations is supposed to be out later this year. I’m sure the video has a solid release date, but I couldn’t be bothered to remember.

Why Do People Want Me To Review Plumbers Don’t Wear Ties?

Someone left a rather interesting message regarding future video fodder and suggested that I check out Plumbers Don’t Wear Ties… for some reason. Apparently, I’ve had five such messages asking me to review Plumbers Don’t Wear Ties.

May I ask why?

Plumbers Don’t Wear Ties is an infamous 3DO full-motion video game best known for having no video; it’s just still shots of a rather rubbish love story. All I know about it, I’ve heard second-hand. I am more than content with that level of exposure.

But then the assholes at Limited Run decide to re-release this… because it’s a cult favorite.

Again, I ask… why?

There are many other lost games that are far more deserving of being preserved for future generations than Plumbers Don’t Wear Ties. Why can’t we bring back one of those? Hey, I’m no fan of FMV schlock like Night Trap or Double Switch, but at least, those have a reason for being brought back. They’re not great “games” or whatever, but they deserve to be experienced.

I don’t get that with Plumbers Don’t Wear Ties.

I don’t get the appeal.

I really, really don’t.

I’m sure it’s mostly for the memes and all, but I don’t want to spend money on memes. Unless I’m getting this game for free or via donation (please don’t ask to donate – I wouldn’t want you to waste your money), I don’t want to touch this thing… unless it comes out on Steam, so that at the very least, I can buy it, get whatever I can out of two hours of play, and then ask for a refund.

Like I said, there are plenty of lost games that deserve the preservation spotlight more than Plumbers Don’t Wear Ties. Maybe if you made that into an actual FMV game, it’d be one thing… but it’s the same shit game as before. Is the gaming community that depraved of quality entertainment that they consider PLUMBERS DON’T WEAR TIES as something worthy of preservation? Have we fallen that far off the wagon?

So… I guess what I’m saying is…

Nope.

All Five Mega Man Games Dropped On NSO Game Boy

Surprise drop on the Nintendo Switch Online Game Boy gimmick… all five Mega Man Game Boy titles (or Rockman Worlds in Japan) are available to play now. Hey, if they’re not going to do a Legacy Collection of these things, I suppose it’s better than nothing.

For those who haven’t played these ones, they’re worth checking out… except for 2. That’s the weak link of the bunch.

I may consider revisiting these for future video fodder… why not? I haven’t touched the first three in decades and it’s a good enough time to go for it.

Actually, you know what?

Fuck it.

Change of plans.

RedLetterMedia Tackles The Movie Theater Problem

Red Letter Media – famed hack frauds who produced those wonderful Plinkett reviews that will never be made again due to Content ID shit – discuss the woes of movie theaters and how they can survive in this world of streaming video and movies not quite having the same impact as they once did. Apparently, this discussion came about because a couple “big” movies flopped at the box office during memorial weekend and that, along with news of multiple movie theaters shutting down, is signaling the end of the movie theater.

I don’t know if I can make that determination… probably why I posted the above video instead, but I will say this much.

Continue reading “RedLetterMedia Tackles The Movie Theater Problem”

The Return Is In The Can…

For anyone curious parties out there, the final issue of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Return – the four-issue miniseries penned by OG Pinky Amy Jo Johnson and Matt Hotson – recently came out and concluded that run. And yes, I did read the series… and I have mixed feelings on it.

I’m going to save my thoughts on the whole deal for a later time, but I will say this. The Return is probably one of the better Power Rangers comic projects that I’ve read in a good long while – I’d go so far to say that it might be the best of the bunch. An alternate take on the original team thirty years later that is not tied to any continuity or canon, so it is totally self-contained and requires only the most cursory familiarity with the Power Rangers lore. The characters are well written and true to form, the artwork is tremendous and captures the look and feel of the show it’s based upon, but obviously updated to the present day, and most of all, it’s just a really good story that feels like a genuine, mature take on the material that doesn’t feel too grim and gritty for the sake of feeling grim and gritty.

Do I have issues with The Return? A few, but none that detract from my overall enjoyment of the series. It did leave me with some unanswered questions and there are a couple moments that had me shaking my head, wondering why they’d go in that direction unless… well, I’m saying more than I should.

Like I said, I have mixed feelings on this thing… but on a whole, I enjoyed The Return. Is it a better anniversary celebration than Once And Always? I’m not sure that’s a fair question as both do their own thing and are different enough to be distinct. If you’re going to read one Power Rangers comic series, make it this one. It’s totally worth checking out.

The “Forbidden” REREZ Video About Emulation

Rerez shows you how to get legal ROMS through legal means… mostly through Steam. This is such a hot button video that it didn’t show up on my Youtube feed and I only found out about it because I tend to frequent the actual channel page.

Apparently, being a big fan of emulation will keep your videos from showing up on feeds.

Stupid.

 

End Of Discovery… Eh.

Tomorrow, Star Trek: Discovery airs its final episode after five seasons of… stuff.

I’ll admit that Discovery is not a show that I was a huge fan of. I didn’t care for the first season’s redoing of the Klingons, the focus on “WAR! I’M GONNA STAB YOU IN THE FUCKING FACE” aspect, the main character was a bland, lifeless slab, and then pivoting to the Mirror Universe as an excuse to keep Michelle Yeoh around despite having her character killed off in the pilot… that and the uniforms with their weird collar things. Bad.

Second season was a little better, owing almost entirely on the performance and charisma of Anson Mount’s portrayal of Captain Christopher Pike. You still had issues with lots of emotional padding, lots of staring into blank space, evil robot things that remind me of the Borg without calling it the Borg, and once again, the main character is a lifeless vortex of charisma, which is sad considering the actress playing her is anything but.

Third season moves things into the distant future… where the Federation is all but gone and we have to figure out what the burn is… I dropped off after a couple episodes. Show did nothing for me. And even whenever I try to get back into it recently, I’m like… nah, this does nothing for me. This does so much nothing for me that I never bothered with the fourth season.

So I go back and watch some of this fifth season and… yeah, there are still some issues. Lots of emotion, lots of crying, lots of staring into blank spaces, lots of extras posing as main characters… but they gave the main character some personality for once. She certainly has nice hair.

The uniforms are still kinda ass, though… but at least the collars look like proper collars and not whatever the fuck they had before.

So yeah, Discovery didn’t do much for me… but it did get the ball rolling so that we’d get these other shows, which I tend to prefer. Discovery’s second season gave way to Strange New Worlds, Picard was a thing that happened, Lower Decks is a thing (that’s also coming to an end after five seasons), and we’re getting a Starfleet Academy show… in the FUTURE.

And also a Section 31 movie… because that was such a hot thing.

So yeah… thanks for five years of Trek, Discovery… you didn’t entertain me all that much, but you have a fanbase that loved you for what you were and that counts for something. Here you go. Have a gold star.

This has been my Tim Talk.

Atari Acquires Intellivision Brand And Rights To 200+ Titles

Source: https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2024/05/atari-acquires-intellivision-brand-and-rights-to-200plus-titles

So I guess Amicovision is no longer a thing. A pity. I was looking forward to such cool jaw-dropping classics like Cornhole or Finnegan Fox.

(Yes, I already know about Fox N’ Forests. That didn’t make my jaw drop to the floor or anything, but I digress.)

In all serious, the most I’m hoping out of this deal is that we get the Intellivision equivalent of an Atari 50 compilation. Not so much for the games, but more for the historical overview so people could about the brand beyond something that was prostituted to sell a bill of goods.

On an unrelated note… can Atari buy Coleco next?

*Yes, I already know about Fox N Forests. It didn’t make my jaw drop.