AVGN’s Dirty Harry… Doesn’t Work For Me, Brother

This year, AVGN began premiering its episodes on Amazon, before eventually making its way to Youtube. This sort of follows the same route that Classic Game Room took with its latest 2085 incarnation, although those episodes are behind a paywall… and in all honesty, may not be worth it, which pains me to say as a longtime CGR fan. The AVGN episodes can be seen on Youtube on delay.

I saw his Earthbound video… or rather bits and pieces of it as it was a rather meaty episode. Given the scope and length of the game, I could understand the long-running time and from what I’ve seen, this was actually an enjoyable little episode that I’d like to sit down and watch the whole thing.

And then his latest episode hit, covering Dirty Harry for the NES… and folks, this has got to be one of the worst episodes of AVGN I’ve seen up to this point.

Okay, okay, it’s not THAT bad… but this was not a good show. It runs at eleven minutes and within that eleven minute runtime, I bore witness to pointless visual gags, unfunny referential humor, predictable jokes… all the shit that people used to mock Irate Gamer and all those other knock-off artists are on full display here and they are not any better.

The quality of the show has seen a considerable dip over the years and sometimes, I wonder if it’s the show or just me outgrowing the material. But man, I go back to those early 2006-2007 episodes and I still get a kick out of watching those episodes due to their rawness and genuine feeling. These feel overproduced, cookie-cutter, and lacks that genuine feeling.

Much like a certain sports entertainment company these days.

All that aside, it’s nice to see that James Rolfe is still kicking and I’m very much looking forward to some of the more personal small films he says he’s working on… but as far as his AVGN output goes… it’s not working for me, brother.

Ataribox After-Action Report: The Weekend Plundge

June 23 12:43 A.M. EST: $2,922,414
June 23 02:00 A.M. EST: $2,922,479
June 23 10:20 A.M. EST: $2,921,744
June 23 02:08 P.M. EST: $2,919,299
June 23 08:48 P.M. EST: $2,917,746
June 23 10:42 P.M. EST: $2,917,812
June 24 01:43 A.M. EST: $2,917,669
June 24 11:30 A.M. EST: $2,917,584
June 24 01:00 P.M. EST: $2,919,329
June 24 06:00 P.M. EST: $2,918,512
June 24 07:21 P.M. EST: $2,917,800
June 24 08:08 P.M. EST: $2,917,517
June 25 10:26 A.M. EST: $2,916,511
June 25 03:05 P.M. EST: $2,914,154
June 25 06:55 P.M. EST: $2,912,723
June 25 10:26 P.M. EST: $2,911,510
June 26 01:38 A.M. EST: $2,911,021
June 26 02:32 A.M. EST: $2,910,657
The Ataribox campaign hit a bit of a snag after the whole register debacle and actually saw a considerable drop over the weekend… and this during a time when I thought this would be the weekend where it finally breaks that three million mark.
Unless there is some miracle last-minute burst of investors jumping in on the final day of the campaign, I think it’s safe to say that this thing won’t be making Ouya numbers anytime soon. In any event, all that’s left to do is wait and see if we actually have a new Ataribox next year in retail stores.

Ataribox House Show Scheduled For Next Week

So the planned show for last night didn’t happen due to technical difficulties… difficulties that are too stupid and too ridiculous to describe here. However, said difficulties seemed to be resolved and I can proceed with said House Show next week, when this whole Ataribox campaign will be over and I can instill my thoughts on this pathetic endeavor to do Ouya numbers… a campaign that has stalled this weekend due to Atari management being complete morons in trying to call out a negative article for being trolls… and then said publication posting said audio recording for good measure.

When these guys wanted to bring Atari back, I didn’t think they’d want to bring back the stupid.

So, for those wondering, all the best and I hope you get a box. In the meantime, however, I’m trying to fix this stupid Linux laptop that’s stalling me from doing moar reviews.

WCW Superbrawl 2000

Bonne fete nationale, mon fellow Quebecois. Here’s my musings on an old World Championship Wrestling PPV event from the year 2000. Have fun, sti.

(And if you’re in the mood for a GOOD WCW Pay-Per-View write-up, you can check out the Superbrawl III musings, which featured the awesome White Castle Of Fear strap match between Vader and Sting… I’m not being cute, either. It’s a damn fine match.)

WCW started the year 2000 in a bit of a slump. Former WWF writer and credited Attitude architect Vince Russo was in charge of creative and has produced mixed results in terms of reactions and ratings. Eventually, he was turfed (for the short term) and it fell to Kevin Sullivan and friends to right the ship. Problem was that a number of midcards cried foul and jumped ship to WWF… and so WCW Superbrawl 2000 is the first PPV to emerge from that period of chaos.

I previously wrote some musings on the Souled Out PPV ages ago and this is the first time I’m watching this Superbrawl PPV. In hindsight, I wish I held off writing about this show until Saturday, but we’ve got plenty of Saturdays and Superbrawls left to pull off that little gag. Let’s get started.

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Ataribox IndieGoGo Progress Report

The planned House Show is being held off until further notice due to unseen technical difficulties. Sorry. In the mean time, I decided to publish my tracking of the Indiegogo campaign’s progress as I follow its journey to see this campaign finally break the three million mark… which is has yet to do.

The numbers seen here was taken from the main Atari VCS Indiegogo page at the time and date specified. There will be occasional dips here and there, but beyond that, it has been a steady stream upwards. Just not quite the rocket launch that we got to that first day.

And for comparison’s sake…

High Score: OUYA – $8,596,474

Also, Atari did a Gameband watch thing that made $325,996. Don’t know what became of that, but…  anyway, here are my recorded numbers.

June 02 09:50 a.m. EST: $2,327,376
June 02 04:14 p.m. EST: $2,327,376
June 02 05:25 p.m. EST: $2,367,076
June 03 11:07 a.m. EST: $2,410,371
June 03 06:45 p.m. EST: $2,445,373
June 04 12:33 a.m. EST: $2,461,554
June 07 10:01 a.m. EST: $2,764,620
June 10 09:50 a.m. EST: $2,793,207
June 10 11:05 a.m. EST: $2,793,441
June 11 01:58 a.m. EST: $2,825,498
June 11 02:24 p.m. EST: $2,853,309
June 12 04:03 p.m. EST: $2,872,070
June 12 11:00 p.m. EST: $2,872,395
June 13 02:24 a.m. EST: $2,873,319
June 13 02:48 p.m. EST: $2,870,176
June 13 05:52 p.m. EST: $2,870,879
June 13 06:59 p.m. EST: $2,871,019
June 13 07:34 p.m. EST: $2,872,044
June 13 11:13 p.m. EST: $2,874,743
June 14 10:30 a.m. EST: $2,878,083
June 14 03:10 p.m. EST: $2,877,258
June 14 04:24 p.m. EST: $2,876,879
June 14 05:12 p.m. EST: $2,876,209
June 15 10:41 a.m. EST: $2,882,255
June 18 01:00 p.m. EST: $2,907,984
June 18 07:11 P.M. EST: $2,909,306
June 18 11:55 p.m. EST: $2,910,203
June 19 02:05 A.M. EST: $2,910,824
June 19 09:46 A.M. EST: $2,913,530
June 19 04:02 p.m. EST: $2,913,354
June 19 05:23 P.M. EST: $2,913,419
June 20 03:49 P.M. EST: $2,915,785
June 21 03:49 P.M. EST: $2,920,730
June 21 11:05 P.M. EST: $2,922,310
June 22 03:49 P.M. EST: $2,920,280
June 22 05:09 P.M. EST: $2,920,019
June 22 05:28 P.M. EST: $2,920,342
June 22 05:40 P.M. EST: $2,920,484
June 22 11:18 P.M. EST: $2,922,311
June 23 12:43 A.M. EST: $2,922,414
June 23 02:00 A.M. EST: $2,922,479
June 23 10:20 A.M. EST: $2,921,744
June 23 11:15 A.M. EST: $2,920,642
June 23 12:52 A.M. EST: $2,920,348
June 23 02:08 A.M. EST: $2,919,299

And yes, before anyone asks, there have been drops here and there. Nothing too significant since it eventually gets back up, but it does happen. Beyond that, it’s a slow, steady climb.

Started Writing Again

Or more accurately, starting typing on a keyboard in the hopes of putting together a fictional narrative for people to read.

It’s been a good long while since I’ve sat down and decided to write a story of some kind. The itch has been going on about doing some creative writing in varying degrees of actual creative and I think that last little Star Trek thing with the Double Eagle might’ve scratched that itch a little bit more to a degree that I simply can’t ignore the thing.

Writing little blog things and things to read into a microphone is cool and all… and even the occasional doodle and silly comic seems like a quick way to get something out there, but there’s something satisfying about telling a longer story and just get some of that creative energy out there, regardless of whether it ends up being a good idea or not.

So, there you go. Another hobby I’ve decided to revive among many.

More clutter… oh noes.

WCW Superbrawl III

This past week, news broke that Leon “Big Van Vader” White passed away after a month long battle with pneumonia. In his prime years, Vader was a monster of a big man who not only looked intimidating, but also had fiercesome speed and agility for a man of his wide size. A presence in the old WCW, WWF, and Japan, he has made a mark on this business like no other and he will be missed by fans and peers alike.

And so, as a tribute of sorts, I decided to go back and rewatch an old WCW PPV featuring Vader as the headliner. The PPV in question is Superbrawl III, from February 1993.

Now most people remember the infamous White Castle Of Fear mini-movie; this elaborately cheesy production to promote what was essentially a strap match between the reigning WCW World champion Big Van Vader and The Man Called Sting. If you haven’t seen it, I urge you to look it up online and see for yourself the absurd lengths WCW would go to promote a main event match… or just sit through the PPV. This was Final Deletion before Final Deletion.

And to think this took place during the Bill Watts era of WCW.

But while most people may remember the mini-movie, how many of those folks have actually watched the match it was hyping up? Well, this is where we dive in. So, grab your baby blue biker jacket, board your helicopter, and mind the little person. It’s Superbrawl III in the White Castle Of Fear!

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Power Rangers Reflection Redux #09 – Lost And Found In Translation

This episode is an interesting “concept” episode and probably the closest thing we’d be getting to something resembling a crossover between Power Rangers and its original Super Sentai source material. At the time of airing, there had been quite a bit of controversy surrounding it due to the way it presented the original material here. Some didn’t mind it, others were outraged, and the rest either didn’t know the difference between one or the other or they simply didn’t care.

To be perfectly honest, I don’t recall my reactions to this episode back in the day. It’s never been mentioned or eluded to in any of the commentaries or the old blog. I know I watched it and I’d imagine an opportunity to see any semblance of seemingly unaltered Abaranger without going through unofficial channels… but nonetheless, my initial impressions from fourteen-ish years ago are largely forgotten.

So, I’m going into this with something of a clean slate of sorts. And yes, it’ll be fairly brief for the moment.

Continue reading “Power Rangers Reflection Redux #09 – Lost And Found In Translation”