A Shot Inside The Stadium

From the Monster Spectacular event that took place at the Olympic Stadium this past weekend. Aside from the Monster Trucks which gave us a nice show with a couple flips, tumbles, and the Bucking Bronco being a thing that exists – not that I’m complaining – there were BMX stunt bikers and go-karts. It’s not something that I’d follow religiously, but it’s something that I attend with the folks and generally have a good time with. This was probably my second or third MS that I’ve attended and I’m pretty sure that when the next one comes around these parts next year, I’ll be attending that one too. Lots of fun to be had and we had a nice enough view.

SNK 40th Anniversary Collection Coming To Nintendo Switch Fall 2018

Source article:
https://nintendoeverything.com/snk-40th-anniversary-collection-will-only-be-on-switch-official-announcement/

Now this is a nice addition to the Switch library and a fairly unique one as well, as it will feature SNK’s games catalogue pre-Neo Geo. So among other games that will be announced along the way, you’re getting all three Ikari Warrior games, Athena, Psycho Soldier, and even the NES classic, Chrysalis! Not only that, but certain arcade titles will also include their NES ports as well, so you can compare and contrast between the two versions, which is a nice little feature.

Spoiler: Some of the NES versions are total garbage. I’m looking at you, Athena.

Yes, there was that SNK Arcade Classics Zero that came out for PSP years ago, but that was a Japan-only release. The closest we got were the scant number of SNK titles released as digital-only PSP mini releases for a couple bucks a pop. This collection seems to be the better value and it’s also exclusive to Switch, so folks who are into SNK and like their old classics will have a reason to jump on Nintendo’s hybrid console thing.

See? Lots of good stuff on Switch and something for me to look forward to when I eventually pick one up.

About That Ramblemania…

I’m going to hold off posting my thoughts on last night’s marathon until Thursday because the truth of the matter is that the show was mostly background noise while I was busy doing other stuff. And when the biggest show of the year is treated as background noise save for a couple key matches, that’s usually not a good sign.

Truth of the matter is I’ll need several days to rewatch the show and I also want to wait for the fallout from tonight’s RAW and tomorrow’s Smackdown before finalizing my overall impressions. But if you want an initial summation of my thoughts on the show, it can be summed up in one brief Simpsons clip:

Sounds about right.
In any event, I’ve heard the NXT Takeover show from the night before was really good, so I’ll see if I can find time to watch that and post some quick thoughts on it. There’s also a couple other choice posts I’d want to put together regarding that Monster Spectacular event that took place in the Olympic Stadium this past Saturday as well as the usual fare of videos.
Anyway, that’s all for now.
Later.

Power Rangers Reflections Redux #03 – Best Man For The Job

(Quick Note: This was going to be a whole new write-up, but I wasn’t too happy with what was there, so decided to push that back another week. So as to not “stall” the return of a long dormant feature, I decided to do a quick repost of an old write-up with some minor tweaks and bobs. So sorry about this, folks, but next week, we have a new write-up that’s long overdue.)

When I originally posted this back in August 2015, I opined that it might’ve been possible that I posted this particular musing in the past either here or in a prior blog. Turns out that that posting was the first time it was posted at any point, so there you go. In any event, this episode was chosen completely at random and thus subject to a write-up at the time. The write-up remains as is for the most part.

Continue reading “Power Rangers Reflections Redux #03 – Best Man For The Job”

No Edge To Be Had With This “Super” Gamepad

$25.19 CDN is way too much for hot garbage.

So I went to Best Buy the other day and noticed something that was still on sale; the “Edge” Super Gamepad for the SNES Classic Edition plug-n-play console.

This is kinda funny when you consider that Best Buy hasn’t sold an SNES Classic Edition console in months, while one or two may be spotted at a Walmart around these parts. Not only that, but Walmart has Hori-produced wireless gamepads while Best Buy was shilling their own long-wired NES/SNES Classic controllers under their Insignia brand.

And then there’s the Edge Super Gamepad.

I picked up one of these months ago and I do believe it was even featured in a Pick-Ups video. The package isn’t too bad; in addition to the gamepad, it also came with a USB-adaptor cable thing so that you can use the gamepad (or any other SNES/NES/Wii Classic Controller gimmick) on your PC with this cable. It also came with a specially made guide that covered the games featured on said SNES Classic Edition, as well as featuring some rather crude artwork.

The editor of the guide is a man named Mike Kennedy… and suddenly, Pat Contri is shaking his head in disappointment.

But back to the Edge Super Gamepad… it’s not all that great.

On the one hand, the controller feels good in the hands, the buttons work great, the turbo fire switches are a nice addition, and the 10 feet of cable that the controller comes with is a nice little offering for those who would prefer to keep a fare amount of distance from their mini-console of choice.

On the other hand, the D-Pad is stiff as shit. It may look the part, but it sure as hell doesn’t feel it. If nothing else, it feels a hell of a lot like those cheap aftermarket controllers for the NES or SNES; a D-Pad that not only has a tendency to response only MOST of the time, but will sometimes not give you precise movement. Want to go left? Press left, but don’t inch your thumb downwards or else you’ll crouch.

I was going to make a video on this thing, but at the end of the day, it simply isn’t worth the effort. If you have an SNES Classic Edition and need extra cord, just buy extensions and be done with it. Those will serve you way more than the Edge ever would. I’m grateful for the USB adaptor cable thing, but I’m fairly sure I could’ve gotten one cheaper online if I wanted to.