7
Sep
Posted by vagrantesque in 3DS, DS, Gamecube, Games, Lists, N64, Wii, Wii U. Leave a Comment
Nintendo. They’ve been around for as long as I’ve played videogames, and they’ve made videogames since before I was born. They are credited with saving the videogame industry from its catastrophic collapse in 1983 and they’ve been producing extraordinarily high-quality games ever since. They possess a wealth of first party development studios that are responsible for some of the most beloved franchises of all time. They are close to the hearts of millions and millions of gamers worldwide. And this month, Nintendo turns 125 years old (Don’t freak out – they weren’t always a videogame company).
To celebrate this momentous milestone, and in anticipation of the release of Super Smash Bros for 3DS on October 4th (itself a celebratory Nintendo party if ever there was one), I will be counting down my personal top 30 favourite Nintendo franchises over the next few weeks. It’s a difficult task to say the least but I’m very close to reaching a settled order, which will of course be my own personal opinion and nothing more.
I hope you enjoy, and long live Nintendo!
By the way, the image at the top of the page was taken from the lovely website TeePublic, where you can purchase it as a shirt from this page! Just saying.
6
Sep
Posted by vagrantesque in Movies. Tagged: boy, clement, comedy, conchords, eagle, Film, flight, jemaine, kiwi, Movie, new zealand, Review, shadows, shark, swearwolves, taika, vampire, vs, waititi, war, werewolf, what. Leave a Comment
Well this one snuck up on me.
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Starring: Jemaine Clement, Taika Waititi, Jonathan Brugh
Director: Jemaine Clement, Taika Waititi (Boy, Eagle vs Shark)
Rating: M
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If you enjoyed the two seasons of TV show Flight of the Conchords for more than just its songs, then you’re well on your way to enjoying new vampire mockumentary comedy What We Do in the Shadows. If you enjoyed the awkward, slightly sad humour of Eagle vs Shark, you owe it to yourself to drop what you’re doing and go see this new film, as it features much of the same talent and a similar spirit. However, What We Do in the Shadows goes further than appeal to regular fans of New Zealand-made comedies, as its supernatural subject matter and unrelenting approach to throwing out punchlines makes it worthy of a much wider recommendation. It may be based on a well-worn theme, but the latest from gifted director Taiki Waititi is fresh and funny.
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3
Sep
Posted by vagrantesque in Games, PS4. Tagged: bailey, delsin, fetch, first, infamous, laura, light, PlayStation, ps4, punch, Review, second, son, sucker. Leave a Comment
Oh my word it’s September already.
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Platform: PS4
Developer: Sucker Punch
Rating: M
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A physical copy of the game is coming September 10th, but it’s download-only for now.
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Not light entertainment.
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Sony-owned developer Sucker Punch’s choice to make, and then heavily promote, a DLC pack-turned-full-game based on this March’s PS4 exclusive Infamous: Second Son is on one hand a clear, unorthodox attempt to fill a perceived gap in both the current general game release schedule and in Sony’s presently bare catalogue of compelling exclusive game offerings. However, it’s hard to argue that its mere $25 presence is a good thing. Sucker Punch is a talented bunch of people and First Light represents a chance for them to take a really good game and apply a (neon) laser focus to one of its best characters. The result is a game that, while understandably shorter than its predecessor, boasts a much better story as well as genuine value for money. PS4 owners shouldn’t pass it up.
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30
Aug
Posted by vagrantesque in MUBC. Tagged: 2014, 28, blast, cast, eight, episode, Game, mega, MUBC, of, podcast, twenty, ultra. Leave a Comment
After a bit of a break, the Mega Ultra Blast Cast returns with a veritable mountain of news to talk about! Gamescom news alone provides nearly half an hour of juicy discussion, and there’s also those crazy Nintendo announcements to talk about (Most of them, anyway – the “New 3DS” news dropped a couple of hours after we finished recording). We also talk about our TV show-watching habits, compare socks, play Swing Copters on-air and tackle a meaty listener-submitted question about what the word “exclusive” even means in the videogame industry anymore.
If you feel so inclined, go for a run, take a scenic drive, jazz up your afternoon commute or just curl up on the couch and play some games while you listen to the opinions of three efficient (?) Sydneysiders.
You can play the whole episode right off this page if you like:
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Or you can go to the Soundcloud site/app and listen from there:
https://soundcloud.com/mega-ultra-blast-cast/mubc-28-gamescom-news
(To download and listen offline, follow the link and then click the download tab)
As always if you enjoy what you hear please share the cast with your friends – Until next time!
22
Aug
Posted by vagrantesque in Movies. Tagged: america, Best, captain, films, galaxy, guardians, hulk, incredible, Iron, Man, marvel, Movies, one, phase, ranking, studios, ten, thor, top, two, worst. Leave a Comment
Well, would you look at that. The release of Guardians of the Galaxy means there are now ten movies out in the wild from Marvel Studios. You know what that means…
Here’s my personal ranking of the films, from my least to most favourite. You will probably disagree. Mild plot spoilers might follow.
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10. The Incredible Hulk
In truth it’s been a while since I saw this one, but I don’t really have much interest in seeing it again, which probably explains why it’s at the bottom of my list. The Incredible Hulk is not a bad movie, and it’s certainly better than the Eric Bana – Ang Lee green monster movie from 2003. Tim Roth makes a cool bad guy and that bit at the end turns out to be critical to the Marvel Cinematic Universe as a whole, but the film’s dark, gritty tone means it is missing much of the sense of fun that makes the rest of the Marvel Studios movies so memorable.
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19
Aug
Posted by vagrantesque in Movies. Tagged: 2pm, action, cold, crime, eye, eyes, festival, Film, junho, Korean, Review, sky, spy, thriller, track. Leave a Comment
Some friends and I checked out the Korean Film Festival in Sydney on the weekend and saw this. I have no idea how or when it will resurface for viewing here, but keep an eye out for it.
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Starring: Han Hyo-Ju, Jung Woo-San, Seol Kyung-Gu
Directors: Kim Byung-Seo, Jo Ui-Seok (The World of Silence, Make it Big)
Rating: MA15+
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My experience with South Korean cinema is extremely limited – In fact before this film I had only seen the original Oldboy and managed to get through only one K-Drama (2009’s Iris) – but I’ve been told multiple times that a lot of cool things are happening nowadays in the world of celluloid south of the DMZ and I should supposedly be paying more attention to what comes out of it. Indeed I eagerly await news of a blu-ray release of the Chris Evans-led sci-fi hit Snowpiercer, which has been causing quite a stir overseas, and after my curiosity led me to check out Cold Eyes at this year’s Korean Film Festival in Sydney, best believe I’m going to track down a fair few more. Cold Eyes is a slick. intense and very entertaining crime thriller that I wish was easier to access.
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11
Aug
Posted by vagrantesque in Movies. Tagged: accuser, bautista, chris, dave, Film, galaxy, groot, guardians, marvel, of, pratt, raccoon, Review, rocket, ronan, saldana, the, wrestler, zoe. Leave a Comment
Even though this movie just came out in Australian cinemas officially, I feel so behind the times right now. So many of my friends got advanced screening tickets…
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Starring: Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista
Director: James Gunn (Slither, Super)
Rating: M
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I often talk about how important expectation is to how you perceive a movie (or anything, really), but I didn’t really know what to expect quality-wise from Guardians of the Galaxy. I mean sure, the trailers and interviews sold it as a wild west-style sci-fi action comedy, and that is thus far a different and exciting direction for Marvel Studios, but it was also billed as another team-up movie “from the studio that brought you The Avengers“, which arguably made it a more ambitious project because none of the five members of the titular Guardians had enjoyed any prior screen time, while each of the four main Avengers got his own movie. And yet the Hollywood studio with the longest hot streak at the moment has once again married a promising small-time director (Super‘s James Gunn this time) with a big budget and a clear sense of fun to create a real winner. Obscure subject matter it may be, but Guardians of the Galaxy is great.
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9
Aug
Posted by vagrantesque in MUBC. Tagged: 2014, 27, beer, blast, cast, destiny, drought, episode, Game, legacy, mega, MUBC, of, podcast, rogue, seven, six, tasty, tiger, toobs, twenty, ultra. Leave a Comment
And just like that, it’s another episode of the Join myself, Delaney and Shane for a fun-filled, brand spanking new episode of the Mega Ultra Blast Cast! The barren game release drought of the last several months is almost over, so we discuss the worst gaming droughts of our lives while also breaking down the big news of the last fortnight, discussing why we love the new Guardians of the Galaxy movie, waxing lyrical about Rogue Legacy and taking regular tangent invitations. Also, Thai beer and Tasty Toobs.
If you feel so inclined, go for a run, take a scenic drive, jazz up your afternoon commute or just curl up on the couch and play some games while you listen to the opinions of three hungry Sydneysiders.
You can play the whole episode right off this page if you like:
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Or you can go to the Soundcloud site/app and listen from there:
https://soundcloud.com/mega-ultra-blast-cast/mubc-27-rogue-regacy-and-a-gaming-drought
(To download and listen offline, follow the link and then click the download tab)
As always if you enjoy what you hear please share the cast with your friends – Until next time!
1
Aug
Posted by vagrantesque in Games, PS Vita, PS3, PS4. Tagged: 3, 4, android, free, ios, pc, PlayStation, PS, PS3, ps4, service, smartphone, subscription, technique, tips, Vita. Leave a Comment
If you have a current Playstation games console (specifically a PS3, PS4 and/or PS Vita) and a connection to the internet, you really should have some kind of subscription to Sony’s Playstation Plus service. It just makes too much sense (and is alos kinda necessary to play most online-capable games on PS4). If you’re skeptical or in the dark about its benefits, read this post I wrote a while back, when it was offering less free stuff than it was now. If it still doesn’t appeal to you, that’s OK. But if it does, then you either have a PS Plus account, or you’re planning to grab a subscription soon. Either way, read on.
Most PS Plus subscribers do not quite realise the extent of what they’re able to access with their membership. If you have just a Playstation 3, for example, you may only be downloading one or two free PS3 games as they become available each month, doing so directly from your PS3 and going along your merry way. And that’s fine. Except you could be getting more.
Allow me to suggest a new way to peruse your monthly free game offerings on PS Plus – a way that is faster, more convenient and leaves you with more games than simply doing it via your console of choice. It may seem obvious to some but I remain astounded by the number of Playstation gamers I meet who are completely unaware of the option. This was first pointed out to me by Delaney of the Mega Ultra Blast Cast (Had to mention that or he would probably complain).
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29
Jul
Posted by vagrantesque in Music. Tagged: australian, daz, dazidia, denuo, dj, Music, remix, sydney. Leave a Comment
Listeners to the podcast I’m on, the Mega Ultra Blast Cast, will likely be familiar with Dazidia, the talented DJ who provides our music clips and occasionally remixes our trashy talk. So I’m quite familiar with the chilled vibes of his musical portfolio. Yet it wasn’t until recently that I downloaded a bunch of his songs and attempted to make a playlist out of them to act as writing/wind-down music. After perusing his Soundcloud profile, this is what I came up with:
(Some of these tracks are also on Daz’s new album/playlist release, Denuo. I’ve marked these particular songs with italics)
1. Jam Session
2. Ascension
3. Sail Away
4. Symphonie de la Vie
5. Cosmic Embrace
6. Moonstruck
7. Everflow (feat. DJ Duane Woods)
8. Substratosphere
9. Technical Difficulties (feat. Esky)
10. Grandeur of the Rainforest
11. Castles in the Sand
12. Peppermint Fairway
13. Unidentified Funky Object
14. Global Ripples Project (Bonus)
15. Aria of the Lounge (Persona Chill-Out Remix) (Bonus)
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I tried a couple of line-ups and settled on this one for the way it flows nicely in the background of my writing sessions. Of course, no-one knows Dazidia’s music better than the man himself, so check out his new playlist/album Denuo by clicking here. All of the above tracks are available for free download from Dazidia’s Soundcloud profile, so you too can enjoy the relaxing atmosphere of a sonic Daz journey with minimal effort. I thoroughly recommend the experience!
Vagrant Rant 