4
Dec
Posted by vagrantesque in MUBC. Tagged: 13, 4, blast, cast, episode, mega, MUBC, one, PlayStation, podcast, ps4, thirteen, ultra, xbone, xbox. Leave a Comment
A quick follow-up! Episode 13 of the Mega Ultra Blast Cast returns to the regular podcast room and focuses on the pair of brand new next-gen consoles, the Xbox One and the PS4, which hit Australian shores at the end of last month. Listen and you’ll get our in-depth impressions of the new consoles, our regular segments and three personalised lists of our top ten favourite games of the Xbox 360/Wii/PS3 generation. All this means that it’s a pretty long episode, but it has been a very long time since our last proper recording, so please bear with us.
If you feel so inclined, go for a run, take a scenic drive or just curl up on the couch and play some games while you listen to the opinions of three Sydneysiders breaching new gaming frontiers.
You can play the whole thing right off this page if that cooks your bacon:
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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-13-next-gen-a-gogo
(Follow the link and then click the download tab)
As always if you enjoy what you hear please share the cast with your friends – Cheers!
28
Nov
Posted by vagrantesque in Movies. Tagged: catching, Film, fire, francis, Games, hunger, jennifer, lawrence, Movie, Review. Leave a Comment
Saw this one the night it came out – so much hype around it! I’ve let it stew for a week to make sure I was giving it fair thought.
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Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Liam Hemsworth, Woody Harrelson
Director: Francis Lawrence (Constantine, I am Legend)
Rating: M
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After all the excitement that came along with the wonderfully realised film adaptation of the first Hunger Games book (to which I gave a glowing review last year), I find myself in a weird position regarding its sequel. The end-of-year blockbuster has done little to change my opinion that Catching Fire is the weakest of the three chapters in Suzanne Collins‘ young adult novel trilogy story-wise, but Catching Fire the movie is so cleverly made, so effectively acted and so tonally spot-on that I am forced to admit, with some degree of surprise, that it is every bit as good as its predecessor.
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27
Nov
Posted by vagrantesque in MUBC. Tagged: 12, blast, cast, episode, japan, mega, MUBC, podcast, tourist, twelve, ultra. Leave a Comment
It’s all coming together, slowly… Sorry for the massive delay in getting this up.
The Mega Ultra Blast Cast comes to you from Japan, sort of, for Episode Twelve. This episode was recorded at about one in the morning on the third-last day of our Japan trip, over a week ago, from our hotel room while we were consuming alcohol. Shane, Delaney and I discuss our impressions and highlights from the trip, including all our wonderful food and drink experiences, before we move on to discussing our favourite Japanese game franchises. So, so sorry about the poor general quality of this episode.
If you feel so inclined, go for a run, take a scenic drive or just curl up on the couch and play some games while you listen to the slightly intoxicated opinions of three tired but happy Australian tourists in the land of the rising sun.
You can play the whole thing right off this page if that floats your boat:
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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-12-japanese-drunk-edition
(Follow the link and then click the download tab)
As always if you enjoy what you hear please share the cast with your friends – Cheers!
20
Nov
Posted by vagrantesque in Misc. Tagged: Direct, gentleman, nintendo, PSY, Reaction. Leave a Comment
So if it isn’t already apparent, I should probably take this opportunity to point out that this November has been a pretty barren month for Vagrant Rant. Aside from an all-out assault on my free time by a number of work commitments, there has been one primary reason for this: I have just returned from a 10-day trip to Japan with my Mega Ultra Blast Cast colleagues. And it was awesome.
Just about as soon as I touched down in Sydney once more, however, I had to hit the ground running with even more work commitments, even though there is a veritable feast of content to write about right now. This puts me in a bit of a pickle, as I highly doubt I will be able to cover everything I was planning to around this time of year. Here’s what I would love to do in the next couple of weeks, in a perfect world:
- Write up my many, many thoughts on the excessive quirkiness, wonderful culture of respect and otherworldy efficiency of Japan, based on my brief experience there;
- Write a handful of proper album reviews for the first time in a very long while, potentially focusing on the recently released Linkin Park remix album, two Capsule albums and perhaps more;
- Post a terribly low quality episode of the Mega Ultra Blast Cast that we recorded in our hotel room late in our trip, while a little, erm, under the influence;
- Write a proper review of the much-anticipated Hunger Games sequel, Catching Fire, which releases in Australia very soon and has big shoes to fill;
- Do decent justice to the two next-generation gaming consoles, the Xbox One and the PS4, launching in a matter of days, with some first-up impressions and coverage.
There’s definitely a lot of exciting stuff and I am not terribly optimistic about getting it all done before my Best of 2013 series gets up and running. I will try my best and if even half of it happens | will be a happy man. In the meantime, here is roughly what the rest of my year looks like in terms of movies and games, more or less in order of release:
Need less to say, “I am keen” doesn’t quite cut it here.
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30
Oct
Posted by vagrantesque in 3DS, Games. Tagged: 2ds, 3DS, nintendo, Pokemon, Review, version, x, xerneas, y, yveltal. Leave a Comment
Over the last couple of weeks, every time I thought I was ready to write and complete this review someone online would discover some other new thing within Pokemon X. But now I can finally say I’m ready to post the review having experienced enough of the whole game to make a good fist of everything. This will be a long one. Enjoy.
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Platform: 3DS
Developer: Game Freak
Rating: PG
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Not “X Version”, for some reason. Just “X”.
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Simply X-cellent.
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Pokemon X and its near-identical counterpart Pokemon Y represent several ambitious steps forward for one of Nintendo’s flagship videogame series. The first three-dimensional Pokemon adventure is a stunning audio-visual achievement that makes the 3DS sing and draws smartly from the nostalgia wells of an entire generation. But perhaps most excitingly, the game is the first in the series to admit that Pokemon has transformed beyond its creators’ wildest dreams into an endlessly deep competitive juggernaut over the last decade. The game works very clearly with this in mind, resulting in a wonderful social experience that is also more balanced than the series ever has been. It’s a must-have for most any 3DS owner.
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26
Oct
Posted by vagrantesque in MUBC. Tagged: 11, blast, cast, eleven, episode, mega, MUBC, podcast, Pokemon, ultra, x, y. Leave a Comment
The Mega Ultra Blast Cast FINALLY devotes an episode to discussing Pokemon, specifically the recent worldwide release of Pokemon X and Pokemon Y. We discuss what we like and don’t like about the new games, sealing any story spoilers in their own section. Delaney and I spend most of the episode trying to talk down a fired-up Shane (here’s the link to the blog post he talks about on the cast), but there can be little denying that we all really, really like what this new 3DS generation is doing for the series. We also find time to talk about the excellent movie Gravity and answer a rather deep question about the nature of choice in videogames, submitted by a listener for the first time ever!
If you feel so inclined, go for a run, take a scenic drive or just curl up on the couch and play some Pokeomn while you listen to the biased opinions of a Pokemon hater, a Pokemon lover and someone who just can’t see past Pokemon right now.
You can play the whole thing right off this page if that tickles your fancy:
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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-11
(Follow the link and then click the download tab)
As always if you enjoy what you hear please share the cast with your friends and like our Facebook page. Cheers!
24
Oct
Posted by vagrantesque in Movies. Tagged: alfonso, bullock, clooney, cuaron, Film, george, gravity, Review, sandra. Leave a Comment
I came a bit late to the party on this one, but finally saw it in 3D (not in IMAX, unfortunately) a couple of days ago.
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Starring: Sandra Bullock, George Clooney, Ed Harris
Director: Alfonso Cuaron (Harry Potter & The Prisoner of Azkaban, Children of Men)
Rating: M
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Fans of the Harry Potter film adaptations will likely be familiar with (and grateful for) the talents of Alfonso Cuaron. The visionary Mexican director was responsible for bringing the third chapter of that saga, Prisoner of Azkaban, to the big screen back in 2004. Many film critics are of the opinion that Azkaban is the best in the series (personally, I think only Deathly Hallows Part II trumps it) and it isn’t hard to see why when you watch the film. Since that notable achievement, however, Cuaron has been rather quiet on the feature front, with only his highly praised 2006 effort Children of Men coming out since then. Until now, of course. Now we have Gravity, a visual experience with typically ambitious Cuaron touches (I love that we can say that now). It’s very, very good.
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10
Oct
Posted by vagrantesque in Games, Lists. Tagged: diamond, Game, generation, moments, Pokemon, ruby, silver, white, yellow. Leave a Comment
We are now mere hours away from the long-awaited (there’s an understatement) first ever 3D entries in the main Pokemon video game series, Pokemon X and Pokemon Y. To celebrate and, quite honestly, to kill some time while enduring the wait, I decided to have a look back at some of my favourite memories the series has given me in-game. I use the term “in-game” to mean anything taking place during the game’s story (that is, anything before and possibly immediately after the Elite Four), as opposed to, say, any awesome competitive battles I have had the pleasure of participating in using EV trained, IV bred fighting machines.
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10. Patrat, the Purpose-Built Annoyer – Pokemon White
Nearly every Pokemon release has been an inherently multiplayer experience for me, because in my book that’s the way it was designed to be played. There is a tradition among my close friends and family who play Pokemon that whenever a new game comes out, we try to get together and play the first few hours alongside one another, battling after the first gym and sometimes after the second as well. As a result I try to catch and train Pokemon that my fellow players aren’t likely to pay attention to, just to make the battles more interesting. Never has this been more true than at the start of the fifth generation of Pokemon, when I caught a super-common Patrat and trained it to the mid-teens solely because its movepool seemed deliberately stacked with the most annoying moves possible. Detect, Sand-Attack, Bite, Hypnosis… I mean, really, how could I not? In our first battle Patrat was my highest-level Pokemon and I used its full irritating potential against my brother, only to dump it in a box forever afterwards. If not for that tradition, I wouldn’t have looked twice at the caffeinated chipmunk for my in-game team.
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9
Oct
Posted by vagrantesque in Games, MUBC. Tagged: 2ds, 7, affleck, bale, batman, ben, blast, cast, episode, mega, MUBC, podcast, seven, ultra. Leave a Comment
Missed the chance to go to the EB Expo on the weekend? Maybe you did go but are keen to hear someone else’s impressions? Fear not – the Mega Ultra Blast Cast breaks down the whole show with opinions and arguments and such, just for your benefit. Shane is our sounding board as Delaney and I discuss our favourite games of the show, the things that surprised us, the best cosplays we saw and the most in-depth Titanfall demo breakdown you’ve ever heard. At 2:20 it’s the longest podcast we’ve done since our first one, but you can read the description on Soundcloud and click the timestamps to go to the section you are interested in. If you feel so inclined, go for a run, take a scenic drive or just curl up on the couch and listen to the opinions of two excited Sydneysiders and one jealous guy.
You can play the whole thing right off this page if you wish:
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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-10-eb-expo
(Follow the link and then click the download tab)
As always if you enjoy what you hear please share the cast with your friends and like our Facebook page. Cheers!
8
Oct
Posted by vagrantesque in Games, Lists, Movies, Music. Tagged: eb, expo, gravity, legends, MUBC, rayman, rush, seven, titanfall. Leave a Comment
(that aren’t Zelda-related)
So it’s probably pretty safe to say that much of my recent life has been dominated by writing about the Legend of Zelda series. But that doesn’t mean there wasn’t anything else going on worth blogging about during that hectic rush. Here’s a quick summary of the kind of things I might have written about during the last five weeks if I hadn’t wanted to keep Vagrant Rant dedicated to Zelda countdowns:
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Rayman Legends is my favourite 2D platformer of all time.
I reached the end credits of Rayman Legends with my brother a few weeks ago now (which by no means indicates that the game is actually finished) and while reflecting on my experience with the game I struggled to come up with a side-scrolling platformer I’ve enjoyed more. Ever. That includes the Mario games. There’s just so much charm and variety throughout the game, it looks and sounds amazing and its co-op, at least when played with the Wii U gamepad, is incredible. This will be up there in my personal game of the year calculations for sure, because it’s just on another level of amazing.
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