Puss In Boots

So I got to watch Puss In Boots today and I must say it was great. It's the type of movie I won't mind owning when it comes out on DVD. The movie tells the story of Puss in Boots(Antonio Banderas) in his days before meeting Shrek(there are no Shrek cameos in the film, and if there are, I didn't catch 'em). He sets out in an adventure with his friend Humpty Alexander Dumpty(Zach Galifianakis) to retrieve the Goose that lays golden eggs. Puss encounters a female counterpart, Kitty Softpaws(Salma Hayek). George Lopez' tv wife Constance Marie appears in the film as Puss' mother. Also shown in the film are Jack and Jill who have possession of the magic beans that Puss and Humpty need for their journey. In usual Dreamworks fashion there are jokes for the kids and jokes for the adults attending. I think my favorite line is when Puss says "maldito huevo." Music from Rodgrigo y Gabriela can be heard in the movie during a scene(which I thought was cool). Anywho, yeah I liked the movie and that's why it gets my seal of approval. Oh and you don't have to watch Shrek 2-4 in order to understand anything. Just thought I should say that in case it wasn't clear.

Twitter

Ryan Potter(of Nickelodeon's Supah Ninjas) has now been added to the list of Twitter Replies Hall of Fame.

1) Pro Wrestler - Gregory "Hurricane" Helms *7/12/11, 1/10/12*
2) WWE Legend - Stone Cold Steve Austin *5/25/11*
3) Batman - THE Batman(Kevin Conroy) *6/21/11, 7/8/11*
4) Supah Ninjas - Ryan Potter *10/29/11, 1/12/12*
5) Supah Ninjas - Carlos Knight *10/30/11, 11/2/11, 5/4/12*
6) Supah Ninjas - Gracie Dzienny *10/31/11, 11/16/11, 1/1/12, 1/10/12, 2/6/12*

Will add more if I get replies.

Memorable Game/Show Items

9/25 edit: Pirates of the Carribean added
9/26 edit: Added picture for POTC
10/8 edit: Added Ni No Kuni/visual aid
12/24 edit: Digimon added

So it's come to my attention that while playing video games or watching shows you've noticed that sometimes items stand out. This blog is just for my own amusement to show what I want from each of the shows/games I'll list below. I'll probably add more pictures later on. So here goes(in no particular order):

Professor Layton
What it is: Puzzle game series with story involved.
What I want:

A figurine like this wouldn't be bad. Or maybe a plushie or something.

Ace Attorney
What it is: Court room based game played as a defense lawyer.
What I want:

Magatama used in the game.

Dragonball Z
What it is: Anime...not sure how to describe the series yet.
What I want:

The 7 Dragonballs

Death Note
What it is: Anime involving a notebook that causes death.
What I want:

A replica of that notebook.

Kingdom Hearts
What it is: Disney/Square Enix crossover game involving Disney/Final Fantasy and original characters
What I want:

Sora's Keyblade

Yu-Gi-Oh!
What it is: Anime involving duel monster cards and mystical items.
What I want: Bakura's Millennium Ring

Obtained: January 2009

Pokémon
What it is: Anime/Game in which monsters are caught to assist you in becoming a Pokémon master.
What I want: A Pokéball

Obtained: Sometime in 1998. Once a keychain with Pokémon inside. Not sure what became of those. Still have the Pokéballs though.

Sonic The Hedgehog
What it is: Game which has Sonic saving the world from Dr. Robotnik
What I want:

7 Chaos Emeralds

Super Mario
What it is: Game about a plumber that always has to rescue the princess
What I want:

Invicibility Star(not sure in what form)

Pirates of the Caribbean
What it is: Series of Disney movies
What I want: Davy Jones' key/chest, medallion.

Obtained: Sometime during Dead Man's Chest's 2006 theatrical release

Ni No Kuni
What it is: RPG game from Level-5 and Studio Ghibli
What I want:

Magical Tome that comes with the DS game. This will be the hardest item to get because the US isn't getting a release on the DS. The PS3 version(which IS coming to the US) will include an in-game version. The book is based on the one the protagonist in the game uses. It features artwork and puzzle answers that you have to reference in order to progress through the game.

Digimon
What it is: Anime about kids that can travel to a digital world
What I want:

A Digivice. Used to transport to the digital world and help Digimon evolve into other ones.

So there you have it. As of today I officially decided that I want to try and get a hold of each of those things be they replicas, mini versions, etc. If I manage to get the item I want I'll add a picture showing I've acquired them.

Death Note

I've never been much of an anime fan. It's not that I don't like it, I just haven't gone out of my way to try and watch what doesn't air on regular TV. Netflix has some anime stuff and I came across Death Note. I had already heard of it but never actually seen any of it. Decided to give it a shot to see if I'd like it. The first episode made me think "hmm this looks interesting". I was hooked by the 2nd episode. The show is about a high school student named Light Yagami. On his way home from school he finds a notebook with Death Note written on the front. Curious as to what it is, he looks inside to see instructions on how to read it.

1. The human whose name is written in this note shall die.
2. This note will not take effect unless the writer has the person’s face in their mind when writing his/her name. Therefore, people sharing the same name will not be affected.
3. If the cause of death is written within the next 40 seconds of writing the person’s name, it will happen.
4. If the cause of death is not specified, the person will simply die of a heart attack.
5. After writing the cause of death, details of the death should be written in the next 6 minutes and 40 seconds.

At first Light is skeptical, but as they say curiosity killed the cat...or is this case Light's test subject. He writes down two names before realizing that the notebook is in fact real. Having used the notebook, the shinigami(a god of death) Ryuk appears before him. Ryuk will not leave his side unless either Light dies, or the notebook is destroyed. The two people that Light kills do/or did bad things. Upon their deaths, Light decides that he will become a god and punish the evil.

After several deaths of criminals, the police begin to question the cause of death. Light takes the name of "Kira" and sparks the interest of "L". L is a super detective who has solved any case he's ever committed to. He works in secrecy and contacts others by means of his assistant Watari. L makes an open challenge to Kira saying that Kira will be caught and brought to justice while Kira decides he will kill L as soon as he discovers his true identity.

There's probably more I could say but I'd likely begin to spoil things. There's 37 episodes to this series and was even made into 3 live action movies(one being a spin-off of sorts). I'll have to look into those 'cause I'm curious to see them now that I know what goes on in the world of Death Note.

Ace Attorney series

As stated in a previews post, having Phoenix Wright being included with Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3 as a new fighter, my interest in the Ace Attorney games was rekindled. Having already completed the first game I decided to continue with the rest of the series and since then I've completed them. There's 5 releases here in the US:

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Justice For All
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Trials and Tribulations
Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney
Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth

As you might be able to tell, the first 3 games star Phoenix "Nick" Wright, a rookie defense attorney. Gameplay consists of taking up cases in order to prove your clients' innocence. You'll talk to people to gather information and search the crime scene for clues that you might present in court. The latter Wright titles introduced a "psyche-locks" feature that was also used to gather necessary information. During court sessions you hear from witnesses that you'll have to cross-examine in order to prove that they're lying by either pressing them for more info or showing them evidence that proves them wrong. All characters in this game have characteristics that distinguish them and help you like them or hate them. Wright is famous for pointing his finger and yelling "Objection!".

Apollo Justice is a spin-off that takes place 7 years after Trials and Tribulations. Apollo Justice too is a rookie defense attorney who wants to make it big. Of course you can't have a spin off without cameos from the previous series so you can expect to run into Phoenix Wright. Gameplay here is basically the same although instead of "phyche-locks" feature we get introduced to "perceiving" which helps you "really see" people. Think of it like calling someone's bluff in poker.

Miles Edgeworth was the game that really broke out into its own game. No longer do you solve the cases in court because this time you take the role of a prosecutor...Miles Edgeworth(who is one you face in Wright's games). With this game you actually make Edgeworth walk around to examine crime scenes which is new to the series because investigation was previously done by moving a square into any are of the picture and pressing it when you wanted to examine something. Also featured in this game is Edgeworth's use of Logic. With logic, you can link ideas that you pick up in order to solve how/why things happen. Cross-examination is replaced with Rebuttal when aiming to get to the truth.

Overall I liked each game. Since you're playing the role of Wright, Apollo and Edgeworth you'll get to see what they're really thinking(which can be funny) in certain situations. Sometimes I would have issues because I'd forget which evidence was supposed to be presented at the time or I'd forget how they could be linked so I felt dumb at times lol. Anyway, I hope Capcom decides to change their mind and localize Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth 2 someday. I'd recommend the games to anyone who own a DS(you can also get Wright's games through the App Store on the iPhone/iPod touch and through the Wii's download service. I liked the game's music, characters and overall style. Oh and you should note that will be plenty of text to read throughout the entire game...just in case you weren't expecting it.

MapleStory Adventures

So one of Facebook's newest games is a modified version of the MMO game MapleStory.

They've removed a lot of the MMO portion of the game to better suit traditional Facebook game elements.

If you've ever played the regular MapleStory you'll notice that it doesn't look all that different. Movement on the regular game was done with the arrow keys, but here you just click wherever you want to go. I don't remember how many classes are in the original, but so far this beta allows 2: Warrior and Wizard. As you can see I went with Wizard. There's no chatting with friends here. Much like all FB games, the friends on this version are based on who you have on your actual friends list...which is something I'm not a fan of. I only have one actual active friend on this right now(despite what you see there). If you want to advance, you need to befriend strangers just for the sole purpose of being useful to the game. Yeah I know you can block your profile from them, but it's a hassle to do just for a game haha. Or at least that's what I think. So anyway, there's a bunch of quests that you can do in the game(of which all basically involve doing the same thing in different places). Those quests are added to the left side of the screen. Monsters drop items you will need and such. Not sure what else to say about the game 'cause I just happened to have blanked out so I guess I'll end it here. It's a good way to kill time just like most other FB games. Oh yeah, the level grinding can be pretty boring even if you "hire" your friends to help you attack. A few days ago I had given up on this game because the glitches were getting on my nerves, but I'm giving it another shot since they've updated the game and took care of most glitches I would run into. We'll see how it goes down the line.

Phoenix Wright

So the day came that during San Diego's Comic-Con this year, it was announced that a certain Ace Attorney was leaked as a playable fighter(yup fighter) for the November release of Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3. This came to both praise and criticism. Although most of the criticism is hate because of the absence of Mega Man(but that's something totally different). I for one am happy that he's being included since I like the DS series that he comes from. Mr. Wright is a defense attorney who's famously known for his catchphrase and signature stance while yelling "OBJECTION!". The above picture shows his signature stance. I'm curious as to how Phoenix Wright will play seeing as how he's just a lawyer. I can guarantee you that Capcom will implement his objection move in some fashion. Ever since he was considered for the appearance of Tatsunoko vs Capcom on the Wii, I've wondered what they would have given him for moves. I figured maybe he'd throw random evidence that's been used in the Ace Attorney series that he comes from. Or I just picture guest appearances from characters in the game such as the Judge who'd pound someone with his gavel. **SPOILER**Interesting enough, in the 2nd game Justice For All, Wright has a nightmare when a giant evil looking Judge is after him and is about to pound him with a giant gavel...that would be so awesome to see in Ultimate MvC3.**END SPOILER** I wonder if they'd add a courtroom stage just for the hell of it.

Anywho, so the main point of the blog was to talk about Phoenix Wright's games. I became a fan of the series when I played the first game "Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney". With the announcement of his appearance, my interest in the game series was rekindled. I've played and completed the 2nd game "Justice For All" and I'm currently going through the 3rd game "Trials and Tribulations". These games are text heavy because you find out about the cases and then have to investigate and collect evidence which you will then use in court in hopes of getting a "Not Guilty" verdict. The game is full of memorable characters each with their own characteristics and unique animations when they show emotion. Playing this series of games makes me realize that I would totally suck as a lawyer. During the trials I've overlooked evidence. Sometimes the contradictions in witness testimonies just don't click in my head like they should. Nonetheless the games are fun and I look forward to completing the series.

DanceDanceRevolution

So yesterday and today I finally got back to playing DDR. I played about an hour both times. I actually felt good afterwards. I always knew playing DDR was part workout but man after not playing it for so long I was tired. Anywho, I like the mat included with the PS3's version. Doesn't slip, feels sturdy and is a bit thick compared to the pads they used to include with the older games. I'm hoping that I slowly get back into DDR mode since that's pretty much the only form of exercise that I'm willing to work with. So far I'm sticking to just playing on Basic(one setting past beginner). I haven't forgotten how to play or anything, I just don't have the energy that I used to have to handle playing anything harder. I'm trying to play a little everyday and hopefully I'll get my stamina back. We'll see how it goes. Hmm...I just now realized that I started DDR at the beginning of July and this is my first post for July. So I'm going to try and log the calories I burn while playing.

Calories Burned Total:
Day 1 - 215
Day 2 - Will check before playing again.

UPDATE: Haven't been playing -_-

Note: The workout profile in the game adds your overall calorie burn. So whatever I end up posting each day won't be how much I burned, it's going to be the total calories I've burned since I started.

Marvel Pinball: Fantastic Four

So not too long ago Zen Studios released an add-on table to their Marvel Pinball game. The original game consists of tables for Spider-Man, Blade, Wolverine and Iron Man. This add-on welcomes the Fantastic Four in celebration of their 40th anniversary. Here's a shot of what the table looks like.

Setting aside the fact that I'm a big fan of Marvel, Zen Studios delivers great Pinball games. Based on reviews I've seen on Marvel Pinball, people are fans of their life-like physics system and how the game play feels. I like their tables because they bring you both a real physics system with animations that you couldn't get away with on a real pinball machine. They blend both worlds nicely to deliver quality pinball. I've never been good at it but I love me some pinball. Eventually I want to buy all the other creations Zen Studios have made in Zen Pinball(which happens to have a Street Fighter II table add-on that I'm dying to play). For now I'll stick to my Marvel tables. Towards the end of the month they are also releasing a Captain America table to coincide with the release of the new film. I'm looking forward to that both because it's Captain America and because I know Zen Studios will deliver another quality table. Here's the Fantastic Four table in action.
Note: Not sure why the video is cut in half. You can't see the full screen. Oh and there's multiple camera angles if you don't like how it looks there. The right side of the video is suppose to show a picture in picture type of thing of what's going on when the ball reaches the top part of the table.

The Dark Knight

O M G! So last month I had posted a blog because Stone Cold Steve Austin replied to one of my tweets. I had a grin from ear to ear. Little did I know that I'd be getting a reply from Kevin Conroy! If you're dumb enough to not know who he is he is THE voice of Batman. It all started with a tweet I sent to WWE wrestler CM Punk.

First Kevin Conroy indirectly mentioned it when he posted this tweet.

So I reply to his question and that's when Batman himself replies to me.

So this alone was enough to get me all giddy lol, I acknowledged his reply to me and what does Batman do next?

YUP! He actually retweets my reply. I was NOT expecting that. Best way to end my week! Who cares what else happens now.

Radio

Woke up this morning to find my sister watching Radio. Had been a long time since the last time I watched it so I decided why not? It didn't take me too long to realize that Ed Harris was in this movie, albeit as a much younger actor(I only know him because I had seen him in That's What I Am). Ed Harris plays a football coach and Cuba Gooding Jr plays a challenged person who is a big fan of football. Ed Harris takes in this person(who is to be known as Radio) to help around with the team. Little does Coach Jones know, Radio becomes a big part of the team and teaches everyone a thing or two about life. It's a good movie that all ages can watch. My description of the film's plot is probably very uninformative but that's ok because seeing as how it's an older film, most people have probably already watched it =P

Centurion

So after having being given a very convincing role of Magneto in X-men: First Class, last night I decided to look up more work for Michael Fassbender. Which is why I decided to watch Centurion. Film is set in AD 117 and it centers on the supposed disappearance of the Ninth Legion in Caledonia. Fassbender plays the role of a surviving member of the Roman army. He survives a guerilla attack and must warn the rest of his people. The movie can be pretty bloody during the fight scenes(and there's a few of these throughout the movie). After watching this movie I think I might be becoming a Michael Fassbender fan. Netflix has another movie of his which I can't think of the title but involves the hunger strike of Italy I think? Anyway here's the Centurion trailer.

X-men: First Class

Yet another film I didn't get to see right away. Thanks to awesome friends stuff got spoiled for me beforehand. Grrr. Anywho, it was a great movie even if some of the "first class" was changed from the comics. Eh that's nothing unusual though. Green Goblin died in Spider-Man while he's a frequent foe in the comics. In my opinion, Magneto stole the show in this movie. Michael Fassbender definitely gave a top notch performance(haha that's the first time I've ever said top notch for anything). Bill Milner also gets credit for delivering an awesome young Magneto. The X-men must face Sebastian Shaw(Kevin Bacon) of the Hellfire Club who wants to start World War III during the Cuban Missile crisis. The film being a prequel to the first X-men takes place in 1962. No trailer necessary since the film is still getting air time on TV.

Finder's Fee

So this movie is about a guy that finds a wallet in the streets with no ID. He finds a lotto ticket in the wallet but doesn't realize it's a winning ticket until after he's already contacted the owner. It's an average poker night for Tepper(Erik Palledino) and his friends consisting of Ryan Reynolds, Matthew Lillard and Dash Mihok. A wild card enters the game in Mufasa himself, James Earl Jones when he goes to pick up the wallet. I'm not posting the trailer up for it since there's some spoilers in there that take away from the movie experience while watching it. How I love Netflix lol

The Nines

So it looks like this blog is becoming a movie review section. That wasn't the intention but where else would I write about this stuff anyway haha. Anywho, so once again the name of Ryan Reynolds attracted me to a movie. This one is more of a psychological thriller type of movie. Things aren't what they seem. There's 3 interwoven stories that make up the film, the actors are pretty much the same in each story but playing different roles. Ryan Reynolds plays the role of a video game designer, a troubled actor and a TV producer. The other actors in the film plays roles relating to his current character but all manage to be tied together in the end. Here's the trailer.

Hunt To Kill

Hunt to Kill was the latest Netflix film for me. The most recognizable people in it are Stone Cold Steve Austin and Eric Roberts. Steve Austin stars as U.S. Border Patrol agent Jim Rhodes, a tough divorcee mourning the loss of his murdered partner while struggling to raise his rebellious daughter in the mountains of Montana. But when a crew of trigger-happy fugitives takes Rhodes and his daughter hostage, a rugged wilderness will explode in all-terrain vengeance. The gang is led by actor Gil Bellows. I personally have never heard of him, but I liked his role. Might have to look the guy up and see what else he's been in lol. Anywho, so the movie mainly takes place in the woods and stuff. Austin turns into a Rambo-like character and is pretty much a total badass. There was a part of the movie that felt like Austin wanted to use his catchphrase "and that's the bottom line, 'cause Stone Cold said so!" I'll end like I usually do with the trailer.

Sony's Welcome Back Program

So thanks to hackers doing what they do, Sony decided to say Welcome Back by offering PS3/PSP users some free stuff. They allow users to pick 2 free PS3 games and 2 free PSP games from selected titles. They also give users 30 days free of PS+(existing members get more days added to their account). For the PS3 I decided to go for:

For the PSP I decided to go with:

I can't play the PSP games until I get a memory card that will hold their file size which is about 1GB each. Oh well. I'll get around to playing the rest of the stuff. I don't feel like Sony HAD to say thank you to their fans, but I'm glad they chose to do so. Free stuff is awesome.

LEGO Pirates Of The Caribbean

Traveller's Tales has done it again. Their next franchise chosen was the POTC series. This game covers all 4 of the movies, Curse Of The Black Pearl, Dead Man's Chest, At World's End and On Stranger Tides. If you've ever played a LEGO series game then you know what to expect. Fun game with some LEGO humor. My last LEGO game was Harry Potter Years 1-4 on the PS3, before that it was Batman on DS. This time around I've only gotten a demo for the PS3 version while I played the DS version in full. It's a short game but fun non-the-less. You'll spend more time aiming to 100% everything than you will trying to beat the game. I had more fun on the PS3 version only because there's more to do within a stage and the cut scenes are longer. In the PS3, the opening scene shows Jack first arriving and when Elizabeth faints and falls off the cliff and Jack rescues her. That eventually leads to Jack hiding in Will's workshop. The DS version goes from Jack arriving to hiding in the workshop. Also I was kind of disappointed with the quality of the DS cut scenes. Especially after having seen cut scenes nicely done in Kingdom Hearts. Other than that I enjoyed it and will likely keep playing and actually attempt an 100%(which is more than I can say for Harry Potter...haven't touched it since I beat the main story).

NOTE: As of June 10th I completed this game 100%. Overall game time says 11 hours or so.

Supernatural...in anime form?

Yes, that's right. I had no idea that Supernatural was going anime. I only found out about it today and the first season is getting released in July(22 episodes). I was browsing IGN's list of upcoming blu-ray releases and came across it. Naturally I had to look it up and see what it was about. From what I understand they cover the 1st and 2nd season of the live action series. Some episodes are based on the live action while others are new to the anime itself. The episodes that don't tie to the live action version give off some back story on characters from the series or give off some info on the Winchester brother's childhood. It was interesting to me that Jared Padalecki voices his character(Sam Winchester). Jensen Ackles(Dean Winchester) had scheduling issues so from what I read he only appears in the final two episodes of the 1st season. His replacement for the show is a decent substitute that tries to play Dean as close to Ackles' voice as possible. I've seen 5 episodes of the 22 and I like it. It probably helps that I've been a Supernatural fan since day 1 though. I'm debating if I should continue with the series though. I could either finish off the season or wait for the blu-ray release and someday buy it to show support. We'll see what happens. I'll end my post with my approval picture and the DVD cover it's based on.