Amazing Spiderman #700

The Amazing Spider-man comes to the end of it's monumental run with #700 today.

(WARNING: SPOILERS ARE AHEAD. IF YOU HAVE NOT READ THIS ISSUE, AND DO NOT WANT IT SPOILED, NOW IS YOUR TIME TO STOP READING.)

In the issues reading up to Amazing Spider-man #700 we have seen Spider-man take on Dr. Octopus. Peter Parker, as heroic as ever, dies battling Dr. Octopus.

I can't contest to the writing of this issue because I don't have it in hands yet. I only have leaked pages and whats word coming out of Marvel and MTV Geek.

The word is that it's not a quick death and that it is drawn out. I would assume Peter Parker fought to his very last breath.

As for Dr. Octopus, he survives. Peter fell short and in the end Dr. Octopus is triumphant over Spider-man.

Peter Parker was without a doubt one of my top super heroes. Unlike those of Superman who had no weaknesses on this planet, Batman's intelligence and billions, and even Captain America's unwavering ethics and patriotism, Spider-man was your every day hero.

In the last 700 issues we've seen Peter grow from a teenager to a photographer, a teacher, and a scientist and all along the way he's made mistakes, suffered loss, and as a whole, seemed to be the heart of the Marvel Universe. Peter Parker proved that "With great power comes great responsibility" as he seemed to carry the wold on his shoulders sometimes.



"Spider-Man can be anybody."



All of these make Spider-Man relate able. He was the every man's hero. In his inception and as to why he wore mask, unlike other super heroes of his time like Superman, any of the Fantastic Four, the Hulk, etc, Stan Lee said "Because Spider-man can be anybody under that mask."

So where does that Marvel Universe go from here? With Peter Parker gone now in the Ultimate universe and in the normal continuity what happens? Peter Parker, unless tucked away some where, is no longer part of the Marvel Universe.

Spider-Man will go on to a new title called "The Superior Spider-man" with someone else taking on the role of Spider-Man and it also came as a shock to me. Of course I won't spill all those beans just yet and there are plenty of spoilers for that one already.

This day belongs to Peter Parker, the man that showed us anyone can become a hero with just a little tiny spider bite and a lot of heart. Even when you come up a little short, if you give it all you've got, you can still Amazing.

Today the Marvel Universe just got a little smaller. Rest in Peace Peter Parker.

-Nurd!

Happy Anniversary MegaMan!

Happy 25th Anniversary MegaMan!

It's hard to believe that the blue bomber has been around for 25 years now, although I'm pretty sure that's because it will lead to my own admission of age.



Today in honor of MegaMan's Capcom has released what was once a fame made game, Street Fighter X MegaMan. In Street Fighter X MegaMan you play as MegaMan, battling various Street Fighters with levels based upon each character's respective level stages from Street Fighter. Ryu you will fight on the roof tops of Japan and C. Viper you will fight in what appears to be S.I.N. head quarters. Street Fighter X MegaMan is available today via download here.


Also for MegaMan's anniversary X-Box fans will be treated to avatar props that will give you a mega buster prop replica, a full on MegaMan costume or one of seven more costumes of the original master robots. Capcom-Unity says to look for these by the end of the year. For the full Capcom-Unity blog on the Mega Man avatar props you can visit here.




Lastly Cacpom is prepped to release 6 new MegMan themed t-shirts. No matter your preference Capcom has you covered, be it MegaMan and his 8-bit self, Cut-Man for a little master bot love, Serve Bots, and yes, even MegaMan X.










Capcom, more so MegaMan, has seen a lot of turmoil over the past recent years with the cancellations of MegaMan Universe, MegaMan Legends 3, and the apparent snuff from Ultimate Marvel vs Capom 3 outside of just making a costume appearance for Zero. Even when Capcom gave a MegaMan as a PS3 exclusive for Street Fighter X Tekken in what seemed to be a brawl of mascots with Pac-Man Capcom gave us a fat aging MegaMan taken from the original box art, not the blue bomber himself. Capcom, in a recent statement, has come out to say they are not sure how to even proceed with the franchise, be it a continuance, or an all out reboot to the franchise.

Whatever Capcom has planned for MegaMan one thing is for sure, they seem to be on the right track. I, for one, am excited for the return of MegaMan in one form or another, but do you feel this is enough to breath life back into the franchise? Only time will tell.

-Nurd!

Granamyr the Wise

He's big, he's red, and he's expensive. He's Granamyr!

For the first time ever Mattycollector is offering Granamyr for the MOTUC toy line.

"Granamyr™ is one of the oldest and wisest of the Eternian Dragons of Darksmoke, an ancient kingdom in Eternia’s Dark Hemisphere. He greatly distrusts most men after the Great Wars between dragons and humans in ancient times. As one of the most powerful magic users on Eternia® he possesses such extraordinary might that even Skeletor® dares not challenge him. When Man-At-Arms® was turned to glass by an evil spell, Granamyr™ provided He-Man® with healing magic, but only after Eternia’s bravest warrior proved he had not only great strength but great mercy and wisdom as well. The ancient dragon Granamyr™ guards Eternia’s magical secrets and rules all of Darksmoke."

Fans were given the choice at Comic Con 2012 as to what color Granamyr should be. Green like he was in the DC and mini comics, or his Filmation red color. Fan's chose to have Granamyr in red and I can't say that I couldn't agree more.

Granamyr is also the first MOTUC figure that is noted for "assembly required." Granamyr comes packaged in an enclosed box and on the inside, he is actually in 10 pieces. The major portion of his body is poly bagged while the other 9 pieces are included into blister bubbles inside the box. You will need to attach the upper portion of his torso, head, arms, legs, wings, and tail but it's a small feat for this massive beast.

Granamyr is created so huge that he unfortunately will not be able to stand however is created to be posed in his iconic sitting position.

Granamyr is definitely one to add to the collection and I for one can't wait to add him next to the mystical Sorceress.

Granamyr is ONLY available on Mattycollector.com for $80 and goes on sale at 9:00 AM EST on Monday December 17th and is NOT part of the Club Eternia subscription.

Buy Granamyr the Wise here: Mattycollector.com

Visit the Mattycollector store for other MOTUC characters as well as other products: Mattycollector Store

-Nurd!

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey opened this weekend and if you haven't seen it yet this is definitely a must; especially if your a Lord of the Rings fan.

The Hobbit, for those new to the franchise, is the story of Bilbo Baggins and his first ever adventure and predates the Lord of the Rings Trilogy. Bilbo, Gandolf the Grey and 13 Dwarfs, led by the legendary warrior Thorin Oakenshield, set off to reclaim the Dwarf Kindgom of Erebor from the dragon Smaug. Along the way they fight their way through Goblins, Orcs, Wargs, and ultimately battling the great White Orc who has set out to destroy the Dwarf king lineage, ending with Thorin. Meanwhile, amidst their journey Bilbo will also come in contact with the creature that will forever change his life, Gollum, and will come into possession of Gollum's "precious" the Ring of Sauron.

I overall enjoyed this movie. I will admit because I had my reservations going into the movie.

When I was a kid I collected Greg and Tim Hildebrandt The Tolkien Years trading cards. These cards were so full of color and life so I already had a preset idea of how I would perceive the movie. The movie blew away any idea I thought I had going in. The Hobbit was full of color from the Shire to seeing the White Orc against a night sky and blazing fire. This movie was a breath taking display of visuals. It was like seeing the art come to life, only better.


The other thing I worried about was how set apart The Hobbit will feel from Lord of the Rings. Not only did I get a sense that they belonged in the same realm but also that they were part of the same movie experience. The Shire looked just like the Shire, the Ring of Sauron became an integral part of foreshadowing, and even a few guest appearances that I didn't not expect to see in the movie, like another famous Hobbit.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey was a pleasure to watch and really felt like an adventure. This movie is definitely a must see and I can only hope that the other two movies will come quickly.

-Nurd!

Xbox 720 vs Xbox 720?

Rumors has it that when the Xbox "720" comes out the console wars will start and that you may very well have to decide which to buy, the Xbox 720 or the Xbox 720.

Information has been leaked that when the Xbox 720 is released onto the masses that Microsoft will have two very different models to choose from.

The first Xbox will be the kind that we all know and love. This will be the gaming centric model that will include Xbox live and is said to run compatible with Windows 8.

The second model is going to try and tap into the casual gamer's market and not be able to play the AA titles that we see on Xbox today, like Halo, Call of Duty, Gears of War, etc. This model will be predominately focus on streaming media like Netflix, Hulu, among the other apps featured in the Xbox dashboard.

The Xbox "720" has been rumored to use AMD's 7000 series graphics based on it's 28nm Graphics Core Next (GCN) Southern Islands tech.

A document that leaked in June 2012 indicates that the Xbox 720 will come packing 1080p 3D support, Blu-ray player and DVR functionality.

It has also been rumored that the Xbox 720 will no longer play used games (a similar rumor has been said to be true about the PS4) however this has not been confirmed yet. The fact that the Xbox 720 will require a constant online Internet connection may be one way that Microsoft plans to enable this feature. Such a move would kill the secondary game business for new games, however, in my point of view, it may simply be a way that Microsoft could limit your gamer score; by only allowing achievements from "new" games.

The aforementioned leaked document gave note that the suspected price point will be set at $299 but with two units on the horizon I would expect a higher price point for the gaming platform Xbox.

Microsoft recently went on a buying spree of URLs and one that seemed to stand out was xbox8.com lending to the idea that the Xbox 720 may see a name change by street date to Xbox Infinity.

By whatever name the flow of suspected and leaked information may indicate that official press for the new Xbox may be at hand, however I wouldn't look for anything prior to E3 2013 with an expected release date by Christmas that year.

-Nurd!

Twitter

What great news! Just in time for the opening of E3 Nurdgasmic is now on Twitter and will be tweeting throughout the day and on through the week as information from E3 comes in. Feel free to follow us for information and links regarding #E3.

E3 2012

The Electronics Entertainment Expo, better known as E3, starts next week and I'm excited as ever. This year features some of my most beloved franchises so lets hit the ground running and get a break down.

Gears of War
Gears of War is a franchise I didn't think that I would hear from for a while The first trilogy gave me many hours of game play and I was really impressed with it. Now comes a new Gears game and I'm happy to see it return. I haven't read much about this game yet but so far we know two things, Baird and the Cole train are back. The teaser art that I've seen simply shows locusts, Baird, and Augustus Cole, with Augustus Cole in chains and being escorted in chains by the Cog. I'm really interested to see what Microsoft has in store for the Gears franchise. 

DOA5
DOA5, or Dead or Alive 5, is another game that I know nothing about but will be adding to my preorder list soon. DOA is of the fighting franchise genre. DOA4 was secretly one of my favorite fighting games. With polished graphics, multitiered fighting grounds, ninjas, and bouncy girls, how can you not go wrong. DOA5, while being shown at E3, it is already scheduled for release on September 25th, 2012 for both Xbox 360, and for the PS3.

Transformers Fall of Cybertron
Ah, loving both cars and robots how can you go wrong with Transformers? Transformers Fall of Cybertron is going to be another hit if it falls along the same lines as its predecessor War for Cybertron. While I'm not 100% sure of the story of the game, I'm sure the name says it all. One thing I am hoping to see in Fall of Cyberton is some human interaction with the Autobots or Decepticons. The name implies that we will see the end of Cybertron which may lead into their journey to Earth, of course as of right now, this is just speculation on my part. Aside from the similar game play and a more polished look to the graphics, there is one main reason for me to be looking forward to this game, Dinobots. Yes, the Dinobots will be ripping through the Decepticons in this sequel but the Autobots will have their hands full too as we will also get the Insecticons. Also with Combinors like Bruticus, this game is going to be a fans dream come true. Transformers Fall of Cybertron is scheduled for release August 28 (?), 2012 on the Xbox 360 and the PS3.

HALO 4
Halo 4, the game that needs no introduction. Halo is equally despised as it is loved but this time the franchise be being taken over by 343 Studios. In Halo 4 Master Chief returns with all new toys to an unknown alien world to battle an "ancient evil." What does that mean? Your guess is as good as mine. We have already seen the grunts returning in Halo 4 so the fodder of the covenant will be present. While I haven't seen any confirmation of Elites it is quite possible that the word of a new truce between the sanghili and the humans hasn't spread all through the galaxy yet. But what about this "ancient evil"? Could they have been an unknown species that was a threat to the Forerunners that weren't wiped out by the Halo array? Could we see the Forerunners alive and well in Halo 4. Game play footage is expected to be debuted for the campaign so we will have an answer in a few short days. The suspense will be killing me in the mean time. Halo 4 will also return with a beefed up multiplayer mode with you taking control over a Spartan 4 (ironically). There will be new load outs and new abilities such as the ability to see through walls around a corner. Halo 4 will be out for retail on November 6, 2012 as an Xbox 360 exclusive title and as of now currently has a regular edition and a collectors edition. A legendary edition is rumored to be shown at E3, but only time will tell.

There's so many other items I'm looking forward to and all next week I'll be updating this blog so expect updates on the new Wii U, Gears of War, and of course Halo 4.

There's alot of titles that slipped in under my radar which I was really surprised at so here is a full list of what has already been confirmed for E3.

2K GAMES
Spec Ops: The Line (360, PS3, PC)
Borderlands 2 (360, PS3, PC)
XCOM: Enemy Unknown (360,PS3, PC)
NBA 2K13 (PS3, 360, Wii, PSP, Wii U)

ACTIVISION
Call of Duty: Black Ops II (360, PS3, PC)
Skylanders Giants (360, PS3, Wii, PC, 3DS)
Transformers: Fall of Cybertron (360, PS3)
The Amazing Spider-Man (360, PS3)
Family Guy: Back to the Multiverse (360, PS3)

ATLUS
Persona 4 Arena (360, PS3)
Persona 4 Golden (Vita)

BETHESDA
The Elder Scrolls Online (PC)
Dishonored (360, PS3, PC)
Doom 3: BFG Edition (360, PS3, PC)
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim -- Dawnguard (360, PS3, PC)

BOHEMIA INTERACTIVE
ArmA III (PC)
Carrier Command: Gaea Mission (360, PS3, PC)
DayZ (PC)

CAPCOM
Resident Evil 6 (360, PS3, PC)
Lost Planet 3 (360, PS3, PC)
DmC (360, PS3)
Street Fighter x Tekken (Vita)

CCP
Dust 514 (PS3)

D3 PUBLISHER
Ben 10: Omniverse (Wii, Wii U, 360, PS3)
iCarly: Groovy Foodie! (DS)
Madagascar: Join the Circus! (iOS, Android)
Madagascar 3: The Video Game (TBA)
Rise of the Guardians: The Video Game (360, PS3, Wii, DS, 3DS)

ELECTRONIC ARTS
Battlefield 3: Armored Kill (360, PS3, PC)
Battlefield 3: Close Quarters (360, PS3, PC)
Crysis 3 (360, PS3, PC)
FIFA Soccer 13 (360, PS3, PC)
Madden NFL 13 (PS3, 360, Wii, Vita)
Medal of Honor Warfighter (360, PS3, PC)
NCAA Football 13 (360, PS3)
Need for Speed Most Wanted (TBA)
NHL 13 (360, PS3)
SimCity (PC)
Outernauts (Facebook)
World Series of Poker (iOS)
Dead Space 3 (TBA)

GAMIGO
Otherland (PC)
Grimlands (PC)

HARMONIX
Rock Band Blitz (XBLA, PSN)

INFERNUM
Brick-Force (Web)

KONAMI
Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance (360, PS3, PC)
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 (360, PS3)
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow -- Mirror of Fate (3DS)

LARIAN STUDIOS
Dragon Commander (360, PS3, PC)
Divinity: Original Sin (PC, MAC)

LUCASARTS
Star Wars 1313 (TBA)

MAJESCO
NBA Baller Beats (360)
Zumba Fitness (360)
Double Dragon: Neon (360, PS3)

MICROSOFT
Halo 4 (360)
Gears of War Project (360)

NAMCO
Star Trek: The Game (360, PS3, PC)
Tekken Tag Tournament 2 (360, PS3)
Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch (PS3)
Dark Souls: Prepare to Die Edition (PC)
Dragon Ball Z for Kinect (360)
One Piece: Pirate Warriors (PSN)

NINTENDO
Pikmin 3 (Wii U)
Super Mario Wii U (Wii U)

PERFECT WORLD ENTERTAINMENT
Neverwinter (PC)
Raiderz (PC)

SEGA
Aliens: Colonial Marines (360, PS3, PC, Wii U)
Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed (360, 3DS, PC, PS3, Vita)
Jet Set Radio (Vita)

SNOWBIRD GAME STUDIOS
Eador: Masters of the Broken World (PC)

SONY
The Last of Us (PS3)
LittleBigPlanet Karting (PS3)
Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time (PS3, Vita)
Soul Sacrifice (Vita)
Guacamelee! [Pub Fund] (PS3, Vita)
Papo & Yo [Pub Fund] (PS3)

SONY ONLINE ENTERTAINMENT
DC Universe Online (PS3, PC)
Free Realms (PS3, PC)
Star Wars: Clone Wars Adventures (PC)
EverQuest II (PC)
Vanguard: Saga of Heroes (PC)
Bullet Run (PC)
PlanetSide 2 (PC)
Wizardry Online (PC)

SQUARE ENIX
Hitman: Absolution (360, PS3, PC)
Tomb Raider (360, PS3, PC)
Sleeping Dogs (360, PS3, PC)
Quantum Conundrum (360, PS3, PC)
Heroes of Ruin (3DS)
Kingdom Hearts 3D Dream Drop Distance (3DS)
Theatrhythm Final Fantasy (3DS)
Gameglobe (Web)
American Mensa Academy (PC, 360, PS3, iOS, Android)
Darius Burst Second Prologue (iOS)
Raystorm (iOS)
Guardian Cross (iOS, Android)
Demon's Score (iOS, Android)
KooZac (iOS, Android)
Motley Blocks (iOS, Android)
Qwirkle (iOS, Android)
SolaRola (iOS, Android)

TEAM17
Worms Revolution (PS3, 360, PC)

TECMO KOEI
Dead or Alive 5 (360, PS3)
Pokemon Conquest (DS)
Mugen Souls (PS3)

THQ
Darksiders II (360, PS3, PC, Wii U)
Metro Last Light (360, PS3, PC, Wii U)
Company of Heroes 2 (PC)

TRION
Defiance (360, PC, PS3)
End of Nations (PC)
Rift (PC)

UBISOFT
Far Cry 3 (PS3, 360, PC)
Rayman Legends (Wii U)
Assassin's Creed III (360, PS3, PC, Wii U)
Rocksmith (360, PS3, PC)
ShootMania Storm (PC)

VALVE
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (360, PS3, PC)

WARGAMING.NET
World of Tanks (PC)
World of Warplanes (PC)

WARNER BROS. INTERACTIVE
F1 2012 (PS3, 360, PC)
Guardians of Middle-earth (PS3, 360)

ZEN STUDIOS
Zen Pinball 2 (PS3, Vita)
Marvel Pinball: Avengers Chronicles (360, PS3, Vita)
Marvel Pinball 3D (3DS)
CastleStorm (PC, 360, PS3, Mobile)
KickBeat (Vita)


I know its a long list so if you got this far congratulations.

The official E3 website should also be updated as well and you can find that here: http://www.e3expo.com/
G4 also has really great coverage so check with your local cable listings for them. They will be there all week. Also you can check with IGN.com for updates too.

There's lots of coverage so if you don't find something here, it will be available.

-"Nurd" Pat!

FCBD

Free Comic Books!

I'm glad I have your attention. This Saturday, May 5th, 2012 is Free Comic Book Day! That's right. Free Comic Book Day (FCBD) has been around since 2002, and is always the first Saturday of May, where participating comic shop retailers have comics for free!

No, not all comics in the stores are free. Retailers will have special issues of books specifically for FCBD.

The free comics are separated into two different groups, Gold and Silver. Now, depending on the policies of your local retailers determining how many you can have, virtually any and everyone who walks into a participating comic shop can get a free book.

But are the books any good? This year we are gonna see books of the Avengers, DC's New 52, Spiderman, Transformers, Sonic the Hedgehog, Megaman, and more.

If you would like a full list of the books then you can visit their website where you will also find a locator for all comic retailers participating in Free Comic Book Day.

www.freecomicbookday.com

I hope everyone has an exciting day tomorrow at Free Comic Book Day! Remember, support your local retailers and while your at it, if you haven't yet, go see the Avengers. The movie is fantastic and I'll be here tomorrow to talk about it.

I hope your FCBD is filled with heroes and wonder.

-"Nurd" Pat!

Marvel AR

Marvel has found a way to change the face of their comics in a big way with their Marvel AR app.

Marvel AR stands for Marvel Augmented Reality. Its an application that works with most camera enabled Apple ios and Android devices. The App is available at Marvel.com/ARapp and its absolutely free. The app boasts action packed trailers, visual character bios, creator video commentaries and more.

The way that the app works is that once activated you hold the device to view the particular page or panel with the "AR" icon in the lower right hand corner.

This sounds fantastic and couldn't wait to use it and beef up the value of my "AR" compatible books. Unfortunately I have an LG Prime android phone and it would not work with my particular device. So since I cannot provide you with my exact opinion on the app I thought I would share a video from YouTube and let you see it for yourself.






Enjoy your comics everyone. Now is the dawn of a new age!

-"Nurd" Pat!

May the Fourth...

Happy May the fourth everyone. As you may (or may not) know May forth is renowned as Star Wars day because... saying May the fourth sounds a lot like the preceding to "May the force be with you."

If you really wanna know where the phrase started from it dates back to 1979 when Margaret Thatcher was elected Britain's first woman prime minister. Her party published an article in the London Evening News that said "May the Fourth be with you Maggie, Congratulations". So there you have it. Now so Star Warsy is it?

However you decide to celebrate today, be it watching the Star Wars Saga from start to finish, the original Trilogy for purists, digging through your Star Wars memorabilia for nostalgia, or lightsaber dueling to the wee hours of the morning just remember, May the Fourth be with you!

And in honor of today, time for a little Star Wars sexy time!




You're welcome!

-"Nurd" Pat!

"Stinkorgate"

Mattycollector has done it again. They managed to bring us an amazing figure, however there is a debate in the execution.

May 15, 2012 will be Matty Day once again, where new merchandise is available to children and collectors alike and while there are some amazing items coming up the day is plagued by what is being affectionately referred to as "Stinkorgate."

Stinkor is by far a fan favorite in the Masters of the Universe history so everyone was excited to see him come to the MOTUC line. when announced at Power-Con in September 2011. I have to say that Stinkor is an amazing figure that comes with not only his classic MOTU look but also the accessories that give him his 200X deco.

So here is where the situation gets a little hairy (no pun intended). In the version showed at Power-Con you can see that his forearms have ridges that point outwards. This is a very standard look for figures with this formation on the arms, such as Skeletor and Merman.


These are newly casted parts as not to make Stinkor a straight paint swap to Merman. As you can see in the picture to the right there is molded fur coming out from the top of the glove to play more into the fact that Stinkor really is a skunk.

Press pieces have come out and the forearms have been reversed. Now this is nothing new because every time that there has been newly molded pieces they seem to be accidentally reversed such as King Hsss's shoulders and Roboto's shoulders.





Scott "Toyguru" Nietchlich, product manager of the MOTUC line, has stated that this was an intentional reverse to make Stinkor "pop" aesthetically.

Collectors cried foul knowing the track record with Mattycollector and newly molded pieces and claims that Mattel is simply trying to say that this was a design change to cover up for yet another reversal.

Toyguru stated that changes were made in the design phase however the 4 Horsemen, sculptors of the MOTUC line have always been on the front lines whenever there was a comment or concern about design in the past so this one has everyone crying foul. Especially since the anatomy of the arms don't match since reversed.

When asked on their twitter the 4 Horsemen simply states that “We haven’t seen a production version yet so we really can’t comment yet, but we can’t imagine why they would be switched.”

As far as my own thoughts on this situation, I also do not have a production copy in hand so I am laying my opinion to the side till I actually get him. I’m not saying fans and collectors should accept mistakes. It just seems like an ill fated gesture that didn’t pan out like they expected. I for one am happy to add Stinkor to my collection in any manner.

-"Nurd" Pat!

Sony's Orbis

The next-gen consoles, by rumors, are stacking up to be quite the beasts for every ones enjoyments.

Rumors have recently surfaced for Sony's Playstation 4 or better known as the "Orbis". The claims of the Orbis is that it uses an AMD CPU and GPU and has a release date around the 2013 holiday season. Development kits are already suspected to be possession by 'select' gaming developers.

The CPU and GPU being discussed is and AMD x64 CPU and AMD Southern Islands GPU. The Southern Islands name is associated to a high end range of pc cards that boasts screen sizes of 4096×2160 and a full 3D gaming experience in 1080i.


While all this sounds great there are two major draw backs to the new Orbis. The Orbis is stated to not be backwards compatible with PS3 software but the most controversial downfall is that used games will no longer be able to be used on the system. The hardware is speculated to tie a game to a particular PSN account or even through some sort of digital download.

(In order to be non biased I feel compelled to inform you that the "X-Box 720" claims to have the same lock out on second hand games.)

The gaming industry stands on a back bone of its gamers. Part of said back bone is that of the used gaming community. Since the Atari, borrowing games and/or selling and trading games has always been a part of the gaming community. Video rental stores used to be a staple and in today's day and age, gaming parties.

Taking off of this to a personal aspect, I myself will buy a game and take it to a friends house to play and in my opinion, this helps push the gaming sales. No one wants to pay $60 for a game that no one knows what its like. I know my friends don't. I may be one of the daring but I'd hate to see a world where we push ourselves to only playing Mario, Halo, Gears of War, Street Fighter, and Final Fantasy. Without being able to rent a game or borrow one from a friend or even taking one to a friends house would kill not only the secondary market but also push all gamers back into solitude. Sure there's the advent of online gaming but gaming is social at its core. We all like to get together and play.

So what do you guys think about the revolution in gaming with the new Orbis? Ho do you feel about not being able to play used or shared games?

-"Nurd" Pat!

Upkeeping a Collection

Good evening fellow Nurds!

This update is all about keeping up a collection. No matter if your collection is open for display, just a collection in a toy box to be played with, or even keeping them in their packages, many things can ruin a collection.

If you do keep a collection and intend to keep it mint in package a couple things that you can experience is deterioration of packaging due to access to moisture or even the yellowing of the clear plastic that is the bubble showcasing your figure. Yellowing can be caused my age, access to elements like sun light, and even nicotine.

When you keep a collection out for display or even in a toy box there are other worries to consider. Not only can the color of your collection be tarnished by the elements but you also leave yourself open to wear and tear, scratches, nicks, and even breakage.

This posting happens to deal with Snout Spout from my MOTUC collection.

Snout Spout sits on my shelf. He has ever since I got him, and that's where he still sits as I'm writing this. If you checked out my MOTUC page then you would have seen this picture.

For those not familiar with Snout Spout, he has a robotic elephant head and is the heroic fire fighter of Eternia. He happily sits to the left on the fourth shelf down.

Still can't find him? Maybe this helps.

Snout Spout, from Mattycollector.com had an issue with his elephant trunk. The trunk was made of a spongy material like nerf and was able to be poseble able due to a wire in the trunk. After sitting on my shelf for two months, the material cracked and split. Obviously this is a problem.

With all the characters in the MOTUC line, most head sculpts are unique and every character generally sells out the day they are released. This type of a situation leaves you with few options. No other character has a head that resembles Snout Spout and since he is no longer available on Mattycollector.com the only way to get a replacement is on the secondary market.

Having to collect from the secondary market, for those not familiar, means purchasing from another private collector, secondary stores like BigBadToyStore.com (which usually sells out via preorders), or even ebay.

In my particular situation I was able to obtain one via another private collector and didn't have to pay an outrageous price for him. Matter of fact, I paid the $20 which is the equivalent of what he was priced at on Mattycollector.com. As of the time I'm writing this, I'm waiting for him to be shipped. It also took weeks to find someone who had one available for a price that I was willing to pay so patience is also a factor when looking to replace a piece.

Alot of different scenarios can happen when you try to keep up a collection such as I do, therefore not everything is so simple.

I hope you enjoyed this little insight as to what can damage a collection and a further insight as I had to replace a character in my own.

3/21/12 Update

Welcome back fellow Nurds!

Its been a while since our last update. Since then there has been a few technical issues such as having to reformat a computer, loss of content, as well as a few others. With that being said, there's been alot of updates I've been wanting to add so sit back and I'll take you through them.

Toy Box

The Toy Box page will showcase various other toys and action figures that are not part of my MOTUC collection. You may find such things as Hasbro's Marvel Legends, Transformers, Bandai's Thundercats, among others.

Game Case

The game case is where you will see a collection of games, new and old, as well as showcasing collector's editions of games.

Glossary of Terms

From time to time I may use terminology that the casual browser may not understand, so for better readability by all, therefore a glossary of terms will be implimented.

These are just a few of the tweaks that I've been wanting to add to make this page a richer experience for you guys.

-"Nurd" Pat!

Witchblade #150

If you ever wanna feel like a dodo, here's a good example. Run a nerd blog and go to review a comic, just to realize your about 3 months late because your local comic book shop can't won't carry enough stock for someone to walk in and pick up a copy.

That said, here we are, 3 months late, but I finally got a hold of Witchblade #150, first print, cover A, and to me the book felt like a bit of a swan song for the series.

Sara Pezzini is the bearer of the Witchblade, a powerful and mystical artifact that takes the form of a deadly gauntlet. As as New York City Police Detective Sara, along with the Witchblade, investigates the city's most supernatural crimes.

Witchblade #150, The End of an Era, finds Sara under the eye of Lieutenant Phipps of Internal Affairs as he offers her 24 hours to decide between her career or the Witchblade.

We see Sara go back to where it all began, back to the Rialto where she is confronted by the Witchblade as it takes a human like form. Sara is shown moments from her past, and where she understands that if it was not for her, none of what has transpired would have come to pass.

*SPOILER*
In the end, Sara has to make a choice between the Witchblade or her career as a detective. Citing that she needs time away, Sara walks away, not only from her job, but from Detective Gleason, her boyfriend.

Being a reader of Witchblade for several years now this issue feels like Sara Pezzini has come full circle and ready for a new beginning. Until now Sara has always walked the beat and its felt that she has used the Witchblade as a tool. When confronted by the Witchblade Sara had made the statement that she didn't like feeling "powerless." I feel that Sara has given into the Witchblade and that her decision to leave the force was not her decision after all, it was her destiny. Now after leaving her career and Gleason behind, the Witchblade can take her to fill a much larger role. It feels Sara has a new calling and its exciting.

Getting into the nuts and bolts of this issue, it was written by Ron Marz with artwork by Stjepan Sejic. The writing is superb and easy to follow. It honestly didn't take me long to read this issue because it didn't get too wordy like you can find in some other books. A lot of the panels can be told simply by the artwork. It sucks you in. The work in Witchblade, to be digitally painted and printed on a monthly basis, is top notch. I've been a fan of Stjepan Sejic's work for some time now but there's not an issue that doesn't seem to amaze me every time I pick it up. Overall the writing and artwork come together eloquently and I find it an easy read.

Witchblade #150 ends with lots of goodies (which I don't have any pictures of).

We get to see a 6 page preview of Witchblade #151 with a new artistic team, Tim Seeley (writer) and Diego Bernard (artist). The change in style brings me back to the beginnings of Witchblade so it all feels new again. While Ron Marz and Stjepan Sejic seem to be moving to Artifacts (also published by Top Cow) and I wish them the best of luck, I look forward to Tim Seeley and Diego Bernard and all that they have in store for Sara Pezzini.

Witchblade #150 also includes a time line of the character, a Creator Hall of Fame, and a look back at every cover for every issue that brought us to where we are now. The look back of covers is by far my favorite of all the goodies because it covers so many great works from Stjepan Sejic back to Michael Turner, rest his soul.

Witchblade is one of those books I just can't seem to speak highly enough of. It is truly as masterful piece of art every month.

I do have only one regret of Witchblade #150. That is that I couldn't pick up every cover.

-"Nurd" Pat!

New Avengers Trailer

Today the new Avengers trailer came out and it is fantastic! There's about 95% brand new footage in the new trailer.

In the trailer we kind of get an idea about how everything comes together for the Avengers and we also get a good look at the mobility of Loki's new army.

Rather than here me go on and on about it though, enjoy.






Awesome isn't it?

Now up until this point we have not actually seen the Redacted leading up to my assumption that we may not actually see them in an on screen form until the movie actually comes out to theatres. 

The movie releases on May 4th so we might get another trailer for the Avengers before then. If we don't, this is it people. I hope your ready. I am.

"I still believe in heroes." - Nick Fury

-"Nurd" Pat!

Guardian Heroes

Guardian Heroes is a game that I remember fondly from the Sega Saturn and am happy to recieve if on the Xbox 360 through Xbox Live. It is considered to be one of the greatest games on the Sega Saturn by not only critics but also by fans.

Guardian Heroes is a side scrolling action/adventure hack and slash game that also incorperates elements of an RPG as well. The game allows you to earn experiance points  to customize six attributes: Strength (determines physical damage per hit and distance enemies fly when the player hits them), Vitality (increases HP), Intelligence (governs size and strength of spells), Mentality (determines how many MP the player has and how fast MP are recovered), Agility (increases the speed at which characters can do physical and magical attacks) and Luck (modifies damage the player gives and receives, in addition to improving Nicole's selection of spells).

In Guardian Heroes your band of unfortunate misfits include:

Samuel Han (Han)

Physically powerful, Han can inflict a lot of damage even against guarding opponents (as his tackle bypasses blocking), but his movements are slow, and he cannot use much magic. He also has a flaming attack, similar to Ginjirou's lightning attack. He jumps high in the air, ignites, and comes down in flames on his enemies. As he is slow-moving at first, raising his Agility stat will make up for his initial lack of mobility. Han starts the game wielding the sword of the Undead Hero, until it is reclaimed by its true owner. In one of the story arcs, he may acquire a similar sword which grants him the stat bonuses he originally had when wielding the Undead Sword.

Randy M. Green (Randy)

Randy has many spectacular attacks and a large variety of elemental magic, including fireballs, lightning bolts, pools of ice and a devastating laser-like heat ray. However, like a typical sorcerer character, he suffers from low vitality. Randy's familiar, Nando, assists Randy during the story mode of the game, and is available as a playable character in Versus mode. In melee, Randy attacks with multi-hit attacks, his Dancing Wind attack being one of the most effective melee attacks around.

Ginjirou Ibushi (Ginjirou)

Ginjirou has an emphasis on mobility. He has a large variety of moving attacks, but this can also work against him. He also has a number of lightning/thunder attacks. Though his attack power is weaker than Han's, the sheer number of hits he is capable of dealing to enemies makes him a formidable character, and his lightning attacks allow him to deliver more hits to any single target than any other character in the game, meaning he can rack up combo points very easily and gain levels just as quickly.

Nicole Neil (Nicole)

Nicole has weak attacks and random magic. She has a smiley face emblem on her amulet and most of her magic attacks incorporate a smiley face. She is the only hero who can use healing magic, but as a drawback her attacks are the weakest of the four heroes. Experienced gamers quickly learned about her Barrier ability, which damages enemies until they are forced away from her; if an enemy could not be forced away from Nicole (e.g. the Barrier pushes the enemy against the wall), then it would suffer grievous wounds until the barrier wore off. If the enemy were to block the barrier attack and was standing against the wall, which would effectively trap them in place, the barrier would deal massive amounts of damage, often leaving only a bit of health afterwards.

Serena Corsair (Serena)

A well-balanced character, Serena (possibly meant to be Selena) the Knight has a wide variety of moves and a good selection of magic spells, the majority of which revolve around cold and ice. The most powerful of these are her Angel Breath, which creates an umbrella-like field of ice particles around herself when used, protecting her from physical attacks and freezing anything close to her, and the Valkyrie Javelin, which is similar to Randy's Super Magic Fire Blaster, but it freezes attackers instead of burning them. Serena joins the player as an NPC in story mode, but is later unlockable as a player-controlled character. Kanon later reveals that Serena is actually the surviving heir of the murdered Khans, making her a legitimate contender for the throne. She is the only hidden character that can be played in story mode.

Undead Hero

A powerful warrior who died when the Khans were killed. His body returns to life when his sword is accidentally brought to his grave. He reclaims his weapon and goes on a rampage, until the heroes realize that they can control him. In the game, the Undead Hero is a NPC who can be given simple directions by the players: Follow, Wait, Attack, Defend, and Berserk.

 Long before the beginning of the game, a supreme being created the universe to find ultimate warriors to hire as its personal soldiers. In the past, humans merely existed, cowering in fear as a vicious battle was waged between the Earth and Sky Spirits. The Sky Spirits decided to bestow incredible powers unto the humans, effectively making powerful wizards for their own gain. With their new-found powers, the human wizards joined the effort against the Earth Spirits, banishing them into the darkness. Soon after this was accomplished, the Sky Spirits grew fearful and jealous of the humans, and banished them all into the very same darkness with the Earth Spirits. Mankind instead opted for a more physical approach to life, and the Time of the Sword began.

Several decades before the game begins, one of the human wizards, Kanon, managed to escape his imprisonment with the Earth Spirits, and came back to the surface so that he might eventually get his revenge on the Sky Spirits. There, he brought his case up with the existing khans; since they did not trust him, he destroyed them and replaced their kingdom with a wizard kingdom, with puppet khans to do his will. Things were not entirely rosy for Kanon, however; the former king prophesied, prior to his death, that should his reign and the Time of the Sword be brought to such an abrupt end, then eventually the sword would again resurface and in turn bring an end to Kanon's reign. As a precaution, Kanon banished most every existing sword in his new kingdom, but he overlooked one particular sword, belonging to a fierce, anonymous warrior who fought especially valiantly to the death during Kanon's takeover. Also, the former princess, Serena, survived the ordeal, and joined the band of knights to try to bring about Kanon's end from the inside.

At the game's start, four warriors - Han, Randy (with his pet rabbit, Nando), Nicole and Ginjirou - find the sword of the valiant warrior. Just as they decide to begin relaxing for the remainder of the night, Serena bursts in, hastily warning them that the knights have learned of their possession of such a powerful sword, and are coming to take it back, no matter the costs. The four flee their home as it bursts up in flames during the invasion, then escape the town via their separate ways, rendezvousing at the graveyard nearby.

Upon reaching the graveyard, they discover the leader of the Black Knights, Valgar, awaiting them, and accompanied by a very powerful robotic warrior. The five do battle with it, but fail to do a large amount of damage to it. Finally, as Han resolves to use the new sword against the robot, the sword is struck by lightning, electrocuting Han and causing him to lose his grip on it. The sword, now seemingly with a life of its own, floats over to a large mound nearby, where a zombified warrior in golden armor arises from the dead - the same warrior who valiantly fought to the death so many years ago - and claims the sword as his own. Enraged, he easily obliterates Valgar's robot, and begins to attack Serena. Nicole, uncertain of what to do, politely asks the warrior to stop attacking them - to the five's surprise, he does so. Quickly realizing that the warrior is willing to act on any command that they give him, they resolve that, with this new ally, the time to begin an attack on Kanon's new kingdom is at hand.

The story mode alows you to play solo or also play with friends via Xbox Live.

Guardian Heroes is also known for having a branching off story mode that allows you to select what path you will follow which not only increases the replayability with increased story elements but also multiple endings.

Guardian Heroes also does include a versus mode that allows you to play with not only the basic 4 playable characters but also with any other character you defeat in the story mode. Everyone from the Sky Spirits down to the Civilan Wimp are playable.  And with leaderboards to keep up with who is the higheset ranking with each character, theres no reason to not try them all.

Personally, having both the Sega Saturn version and now the remasters Xbox Arcade edition, I thought I would give it a good test run for comparison.  From the minute I started at the main menu all the music was familiar and a pleasure to my ears. I must say that from the get go, Guardian Heroes is a beast, even on the Normal difficulty settings. I will be the first to tell you that the original debug code that allows you to use Serena from the begining and start with 200 experience points does not work. Needless to say, its gonna take me a minute to get through it or to call out for some back up because this game is rough.

Guardian Heroes on the Xbox 360 is getting reviews of 8.5 and 9 out of 10 depending on who is reviewing it. This game gets two thumbs up from me because thats all my momma and the good Lord gave me.

Guardian Heroes can be found on Xbox Live for 800 Microsoft points.

-"Nurd" Pat!