Skies of Arcadia was one of the few RPGs on the Dreamcast. Although its plot about three youths teaming up to fight an evil empire was as old school as it gets, the game’s sky-pirate theme made the game unique. Players take the role of Vyse, a member of the blue rogues, a group of sky pirates. While searching for treasure alongside his best friend Aika, Vyse meets a mysterious woman with strange powers. From there, Vyse gets involved in the empire’s plot to take over the world by reviving ancient weapons. The battle system is turn-based, similar to other RPGs. Each character has a weapon with a crystal that can change color in order to battle against different enemies. The game also features ship battles, in which Vyse and his crew take to the skies to battle against giant monsters and enemy ships. You can select from different types of cannons and attacks as you try to sink your opponent. You’ll recruit a crew of pirates, each with their own special abilities. A big part of the game involves exploration, and you can gain fame and fortune by making discoveries. The graphics are bright and colorful, and the music is good as well. As you are battling bosses, the music actually changes on the fly depending on how you are doing in battle. A few years after the Dreamcast version was released, a Gamecube game was released, featuring shorter load times, less random encounters, more sidequests, and new boss battles. It goes without saying that it is backwardly compatible on the Wii, so this is definitely the version to go with. Skies of Arcadia may not reinvent the wheel, but it is a solid classic-style console RPG.

Today marked the start of the pop culture mecca known as San Diego Comic-Con. To celebrate, Google swapped their logo with a rendition done by comic artist legend Jim Lee. Lee posted a link to a larger version on his twitter account @jimlee00. (see larger image after the jump)

Further, the Google blog announced new skins for iGoogle home pages featuring comic art by many known artists. Many of these skins are not just ‘superhero’ comic themed either, though there is plenty of that to go around, too. There happens to be a theme for ‘American Born Chinese’, a wonderful graphic novel I recommended back during the holiday season.

As SDCC progresses, we’ll be posting some round-ups to help everyone stay on the same page of all the great news sure to come from the convention. Stay tuned!
[Read the rest of this entry…]

Back in May, I reported on how the Castlevania movie had been basically doomed to production hell and thus pretty much sacked in terms of going anywhere, making it for all intents and purposes a dead film.

Apparently the HP of the film hadn’t been completely taken out, though. BloodyDisgusting comes back to report that the movie is back on, with yet another director slated to take over the script and reigns of the flick. James Wan, who helped co-create the SAW series, has taken the helm to hopefully head the film back in the right direction. And why not? It’s better than Sylvian “Stomp the Yard” White or Paul “I rape VG movies almost as bad though not as frequently as Uwe Boll” Anderson. That’s a matter of opinion, of course.

Despite my overwhelming cynicism towards a Castlevania movie ever turning out decent and not like Helsing, my interest is piqued simply for the fact Wan actually references staples of the series beyond the words “Belmont” and “Dracula”.

A review of the insanely expensive Limited Edition Terminator 2 Judgement Day Blu-Ray Complete Collector’s Set Endoskull.

Actually, that title is a bit of a stretch. Powet was at this year’s Otakon in Baltimore, but seeing as how most of the staffers were attending the wedding of our very own Zac Shipley (congrats, btw), I took it upon myself to represent Powet as best I could. Of course, this also is a stretch to say, as I only caught about half of the convention itself, BUT IT MATTERS NOT!

With an estimated attendance of over 26,000 freaks, geeks and Otaku, Otakon certainly kept up its reputation for the largest anime convention on the east coast. Many great guests and voice actors were present, including a special concert by VAMPS even before the con itself started. I managed to make it to a fair amount of panels, most notably the “Sailor Moon’s Influence on Hentai” panel, which of course broke my soul a bit but was still fun. Sadly, I missed out on the “What to Do During a Zombie Apocalypse” panel, as the room was overflowing with con-goers by the time I got there and they were turning people away. Sadness abound. The Video Game Room was jam-packed with all the newest games on hand, as well as some throw-back goodies from the past, and sported heavy traffic from a good many Ghostbusters cosplayers.

Of course the only down side to Otakon, in the past 3 years I’ve attended, has been the convoluted layout. I consider Otakon to be “Disorganized Order”, as while panels are set up in the appropriate places and things are kept flowing in a orderly fashion, the ever-increasing run-around needed to get from Point A to Point B by going around to Points G, K, and Y first becomes more frustrating with each passing year. Oh, and they added a new Hilton hotel onto the convention center this year.

Overall, Otakon is always a fun experience for anyone wanting to spend 3 days in a more-or-less native geek habitat, while also being able to determine your superiority in the geek-chain by demonstrating your ability to use your +3 Deodorant of Smiting.

Long live the Otaku spirit.

Daigo (Ryu) vs Justin Wong (Balrog). These two are well known Street Fighter champions and seeing their final match and the crowd reaction really shows how BIG Evo is. The play-by-play really makes the video too.

This of course comes 5 years after Daigo defeated Wong in in Street Fighter III in this now legendary clip…

Find more information at Evo2k

For years, Maxis’s games have given gamers everywhere an unprecedented amount of control over their gaming experience. Weather you’re managing (or destroying via disasters) your city’s infrastructure in SimCity, directing (or ruining) the day to day lives of the people in your household in the Sims, or climbing up the food chain and evolutionary ladder in Spore, few other game companies have given players the power to make their gaming experiences truly unique and individual. This compilation features 5 of the more recent titles (or rather 2 titles, their expansion packs, and a third) in Maxis’s SimCity franchise, and is highly recommended for fans of SimCity.
[Read the rest of this entry…]