Since the alphabet is the building block of our language, the Powet Alphabet is the building block of what makes us geeks.

Don’t you love surprises? Like when you open a present for your birthday and actually got what you wanted or you wear an old pair of pants and find a $20 bill in them from last season? Surprises help keep life interesting and fresh, as we never know what could happen next and what the next surprise could be. This concept has been reflected upon by various forms of media to keep them fresh and interesting as well, and video games are no exception. One of the all-time great surprises video games have always had in store for us gamers is the concept of the hidden character – i.e. A secret member of the cast that does not show up on the initial roster and must either be found in-game or made accessible through various means.
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Since the alphabet is the building block of our language, the Powet Alphabet is the building block of what makes us geeks.

The Guilty Gear series is a string of fast-paced fighting games first developed by Japanese company Sammy in 1998. During an age where Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter was still champions of the fighting games, with Killer Instinct on its way out and Soul Caliber and Super Smash Bros. on their way in, it was a hard time to be a thrown into the fray, so to speak. However, if there was one thing that Guilty Gear games could always capitalize on, it was speed. Probably the fastest fighting game to date, the sheer velocity of the game made it a favorite amongst button mashers.
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So I was able to catch the Video Games Live stop in Lewiston, NY this past Friday, on its North American Tour. Video Games Live, if you have been under a rock in terms of gaming culture, is a roaming show that features live orchestrated music from all the most popular video gaming series, including Sonic, Halo, Mario and others. Co-created by Tommy Tallerico and Jack Wall, both game composers in their own right, the show has traversed the U.S. and Canada and several other countries since 2003 and has gained popularity amongst gamers and music enthusiasts alike. A perfect blend, if you will.
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Since the alphabet is the building block of our language, the Powet Alphabet is the building block of what makes us geeks.

Created in 1994 for the PC, Diablo was meant to be a compliment to Blizzard’s popular Warcraft series, which had come out a few years prior and was deemed a success. Diablo, meant to be much darker and more gothic than Warcraft, also had a much different change in gameplay. Instead of the strategy of starting off on one side or the other and amassing a huge amount of warriors and weaponry to bash your enemies with, Diablo took to the Dungeon Crawler type of gameplay that was popular with games like DOOM, and added an RPG-type of flare to it like Final Fantasy.

The world of Diablo is deeply rooted in the heaven vs. hell archetype of story telling. Diablo, Lord of Terror, is one of the 3 Prime Evils, which are the highest level of demon in existence, and he and his brothers are in a huge war against the forces of light in a bid to destroy them and take everything over. Humans are the middle ground and both sides try to win them over through either benevolence or violence. Some powerful human mages on the side of good and backed by heavenly forces were able to capture the Prime Evils after they’d been defeated and banished to Sanctuary (aka: pseudo-Earth) and seal them in powerful Soulstones in order to bind them forever. (Apparently high-level demons can’t have their souls destroyed easily and can always resurrect if given the chance) With the souls of the Prime Evils locked away, the Soulstones were scattered and hidden away, with Diablo’s being buried in a catacomb beneath a church that later became the central point for the town of Tristrim. However after a few centuries the Soulstone weakened and Diablo was able to exert influence over the people of Tristrim, which led to massive slaughter and the kidnapping of the King’s son. So begins the game of Diablo.
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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”.

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.