The little-known-yet-totally-awesome geek band from Seattle, WA – Kirby Krackle – had some pretty sweet pictures coming out of their Twitter from Preview Night at this year’s San Diego Comic-Con, from exclusive figures and models of Deadpool and Ghost Rider’s bike, to a full scale model of the mech armor from Suckerpunch, to a huge lego-esque Super CoCo!

Huge props to Kirby Krackle for these awesome photos for those of us who couldn’t make it!

Check them out after the cut!

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Without further delay, here is Part 2 of our comprehensive 9somewhat) look at Sonic the Hedgehog’s 20 years in the gaming industry, as we take a deeper look into the rest of the games of the series, including a few not-as-well known games, and also delve a bit into how the franchise may be able to pick itself up after so many mistakes in the past.

Check out Part 1 HERE.

As of today, it is officially Sonic the Hedgehog’s 20th birthday. No longer a speedy teen, Sonic has had his fair share of trials as he’s grown. Since June 23rd, 1991, Sonic has helped catapult Sega into fame, and also helped drag it to its current fate. Despite this, he’s survived it all, and still manages to run his way through the several potholes his franchise has gone through.

With This episode, I go through the past 20 years of Sonic with a little help from a guest. It got to be so big a project, I had to split it into two parts. Here’s Part 1, and be sure to look out for Part 2 coming shortly.

It seems like it’s the year of the handhelds at E3 2011, with Nintendo and Sony both debuting their newest portable poster-children.

“Wii U”

The Wii U isn’t as much of a portable handheld as it is a new console with a portable accessory. It’s controller works in tandem and separate of the Wii console as a sort of super-controller to both interact with Wii games, and act as it’s own Wii screen separate from a television complete with a touch screen. Supposed release of 2012. (and yes, I’ll probably not be the first to make the “weeeee-ooooo” ambulance siren sound effect)

Playstation Vita

Sony’s Playstation Vita looks to be the evolution of the PSP, complete with multiple touch screen capabilities, built-in front and back cameras, multiple motion control axis, and 3G and Wi-Fi in certain models with the “near” function to find other Vita players in the vicinity. It was hinted at a few months ago under the codename “NGP”, but was formally unveiled at E3 this year. Will it it prove to be a more versatile successor to the PSP, or end as a flop like it’s predecessor? We’ll see at the end of 2011 when it releases for around $249US.

Back in the 90’s, video games had a trend of having big ominous corporations that served as the general antagonist for the story, even if the true antagonists just worked there. The idea that the heroes had not just one or two, but an entire (usually public) organization baring down on them for whatever reason was a pretty popular idea, due to the fact that just the idea made the fight that much more intense and necessary. Filled with corrupt corporate executives, the company seems benevolent to the general masses, but is secretly developing either weaponry, amassing political sway, and plotting how it can take over the world.

None fit this example better than Resident Evil’s Umbrella Corporation.

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It didn’t take long for the new Mortal Kombat game to reach the potential that NetherRealm Studios and Warner Bros. had been aiming for.

According to April sales reports listed on GiantBomb.com, the newest MK game sold over 900,000 copies, and crushed competition from Portal 2 and several other games released in the same month. Couple this with Ed Boon’s tweet that sales of the Kollector’s Edition and Tournament Edition actually put overall sales totals at over 1 million, and you’ve got a complete Fatality of records for only being out less than a month. Kongratulations!

In other geekery news, comic artist Adam Hughes has declared that he will no longer by doing any convention commissions, after a altercation with a con-goer resulted in a commissioned piece Hughes had done ending up being flipped and sold on Ebay for several times the cost. Adam Hughes partner (and also a damned fine artist) Allison Sohn commented –

Thank the piece of shit that moaned and practically wept about needing his Wonder Woman sketch, and today it’s on eBay.

Here’s how things will work going forward. Adam was only able to get 3 sketches done this past weekend- and was was for the S.O.B. that turned around and eBayed it. So now Adam will eBay one sketch per convention day. If its a 2-day show, there will be 2 auctions. 3-day show, there will be three auctions. No more $200 and $400 sketches. Sorry. But if Adam has to kill himself drawing so that some lying slime ball can go home and make a profit off of his hard work, then forget it.

What bothers me most is how annoyingly persistent the guy was. He lingered, hovered, and made all sorts of stories up about how much he really wanted his sketch. Essentially, he lied and he lied a lot, at the expense of real fans. Adam could have spent that time drawing for someone on the list that really DID want the sketch. I hope this guy chokes

Again, I put the question to you. Should those who commission art be condemned for turning around and selling it for their own profit?