Brave New Films, a progressive viral film site born out of the 2008 election, has taken a sharp stab at conservative pundits. Unfortunately they did so by slandering a classic video game character in the process.

An email sent out of subscribers and an update on their home page shows a headline “Pac Man vs Palin? You Betcha!” paired with an image that depicts the Namco owned character chasing former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin like one of the enemy ghosts. In the text they refer to him as “Progressive Against Conservative” Man though there is little mistaking the character, right down to the basic yellow pie shape.

The game itself is identical to the original Pac Man, with a purple maze instead of blue, and the ghosts replaced with Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Sarah Palin, and Bill O’Reilly. When a player eats a power pellet and then eliminates an enemy ghost, an audio clip from one of the conservative pundits plays. Likewise, when a pundit catches Pac Man, a clip taunting the player also runs.

Parody and satire are well and good, and fair use laws when paired with non profits are generous and fair. However, it cannot be mistaken by my eyes that Brave New Films and its founder Robert Greenwald are guilty of stealing Pac Man for their own gain. There are millions of unique or even similar flash games available and plenty of like-minded developers who could’ve made a game for Brave New Films. Instead they took an existing idea and willfully modified the visuals and audio. The core game mechanic, the very thing that makes Pac Man an arcade classic, is completely unchanged.

Brave New Films did not respond to requests for comment, we will update if they do. The game is currently still available at http://bravenewpacman.com/

[Read the rest of this entry…]

Caprica has been put permanently offline, but Conan successfully uploaded his consciousness to another network — beating both Leno AND Letterman in ratings! Not bad for cable. Also, in Cool Beans, it’s sequels galore! Rock Band 3, Fable III, Fallout: New Vegas, Halo: Reach, Starcraft II and more…

Direct Link: Powetcast 43: Castlevaniacs

Audio Netcast Details
Subscribe to the Powetcast on iTunes

(Leave your comments below!)

Show notes after the jump

[Read the rest of this entry…]

Has it really been another year already?

It sure has! 104 weeks of One Video Per Week! Well, 106 so we can get to the end of November, but maybe more like 103 after all the missed weeks…

Like I said, 103 weeks of One Video Per Week! (I hope you put your money on those other three weeks!)

This year we’re doing the nominations a little differently. Here’s what you need to do:
[Read the rest of this entry…]

 

Its that time again! Another week of game releases revealed for your purchasing pleasure. The two big releases that I saw were Call of Duty: Black Ops and Harry Potter 7 part 1. Both on pretty much all systems. See those and more after the jump! If you see something you like, click it and add it to your cart!

[Read the rest of this entry…]

[Read the rest of this entry…]

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

Only missing Halloween by a week, but in honest, for some of us Halloween doesn’t end with a date. There a very special subgenre on geek that specializes in the supernatural, the arcane, and the frightening and everything in between. The horror geek, or “Shriek Geek” as I am dubbing them (and myself, in essence) leans toward media and realms that deal with the freakish, the ghoulish, and the downright creepy and chilling.

And you can tell there’s a fair amount of Shriek Geeks out there, since zombie movies are so prolific these days, along with supernatural thriller and survival horror games such as Resident Evil, Clock Tower, Silent Hill and so on. Then there’s a certain side of the Shriek Geeks that go for horror with a bit more of a gross and physically terrifying side to it, such as Clive Barker’s Jericho and Dead Space. But before those games came about, one gaming series in particular stood out for its freakish themes and chilling visuals and violence: Splatterhouse.
[Read the rest of this entry…]

A few weeks ago, I included another classic Electronic Arts developed game, Lakers vs Celtics. With NBA Elite 11 being canceled, I figured I’d take another stroll down basketball memory lane. Most people don’t know this, but this game is actually a sequel to an earlier basketball game called One on One: Dr J vs Larry Bird. Jordan vs Bird was one of those games where were more more fond playing it as kids than as adults. At its time, it featured some of the best animations and graphics in a basketball game, and some pretty cool moves. Along with the standard one on one, the game featured a 3 point shootout featuring Larry Bird and a Slam Dunk contest featuring Jordan. As time went on, the game got a bit monotonous (with there only being 2 players and all) and the ref’s calls were a bit too unforgiving, but hey, it was two of the greatest players of the time going at it. Who would win? Jordan’s monster dunks, or Bird’s deadly-accurate 3-point skills? You be the judge.