Everyone knows Superman was originally created by two men – Jerry Siegel & Joe Shuster – whose creation first appeared in Action Comics #1. As of last week, a judge ruled that the heirs of Jerry Siegel were to receive half the copyright of that material back. What does this mean exactly? Well, if I had to distill the story down into only two wildly oversimplified bulletpoints, then know this – DC may have just lost half the profits they make (and have made since 1999) off of Superman, and they may lose the remaining half of the copyright entirely to the Shuster estate in 5 years.

Now, things aren’t really as cut and dry as that – as in any legal case, there’s a lot of room for interpretation. And expect DC/Warner to make more than a couple appeal attempts as well.

But for now…
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Last weekend, many poweteers attended the ever exciting Anime Boston convention. (and subsequently became engrossed in the massive line waits for registration and pre-registration alike, but that’s neither here nor there) After the convention having come and gone, to keep my little brain from going into withdrawal after being thrown back into the mediocrity that is normal everyday life, I began thinking of just exactly what life lessons anime and manga have passed on to geeks like myself. (and are sometimes taken way too much to heart by more “enthused” geeks of the genre, in which case they should be put out of our misery)

So of course, I had to write a compilation of such thoughts, and share with the world. Slight spoilers for some series.

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	Subscribe to iTunes POWETcast  Choose your own reader Episode 1 – Fit the First (direct link)

Welcome to Powet.TV’s first audio netcast!

Part of the Powet Presents series, this weekly netcast will include all six episodes (called “fits”) of the Primary Phase of the BBC Radio version of Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, produced by Not Them Productions. At the top of every episode, we talk to the show’s producers, audio talent, and/or voice actors about the challenges and stories relating to this fan production. The discussion also includes explanations of the differences BBC Radio show and other versions of this story — including five novels, a TV miniseries, and a Disney feature film — as well as the changes the Not Them producers made to the radio scripts in order to keep them more in line with these versions.

But enough about that. Enjoy Episode 1 – Fit the First!,  check out our iTunes store, or  subscribe to our netcast feed in your favorite reader! And be sure to come back here and tell us what you thought!

Show notes:

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Saturday morning cartoons are a staple of every child’s life. Nearly every good (and even some not-so-good) Saturday morning animated feature had a video game tie-in to go along with it. Along with kid-favorites such as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Power Rangers, there were also shows such as Exo-Squad and Gargoyles which, while they were still intended for children, contained themes which were more complex than what one would find on shows like Pokemon. Phantom 2040, which debuted in the mid 90s, was one of the shows in the latter category. It told the story of Kit Walker, who was the 24th Phantom. In the distant future, he was charged with saving the city of Metropia from collapse. It was bought to an end after only 2 seasons, mostly due to it’s themes of environmentalism, corporate greed, and social structure going over viewer’s heads. This was especially unfortunate considering that the show had a lot going for it. It had a stylish art style (thanks to Aeon Flux creator Peter Chung), solid writing, and a vocal cast featuring the likes of Mark Hamil, Margot Kider, and Deborah Harry to name a few. Most impressive of all, it featured a 16-bit era video game tie-in that didn’t suck. This was indeed impressive, especially given the dismal track record of 16-bit games based on existing intellectual properties back then.

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A While after Age of Empires II, Ensemble game studios went to work on another RTS. Although it has similar gameplay mechanics to Age of Empires, it’s a different experience. For one, there are are only three civilizations as compared to the many civilizations from Age of Empires. Players can choose between the Greeks, the Norse, and the Egyptians. However, each civilization has it’s own set of powers, units, and structures. Each civilization has three gods, one of which you select before a match. Also, there is only one single-player campaign, although it’s huge and expansive. You follow the adventures of Atlantean general Arkantos as he attempts to regain the favor of the god Poseidon. You’ll travel through each of the three lands and meet each of the three civilizations.
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Next month, NECA will be releasing action figures for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles based on their original comic book design. Each figure comes loaded with accessories including a small turtle, weapons, and base. The first wave consists of Leonardo, Donatello, Michaelangelo and Raphael. I have not heard of any plans for future waves, but if I do, I’ll be sure to post about it. Figures.com had pictures of the packaging.
    

Fans attending the New York Comic Con will have a chance to purchase the entire wave in an exclusive box set.

Here are the figures loose:

   

Feel free to join in the discussion on these figures here on our forums.

Source: Figures.com

Thanks to his inclusion in the cast of Super Smash Brothers Brawl, Pit, the hero of Kid Icarus has finally broken out of obscurity and back into the gaming icon spotlight. No word yet on a new Kid Icarus game, but in the meantime, here is one of his earlier adventures. This little known Game Boy cart, released in 1991 is the only sequel to the Nintendo Entertainment System 8-bit classic. The goddess Palutena has summoned Pit back into action to help defend Angel Land from the demon Orcos. However, Pit must first travel through four worlds and gather the three sacred treasures. Along the way, you must also prove your worth to Zeus. Towards the end of the fourth stage, Zeus will judge your performance and determine how many of the sacred treasures you will be able to use in the final battle. The game uses the same engine as Metroid II, and the graphics have been slightly improved from the game’s console predecessor. Unlike the original NES game, the game scrolls in all directions, allowing players to backtrack. The password system from the NES has been nixed in favor of a save system. They may be small improvements, but they are nice to have. If you’re a fan of Kid Icarus, or a recent Smash Brothers player who wants to know more about Pit, then you should definitely seek out this cart. It will tide you over until Nintendo creates a sequel.

The above video with 1UP’s Dan Hsu shows some of the changes Capcom has made to the Xbox Live and Playstation Network remake of Super Street Fighter II Turbo.
Taking a page out of Halo 3’s playbook, SSFIITHDR will have an Xbox Live beta test featuring just Ryu and Ken packed in with a purchase of Capcom’s next XBLA offering Commando 3. Its an 8 week test this spring, and the final Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix will be out in summer.