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Movies based on video games are a lot like video games based on movies. They’re trying to cash in on an existing franchise and are usually almost completely devoid of any quality. But there are exceptions! Every once in a while there are games like Golden Eye which buck the trend. There is even the occasional movie based on a video game which isn’t completely horrible. I have a strange fascination with movies based on games, both the bad and the good.

Part of enjoying a video game movie is managing your expectations. I don’t think it’s fair to ignore that a movie is bad but there’s no sense in getting your panties in a bunch when a director you don’t like becomes attached to a film based on your favourite game. This list of the top of the top will demonstrate that even at their best video game movies are not ever treated with a ton of respect. If Uwe Boll or Stephen Sommers aren’t doing your video game movie, the alternative isn’t that Christopher Nolan does it, it’s that no one, or someone worse, does it. With that in mind, enjoy my top 5 favourite video game movies.

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Monster in My Pocket was a kids franchise that was fairly popular in the early 90s. The line consisted mainly of small action figures (similar to the Muscle figurines of the 80s), although there was also a short-lived comic series, an animates special, a board game, a trading card line, and this video game from Konami. Playing as either Frankenstein’s Monster or the Vampire (or both is playing in 2-player simultaneous mode) you make your way through 6 stages in order to stop the evil Warlock. You’re traveling throughout mundane environments like a living room and garden, but since you’re pocket size, these environments become quite dangerous. Both characters are equal in terms of skill, although they can do a double jump as well. Several monsters from the line show up in the game, and the package even contains an exclusive figurine. While this game was nothing special, it was a remarkably good NES game which you and a friend could spend an afternoon playing.

There are so many consoles on the market that it’s easy to forget that there used to be so many more. Not only have big players like Sega come and gone, but Atari has gotten out of the hardware race, as well as Bandai (now part and parcel of game publisher Namco).

Vinnk and Sean reminisce about their favorite failures, from the Dreamcast to the Lynx, and the Wonderswan to the 64DD.

Leave your own voicemail at 608-492-1923, or just share your thoughts in the show notes at FamicomDojo.TV:
http://famicomdojo.tv/podcast/63

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Our semi-annual roundtable debate series continues! After determing the fate of Star Wars and Star Trek, following the selection of a fictional President, our panel of experts will now debate Marvel VS DC. The results will shock you. Mostly because they’re inconclusive. We’ll have to do it again.

Sean, Extra Zero, Adam, and Captain Genius join me on this journey into centuries of continuity and endless fanboy crying. We’ll talk comics, movies, cartoons, TV, and T-Shirts.

Join the discussion! Leave a comment for which side you support: Marvel or DC. You don’t even have to listen to the podcast. Just say something.

Listen live on this page, or subscribe via RSS or iTunes.
Direct Link:Powetcast 141: Marvel vs DC

Continue on for related links, show notes, and the exit music.

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Here it is. The first trailer for Iron Man 3 is up as the hype train continues to countdown to May 3rd, 2013.

We can see in the trailer that the events in the movie happen after The Avengers. We see a new armor enter the fray that looks like the Iron Patriot armor we saw Norman Osborn sporting in The Dark Avengers, though I have read that it is being called the ‘Detroit Steel’ armor. And finally The Mandarin steps forward. In the first movie, when Tony was kidnapped, it was by a terrorist organization called the ‘Ten Rings’. It was long believed that this was a reference to the Mandarin and given how he is represented in this trailer, that seems consistent.

Marvel.com has revealed the first movie poster for the forthcoming Iron Man 3 film. Its pretty generic and could honestly be the movie poster for any Iron Man movie. There doesn’t seem to be anything plot specific about this. This is more of a way to begin the hype train that Marvel has been so good at fostering with their world-building movies.

Iron Man 3 will hit theaters May 3, 2013.
Thor: The Dark World is due November 8, 2013.
Captain America: Winter Soldier is coming April 4, 2014.
Guardians of the Galaxy hits August 1, 2014.
The Avengers sequel is slated for May 1, 2015.
Ant-Man is coming our way on November 6, 2015.

Marvel has clearly been busy making things for us to buy in mass quantities.

This is the third of our special series of horror-related $20GOTW for the month of October.

Developed by Jasper Bryne, Lone Survivor is a 2D-pixelated survival horror game which places an emphasis on survival and sanity. You are a nameless character who wears a surgical mask. You are stuck in an apartment in a middle of an outbreak which has caused people to turn into mindless mutants. You have to explore the apartment and find other survivors. However, you’ll have to find food and sleep in order to stay alive and maintain your sanity. You will be beset by strange hallucinations, and at times, it will be difficult to tell what’s real and what isn’t. You find weapons and ammo, but a lot of times it’s a better idea to hide from enemies rather than take them on. You’ll constantly be playing against the clock, as not only do you have to find items needed to proceed, but you’ll also have to find food and sleep on a regular basis. You’ll gain one of several endings depending on how you proceed in the world. While Lone Survivor looks like it would fit on the Super Nintendo, it’s disturbing and unique enough to fit in with today’s survival horror.