Aaron Robinson

I saw the Alvin and the Chipmunks trailer for the first time a couple of days ago, it looks even worse that what I thought it would. I’m kind of interested in seeing this, but I think I’ll probably just pick up the novel catch it on DVD later.

That sucks. If I was going to grab a PS3, that would be the first game I grab. I've heard nothing but good things about it.

For the most part I've enjoyed the Final Fantasy series, so I think I'll like this one. The story sounds incredibly stupid, but the gameplay looks interesting.

Great deal. Great game. That's pretty much all I have to add.

Honestly, most of the praise I’ve seen is from other people on message boards. I tend to stay away from sites like IGN and Gamespot.

I heard the new DS entry was surprisingly good.

I’m so tempted to watch this just to see how much of a train wreck it is. Not that I’ll actually watch it in cinemas of course, but it may get a rental at some point. Hell, what’s next for Uwe? Tetris maybe?

Thanks. I know the controls, difficulty and bawdy humor put a lot of people off God Hand. Come on guys, any feedback is appreciated.

A bit of an update, I’ve also started reading Captain America, Daredevil and the Detective Comics Batman.

I don’t completely abhor any and all screaming/rough vocals in music. I think it has its place, and I’ll even listen to music that has vocals I don’t like if I enjoy other aspects of said music. I just feel like it gets overused.

I rarely listen to new music, instead I have a habit of looking for music that I’ve missed over the past couple of decades, so I can’t really make a comment on whether or not current metal is treading water. I have a pretty strong dislike for cookie monster vocals in general, so no disagreement there. Having said that though, I think I could easily name 20 or more metal albums, not made by Metallica, that destroy St. Anger.

So I'm curious, with Wolfsbane joining X-Force, what does that mean for X-Factor?

So wait… Metallica’s St Anger is better than most excellent metal albums? I’m not quite sure what you’re trying to say.

God Hand System: PlayStation 2 :: Rating: Mature :: Players: 1 Genre: Beat-em-up :: Released: October 10, 2006 You have to admire a game like God Hand. It flaunts its goofy macho humour like it’s going out of style. In between beating up beefed up dudes and ladies you’ll be treated to goofy cutscenes, bizarre characters, and even the odd reference to internet memes and pop culture. It’s incredibly silly and brutally hard, but it all adds to the fun. God Hand never lets you forget that you’re playing a testosterone fuelled beat-em-up, even during breaks in the gameplay. There isn’t much of a story to God Hand. You control the boisterous young Gene, who in an attempt to save a damsel in distress has his arm brutally sliced off. Luckily for Gene, the young lady he saves has the God Hand (well, God Arm technically), an all powerful limb that gives the owner the strength of a god. Unluckily for Gene, the young lady wants him to put this arm to use, by taking out the rising demon population who are plotting to take over the world. So off Gene goes (although somewhat unwillingly) to lay some major smackdown. The controls for God Hand are certainly unique. Rather than taking the traditional beat-em-up route of moving in the direction you move the left stick, Gene rotates when the stick is pressed left and right and moves by pressing up or down. The whole time the camera sticks behind Gene’s back, spaced just far enough to see any surrounding enemies. If this sounds like an awkward of controlling a beat-em-up, it is, at least initially. But the more you play, the more the controls start to click and it becomes apparent that the game was made with this control scheme in mind. Besides, even with the tank like controls, Gene can dodge attacks with incredible ease. A quick flick left or right and Gene darts in that direction, backwards and gene back flips away, forwards gene ducks down low to dodge attacks from above. With a bit of practice, you’ll be dodging and darting around with ease, and you’ll need to. Oh yes, God Hand is hard, sometimes painfully so. Enemies attack in packs, but the controls are better suited for tackling one enemy at a time. Because of this, you’ll have to be careful who you pick off, and you’ll need to keep a sharp eye on the radar that’s in the upper right hand corner of the screen. It’s the only way to track enemies that try to attack you from behind. There’s quite a range of enemies too, each with different attack patterns and weaknesses. God Hand forces you to constantly adapt to new attacks and situations, and when you don’t, the game over screen will never be far away. But of course, all is not lost. Gene does of course, have the all powerful God Hand on his side. Beat up enough enemies, and you can temporarily turn Gene in to an invincible, quick and hard hitting badass. There’s also the roulette wheel, which allows you to temporarily slow down the action and use a powerful unblockable move from a list that pops up on the screen. This is refilled by collecting power ups stored in various pots and boxes found throughout each level. Gene’s move list is also fully customisable. You can buy new moves between levels, and set your current move set whenever you see fit. There’s a nice big list of punches and kicks available for you too, each having its own weaknesses and strengths, allowing you to build a move set that works for you. Graphically God Hand is a mixed bag. Character models are detailed and vibrant, with some great animations. The camera is positioned just right to see enemies wince and stumble when you strike them and each of Gene’s attacks is detailed carefully. Enemies come in a range of shapes and sizes, and they all look great. It’s always fun to see a group of enemies in the distance, only to notice as you get closer that they’re doing a little synchronised dance while they wait for you. But environments are bland, flat and lifeless. After a while, it starts to detract from the fun, especially when you’re fighting a pack of enemies you’ve fought several times before. The voice acting is very cheesy, and it fits perfectly in the world of God Hand. Every actor delivers their lines with a goofy bravado, knowing full well that their characters aren’t meant to be taken seriously. Cutscenes give the plot some basic direction, but are mainly there to show off some goofy humour. Enemies occasionally yell out catchphrases when they see you, and will let out the appropriate grunts and groans when getting beat up. The kickin surf rock music is the perfect background music for beating up baddies. All in all God Hand does exactly what it sets out to do; create a fun challenging beat-em-up which isn’t afraid to poke fun at itself. It’s a fun game, even though it’s a little too long and repetitive, but if you’re looking for a solid beat-em-up you won’t have to look any further. Score: 8.5/10

Like Yoda said, you’ll be fine as long as you keep it in your sig or over at Shameless Self-Promotion. Heck, Yoda shills earth-2 on the oratory forums in his sig (or at least used to, I’ve had sigs turned off for a while). I don’t think I’ve ever heard of a forum that uses a method like the chamber, I think most sites just use PM’s or e-mails to sort out people who aren’t following site rules.

5) Major Kusanagi (Ghost in Shell) I only know of two other characters on there.

I doubt I’d be buying comic books now if it weren’t for Yoda’s “In the Gutters” section. Reading through a few digital comic books made piqued my interest, and I eventually started checking out the comic book rack at my local newsagency. I do think stuff like this has to be somewhat regulated by the people who are doing it. Perhaps only subbing a handful of episodes of a series that’s due for release, just so people who are thinking of buying the DVDs get a taste of what the show is going to be like. If done sparingly I think it could actually lead to more sales. Just my 2c.

I’ve heard of the majority of them. It's sad some of these failed, but I’m betting at least a couple of these movies will make back their losses on DVD.

Well, thanks to all the time spent surfing Wikipedia whenever I get bored, I’m fairly up to date with both the Marvel and DC universes. I’ll definitely be considering some of these suggestions. I wouldn’t worry about calling X-Factor an aquired taste either, as I’m already a fan of what I’ve read so far.

So I’ve recently started reading X-Factor and Deadpool and I’ve liked what I’ve read. It’s probably been the better part of a decade since I’ve picked up a comic book, and I’m wondering what other titles I should pick up. I’m open to pretty much any suggestion, so basically just fire away. On that note, are there any recommended websites for ordering comic books internationally?

X-Factor is actually the first comic book I’ve picked up in 8 years, and I picked up on a whim (although it was somewhat influenced by popular opinion online). I’ve enjoyed what I’ve seen so far, and I’ll definitely be following the series.

Eh, I can’t really see the Mad Max movies as a long running franchise. The Bond movies have the luxury of being able to take place in a variety of locations, but the Mad Max films are all centred around the same post apocalyptic setting (although the first one is less so). Still, it’s been a long time since the last Mad Max movie. I’m definitely interested.

I’ll probably pick up Dracula X if I see it around. I picked up FFT a few weeks ago but I’ve yet to play it, since I’ve got a decent backlog of games I want to finish first. I never got to play the original FFT (it never got a PAL release), so a port of it on the PSP works fine for me.

Ugh. I honestly don’t know what to think about with the PS3 anymore. This is the 4th version they’ve released of the thing. Every time Sony looks like they’re getting better, they try to negate it by doing something stupid.