As the clock ticks down on this generation of consoles and rumors fly about next-gen leaks and specs, Sony passes the 91 million units sold mark according to Techradar. These numbers seem to be slowing down, for example, they sold around 800 thousand more this time last year. Unless there is a sudden massive drop off, this will be the year Sony passes the 100 million mark which is pretty cool. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.
Category: Opinion
Thoughts on Ben Affleck Batman Departure
By now we have all seen the confirmation that Ben Affleck won’t be Batman anymore. If not, here is an article from cinemablend. This is a bit weird for me tho, since when he was first announced I hated the idea. The truth is I actually rather liked him as Batman and it kind of sucks he never got a true solo Batman movie. Not that I think he was the best at the job, but he was far better than I personally expected.
That being said, it did become quite obvious in Justice League he was there more out of obligation than any desire to be there which I understand, it wasn’t exactly a good movie. He was cursed with being a great Batman in a time of mediocre scripts. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.
Xbox Live on IOS Android and Switch?
Yes you read that headline right, and yes it sounds pretty weird but that is the rumor going around due to a session description for a 2019 game development conference. Polygon has more of the finer details about who and how many, but for me, this is both exciting and weird. It could be interesting to be able to combine your online friend’s list to see who is playing what across console or even on the go. Maybe even the potential of Achievements for mobile and Nintendo games? Now all of this is 100% speculation on my part, but it’s all quite exciting. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.
Avengers: Endgame Superbowl trailer
Well, Disney is continuing it’s trend after the first Avengers 4 trailer of keeping things hush hush. Pretty much we get Cap’s pre-war speech and we get to see the rest of the crew suit up for what’s sure to be a cataclysmic finale against Thanos. I’m curious why Captain Marvel hasn’t popped up yet but since I imagine she’ll be the turning point of the battle they likely wont show her til the end. I’m glad much isn’t being revealed and I’m pumped as hell. May the gaming gods bring you glory.
When Is A Villain Not Truly Villain?
Not long ago @torstenvblog and I were talking about nerd stuff as we always do and we got to talking about the bad guys in comics and movies, and when maybe they aren’t really the bad guys. Some of them are quite cut and dry, like Jason Vorhees or Freddie Krueger. One wears a hockey mask and kills horny teens and the other was basically a child molester that later killed people in their dreams. No sane person will ever make a real argument for them and say hey he was just misunderstood or those campers deserved it. There are however villains that, maybe aren’t quite villains, at least not in the traditional sense of they are bad guys, just bad from the perspective of who the hero of the story is.
A good example of this, however, is Magneto from Xmen. He isn’t really a bad guy, he simply disagrees with Professor X on how best to protect mutants. Sure he does some questionable things, but if someone was trying to hurt you and everyone you cared about and your people wouldn’t you be willing to do some less than honest and moral things to protect them?
Another solid example is Ocean Master in the Aquaman movie. All he really wanted to do was stop the humans from destroying the ocean his people live in, and sure while he did steal a submarine and kill a ton of people to start a war under a false pretense but his heart was in the right place. He wasn’t doing it because he wanted to hurt people or he hated anyone, he thought he was doing what was best for Atlantis.
So really, at what point are people no longer villains? Is it when they can reasonably and appropriately justify what they are doing to a reasonable person? Or is it when they give up their quest and die for the greater good like Loki? I’m not sure there is an easy answer, and everyone will have a different one but for me, a big part of it comes down to intent. Look at Thanos from the MCU. Nobody would argue what he was doing was truly good, but he wasn’t really wrong. It would have saved his world, and it did help other worlds he had conquered. Most importantly his intent is good, he wants to make sure what happened to his world doesn’t happen to others. While he is quite misguided it isn’t really fair to say he is evil or a villain, he is just a bad guy from the perspective of the heroes. A future blog we will discuss what makes a hero, and why Captain America wasn’t truly a good guy recently. Until then tell me what you think, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.
Batman: White Knight
If you’ve been following our humble blog lately, you’ve likely noticed the villain posts lately, including such as 5 great Superman villains and 5 great Flash villains . Well, let’s face it, when it comes to super hero and villain relationships, none are more enigmatic, traumatic, and psychotic than Batman and Joker. But White Knight asks the question, what if Joker went sane, what would become of Gotham’s Dark Knight?
After the millionth or so go between the iconic figures, enough starts to seem to be enough. The collateral damage Batman inflicts on Gotham is huge but the day is saved; Joker bets Batman he he can be a greater hero and idol in Gotham than him. In Arkham Asylum he begins taking an experimental medication that does the impossible- makes the Joker sane. As Jack Napier, he wins his freedom back in the court of law and begins his long road to saving Gotham. He reignites his relationship with Harley, while breaking the second Harley Quinn’s psyche in the process and begins aiding the police. Meanwhile, Batman is riding the line as Alfred lays dying and he has become more quiet and violent than normal. Not even Mr Freeze’s aid can aid him and his anger is affecting Nightwing and Batgirl, who fight amongst themselves what to do with Bruce. If that wasn’t enough, a horde of Batman’s deadliest villains is running amok and the second Harley, now christened Neo-Joker, is out to get her psychotic hubby back but who be the one to save us and the one to damn us, the former clown prince of crime or the Batman?
I consider this a modern Batman classic but I have some tiny issues. The story is complex and exciting, raising some good points about Batman and exploring the relationship between the two enemies. There is a really good villain cast and Mr Freeze has some good character moments. Napier steals the show for the book and that’s actually refreshing because he’s a separate, flawed character in his own right. The artwork is cool and there is a lot of action. An issue I have is that the story takes a few liberties with Batman’s lore that don’t outright piss me off but one I feel can be used to make a tired ass sequel if followed. In the end, it’s a great story and I consider it to be one of the better Bat stoies. May the gaming gods bring you glory.
5 epic X-Men villains
Whether you were a 90’s kid and grew up with X-Men the animated series or were like me and grew up in love with the first X- Men movie. So today, let’s cover the badasses that dare to bring trouble to Xavier’s School beginning with a character I loved, got butchered in X Men: The Last Stand but thankfully got the treatment he deserved in Deadpool 2 …
1. The Juggernaut-
He’s big, mean, and literally unstoppable in almost every way possible. Kane Marko is the angry step brother of Professor X, having his latent mutant ability unlocked from a mystical artifact, as his name suggests he became a powerhouse. Foes like Wolverine, Colossus, and even the Hulk have a hard time stopping him, his only weakness is his mind which is protected by the large dome shaped helmet he wears. Good luck getting it off cuz he’s the Juggernaut bitch.
2. Trask and the Sentinels-
X-Men: Days of Future Past covered Trask pretty well and how much damage a human man could do to a world full of super powered mutants. Bolivar Trask designed and created the Sentinels, machines specifically created to at first handle mutant threats and would eventually run amok, running to a future where both humans and mutants are near extinct. Isn’t it swell how one man can make a difference?
3. The Dark Phoenix-
Here we begin hitting the truly devastating entities of not only the X-Men universe but the whole Marvel universe. The Phoenix force is a wandering cosmic entity that came across the seemingly deceased Jean Grey, one of the original X Men who gave there lives trying to save the world. As the Phoenix, her power is multiplied nearly a thousand fold. In fact, she has destroyed planetary systems with relative ease. What makes her a great villain is the emotional toll she takes on her friends, loved ones, and the amount of sheer destruction she causes. Beware the Phoenix.
4. Apocalypse-
You know the saying “survival of the fittest”? Apocalypse is one of the first mutants in recorded history, a figure so powerful he was seen as a god in his native ancient Egypt; thousands of years later he’s pissed at the state of mutant kind and yearns to enslave man and lesser mutants to serve him and those he deems fit. The ones he finds most exceptional, he makes his Horsemen, donating some of his enormous power to radically increasing there’s. Apocalypse has super strength, speed, durability, telepathy, telekinesis, energy projection, shape shifting abilities, and is extremely intelligent with thousands of years of knowledge under his belt.
5. Magneto and the Brotherhood of Mutants-
Of course I have to talk about Magneto if you talk about X-Men. After surviving the Holocaust, Erik Lensherr ( we’re using his movie name, I’ve never been a huge fan of his comic name) realized history would one day repeat itself so he made what are essentially the anti X-Men, bent on mutant superiority. With an army of some the most nefarious mutants he could gather including the likes of Mystique, Sabretooth, Pyro, Blob, and Toad just to name a few. Magneto has the ability to control metal and magnetic waves, which let’s face it, in our modern world means we’re pretty screwed. Even Wolverine with his adamantium skeleton and claws is rendered useless and the helmet Magneto wears protects him from telepathic intervention from Xavier. Time and time again, whether as there arch enemy or unlikely allie, Magneto and the Brotherhood is a force to be reckoned with…
I hope you enjoyed my list and not to be forgotten is a shout out to Mr Sinister, the Morlocks, Onslaught, The Hellfire Club, and Vulcan who are badasses but I just couldn’t fit them here. May the gaming gods bring you glory.
Why I Am Ignore Next Gen Console Rumors
I am sure you have seen them by now because they are everywhere. They have been for a while now. The new PlayStation can do this, the new Xbox will be named that they both will be in 16k. That last one I made up for the record, nobody quote that. Honestly however that is why I am ignoring them. Specs are always subject to change, so at this point even if the leak is real, and it probably isn’t it is far to early to know how real it is.
The other issue is many times these rumors and leaks come from off-handed comments like the one I made earlier. Someone says we wanted to aim for X standard and people want to take it as fact or report it simply because people want to know and they know it will get them clicks or views. For me, the only real option is to more or less ignore them completely since focusing on them won’t make them come any faster. How do you guys deal with the rumors? Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.
Welcome To February
Welcome to February, the month of love. This month has a few happenings for me you can see here. Happenings In February That being said, this month around oh I guess the 14th I will probably review some movies about love for no reason in particular. Maybe there is a holiday there. Anyway, January was a great start to the year and played a lot of great games, like Tales of Vesperia: Definitive Edition (PS4) which is a game I had great experiences with years ago and experienced again now. I haven’t had the chance to try out Resident Evil 2 or Kingdom Hearts 3 yet but I am sure I will soon enough. This year in gaming has already been great, and I am enjoying The Start Of Distant Worlds Two as well. So everyone enjoy this month, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.
Why Married With Children Wouldn’t Work In 2019
Every so often someone asks the question, why don;y we have a Married With Children Spinoff like Married With Grandchildren? Well, truth be told, for the same reason The Office wouldn’t work according to Steve Carell. Except even worse as the show is much older and possibly even more offensive by the standards of today.
For the younger readers, and those that lived in a cave from 1987 until 1997, the show was about the Bundy family. The middle-class family in Chicago is the American dream, husband and wife, one son and one daughter owns a home and a dog. Don’t ask me how they are middle-class, Al Bundy is a shoe salesman and his wife doesn’t work. He tells us this constantly that he hates his job and the fat slobs that come in there. By the way, this is a recurring theme. He routinely insults the women that come in. Here is a clip.
As you can see, while funny this would probably piss a lot of people off. Don’t get me wrong, if a person acted like that in real life he would rightfully get punched in the face and so would half the women, but it still wouldn’t likely go well today.
Other issues are his relationship with his wife Peggy. Now they obviously love each other, hell despite his claims of hating her he had multiple chances to cheat and never did and rarely truly disrespected her. But the jokes today would be a huge line many wouldn’t like being crossed.
He also has similar things to say about his female neighbor tho he is best friends with her husbands. (She has 2 throughout the show)
The show is just full of humor that by today’s standards would be viewed as degrading towards, well everyone honestly. Even Al, who is constantly made fun of for being a loser shoe salesman whose best days were in high school. The show is literally built around insults, but they are used to show that while they talk to each other a certain way they are a family that loves each other. Al has multiple chances to cheat on Peggy but never does. Peggy while lazy and insulting to her husband actually does cook him dinner and make sure he is taken care of, and later on, when she wants to get a job Al supports her even tho half the show is him making fun of feminist, tho admittedly the over the top feminist most people make fun of. Sadly however in today’s world shows like this and The Office won’t really do well on T.V. without upsetting people, and a lot of companies won’t want to risk it. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.
Savior Gaming 