About a week and a half ago a new poster for the incredibly anticipated Kick-Ass was revealed featuring Red Mist. Well now, UGO has posted a look at the Big Daddy (Nic Cage) character poster that you can check out below (click the poster for high-res version)! In addition to this new poster, the clip of Big Daddy shooting Hit Girl to train her has also been provided, and you can view that below the poster! I think this is probably the favorite scene of all the footage -both legit and leaked- that has been seen thus far.

Kick-Ass comes to theaters April 16, 2010!

Enjoy!

After the long wait, (even longer because I went to a store that doesn’t sell it until a day after it came out.) I popped my brand new Legend of Zelda cartridge in, and watched the opening sequence. Fiddled with the controls a bit, and my first impression is the writing in the game is wonderful, and it has very similar game play to The Phantom Hourglass. (If that comes as a surprise to you, you’re a putz.) Why fix something that isn’t broken?

Although I must say, I am a bigger fan of the classic controlled Zelda games, especially the first one. There’s just something about killing a room full of blue knights that makes me feel the game actually requires skill. Which I think lacks in most video games today. Even when something is ridiculously hard it is usually a matter of luck more than ability now. (That’s all I have to say about new video games, I promise.)

I do wish that Spirit Tracks did have options for controls without the stylus, as I’m a lazy gamer, and sometimes the stylus feels like work. But I must admit the controls aren’t nearly as awkward as you would think for almost total control with a pen. And at times controlling two characters.

The intro is really good, but at the same time a bit long. You’re looking at over an hour until you get the sword on your first play through. The reasoning for this is understandable in a way, they were just teaching you how to do everything you haven’t done before. So you learn how to ride the train, and how to control secondary people with your stylus etc. before you get the sword. And as stated, the story line, while taking a lot of time, is really fun.

Some of the new features are amazing, for example the spirit flute in this game responds to blowing in the mic, making you feel like you are actually playing the instrument, and it is done really well. And while I liked Phantom Hourglass, I wish that the spirit tower in this game tried to vary from its formula in a more direct way. Because it makes it feel at times as if you are playing the same game, (Even while controlling a phantom of your own.) I must say though having spirit Zelda with you improves the game immensely, just because her and Link’s chemistry is so entertaining.

My number one worry about the game was that the train wasn’t going to be entertaining. As the ship in Wind Waker, was fun, but over used. The train is fun, and it can be tense at moments with some close calls, which is good. The problem is how frustrating it is when you fall on the wrong side of a close call and have to take a 5 minute train ride from the beginning again. All in all, since they give you the cannon really early, it has at least as many pros as it does cons. For all intents and purposes it might as well be a boat.

The save system is the same as any other modern Zelda title in the series, meaning you can save at just about any time, and it might kick you to the first room in a dungeon now and again. Which I think works well for a hand held system.

I can’t speak for everyone else, but my favorite part of Zelda games are the dungeons, and the puzzles in them. Basically in this game there are two types of dungeons, similar to Phantom Hourglass. In this one there are temple dungeons, and then the Spirit tower dungeons. Which I think offers a good contrast, at times I think there is too much running around between dungeons, but the track system actually keeps you pretty focused.

They have some new puzzles in the game that will keep you on your toes, especially with how easy it is to forget that sometimes you have to blow into the microphone (keeping in mind you had to blow in the microphone in Phantom Hourglass as well). They took away some of the hallmarks from the Zelda games that I generally like to see, but they kept the important ones, and I’m happy to admit it felt like a Zelda game.

The final thing I have to say about this title at this point, (As I am only half way through.) Is that I am proud to announce some good bosses. The last few Zelda games apparently forgot they give you fairies and potions, and therefore compensated so you never had to use one. I can only hope for the rest of the game, but I have had to use a few of them so far.

I plan on either updating this post in a few days after I’ve finished, or else write a new Review. In either case, look for it!

Buy your copy on Amazon, it’s worth it!

Update: Mild Spoilers ahead!

Well, I’ve now been through the game, and I thought I would share a little bit more, because now I know the game in and out like a woman.

First I’ll start by saying, by the end of the game I was a little sick of the train. I don’t think I would be sick of it if I stuck just to going to where I was supposed to, but when you add in a ton of side quests, it gets pretty redundant. Although they do compensate by making the tracks a little easier for you after you’ve past them, but then why not just let you skip them all together? (The teleport system they implemented wasn’t very useful.)

Next I would like to say, that I liked the dungeons, but some of them were a little short and there weren’t enough of them. This sums up what I feel about the weapons in the game as well. The whip is awesome, the sand wand is awesome, the boomerang is awesome. But…That’s about all the items you get.

The greatest disappointment I had with the dungeon aspect, was when you are riding the tracks into the final showdown, you are taken into a teleporter, in front of a massive establishment. But instead of it being a dungeon it is a few train mini-games that lead straight into the main boss.

The main boss was tougher than some, but once I figured him out, I still never needed to use a potion. Although I will say, other than his middle phase (Which I thought was boring, although it was the most deadly.) the last sequence really sent you through the gauntlet making you use the abilities you’ve accrued. (Maybe not as much as a Mega Man game, but swell for a Zelda game.)

I was saying earlier in the post that they took out some of the hall marks, the biggest one I missed was the acquisition of heart pieces. Although it wasn’t apart of the very first Zelda game, I feel it was missed. The also reverted to the same potion system as the first game, instead of bottles. Which I thought was awesome because it made the game that much tougher.

On a small side tangent, I didn’t like the way that you got the master sword in this game, (or Lokomo sword in this one.) As it was just given to you by someone that was holding onto it the entire game, weird.

The best part of this game, are the dungeons that feel different than other Zelda games with some new trails to keep you stumped. And the other thing that I think makes this game a solid investment is, the story and the characters. The scenes are really good, and I’ll just echo myself from earlier when I say that, Link and Zelda’s chemistry is great.

To wrap everything up in a tight package, this game is good, just not as epic as Ocarina of Time, or as fun as Link to the Past. I would think if you’re a Zelda fan it is a must have, even though it isn’t as long as some of the console releases, it is a great length for a portable game, with tons of extra mini-games and side quests. The train is better than I make it sound, because it aggravates me at times, and so our relationship is bitter sweet.

Overall on a normal DS game rating I would give this game 7.5 out of 10.

Although if I were rating it against The other Zelda games, Link to the Past being a 10, and Majora’s Mask being a 1, than I would give it a 6.

Have any questions? Feel free to comment.

Almost two weeks ago, Yahoo! Movies revealed the first official poster for Iron Man 2. Now, Apple has revealed the second poster for the film featuring Mickey Rourke as the villain, Whiplash! Click below for a high-res version!

Iron Man 2 is due out May 7, 2010!

This is the weapon of a Jedi Knight. Not as clumsy or random as a blaster; an elegant weapon for a more civilized age.

Anyone who has watched Star Wars has thought the same thing, “How can I get my hands on one of those?” Ever since the first time the I watched Luke and Vader duke it out I started my search. Of course there was the Hasbro Lightsaber for kids. But I always wanted something more like the movies. Something with some weight to it and didn’t feel like a plastic flashlight.

Which brings us to the next entry in my quest: Master Replica’s FX Lightsabers. I was so excited to see a “movie accurate” prop with lights AND sounds. After receiving the saber I recall being disappointed in the quality of the hilt as well as the saber itself. As many of us found out, these sabers were very fragile. Mine was broke during shipping and upon investigation I realized the saber portion was made of a very thin plastic. Sure it looked great and was pretty on the shelf, but not quite what I was hoping for.

Finally after decades of looking, I’ve found my lightsaber, specifically the Exhalted by Saber Forge. I received my review copy in the mail shortly after I got home from work. From the long triangular box, I knew exactly what it was. After (literally) tearing through the box I mounted the saber (light) portion into the hilt, firmly held on with both hands and pushed the button.

The start up blasts followed by a hum pulsed from the bottom of the saber. As I swung the saber around the hum changed to a whooshing sound. The hilt and saber are designed and engineered for dueling. You can tell by how well the weight is distributed. For the final test I struck the nearest dining chair and was pleased to hear a crash from the saber. I then hit the floor with a little more force for a different crash sound. No signs of damage or cracking on the hilt or the saber. Saber Forge uses 1/8 inch walled polycarbonate blade. Very sturdy for dueling or just harassing your wife.

A few nice features worth mentioning:
• The hilt is machined from T-6 aircraft grade aluminum.
• Removable blade.
• Louder Sound FX and more of them. 10 swoosh, 10 clash, activation, idle hum and deactivation.
• Multiple blade sizes to choose from: 34″ 36″ 40″

Saber Forge offers the lightsabers in a few different packages. The simplest version comes with a hilt and saber with your choice of color. If you want just the hilt, you can order it that way too. From there you can upgrade your order to include a sound board and speaker or a rechargeable set up so you don’t have to use batteries. I would highly recommend adding the recharge feature. It’ll save you a lot in the long run.

Alright, let’s break this down:

PROS
• Very sturdy construction.
• Well weighted for dueling or just swinging it around. Not awkward or top heavy.
• LED provides a very bright light.
• Great value. For the price you really can’t get a better lightsaber.
• The sound is top notch. Has a much larger library than most sabers.

CONS
• The screw you use to hold the blade in place is a little awkward. You need an allen wrench to take the blade in or out. To be honest this is a pretty nit-picky CON since I am having a hard time thinking of one.

Overall I can’t praise these sabers enough. They are a very reasonable price point with enough variations to fit your style and budget. I would highly recommend this for yourself or the geek in your life.

Image in Post Caption Taken by: Philip Lethen

A man so prolific, yet he remains unknown. His name is attached to more releases than I can even imagine; be it performing, producing, mixing, re-mixing or just given thanks. You could practically play the six degrees of J.G. Thirlwell within the music industry he’s touched so many people and projects.As he gains more public notoriety with his scoring of “The Venture Bros.” on The Cartoon Network. This robot hopes that this will get some more people to pay attention to the genius output he’s been giving us for years. His various projects throughout the years have given sound varying from: ambient noise, rock ’n’ roll, big band swing, and even a full orchestra. This was one of my long time dreams to conduct an interview with J.G. himself, and he graciously took time out of his busy schedule to answer all of my questions with very thoughtful answers and even breaking exclusive information. Without further delay an all new interview with J.G. Thrilwell.

Photo By: Taylor Crothers

Juke-bot:

First off, I noticed you have set the title for your new album to be ‘Hide’, how far along is the album? And what is the sound shaping out to be like?

JGT:

I think it is very different again to what I’ve ever done… I have been working on it off and on for a few years. It’s shaping up to be perhaps the best album I’ve made. The melodies are challenging, with strange dissonance and the arrangements are quite complex. Some parts are operatic, some might be described as symphonic psychedelia. Dynamically it’s very varied and it has some swooping beautiful parts and sometimes is a little more abstract; sometimes very bombastic. It is a concept album that I began under the reign of GW Bush and some of it is imbued with a sense of dread and anticipation. I have most of it composed but I’m still working on overdubs and mixes.

I’m also working on a new Manorexia studio album, which I am mixing in both stereo and surround sound. I’ll be releasing those two albums on Ectopic Ents.

I’m also working on a new commission for Kronos Quartet which is based on the desert. I travelled to Oman in February and recorded the singing sands, a natural phenomenon where the dunes create a moaning sound when the sand grains slide down. Parts of these recordings will be embodied in the work. It premieres at Carnegie Hall on March 12 2010.

In December I will also be recording an album of Manorexia chamber arrangements, which I have been performing live over the last few years, and that will be released in 2010 on Tzadik.

Juke-bot:

From the way you describe ‘Hide’ shaping up, it sounds very interesting. Is there any chance of you playing any of those songs in a live setting? Mini-tour or a grand live show like Love was given?

JGT:

I’d actually like to present it in a theatrical setting but here are no plans for that as of yet. Its swimming round in my head. However I am hoping for a different big show in summer 2010 – details will be released when it’s confirmed.

Juke-bot:

When ‘Hide’ comes out next year it’ll mark the 30 year anniversary of you using various forms of the Foetus moniker. That’s a long time, and more impressively you seem to never run out of ideas and keep things fresh. Where do you come up with your inspirations for all of your various projects?

JGT:

I have a pretty thirsty mind, and I like to challenge what I have done before.
I suppose I am also a cultural sponge and some of what I am interested in has a way of infecting what I am working on, consciously or not. The conclusions that I reach often take very circuitous routes and they come from a subconscious place. Maybe in a few years they’ll make more sense.

Juke-Bot:

Lyrically your style and delivery has changed a bit with your recent releases, what would you account the changes to? The old style wouldn’t fit with the new music, or has your point of view shifted a bit or something else entirely?

JGT:

My lyrics have perhaps gotten more direct. Not that they weren’t personal before but that was shrouded in a lot of “wit”. I’m not writing in the same style I wrote in 1983, or 1995. I also have been experimenting with different styles of writing, from spontaneous improv to spam cut-up and different styles of singing. When someone tells me my work is moving that’s the highest compliment.

Juke-Bot:

I’m excited for the new Manorexia album; I’ve been waiting a long time, like so many other people. How would you say the new album compares to the two previous Manorexia albums? How far along is the third album, and how does it compare to the previous two recordings? Also will the live album contain any of the new tracks performed on it?

JGT:

The third Manorexia album is almost all composed but not finished and mixed. I’m doing a version in 5:1 surround sound too, so those mixes will be done after the stereo mixes. It’s different from the other two; it’s tighter and more heavily composed. Probably influenced by some of the composing I’ve been doing for other ensembles. It maybe steers closer to the contemporary classical world at times. It’s still very evocative and cinematic. But it’s a little denser than the other two and there are more discreet pieces, but also things you’ve never heard from Manorexia.

Juke-Bot:

I’m not going to lie, the thing that got me most excited out of all of the things you told me, was of your new commission for the Kronos Quartet, and that brought up a whole slew of questions. How did you get asked to commission your first piece for them?

JGT:

David Sefton at UCLA, who commissioned the Steroid Maximus big-band project, turned David Harringtron of Kronos Quartet onto Manorexia. He loved it and contacted me. We got together when he was in NYC and he came to my studio and I played him a bunch of stuff. He was excited by what he heard and asked me to do a composition for them. But that still didn’t come together for a couple more years.

Juke-Bot:

Do they have any plans to record and release either piece? About how long is your new piece for them shaping up to be?

JGT:

I don’t know if Kronos plan to record the pieces yet. The new piece looks like it will be about 12-15 minutes, Nomatophobis was about 12 minutes. We will be rehearsing it in Feb 2010 and it will premiere on March 12 at Zankel Hall, which is part of Carnegie Hall in NYC.

Photo by: Sebastian Mlynarski

Juke-Bot:

How does writing for them compare to the writing process you take for the things you release under your own monikers?

JGT:

I write with a string quartet in mind. On my own work there is no restriction on the instrumentation. But with a quartet you have a limited amount of voices. And I write within the range of the instrument. But Kronos are top notch players so you can write creatively – they are extremely expressive players.

Juke-Bot:

Moving on to another project you’re involved in, how did you get the job scoring the Venture Bros. cartoon? Has doing the score affected your other projects in any way or the other way around perhaps?

JGT:

Jackson Publick approached me after he had heard a Steroid Maximus album. They wanted me to score the pilot. I wasn’t so sure, and instead they licensed tracks from Steroid Maximus and Manorexia to score it. The Cartoon Network liked and picked up the series. At that point they came back to me and asked me again if I’d be interested in scoring the series – and I thought I would challenge my rigidity and do it. It was a challenge. It was difficult at first as I hadn’t figured out a musical vocabulary for the show and characters, or working methods, so I was a lot slower. But doing so much work in such a short period has made me a lot better. And as time has gone by, I have built up such a large library of cues that I can re-purpose, re-arrange and extend some older ones in each episode, so that I can spend more time on the new ones that I create. I’ve gotten much better at switching with the action, and Jackson keeps throwing emotional nuances at me that he wants me to illustrate – which some times happen every bar.

Juke-Bot:

Do you still pull stuff from your older releases while doing the score for the show?

JGT:

No, actually everything is done from scratch and written specifically for the show. I often re-fashion themes I’ve already written though, and they recur in different forms.
Some themes have sections that never appeared when they were originally used in the cartoon and they may pop up years later. Jackson is good at remembering cues that I’ve written and forgotten about and sometimes something from the first season might reappear thoroughly overhauled.

Juke-Bot:

I know that you’re a fan of the Simpsons (or were), what do you think of the Venture Bros.?

JGT:

I think it’s a good and often clever artful show with high aspirations. I like that it progresses, the animations have gotten better and it has a deep web of mythology. I find some of the characters grating, especially when I have to hear their voices and gags over and over as I work on it. My favorite character is Brock Samson.
I tend not to watch the finished episodes as I never feel the score is mixed loudly enough – a common gripe of soundtrack composers.

Juke-Bot:

Any plans on doing a Volume 2 soundtrack for the Venture Bros.? Or presenting any of the music in a live setting?

JGT:

I would like to do Volume 2. It depends on whether Williams Street (Cartoon Network’s label) wants to pick up the option. I have the material but I have to spend a couple of months reworking and mixing it and preparing it for release.

Juke-Bot:

There have been lots of rumors about you doing a compilation of the 7 inch’s and some of the 12 inch’s from your way back catalog; is there any truth to this? Also in an old interview you spoke of doing a Box of Excellence 2, any hope of that coming about these days, possibly to hold all of the website only releases?

JGT:

Yes it’s true it will probably emerge in 2012 along the lines of LIMB as a deluxe package with early singles, radio sessions and rarities with a DVD of raw live material. As for The Foetus of Excellence 2, I don’t remember ever planning that. But stranger things have happened.

Juke-Bot:

Is there anything new coming from your Baby Zizanie project with Jim Coleman? Or possibly releasing it state side on vinyl or CD?

JGT:

We made a new piece as a tribute to Jodorowsky which was intended to be released in a project to accompany his remastered films but it never came to fruition. Baby Zizanie may yet rear its head in some form or another one day, but no plans currently. An anthology? Possible.

Photo by: Anne Katrine Senstad

Juke-Bot:

Let’s move onto your artwork. What inspired the Foetus international series of shirts? Will the final Japanese one follow the same color scheme of red, black and white?

JGT:

I thought t-shirts would create an interesting new canvas for me. I like the idea that they are fleeting limited artworks, and using a different platform.
The Japanese one will be red and white on a black shirt, so yes, continuing that color palette.
By the way the Japanese isn’t the last one in the series. The series is in sets of three. After the Japanese shirt I’ll be making a Manorexia shirt. Then the next set of three in the International Series will be Hebrew, Chinese and Korean. I might be adding colors in the next series, but I haven’t decided, as I designed them yet.

Juke-Bot:

You do all of the artwork for your releases, sans Gash. Do you go into the creative process for the art in the same way you go into the recording process or does the music inspire your artwork? Have you ever considered selling a series of prints through the Shoppe?

JGT:

I’m not necessarily trying to mirror the music with the artwork. I don’t know where it comes from, my obsessions from the time. I usually think about it for a long time and ideas start to emerge. I’m working within certain parameters as there is a thread to the sleeves I’m working on for Foetus-the red, white black color palette. I have deviated from this palette on my non “primary” albums (e.g. remix albums etc) but now have decided to stick with red white and black for all Foetus releases as they look so much better en masse, and I like the unity of a body of work. I have thought about making lithographs. I’m interested in making a book too.

Juke-Bot:

You were once on a major label, Columbia Records, and now you have no label at all and you do most of the distribution yourself. Do you find this more rewarding or are there times you wish you could have that blanket back to where they would attempt to promote and distribute things for you?

JGT:

It’s not true that I don’t have a label. I have my own label, it is Ectopic Ents. Over the last ten years are I have licensed some Ectopic projects to other labels (e.g. Steroid Maximus to Ipacec, Foetus to Birdman, Nois-o-lution and Thirsty Ear), and others I have distributed purely by mail order. Some of those mail order items are sneaking into retail now via Carrot Top distribution.
Ectopic now has digital distribution to all the major outlets (Itunes, Amazon, EMusic, Rhapsody etc) as well as thru my own site, www.foetus.org
This is how I began, with my own label Self immolation records in 1980, but I have always worked with many different labels and distributors. Self Immolation morphed / was swallowed into Ectopic Ents in about 1995. Self immolation remains the name of my recording studio.
Promotion is difficult as everything I do seems to fall on deaf ears as far as mainstream media is concerned (e.g. Pitchfork, Spin etc), although thankfully The Wire actually pay attention to what I do. That blanket you describe is not always so cozy.

Juke-Bot:

What is your greatest accomplishment? And on the flip side what are some regrets you might have?

JGT:

You’re not supposed to have regrets because if I didn’t take the course I had, I wouldn’t be where I am today!
Apart from certain girls I wish I’d slept with, I’d say I wish I had developed Butterfly Potion into an album, that was a good sound and creative time and I wish I’d taken it further. I wish I had come out of my chemical daze earlier; there are a few wilderness years around 96-97.

Greatest accomplishments – – possible fronting the 18 piece band in Los Angeles, or having Kronos quartet play my work.

Juke-Bot:

And finally you’ve been like a permanent fixture on the music scene since you’ve made your way in, what words of advice would you offer to someone just trying to make their way in?

JGT:

“Permanent”, that’s a laugh. When you are a self employed artist nothing feels permanent, it’s always walking a financial tightrope, especially in the age of the internet, where the artist is reduced to content provider. I am a lifer in the business of sound and music. I couldn’t think about what I’d say to someone trying to make their way in. It’s very crowded! One finds one’s own path. Innovate, there enough imitators. My goal has always been to please myself, and it just so happens that along the way other people have enjoyed it. I’d say you better be passionate about what you do and don’t expect luxuries like health insurance.

For more information on any and all J.G. Thirlwell related projects and releases check Foetus.org regularly.

An old homeless man.

Since our topic today is buying cheap, I thought, what better way to start the article than a picture of a homeless man only moments after rummaging through a garbage can for a scrap to eat.

I hope I didn’t depress you too much, because we’re going to go right into the list. I did all the research so you didn’t have to. Everyone you know is going to want one of these as their Christmas gift, and at prices such as these, you might just consider getting them all. And obviously you shouldn’t feel limited from buying them for yourself. I mean, you’ve earned it, life is ruff. Sit back and enjoy a video game. Or don’t, and feel sorry for homeless people, it won’t kill you.

In no particular order, here we go!

1. Chrono Trigger (DS)

Unfortunately this is my only DS pick, (dem sh*ts be expensive.) But it’s one of the best games ever made. It is an RPG, with a unique battle system (That has been aped many times since.) It is good for hundreds of playtime hours, as it has multiple endings. And has a high re-play value. Buy it on Amazon Here!

2. Dragon Quest Swords (Wii)

Honestly, I think this game has the best use of the Wii remote to date. Of course this is an objective opinion, and since I’ve only played about 25 Wii games, it could be seriously flawed. I still think this is worth the investment if you haven’t tried it yet. The story is okay, but it is quite simple, and really fun to play through. Buy it on Amazon Here!

3. Final Fantasy X (PS2)

Theirs a slew of Final Fantasy games for under 20 bucks. (Especially if you don’t mind playing PS1) But I’m going for newer game systems, so Final Fantasy X is my top FF pick, although Final Fantasy XII is under 20 bucks as well, and is entertaining for a much longer time. I think that the story and basic game system of FFX is much better. Buy it on Amazon Here!

4. Dragon Quest VIII (PS2)

Somehow being sold for only $11.99? This may be a mistake, get it while the gettin’s good! Seriously, I am a huge fan of the Dragon Quest series, and this is my favorite one so far, (Although V is shaping up pretty good.), but that’s irrelevant, buy this game! Buy it on Amazon Here!

5. God of War 2 (PS2)

I hadn’t got my hands on this game until recently myself, and I have to admit, I was missing out. This game is plain funny . I can’t say for certain if the developers are in on the joke but it makes me laugh constantly. The brutality is so over the top, and your main character doesn’t have a mode besides loud, and screaming. Buy it on Amazon Here!

6. Metal Gear Solid The Essential Collection (PS2)

This is a “Solid” game. No pun intended. (I’m contractually obligated to write “No pun intended.”, even though I meant every word of the pun!) These games are all worth playing, it’s one of the best video game series out there. They are filled with so much vision, and a type of story telling that rarely is done well in video games. Best of all, this game is a delightful challenge, and all three of them for under 20 bucks! Buy it on Amazon Here!

(A notable mention for Metal Gear Solid 4, coming in at only $27.98 For a newer PS3 game that is an unbeatable price.)

7. Resident Evil 4 (Wii)

Although you might hear me complain about not actually killing zombies. This game is motha f*ck*ng awesome. I hate to throw out words like, “My favorite in the series.”, and so I’m not gonna. But this is one of my favorites in the series, coming in right behind number 2. There’s a good reason that this series moved to third person shooter perspective. Because it’s awesome, and adding the Wiimote to the twist doesn’t hurt. Buy it on Amazon Here!

8. Bio Shock (PS3 & Xbox360)

The only game on the list that I actually haven’t played. But I’ve heard such great things I couldn’t leave it off the list, because I’m feeling pretty certain I’m going to be making the purchase myself. Buy it for PS3 Here! or you can, Buy it on Xbox360 Here!

9. Super Mario Galaxy (Wii)

Well at least this title should be on this list, but instead Nintendo is still charging almost 50 F*uck*ing dollars for it. What’s the deal? Well at least it’s a good game. I thought it was highly enjoyable, and with the second one coming out next year, definitely worth a test run. Buy it on Amazon Here!

10. Diablo 2 (PC)

That’s right motha F*cka’s this B*tch made the list. Sadly, this game has provided me more hours of entertainment than you can fit in an entire year. (That doesn’t include falling asleep on the keyboard while the game ran.) Every time I stop playing this I tell myself I’ll never go back. But I always do. And it’s always worth it. Although it takes a year out of your life, it gives it right back to you once you get level 99, I promise. Buy it on Amazon Here!

And to add a bit of personal advice, from one robot to another. If you don’t mind buying used games, there’s a slurry of awesome games you can get for under $5 dollars. Anyway get to the F*uck*ng store, and buy your B*tch*ing C**t some Motha F***** Video ***** So ***** Nuts ***** ***** Fuck!

We bots are back with another monthly installment of the Big Shiny Podcast! This month we cover more movies, games, and comics! Including the latest Spidey 4 casting rumors, Blackest Night, and Modern Warfare 2! We have a big roster of bots on this one, featuring: Zombietron, Jukebot, Budgetron, Proletatia-Tron, Arse-bot, Mexicus Prime, Dr. Cyborg, Swank-mo-tron, and Kill-tacular-tron! So have a listen as all nine of us robots try to hash out all the nerd news and goings-ons that happened in November!

Also, be sure to check out our awesome nerd holiday gift guide and it’s short corresponding podcast!

You can check out the November Big Shiny Podcast via the iTunes link below! Be sure to rate us and/or leave a comment whether you love it, like it or hate it!

November Big Shiny Podcast on iTunes!

Big Shiny Robot’s friend Adam Olsen recently posted this review about switching from the iPhone to the new Droid phone. He has been kind enough to let us share it here:

I bought myself the first generation iPhone about 8 days after it came out, and have followed the upgrade path (getting the 3G and 3Gs as soon as they were available) clear up until about a week and a half ago, when I jumped ship from AT&T.; I love the iPhone. Sure, there are some things that bother me about it, but it really was good to me. Especially now, that a lot of the features I was missing in a phone were suddenly there (copy & paste, MMS, etc).

Everything was great until I moved from SLC to Seattle, where my data plan took a horrible turn for the worst. Even with full bars, I could rarely access webpages, post to twitter, read my headlines on facebook, or send an email. AT&T; was less than helpful, asking me to “restore” my iPhone to factory settings, which didn’t do much for me at all. Living in Utah, where AT&T; is grand, I really didn’t ever get the reports I read about their service being poor (here’s an example). Now I do.

I flew back to Utah about a week before Thanksgiving to spend the holiday with my family. Whoop, suddenly my data service works again! A couple of my friends had picked up a Motorola Droid (and thus, Verizon) recently, one of them even coming from an iPhone. Both of them said they liked it. One of them (the one that switched from an iPhone) was actually in Seattle that week for the MLS cup, and said the Verizon coverage in the city was great. So, I jumped on the bandwagon, and purchased a Droid.

Being an iPhone/AT&T; user for 3 1/2 years jumping to the Droid/Verizon has been a little rough for me. Now, while I realize that a week and a half is a pretty short time to develop a great opinion of the Droid, I’m pretty sure I’ve got a fairly good grasp of it. Here are the pros and the cons for a user switching from the iPhone to a Droid – I’m listing the cons first since I’m sure those will be the ones people will want to look at first if they are considering the change:

Cons

1. Verizon’s Visual voicemail app pales in comparison to the one provided by Apple/AT&T.; Here’s why:
•  Constant notifications that a connection could not be made to the visual voicemail service. I get one each time I boot up the phone – I assume this is because the background service of the app starts before the network connection is made. I also get them randomly througought the this day.
•  The service costs $2.99
•  You cannot listen to or delete Visual Voicemail messages while connected to a Wireless network. If you try to do so, the application will completely shut down your wireless connection, and it won’t bring it back up automatically when you’re done.
• The app itself looks like it was made in 1999. The buttons/widgets/gradients are low resolution and generally look like crap. Take a look at the screenshots below and you’ll see what I mean.

2. The Android API itself seems to have a lot less in the way of user interface design standards and stock icons. There’s not really a common theme between different apps on the phone, let alone in the apps on available in the Android Market. The SMS has nice clean dark theme, while the Camera app appears as though it was designed to look like it was made out of brushed granite. A lot of the apps on the market have buttons with weird fonts, weird colors, and weird layout positioning. Everything on the iPhone is pretty seemless, and in most cases, has a unified design that’s familiar when switching from application to application.
3. Games. There are probably 10 games in the Android Market that are worth purchasing. No “Worms”, no “Doom Ressurection”, no “Super Monkey Ball”. I think you get the point. Sure, there weren’t many great games for the iPhone when the app store and SDK first arrived, but the simple fact is, Android doesn’t have them now.
4. You cannot surf the web and be on a phone call at the same time.
5. I don’t know if it’s Verizon’s network, or the Droid itself, but SMS messages have a hard limit of 160 characters. I know that this is the SMS standard, but somehow the iPhone gets around it. Whether it pieces multiple SMSes together when recieving, or it splits long ones into multiple packets when delivering, it doesn’t really matter. With the iPhone, you really don’t need to worry about the length of your SMS.

Composing an SMS longer than 160 characters on the Droid and sending it to a contact on another network will result in the message being truncated to 160 characters. There is no automatic splitting, the contact simply will not recieve the entire message.

There’s an SMS replacement app on the Android Market that’ll automatically split any SMS that’s longer than 160 characters, but while using it, the alerts I get from our Nagios server via Verizon’s email to SMS gateway are still truncated at 160 characters, making the messages fairly useless to me. The app is also terribly ugly, suffering from UI weirdness like I described in number 2.
6. No pinch to zoom in the built in browser. I have seen it on the Eris, and it even works in a 3rd party browser called “Dolphin”, so it’s not the hardware that’s causing this limitation, but the functionality definitely is not present in the Droid’s default browser.
7. The Micro SD card system. You cannot store apps on the included 16GB SD card. You can only store them in the 256MB built in storage. Possibly because of security reasons? I don’t know. Apps can access data on the SD card, which probably makes all of this a moot point. All of the gigantic apps I used on the iPhone consumed their space using data that could probably be downloaded to the SD card after the app is installed and launched for the first time. For instance, Doom Ressurection (50mb or so if I remember correctly), and the TomTom app (1.7GB).

Pros

1. The obvious. Verizon’s data network actually works where I live.
2. Multitasking. I love how Android does this. I love that you can keep applications open, and switch around between them at will. Sure, the iPhone’s hardware supports this, and some of Apple’s apps even make use of it, but this stuff has been purposely left out of the public SDK. The only way around it is to Jailbreak.

With Android, it’s more than just having multiple applications running at the same time. The SDK also allows you to create services that run in the background. Services that can use Android’s cool notification system to alert you of things, which brings us to:
3. The notification system. Google has created a way for applications to alert you in a non-obtrusive and super useful way. The statusbar at the top of the screen can display little icons and little blurbs of text when something of interest happens. A simple swipe of the finger and you can see a list of recent notifications; tap on one and you can switch to the application that cause the notification. The iPhone has nothing like this. It has “badges” and alert windows (which are most definitely NOT non-obtrusive).
4. The keyboards. Both of them. I like the physical keyboard because, well, it’s a physical keyboard. Yes, the keys are a bit cramped, but I did get used to it eventually. The software keyboard is somewhat better than the one on the iPhone. It does everything that the iPhone’s does, but the autocorrection is a LOT better, simply because it provides you a list of words to choose from, and allows you to click on the one you like the most instead of always just picking one for you (though it’ll do that too if you opt not to pick one).
5. The Android Market (app store) policies. There basically are none. I’ve done a touch of iPhone development, and I can tell you that Apple will most likely NOT approve an app if it doesn’t somehow help their bottom line. If you’re trying to sell a service with your app, direct business to your website, etc, then good luck. If you’re trying to duplicate functionality that’s already present on the iPhone, even if you think you can do it better, good luck with that too.
6. More on the SDK: Android allows you to replace system components. Don’t like the built in software keyboard? You can replace it with one from the App store. You can route phonecalls through the Google Voice App. You can replace the SMS app entirely with a new one. You can replace the Home screen with a new one. You can cause an app to start when another one starts: for instance, the Last.FM app will start and scrobble your music automatically when you open Android’s music player.

Also, you don’t need to buy a Mac to write Android applications. You can write them completely for free using the operating system of your choice.
7. You can download applications from random websites, bypassing the Android market all together. Find a link to a sweet app? Just click from the Android Browser and it’ll download and install for you. No way in hell Apple would let this type of thing happen. How would they get any money this way?
8. Mass storage capability for the SD card. You can simply mount the SD card on your computer (running any OS that supports Mass Storage) and copy your music/videos over. You aren’t stuck using iTunes to get music on the phone.

Some other notes:

1. ConnectBot, the SSH client on the Android platform, is quite a bit better than the options on the iphone. It supports your screen+irssi+nicklist.pl session quite nicely. It’s fast. It resizes the terminal contents corretly. With the physical keyboard, your input method isn’t getting in the way.
2. Android lacks the super sweet TomTom app that the iPhone app store has, though it does include Google Navigation. Google navigation is fine, however, you cannot use it in areas where there is low or no signal because it transfers map data over the air as you drive. The TomTom app on the iPhone takes up about 1.7GB of your precious music space, so there’s a downside to that as well.

Another thing about Google Navigation is that it doesn’t automatically shut down when you get a phone call. I found this out the hard way, answering a phone call, only to have the other person get talked over by the computerized voice trying to give me driving directions.

Conclusion
Switching from iPhone OS to Android reminds me a whole lot of when I switched from Windows to Linux years ago. I feel like I’ve switched to the better platform that isn’t quite ready yet. A lot of the apps feel like they were written by programmers who have never heard of the word “aesthetic”. Android isn’t quite as pretty as the iPhone OS. It doesn’t have core animation. It certainly doesn’t have the great team of graphic designers that Apple has. It is open, though, less restrictive, and it shows. To me, that openness is more important than the pretty looks, so even if AT&T; did work well where I live, knowing what I know now, I’d probably still consider switching. I hate the feeling I get from Apple’s greedy SDK rules and restrictions.

If you haven’t checked out Big Shiny Robot’s Holiday Gift Guide, you should! It’s a pretty comprehensive list of some great ideas for the nerd guy/gal in your house!

To coincide with that list, we have put together some “staff picks” (if you will) in a brief, 5 minute, Holiday Gift Guide Podcast! Take a listen and be sure to check out our full-length November Big Shiny Podcast coming later this week!

Just because we’re robots doesn’t mean that we don’t like to receive gifts for the holidays. And since we’re all geeks, we thought it would be great to put together a list of things you could get the other geeks in your life. The lists of the editors, Swank-Mo-tron and Kill-tacular-tron, were included in IN Magazine’s issue featuring gift guides from prominent Utah Celebrities, which we apparently are.

We asked all of our robots to participate and here is what we came up with:

Swank-mo-tron

• Jawa Yard Gnome: It’s twice as cool to have a garden with a Jawa as its steward.
• A Replica of The Master Sword from The Legend of Zelda: The road is dangerous, take this!
• Clone Wars Season 1 on DVD and Blu-ray A lot of people bag on what the Star Wars universe has been like for the last 10 years, but this show is proving that Star Wars is better than ever.
• Pirate Club Vol. 1: Written and drawn entirely by Big Shiny Robot!s (mainly Budgetron), this is the perfect graphic novel selection to pass off for Christmas.
• Lots and Lots of DVDs. Check out my weekly DVD columns, I pick out the best movies every week for purchase.

Kill-tacular-tron

• Ghostbusters Minimates: Who doesn’t want some pint sized boys in grey? Plenty of great variants to track down and clutter their cubicle with.
• #include <beer.h>: For the coding geek in your life. Even if you don’t get it, they will.
• ThinkGeek Halo Warthog: Time to wreak havoc and terrorize your pets. Steer clear of plasma grenades, Spartans.
• NES USB Controller: Play all those ROMS cluttering up your hard drive in style. Now you’re playing with power.
• 6 or 12 inch Ghostbusters Figures: Seriously the coolest Ghostbusters collectible to come out in a long while. The 12 inch comes with working trap and lights. Heat ’em up!

Proletariatron

• The Star Trek Bottle Opener: Nerdy but Boozy. And very well designed
• The Kindle DX: Any good geek enjoys reading, why not join it with some tech.
• Bombs Away Shot Glasses: Because they are awesome
• Xbox 360 Play and Charge Kit: Going through batteries gets really old really fast. Plug in for a little while and don’t worry about disconnecting mid-zombiepocalypse.
• Retro Duo NES/SNES system: Play all those old games you’ve got hanging around.
• And Just for Swank: A Darth Vader Alarm Clock and The Star Wars Force Trainer.

Zombietron

Assassin’s Creed 2

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

Dragon Age: Origins

Borderlands

NBA 2k10

More-than-a-sex-machine

• Asterios Polyp: Easily the best graphic novel of the year, David Mazzucchelli’s decade-in-the-making formalist masterpiece about an aging architect trying to rebuild his shambled life is expertly constructed and densely layered, inviting multiple readings to fully appreciate, and, like Watchmen and Jimmy Corrigan before it, raises the bar on which future graphic novels are measured.
• Chronic City: Like a hipster version of Seinfeld, Jonathan Lethem’s new novel is about, well, nothing in particular, really, but rather a free-floating, hilarious look at New York through the eyes of a handful of characters, ranging from a former child sitcom star to an underemployed cultural critic, and what it lacks in likeable characters and plot, it more than makes up for in sharp observation and satirical wit.
• The City & The City: China Mieville’s hard-boiled detective novel set in two cities, which coexist in the same physical location, but are separated only by their citizens’ refusal to perceive the other, is one of the cleverest and most metaphorically rich pieces of speculative fiction of this year, and a near-perfect blend of literary value and pure entertainment.
• Criminal: The Deluxe Edition: Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips’ modern noir series is arguably the best periodical that Marvel is publishing at the moment, and this new hardcover edition complies the first three loosely-related storylines of down-on-their-luck men and women and the highly readable things they do for sex, money and revenge.
• The Criterion Collection on Blu-ray: Film lovers tend to associate this series of important classic and contemporary films (usually presented with the highest technical quality and equally great supplements) with quality, and so far, every one of their Blu-ray releases has more than lived up to the expectations of cinema aficionados. Amazon currently has most of them on sale (for up to 57% off).
• Death Note Manga Box Set: The manga on which the currently airing anime series is based is crack in comic book form, as the creators take their admittedly absurd concepts, such as the titular notebook, which gives its wielder the power to kill anyone he desires, and weave them into some of the most suspenseful plotlines ever seen in comics. Contains all thirteen volumes in one convenient package.
• Momitsu BDP-899 Region Free Blu-ray DVD Player: The only Blu-ray player that is region-free out of the box, meaning it allows its users the freedom to choose and view Blu-rays and DVDs from anywhere in the world, and not solely based on the region in which they happen to reside (and where a particular film might be completely unavailable, or only offered in an unsatisfactory edition/presentation/transfer). Seriously a must for any lover of foreign cinema.
• However, since a lot of online retailers have recently discontinued the sale of the Momitsu, for reasons on which we can only speculate, another alternative is the expensive, but otherwise incredible OPPO BDP-83, which plays everything from Blu-ray and DVD to DVDA and SACD at the highest possible audio and video quality, and which can be turned region-free with one easy software update.
• The Prisoner: The Complete Series on Blu-ray: The complete collection of the cult British TV series following the adventures of a former secret agent held captive in a highly secured village intent on breaking him and/or driving him insane is a lovingly put-together and stunningly re-mastered testament to the enduring vision of one of the strangest and most unique television shows in history (whose influence is still felt in series like Lost and Twin Peaks), and well worth every penny.
• The Year of the Flood: A Novel: The long-awaited new novel by critical darling Margaret Atwood is a visionary dystopic masterpiece, following a small community of survivors of a global environmental catastrophe, and the most disturbing post-apocalyptic novel since Cormac McCarthy’s The Road.

Brusr-Bot

• Fight Club on Blu-ray: Everyone wanted to join one, most still do, and now you can watch people get smacked around in awesome Blu-Ray clarity, what more needs to be said?
• Amazon $50 Gift Card: Nothing says “I love you” like giving a gift card. Don’t know what to get someone? Are you the type who just returns most of what people give you so you can use all the new big fund to just buy what you REALLY wanted? Gift cards are the way to go, nobody wants to carry cash around anymore, grandma, I’d rather keep it all on plastic.
• The Kindle: Come on, every geek wants the technology that everyone is gushing about, you don’t want to be left in the cold with a serious case of blue balls like you did after prom night. Even with the pricey tag, make your whole family pool in for one mega gift instead of a whole bunch of things you only half wanted.
• Star Wars: Run R2D2 Hoodie: Pointless hoodies are awesome. If it’s a Star Wars reference? Even better.
• Serenity, Vol 1: Those Left Behind: I was late to jump onto the Firefly bandwagon, about 5 years after the show was canceled late. Even though I missed the televised run, I still caught on with DVD releases of the series and the Serenity movie. Every fan of the series would love the books that keep our dreams of being a Space Cowboy alive. Sorry Han Solo, I’m a Browncoat now.

Dr. Cyborg Robot M.D. Attorney At Law- Five

Before going into the list, I’d like to turn the figurative microphone around and ask you a few questions about your potential loved ones. (I say “potential” because a bad Christmas gift can change the tides, like the phase of the moon.)

Question #1: How much do you know about said “receiver”?

Answer: The safe gift. The safest gift of the season this year is the Star Trek 3 disk Blu-ray set. An easy out, because this movie greatly appeals to everyone, men and women alike. Everyone except hardcore Star Trek fans, and we all know that they don’t have friends to buy them gifts.

Question #2: How well do you actually know them?

Answer: The cheap gift, and if that’s what your looking for than this is the best week to look, Amazon is having tons of Black Friday sales, my favorite of which is Space Balls on Blu-ray for $8.99.

Question #3: Are you purchasing with someone with a low attention span?

Answer: The fun but ultimately button smashing video game, The newly released God of War: Collection will do nicely, and when was the last time you were able to buy a new PS3 game for less than forty bucks?

Question #4: Low attention span, but you don’t want them to slip into the pit-fall that is video game? (Not Pit-fall the video game.)

Answer: No problem, Inglourious Basterds (2-Disc Special Edition) [Blu-ray] and/or Watchmen: The Ultimate Cut [Blu-ray] which would be wise to buy fast, because it’s nearly half off.

Question #5: Do you actually love the person?

Answer: If so, the answer is clear, The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks.