Transformers: War for Cybertron Gameplay Trailer is teh Awesome

Transformers: War for Cybertron Video Game, Exclusive Gameplay Reveal Trailer | Game Trailers & Videos | GameTrailers.com

Deadspin's Dead Wrestler of the Week

Classy Deadspin tribute to the Classy Miss Elizabeth

Stumbled across an interesting series of articles over at Deadspin.com (the anti-ESPN). Weekly tributes to dead wrestlers, most of whom were the ones I grew up watching. Take this week's entry for example: Miss Elizabeth.

The long time manager for Macho Man Randy Savage, Liz eventually left him and was replaced by Sensational Sherri whom then turned on Savage once he lost a retirement match to the Ultimate Warrior at Wrestlemania 7. What? Are you shocked to learn that I love wrestling? Anyways, Liz enters the ring, chases off Sherri, and reunites with the Macho Man. As a kid, I ate this up, I was 10 when I first watched this on VHS from the local Blockbuster.

Check out the reunion clip here.

So Many Games, So Little Time

I haven't forgotten to play lately, just haven't had much time, making X-Men Origins: Wolverine the perfect game for me the last two weeks. There's a multitude of projects I'm trying to get done within the next two weeks that demand most of my attention.

Come March 15th, I'll finally be able to have a regular update schedule with routine DoAX2 time. The joys of graduating and being done with regular classes.

What to Buy Dog For His Graduation

http://www.gamestop.com/Catalog/ProductDetails.aspx?product_id=76979

The "Really Naughty Edition" of an Aksys strategy RPG. Ah Aksys, I sure do mention them a lot don't I? So I know I'll enjoy the actual game itself, but how can I resist THAT mousepad? Just the look on Mrs. Dog's face alone would make it worthwhile, nevermind the "Yearning Ellis" pillowcase, or the um, suggestive artwork on the case *and* the game CDs. Now that's fan-service dedication that I can respect.

What I Played This Week: Larry, Logan, RPG Maker 2003

Leisure Suit Larry: Box Office Bust, as you learned from this week's vlog, got my DoAX2 playing time. It's a horrible, horrible game but I'm at the second dreamscape now which I'll be tackling Monday. It's the Horror dreamscape and after the insanity that was the Wild West, I can only guess how bad this ones going to get. Oh don't worry, you'll hear about it.

When not punishing myself, I started work on X-Men Origins: Wolverine. This game has such a one-track mind on slaughtering hundreds of enemies that you can't help but love it. The kills are bloody and brutal, the controls are solid, graphics are good (not great, but pretty good). I'm having pure fun playing this game and destroying my enemies in all sorts of styles, including impalement, fire, electrocution and good old fashioned, lunge + claws to the face.

Of course I can't play those while at work, and when it's really slow, that's time to bust out the RPG Maker 2003 on my flashdrive! Oh lord, the games you can find through this are unbelievable. Most are of course, "epic, episodic adventures!" with "grand, epic sweeping storylines!" but then, you come across something like this little series:

Generica: The Generic NES RPG

It's an amazing throwback to the real old-school console RPGs. For starters, the story is to retrieve the Generica Gladius which is the only weapon that can kill the Dark Lord. That's it. THAT'S IT. The gameplay is just as bare bones as the story, but it's oddly...addictive. It appeals to the dungeon grinder in me from Final Fantasy and Dragon Warrior 3. Generica is easily at the top rung of RPG Maker 2003 titles.

Surfing YouTube At 4 AM

Best Shows You Didn't Watch: Defying Gravity

Okay, "best" may be stretching it in this case, but for all my trepidation going into the series, Defying Gravity ended up defying (HA!) my expectations. Created by Shonda Rhimes, whom also created Gray's Anatomy, Defying Gravity follows a team of astronauts in the near-future (2052) on a grand tour of the solar system. The narration duties are handled by Maddox Donner (Ron Livingston, yes, the Office Space guy) an astronaut that 10 years prior had to leave his lover to die on the surface of Mars. He's haunted and damaged, which is pounded into your head.

In fact, each character is a walking cliche. There's the religious hispanic, the horny Russian incapable of lasting emotion, long range Indian tech support, the big goofy white guy and the stern, no-nonsense boss that's a little sinister. Besides Donner, the majority of screen time goes to Geologist Zoe Barnes (played by Laura Harris, might recognize her as Daisy Adair from Dead Like Me, or the hot, creepy photography teacher one of the most disturbing CSI episodes ever), see, Zoe and Maddox had a one night stand. Feel the sexual tension! It's not at all like Meredith and McDreamy's character arcs on Gray's Anatomy, no, not at all!

Okay, despite the cliche characters, the show actually grew on me. It's just so hokey, so dramatic, that I got sucked in. Stick with it, get it on DVD so you can see the unaired episodes (5 of them), which take the series in a new direction. They add some very classical sci-fi elements towards the end and get into some Battlestar-lite philosopy.

All in all, it's available through Netflix and while it starts slow, it gets better. For an overly dramatic network series, it gets better.