Ready Player One Trailer, My Thoughts

In 2011, Ernest Cline wrote the dystopian science fiction novel Ready Player One. The book told the tale of a teenage boy named Wade Watts living in a future ravaged by global warming and an energy crisis. To escape the roughness of his world, he and many others spend their time in the OASIS, a virtual reality world where one can be whatever they wanted.

Five years previously, OASIS's co-creator, James Halliday had passed away, and his final will and testament was a massive hunt: An Easter Egg that when found, would grant the giver superuser power over the OASIS and a massive fortune. When Watts finds one of the keys to the egg, it leads to an epic quest, using Halliday's obsession with 1980s pop culture to find the other keys.

The book has been highly praised, and won several awards. And now...it's betting adapted to film, helmed by, appropriately enough, Steven Spielberg. And here's the trailer.

The trailer begins with Wade Watts introducing himself, while walking through the Stacks, the large improvised skyscrapers made from trailers. It looks...very much like I imagined it, all ramshackle and slapdash. Yeah, if the world looked like this, I'd want to spend all my time in a virtual reality, too.

Oh boy, the city is doing that Doctor Strange warping thing. Is the Doc on a bender?

Hey, Wade's got the DeLorean with the KITT scanner in it, just like in the book! Awesome!
I wonder what that music is in the club scene. Is that New Order? Sounds like them.

I'm guessing the girl is Art3mis.

Let the hunt begin! Gunters, grab your gear, and stock up your inventory with all your healing potions!

Aw yeah, Van Halen!

Hey, is that Sofia Boutella? Man, she's getting everywhere these days. Good for her.

Hmm, it seems they'll be playing with the plot a bit. Makes sense, they probably did have to change some things for the film adaptation. It looks like in this version, the "gunters" (The people who hunt for Halliday's Easter Egg, the term is a corruption of "egg hunters") are an actual rebellion that are fighting to get the egg from the megacorp Innovative Online Industries (IOI). Maybe in this version, the IOI have a more tyrannical grip on the world. A corporatocracy. This is the GOP's wet dream.

Oh man, that final battle looks like it'll be AWESOME. I imagine the makers must've had to shell out a TON of money for the licensing. Seriously, look at all these characters! I saw Overwatch's Tracer, Street Fighter's Chun-Li, a freakin' GUNDAM, Chucky from Child's Play, and people have pointed out other hidden cameos, like the Mach 5 from Speed Racer and the Batman '66 Batmobile. King Kong, THE IRON GIANT. Man, this is so cool.

I loved the book, so I am excited for the movie. I can't wait to see what they do with this.

Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Announcement, My Thoughts

Mega Man is not the only Capcom franchise celebrating a big anniversary this year. Alongside the Blue Bomber, the World Warriors will be celebrating the big 3-0. And for that celebration, they are releasing a game collection! Let's check out the trailer!

The trailer begins with footage of people playing Street Fighter II in arcades, and a voice-over talking about how revolutionary the game was. And indeed, it was. Street Fighter II was the game that revolutionized the fighting genre, and gave rise to other fighting games like King of Fighters, Fatal Fury, and Art of Fighting.

I love that metal remix of Ryu's theme.

The list of games in this collection is not surprising: The very first Street Fighter, the various versions of II and III, and the three Alpha games. It is kind of sad that the three Street Fighter EX games aren't included here, but I imagine that was because they were co-developed by Capcom and another game company called Arika, and it led to some kind of rights issues. Speaking of EX, I have heard a fourth is in development...

I think the collection also has some neat features. My favorite one is the sprite viewer. Sprite art has always fascinated me, so this feature is a great way to see the artistic efforts they put in into rendering the characters and their attacks. I also like the music viewer. Hopefully, it can be a way to listen to some tunes on your console of choice. I also like the timeline feature, as it is a brilliant way to educate gamers about the history of the series. And concept art is always great.

Some of the games do have online play. It's a shame not all of them do, but I can imagine the games that got online play were the ones that were considered the most popular in sales, so it does make some sort of sense.

This is a fantastic gift for gamers. This could allow gamers who are new to the SF franchise to learn about the history of the series that created a fighting game boom, and I'm sure veterans would appreciate having all these games in one place.

And speaking of gaming compilations...I want Super Mario All-Stars brought to the Switch. Don't just slap it in a cartridge like they did with the Wii 25th Anniversary port. Bring in a ton of special features with it.

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse Teaser Trailer

It has been known for a while that an animated film focusing on the Miles Morales Spider-Man was in development, with Jamaican-American actor Shameik Moore of Netflix's The Get Down fame voicing the title character. And finally, a trailer is out. And here it is.

I have to say, I like the look of the footage. From what I understand, it was a mixture of CGI and hand-drawn techniques, and it looks very seamless and beautiful.

We see a hooded figure walking towards a gravestone. It doesn't reveal the name, except for a couple of letters. The figure turns around, revealing a black Spider-Man mask. Yup, it's Miles Morales, and he senses some big-time trouble. Which means we can assume that the grave is of the original Spider-Man, Peter Parker. When Miles was originally introduced in the Ultimate line of Marvel Comics, Peter was dead. Because of his popularity, he was brought over to the main MU, where he shares the name with the original Spidey. Confusing, I know.

I have to say, I don't really get why Miles is wearing the hoodie, shorts, and Nikes over his costume. Miles has a nice costume, let us see it. But seeing that flip off the building was awesome, and I loved that shot that makes the city look upside-down.

We do get a brief shot of Miles chasing after the Prowler. He's clad similarly to the Hobie Brown Prowler, but considering it's Miles who is the focus of this movie, it's likely the Aaron Davis Prowler. Aaron Davis is Miles's criminal uncle. I think they'll be amalgamated for this movie.

There's a shot of the suit! Looks great, Miles!

He's got to be talking to Peter in that stinger. It does makes sense. Spider-Verse was a storyline that was about various versions and incarnations of Spider-Man facing a great threat. Dimension-hopping was a big part of that storyline, and if Miles' native version of Peter is dead, then it's certainly plausible that he's talking to another version of Peter.

I want to see this movie. It sounds like a real blast.

Bayonetta 3 Teaser, My Thoughts

Despite its short time out in the world, the Nintendo Switch has gotten itself quite a library of games behind it. And there's another one on the way. The World's Wildest Umbra Witch, Bayonetta, has a new adventure on the way! And there is a trailer for it!

The trailer begins with the light of a full moon...that is getting redder. Man, that must be one angry moon.

Bayonetta is seen...getting her butt handed to her. Must be one really powerful and highly cheesed-off being she's facing if it could deliver her a curb-stomping like that. I also noticed that her appearance here seems to be her look from the original Bayonetta game, not the second one. I wonder why that is. Maybe this game is set between the first and second one?

Whatever she's fighting, it seems to be able to destroy her bullets. Oh, dear. Hey, that purple flame thing...what is that? Is that the villain of the game?

And Bayonetta is dead. Yeah, the way her legs fell there, she's totally in pieces.

Wow. This teaser was something else. I'm guessing that our dear Bayo is in for some dire danger in this game. I heard they will also be bringing the past two games to the Switch as well, which is nice. I like this idea. They are popular games, from what I understand. It's also a way for people who have Switches who have never played the series to give it a shot. And you can play it on the go, which is even better.

Hope it turns out well.

Mega Man 30th Anniversary Trailer, My Thoughts!

Mega Man. The Blue Bomber. This year, he's turning the big 3-0. Yup, his first game came to the NES (The Famicom in Japan) in December 1987. Over the next three years, Mega Man would become one of Capcom's most beloved franchises. It would spawn sequels, a cartoon series by Ruby-Spears, and even a comic series from Archie, which I reviewed the first issue of here. It was a really good series, I miss it so much. Maybe I should do a retrospective on it or something. Anyway, for my first blog entry back from Texas (I'm an uncle! Yay!), Capcom's got something very special for the occasion. Let's take a look.

As the trailer says, we're taking a look at Mega Man through the ages. I really love the music, and I also thought the presentation was awesome, using NES sprites to take Mega Man on his journey. I think some of the art we see is from the Famicom releases, as the NES versions didn't have that artwork on them.

I do have to admit, I haven't played much of the Mega Man series, but I always did like the concept of Mega Man getting the weapons of the bosses he beats. I'm surprised that hasn't been seen in more games. I'd love to see an RPG's take on the concept.

The trailer seems to focus on the main Mega Man series. It does include dates of the various spin-offs like the X series, the Legends series, and the Battle Network series, but it does definitely focus on the main series. That makes sense. One could argue those versions of Mega Man are technically different characters.

Another thing I love about this trailer is showing how Mega Man has evolved over time, going from the 8-bit NES, 16-bit SNES, to today. I's quite fascinating to see. And it's also a bit of a reminder of how old I am, ha ha.

Mega Man reaches Wily, and makes him surrender by...absorbing the Mega Man 30th Anniversary logo. Huh. Despite this...absolute lack of doing anything by the Blue Bomber, Wily escapes. Mega transports into a hidden room, where a special surprise is waiting...

Yes, Mega Man 11 is coming next year! And I have to admit, I like the look of the game. It's been updated with a new look: 3D sprites, but with the classic platforming jump-and-shoot action. I like it. It also appears Rush will play a support role in the game. Maybe we'll get some new forms for him. I think we also got a look at one of the Robot Master weapons Mega Man will get in the game. I can imagine that weapon being rather...wasteful in some ways.

I have to admit, this was a nice surprise. This game is coming to the Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and the PC next year, so there are plenty of ways to play it. Looks like ANOTHER game to add to my future Switch library... 

Off to Texas!

Hey there, faithful readers! I just want to say I'm heading off to Texas this week to meet up with some family this week! As such, I'll be away from my computer and comic book collection, so I won't be able to put up a comic review this week. I did start some work on the review, though, so I could be ahead when I got back. I apologize for the inconvenience, and I hope all of you have a wonderful week!

Infinity War Trailer, My Thoughts

Next year, we will be celebrating the tenth birthday of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In 2008, the Golden Avenger, Iron Man, made his live-action film debut, to massive critical and fan praise. In a post-credits scene, Samuel L. Jackson's Nick Fury uttered two sentences that drove fans into a shocked frenzy.

"Mr. Stark, you have become part of a bigger universe." "I'd like to talk to you about the Avenger Initiative."

Like many comic fans at the time, when I heard that, my jaw dropped. I remember seeing this scene in a drive-in with my dad, and I was shocked. They had bigger plans. MUCH bigger plans. They were not just hoping to do a sequel to Iron Man, they wanted to use this movie to launch what many people would have thought was insane: A cinematic universe. A series of films that were interconnected, that had one goal: To bring Earth's Mightiest Heroes together in live-action film for the first time.

Fast-forward four years. The Avengers made their feature film debut, becoming the biggest-grossing film of 2012, grossing one and a half billion dollars at the box office. In a mid-credits scene, we see The Other tell a figure that to fight the Avengers was to court death. And the figure's response? Thanos grins. This was big. Phase One of the MCU was over. This was the beginning of Phase Two. It's goal...an epic battle with Thanos, the Mad Titan himself.

Over the next six years, the MCU would continue to grow. The Guardians of the Galaxy, Ant-Man, Doctor Strange, the Winter Soldier, Spider-Man, and on the way, The Wasp, and the Carol Danvers Captain Marvel will be making their film debuts, alongside Black Panther's solo movie. The Cinematic Universe would grow to television, focusing on SHIELD, the Inhuman Royal Family, Cloak and Dagger, the Runaways, and the Defenders.

The films spent the last six years building up to a big brawl with Thanos. And now, in 2018, the Infinity War will arrive. And here's the trailer.

The trailer begins with a call-back to the first Avengers movie, Nick Fury's explanation for why he formed the Avengers. It's uttered by various characters.

I wonder whose hand Tony is holding there?

And we see Bruce Banner back on Earth...with Doctor Strange and Wong meeting him. Hmm, I wonder...did at some point between Thor: Ragnarok and this movie, Bruce Banner and Hulk come to some kind of concession regarding their shared existence? I bet Strange is thinking the universe is going on a massive bender right now.

Hey, I like the Vision's new more human appearance. I hope he uses the alias "Victor Shade". He used that name for a while in the comics. Thor on his spaceship. And Natasha Romanoff is a blonde now. That makes sense she'd change her hair, she has been living in exile since the events of Captain America: Civil War.

Peter Parker is heading to school, and his arm hairs stand on end. This must be the MCU's take on his Spider-Sense. He sees a big metal ring. Yup, New York is going to get invaded again. Hopefully, they learned from last time and got some good evacuation plans set in.

Loki's got the Tessaract! He also appears to be stepping over bodies, maybe the ship he and the other Asgardians got attacked? Would make sense, considering Thor: Ragnarok. I hope Korg, Miek, and Valkyrie don't die.

Here's Thanos! He forgot his hat, he was probably coming by to see if anyone has seen it.

Really liking Spider-Man's armor there. Also like that it pays homage to Ben Reilly's Spider-Man costume.

Black Panther calling for an evacuation. Yeah, considering how advanced Wakanda is, I would not be surprised if they have procedures in place for alien invasion. Bearded Cap.

Big brawl in Wakanda, folks! Step right up! See the Battle of the Century! Black Panther's Pulverizers vs. a Child of Thanos!

Oh my God, Thanos is going Homer Simpson on Spidey!

Ouch, Vision is going to be in for a world of hurt. Not surprising, since he has an Infinity Stone in his head.

Tony Stark just got punched so hard that I was surprised he wasn't knocked back to 1955.

Oh MAN, that scene of the heroes charging in Wakanda was awesome! And I liked the appearance by Danai Gurira as Okoye. I just realized something. Black Panther is going to be set after Infinity War. It makes sense. The trailers made no mention of the Avengers hiding out in Wakanda during that movie, so we can assume that Black Panther's solo comes afterwards so they don't have to explain what happened to them because this film will.

THOR MESTS THE GUARDIANS! I like that Mantis gave Thor a little wave. That's adorable.

I LOVED this trailer! I saw it several times today. Ten years ago, nobody thought something like this would happen. Now, it's become a reality. Although, I can't help but wonder. After Thanos...what's next?