Category Archives: Video Games

6 Coolest Pop Culture Tree People (Not Named Groot)

The best laid plans of mice and men…I had the idea for this List of Six about a year ago. I knew that the Guardians of the Galaxy sequel was coming, and I thought this would make a neat list to post the week that movie came out. It would have been neat synergy! But then something happened to my brain and I forgot all about it. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 came and went (and was spectacular).

Tree People List 01

No longer the cutest Groot

Everybody loves Groot. He’s fantastic. He’s one of the only Guardians characters I actually like in the comics. Heck, I liked him before he was cool, back when the modern Guardians got their true start in the pages of Annihilation: Conquest. Groot is the best tree.

But he’s not the only tree! Join me after the jump for the six coolest tree people other than Groot!

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Jazz the Opossum Can Now Be Real!

A lot of fun new video games were announced at E3 this year, with a ton of really cool trailers. Unfortunately, since I switched almost completely to PC gaming, I don’t get to play any of the cool new games on the Nintendo or the Playstation. But there’s one trailer in particular that spoke to me on a personal level.

Or, more accurately, spoke to the dorky, teenaged Sean that was super into creating fan fiction characters. Behold, Sonic Forces, with a legit Sonic character-creator!

 

Way back in the day, I liked to draw at school. I’m sure a lot of us did. I doodled on line paper like every other would-be cartoonist. I would move Heaven and Earth to somehow find those doodles and sketches again. But for now, I’ll have to rely on my memory.

One thing I loved sketching was the Sonic the Hedgehog team, circa Sonic 3. I had some dorky obsession with Knuckles, and it didn’t help that I never actually owned a Sega Genesis or anything to play those games. I was just a dork, pining away for video games of my own, tracing and re-drawing Sonic cartoon characters.

And, sure enough, I created my own: Jazz the Opossum! He was hip and cool in all the best Poochie ways. I’m pretty sure he wore a backwards baseball cap and had roller blades. There was no shame.

Now, thanks to the first-ever Sonic character creator in Sonic Forces, I can create Jazz the Opossum and send him on adventures! I’ve just got to, somehow, get my hands on the gear and systems needed to play the dumb game…

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They’re Finally Making That Beyond Good and Evil Sequel, but Are Ditching the Only Thing We Remember

Not to brag, but I liked the original Beyond Good and Evil game before it was cool. I was a Playstation 2 man back in the good old days of 2003, and I remember seeing an article either online or in one of those old gaming mags that listed BGAE as something like ‘the best game you’ve never heard of’. So I went out on a whim, picked it up and loved the heck out of it! It was a great game.

Which is why everybody has hanging on every word of a potential sequel for years now. We enjoyed the game and would like to continue playing as the heroic Jade, the photographer/ass-kicker protagonist.

Well finally, at E3 this week, Beyond Good and Evil 2 was properly announced! But here’s the weird thing…it’s going to be a prequel. No Jade.

That doesn’t make any sense to me.

Does anybody remember anything about the “mythology” of the original game? All I remember is that it was a fun game with a cool main character, who fought bad guys and took photographs on the side. And she had a pig-man sidekick. I don’t remember anything about the planets or the galaxy or the government or the society. I don’t remember anything about what they plan to build this prequel on.

It’s been more than 10 years. We all wanted a sequel, sure, but why take away the most iconic thing about the original game? Especially when that was badass, cool female protagonist?

BGAE Jade 01

We all remember her

Can it really be considered part of the same franchise if everything is different? Sure, this prequel has apparently got talking pig-men, but that’s hardly unique to this game alone. They’ve got those in Angry Birds.

The game engine is going to be different. The gameplay is going to be different. The characters and concepts are going to be different. The people making the game are going to be different.

Is this just a company banking on a popular name brand? Banking on the idea that all us video game nerds kept the hope of a sequel alive all these years?

Stupid world. This is why we can’t have nice things.

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Starting Off a Monday With Some South Park Video Gaming

After a pretty busy week between trial coverage, a hospital stay, mailing the Gamer Girl & Vixen graphic novel and taking my parents to the train station super early Saturday morning, this is finally my week to just kick back and relax and get back to some normal routines. To that end, how about a lazy Monday morning where I just share a new trailer for South Park: The Fractured But Whole?

Yep, still can’t wait for this game to come out! And it looks like it’s coming out on Oct. 17! Neat.

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My Mass Effect: Andromeda, In Case You’re Interested

I beat Mass Effect: Andromeda the other day and I felt like saying a few words. It’s an OK game, though I don’t think I’d recommend it to anyone who hasn’t played a Mass Effect game before. Not that you need to have played the original trilogy, but it helps if you’ve already got an interest in the series.

Here’s an Honest Trailer for Andromeda.

The game was exactly what I wanted when I bought it: a big, deep, enjoyable action RPG that I could spend time playing. Tons of side quests, lots of dialogue options, a pretty solid create-a-character and enough action to keep me mildly entertained. I got my money’s worth, and I’m looking forward to any upcoming DLCs or sequels, especially if they carry over my current main character and playthrough like they did with the previous trilogy.

But like I said, if you’re not already into the series, I can’t really recommend it. None of the quests or plots or characters or romances or weapons or villains or pretty much anything was all that exciting or memorable. I kind of just went through the motions on Mass Effect: Andromeda, which was enough for me.

If you’ve played the game and want to hear some of my decisions and story choices, join me after the jump!

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