Never Not A Nerd

It has almost been a week since Batman Arkham Asylum has been released and hype has taken over this game. Guinness has dubbed it the best reviewed superhero game of all time and the game’s Metacritic score is very generous. Being that I consider myself a die hard fan of both Batman and stealth action games, if this game can please me then it has to be awesome. So does the game meet the credentials as the best Batman game of all time or does it fall into the same abyss that George Clooney’s bat-nipples were banished to by millions of bat-fans? Read the rest of this entry »

As I said earlier in the week It was a slow week and for that I’m sorry. A few of us were moving.  Hopefully we will never be this uneventful again. Now for the weekly wrap-up. You know you want to know what you missed…

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I know this is a bit late but I wanted to formulate a solid review for Quentin Tarantino’s new film Inglorious Basterds so here it goes. Inglorious Basterds is a Tarantino film that is worth the wait. He talked about doing this movie before Kill Bill and he delayed it with Grindhouse but now it is here and it is sick. I want to warn everyone who still has not seen this film; this is not your ordinary Quentin movie. The movie is not beefed up on quirky dialogue and bad guys with guns. Instead he tells a war torn fairy tale full of revenge, love, and of course blood. If you are a strict fan of his filmmaking and will not tolerate change, this film is probably not for you. Read the rest of this entry »

Today’s feature will be on one of the biggest influences to my art, Hayao Miyazaki. Some of you may not know of him, but he is co-founder of Studio Ghibli, an amazing animation studio that has worked on some memorable titles such as Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, and my personal favorite, Kiki’s Delivery Service.

One of Mr. Miyazaki’s most admirable traits is keeping to the roots of true animation. Most of his works are done traditionally, using some CG for Princess Mononoke, but going back to straight up traditional art for Ponyo. With so many more anime coming out relying more on CG, it is a breath of fresh air (especially for a strict traditional artist as myself) to see there is still such dedication and emotion that goes into hand drawn works.

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Wet was one of the few games dropped by Activision when they acquired the rights to Vivendi.  Then it was floating around homeless for a while.  Recently, Bethesda Softworks picked it up and will be releasing it for the PS3 and 360 September 15th.

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This has been a pretty light week here at Never Not a Nerd, and we’re sorry for that.  I think four of us are moving this week, so things are a little crazy right now.  Anyway, on to Video of the Week.  Next week (September 4th) a new movie from Mike Judge, the man behind King of the Hill, Beavis & Butthead, Office Space, and Idiocracy, will be released.  It’s called Extract and stars Jason Bateman and Mila Kunis.  Check out the trailer below.  I really hope this isn’t the second movie I feature as video of the week that ends up being no good.

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Batman is a complicated character, and no one understands him but his butler. The truth is that lately Batman’s continuity has had a lot to make up for in terms of story. After Bruce Wayne’s death, or non-death, or whatever you wish to call it, we’ve been put into an awkward situation: Batman stories with no Bruce Wayne. DC needs to hope that the fans of the Bat are going to be cool with simply reading about other characters until his return. If you haven’t been keeping up with the new comics, be warned, as I reveal a few identities in the rest of the article.

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Metroidvania.  There, I said it.  That’s the only time I’m ever going to say that though. 2D games on the consoles are somewhat of a rarity these days.  Even 2D platforming legends, Sonic and Mario, have made the leap to 3D.  A good side-scrolling game is good for the soul if done right.  Look at Little Big Planet, Bionic Commando: Rearmed, and Muramasa: The Demon Blade for recent examples.  Well, you can now add Shadow Complex to that list.

Shadow Complex was released August 19th as a download-only game on Xbox 360’s Live service.  It’s about a character named Jason Fleming, voiced by Nolan North, who goes hiking with girlfriend Claire somewhere in the Pacific Northwest.  Claire gets kidnapped by some sort of military organization and Jason has to rescue her,which is standard fare.  This game has gotten a lot of hype before and since it’s release.  Is it worthy of the hype, or should you save your MS points?

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Mini Ninjas is an upcoming multi-platform game from Eidos and IO Interactive (who made Kane & Lynch and Hitman).  It’s centered on main character Hiro, a young ninja, and his quest to find his missing ninja friends (as far as the demo goes). It releases September 8th for the 360, PS3, Wii, PC, and DS.

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And now it’s time for another weekly wrap-up!  List of all the cool stuff you may have missed after the cut.

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