twiztor

if i were going to rank all 8 movies (from worst to best), i would put them as follows: Ep 1- Phantom Menace Ep 2- Attack of the Clones Ep 7- Force Awakens Ep 3- Revenge of the Sith Ep 4- New Hope Rogue One Ep 5- Empire Strikes Back Ep 6- Return of the Jedi now, this order is DRASTICALLY different than it would have been a few years ago. When they released the 6 pack on Blu-Ray all together, i made myself a Star Wars weekend. Up until that point, Ep 1 was the worst, but Ep 6 was one that i never really cared for. Upon the rewatch, i found that i REALLY liked that one. i couldn't believe it, as i always had Empire as the top. Also, i want to point out that i really did like both Episodes 2 and 3, so Force Awakens falling in between them is not a knock on it. The only SW movie i legitimately have no love for is Phantom Menace. Well, and the Holiday Special, but for obvious reasons i'm not counting that. (although if an official bluray ever comes out, i will buy it day one).

"You're A Mean One, Mr. Grinch" has always been my favorite. here's one of my other faves:

just got out of the theater. LOVED this film. didn't follow rumors/set photos/trailers/casting or any of that, so it was fully new to me. the new characters were all awesome if a bit undeveloped. the stuff with Vader is fantastic. i want to go into so many details but am refraining due to the spoiler thing, but definitely watch it.

the movie "Go" articulates my hatred of "Family Circus" the best:

http://www.area5.tv/blog/2014/1/29/outerlands-short-franks-magazine-collection-the-first-super-mario-bros-review here is a vid of him reading blurbs from said review. stumbled upon it last night and wanted to share.

for stuff that's still in my local paper every day/week, i always gravitate towards "Foxtrot" or "Zits". "Retail" hits a little too close to home, having worked in retail stores for 10+ years. long-term, the "Far Side" and "Calvin & Hobbes" were absolutely my faves. all of that being said, THIS is probably my all-time, favorite strip that i have ever read:

i don't mean to pick on you here, but what is the deal with "gamers" being obsessed with which system is the most powerful? The XBOne and the PS4 have nearly identical specs, yet all i heard about for the last couple years was "yeah but xbox does THIS" and "yeah but PS does THAT". They are VERY similar systems as far as power goes. the only thing that really matters when deciding which system you want is 1. which system do my friends have? and 2. which system has the exclusives that i want to play? Anything else is ridiculous. Nintendo would NOT benefit from joining into the PS vs XBox debate. in that market, they are a distant third. Nintendo's goal is to make unique and fun games, and finding new ways to achieve that. Not everything is a win, but remember that people hated on the Wii remotes when they first came out, but both Sony and Microsoft followed suit (with PS Move and XBox Kinect). and the Wii is one of the best selling systems of all time. Why would they want to fight with two other hardware makers over the same games and same developers? i agree that they need more 3rd party support, but to give up innovation and instead enter a hardware race really would leave them worse off than they are now.

i don't follow hockey really at all. i live in close(ish) proximity to the Chicago Blackhawks, so i guess i'm partial to them. in video games, i always pick the Vancouver Canucks. so i guess them too.

yes, on both fronts. it was absolutely not for me. gave me a worse headache than 3d movies do. and i really enjoy 3d World Runner regularly, so it's not like i couldn't figure out the game.

was going to post a picture of those old red/blue paper 3d glasses, but stumbled on this image instead: didn't even know something like this existed. i can't even begin to imagine how terribly they work or what games it works with.

some early Australian Nintendo mags. pretty cheap right now, only a day or so left tho. i'm not bidding, so hopefully someone else can preserve these! http://www.ebay.com/itm/Nintendo-Power-Magazine-Lot-Club-Promo-Promotional-Catalog-Pamphlet-Brochure-NES-/222321525154?hash=item33c36541a2:g:0eoAAOSwHMJYMnBf edit: fixed the link. it still redirects you to some other site first. not really sure why.

one of the best non-US released games for the system is reportedly "Mr. Gimmick". i haven't played it myself, but it gets nothing but praise so it should at least get some attention. +1 for the mention of the non-US Contra, aka Probotector. +2 for the Devil World reference. not a great game, but it WAS made by Nintendo, so i guess there's that....

regrettably, i have only seen one Ghibli film. it was great, but i haven't had the desire to go watch more of their stuff. it is always on the low end of my 'must watch' list. one of these days i should really raise it up the list.

personally, i believe that humans have never been on the moon. (an 'Areala Asks' topic on conspiracy theories, perhaps?) i would support the idea of going to the moon (again?) especially if it leads to an expedition to Mars.

oh man, there were so few arcades where i grew up, so i would devour any arcade game that would show up at the local bowling alley, skating rink, pizza place, etc. some that stick out to me: Dig Dug. probably my favorite arcade game, because it was the only arcade in the town where i grew up (it was at the bar) TMNT, X-Men: got a bit older (i'm talking 8 or 9 now) and got to go places with friends. these arcade games ruled my life. Tekken: a bit older still, fighting games were all the rage. and this one let you do wrestling moves! (this is the sole reason i picked King) Lucky & Wild: now that i've got a car of my own, me and a friend drove to all the bigger cities around to find this game and set the high score. we'd alternate. one time, he'd drive & shoot and i would just shoot, the next time, i'd drive & shoot and he'd just shoot. it was fantastic. plus, a shout out to Skee-Ball. not a video game, but easily my favorite non-video arcade game there is.

i, personally, have never played it. have heard lots of praise but never knew anybody that owned it.

must've missed this on the last go 'round. Here's mine. if i left something obvious off, it's probably because i straight up forgot. disclaimer: i have not played Super Metroid and i am not an RPG fan, so keep that in mind. 10. Shaq-Fu (ok, just seeing if everyone was paying attention) 9. F-Zero 8. NBA Jam: Tournament Edition 7. Super Mario Kart 6. Mortal Kombat II 5. Mega Man X 4. TMNT 4: Turtles in Time 3. Donkey Kong Country 2. Super Mario World 1. The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past now that my list has been made, i checked out the rest of the thread. Obviously i missed Super CastleVania IV and StarFox. i should really give Super Punch-Out!! a chance, the Mike Tyson NES version is one of my faves. Super Mario RPG is rather fun as well.

i don't hold a special place in my heart for zombies. i used to, but i got bored of them a couple years after they hit the mainstream. there were just too many crap movies and stuff. the good stuff is still really good, but it feels so watered down after zombies have basically infused our entire culture at this point. what kick-started my appreciation for zombie flicks was also the remake of Night of the Living Dead. i had seen the earlier one but have never had any love for black and white films (exception: Clerks). I liked it a lot, tracked down the still-sorta-sequels and REALLY liked Dawn of the Dead. Would get into lengthy zombie debates with friends, and we rented Day of the Dead, which probably became my favorite. Bub is the man. as far as games go, Resident Evil was good, but RE2 is where it's at. i've got nothing but love for that game and have bought it numerous times on a number of systems. i feel the need to mention White Zombie/Rob Zombie right here. how much they fit into the conversation is debatable, but i love their music, with Hellbilly Deluxe being the single best album IMO. least favorites? i'm gonna start with "28 Days Later". It was promoted as a zombie movie while being anything but. i sometimes see it cited as a "new beginning" for zombie movies, which probably explains why my interest started to fade after this.

my gaming is certainly not what it was when i was a kid, but i still get my time in. i'm making it a point (started in january '16) to put a higher focus on gaming. hoping to clear out the backlog a bit and knock out a couple of games that i've owned forever but never given a proper chance to.

damn, DP, i finally got a chance to really browse your pics. you've got a ton of stuff, but also a ton of quality stuff. that is a real nice diverse collection you have. are you missing Metroid for the NES? i didn't see it in the pic, but granted i easily could've missed it somewhere. that is literally the only thing missing that stood out to me.

.....and i just picked up a GameCube. no pics, but it finishes off my Nintendo systems (at least until the Switch drops). With it a grabbed Super Mario Sunshine ($5), Wave Race: Blue Storm ($4), and Smash Bros Melee ($20). It also prompted me to order a few games online, so i've got Mario Kart: Double Dash and Metroid Prime coming in the mail. Happy Birthday to me!

have always been, and always will be, a wrestling fan. now, to clarify, i don't follow most of what's shown on TV today. The WWE lost me as a fan many years ago (i stopped religiously watching Monday Night Raw in 2004). But i still know what goes on, thru friends that still watch, or a wrestling message board that i'm a part of. The actual show just can't hold my interest anymore. to make up for that, a couple years ago i started watching the glory years (the "Attitude Era" for those in the know) again. i'm watching it in real time (one episode every Monday night) but i'm also watching it ALL. the Raws, the SmackDown!s, the PPVs, the weekend shows that don't matter. everything i can find. to make this more complicating, i'm also watching WCW programs. Nitro every Monday, Thunder on thursdays, and their entire plethora of weekend shows. i'm in October of 1999 right now, and i plan on working my way thru the end of 2001. After that, i'm not sure, but i'll probably do something similar with 1980s WWF/NWA shows. favorite wrestler: "Macho Man" Randy Savage. even when he was the bad guy, i still rooted for him. Hell, in my mind, anybody that feuded with him was clearly in the wrong. Also rounding out the top four are: Shawn Michaels, Chris Jericho, and Jushin Liger. After that, there's a lot of contenders: Chris Benoit, Eddie Guerrero, Owen Hart, Ultimo Dragon, Ultimate Warrior, etc. etc. i've been to a number of live events. Most notably, WrestleManias 22 (Chicago, 2006) and 23 (Detroit, 2007). 'Mania 22 was amazing. the atmosphere was electric. 23 was huge (80,000+ people) and was fun too but way less memorable for me (likely due to not following the show much at all). Last year, i took my 11 year old nephew to a local wrestling show (a co-worker wrestles for this promotion) and it was one of the best wrestling experiences i've ever had. He was super into it the whole time and he raved about the fact that the lead good guy (my co-worker) high fived him after his match. it was awesome. the best wrestling video game is hands down WWF No Mercy for the n64. i can still play it to this day and have a blast. pure perfection. as for why men like it? i dunno. i've been a fan since i was a kid. i tend to liken it as "real life superheroes" as opposed to "soap opera for men". the garish costumes, the feats of strength, the way they risk their bodies by flying through the air. it's the whole atmosphere. the "fake" stuff is such a stupid argument. it's like, "you know 'the Walking Dead' didn't really happen right?"

let me join in the chorus of people who would rather avoid the multiplayer (unless it is friends on my couch with me or etc.) have played Mario Kart 8 with some friends online but it's never as much fun as being with those people. i'm a big fan of the game series "Diablo" on PC. even in d3, which is online-only, i play single player and avoid any interaction with anybody else. the way that i play doesn't mesh up with the way other people play, so i just don't have any fun.

i've mentioned a number of times, thru a number of communication avenues, that Nintendo really should release a 3ds cartridge with all/most of the Virtual Boy library. some of the games are actually pretty good (Wario Land, Jack Bros) and some are a cool novelty (Teleroboxer, Mario Clash). Sure, some are garbage (Waterworld) but why not?

i'm a bigger fan of the original nWo theme. with Hendrix's riffs you can't go wrong. you know what? yeah. i'm picking the nWo theme as my entrance tune. 4 LIFE!