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Count_Zero

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Everything posted by Count_Zero

  1. The shield is down on the Ancient Angaran City the Kett are excavating, so it’s time to clean them out of there. Filed under: Let's Play Tagged: Let's Play, Mass Effect: Andromeda, Video games
  2. Last weekend was the latest NXT Takeover event, NXT Takeover: Chicago, and I have a few thoughts on the event. As with my review of the Orlando event, I’ll be giving the Highs and Lows of each match. Roderick Strong defeated Eric Young (w/ Alexander Wolfe & Killian Dain) Backstory: Coming into the event, Strong was attacked by SAnitY, and demanded a match at Takeover from William Regal. He got it. High Points: Strong had a good showing coming into this, both in terms of how he took on Young directly, and how he managed the two other opponents on the outside. The move that finished off the match (which was described as a “Double Knee Release Suplex Back Breaker”) was incredibly impressive. Low Points: SAnitY is 1-1 for the Takeover events that I’ve watched, and they haven’t really had any lasting feuds, aside from the Tye Dillinger feud that basically wrapped up on the NXT after the last Takeover. This was a conclusive ending to a feud that was barely a week long. Also, having SAnitY lose in what was basically a 3-on-1 match didn’t help. Rating: 4/5 WWE United Kingdom Championship Match: Tyler Bates vs. Pete Dunne Backstory: This is a rematch from the final of the WWE UK Championship tournament. High Points: Very strong technical wrestling in this match. Nice subtitle heel work by Dunne with some of the finger and joint work. Similarly, Dunne had some excellent suplexes and slams in this match. Also, it was really great to hear JR back at the announce table again. This match got our first “Fight Forever”, and “Holy S***” chant of the night. Low Points: With the level of the match here, this should have been higher on the card. Also, Dunne’s holding-the-belt-in-your-teeth thing looks stupid. Rating: 5/5. The Tag match later in the night was great, but this was just a fantastic match. NXT Women’s Championship Match: Asuka (c) defeated Nikki Cross & Ruby Riot Backstory: During a Women’s Battle Royale to determine the #1 Contender for the NXT Women’s Championship, Asuka assaulted the last 3 women standing – Ember Moon, Nikki Cross, and Ruby Riot, injuring Moon and taking her out of competition. In reaction to this, NXT General Manager William Regal made the Women’s Championship match at Takeover a Triple Threat match. Outside of that, Ruby Riot has been feuding with SAnitY, and Nikki Cross in particular. Coming into this match, Asuka has held the NXT title for just about as long as Trish Stratus did for her longest reign. If the title is not defended on TV before the next Takeover, she will be the longest reigning woman’s champion in WWE history outside of The Fabulous Moolah. High Points: Ruby Riot really shows that she takes her opponents very seriously – slamming the breaks on her audience hype the moment that Nikki Cross’s music hits, and she never takes her eyes off her, and only take her attention off of Cross once Asuka’s music hits. Riot comes out of this match looking strong. Nikki Cross shows a lot of shades of Dean Ambrose here, in a good way. Low Points: Had Ember Moon not been involved, or had she been involved and been able to take part in the match, I could see Cross or Riot taking the title to add the weight of the belt to their feud. As it stands, my suspicion going in was that Asuka was going to retain, with the Asuka vs. Moon rematch happening at the next Takeover, and Cross and Riot continuing their feud outside of the title hunt. Having Asuka pin Riot and Cross simultaneously doesn’t help either one. Rating: 4/5. NXT Championship Match: Bobby Roode (c) defeats Hideo Itami Backstory: Itami debuted 2 years ago and has been seeking the NXT championship belt, but has been wracked by injuries keeping him from competing for the belt, including missing Shinsuke Nakamura’s run in NXT – finally, after becoming sick of champion Bobby Roode’s arrogance, he made Roode his first target after returning to the ring. High Points: Itami definitely has latched on to the WWE style, with a great spot where he straight up does a taunt-theft on Roode. Also, great narrative storytelling, with Itami working Roode’s shoulder to prevent him from hitting the Glorious DDT (and when he does land it he can’t land it properly), and then Itami missing a move (kayfabe) hurting his leg making it harder to hit the GTS (and when he does land it, it’s not a clean hit so Roode rolls outside the ring, requiring Itami to bring him back in the ring, meaning he can’t pin him right away). Low Points: Considering how long Itami was out of action, it’s kinda bummer that he didn’t win. I’m hoping this isn’t the end of his title hunt, and we get a rematch at an upcoming Takeover. The finish isn’t great either – with Roode landing two straight Glorious DDTs in spite of his hurt shoulder. It would have been nice if Roode had to bust out an one of his older finishers to take down Itami. Rating: 4/5 Ladder Match for NXT Tag Team Championship: The Authors of Pain (Akam and Rezar w/ Paul Ellering) (c) defeated #DIY (Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa) The Backstory: This is a rematch for #DIY from the last NXT Takeover, with the team wanting a one-on-one shot against the Authors of Pain, and General Manager William Regal made this the first Tag Team Ladder Match in NXT. High Point: I appreciate the match having both “regular” ladders and what I’ve come to refer to as the “Jeff Hardy Ladder” – a ladder of sufficient height that when erected outside the ring, it stands at the same height as a regular ladder inside the ring. Also, we have some really nice spots – such as Ciampa threading the needle on the Jeff Hardy ladder for a through the ropes dive. Also, a great job setting up that the lighter and more spry Gargano and Ciampa are more familiar with ladder matches and the high-risk moves that come with them, while the Authors of Pain, with their larger weight, are at something of a disadvantage when it comes to climbing the ladder. However, the Authors of Pain are quite capable to dish out punishment with ladders. Oh, and then there’s the “DIY putting the Authors of Pain through ladders” Spot that gets a “Please Don’t Die” chant, followed by our second “Holy s***” chant of the night – followed by the second “Fight Forever” chant. Also, I also like when you have a face and heel alternating punches and the fans chanting “Yay” and “Boo” based on who throws the punch. Props to the Authors of Pain checking on Ellering after he gets super-kicked – you don’t see that level of concern by wrestlers for their managers that often – and in turn the AoP getting more vengeful in response. Same with Gargano sacrificing himself to save Ciampa. Low Points: “Co-ladder-al damage”? Really, Nigel? Really? You go sit in the corner and you think about what you’ve done. AoP’s recovery after getting put through several ladders (and getting a ladder-augmented Man-in-the-Middle) allowing them to hit a Super Collider and the win seemed rather sudden. Rating: 5/5 After the match, #DIY is applauded in the middle of the ring, and then at the Titantron, Ciampa assaults Gargano, beating the crap out of him before putting him through some tables. This is shades of Michaels super-kicking Marty Janetty through the window of the Barber Shop set, except there hasn’t been anything to foreshadow this – no arguments or anything like that prior to the assault, no miscommunications during the match, and Gargano sacrificing himself to save Ciampa. This certainly sets up Ciampa as a major heel, but it feels more like a Russo-esque shocking swerve than anything else. To the credit of the fans, Ciampa gets “F*** You, Ciampa” and “Asshole” chants in response. Filed under: Wrestling Tagged: NXT, Wrestling, WWE
  3. Bodacious Space Pirates was a show, back from 2012, which was a fantastic anime series, which had all the fun of old-school Juvenile SF, but without the problematic elements that those works often run into (and the problematic elements from some contemporary SF). However, the end of the series left me hoping for more, and in 2014, a film sequel to the series came out, subtitled Abyss of Hyperspace, with US release coming later in 2016. At long last, I’ve finally had a chance to watch it, so it’s time to give my thoughts. The film is set a somewhat unspecified time after the events of the series. Times have gotten tough all over for our protagonists. The hyperspace routes are becoming more difficult to navigate, hurting freight and passenger liner business – and in turn hurting the business of privateers like the Bentenmaru, and freight services like former Sailing Club member Jenny Doolittle’s freight line. Just to add insult to injury, a major restaurant chain is reducing the business of the independent restaurant where protagonist Marika Kato works as a part-time job. In the middle of all of this comes Kanata Mugen, a young man on the run from a mysterious group of people who are seeking the inheritance he received from his now deceased father. He ends up on board the Bentenmaru, with Marika promising to provide protection, and to help him figure out the mystery of his inheritance. Now, I will admit that I watched this film on a computer screen, which is not the ideal way to watch this film. That said, the film looks good. The animation is nice, though admittedly didn’t seem much different from the animation from the television series. That said, that’s not really a strike against it, as the original show looked nice, with some interesting character and mechanical designs. The original series generally avoided fanservice, and this show pretty much does the same. The spacesuits use a design comparable to Dava Newman’s BioSuit, though the BioSuit was unveiled in 2012, after the release of Bodacious Space Pirates, but similar concepts have been in the works for a while. Unfortunately, one of the film’s antagonists has a spacesuit with defined boob armor, which is unfortunate (boob armor, aside from the rather sexualization, is not actually practical as it guides any physical attack towards the person’s heart). In terms of characterization, the film does a pretty good job of bringing most of the original show’s cast back for the film. They all have some stuff to contribute to the story, but some are used better than others. Probably the most disappointing aspect to the story is related to how Marika’s mother, Ririka, and Marika’s friend and fellow captain (or future captain) Chiaki, are incorporated into the story. They are both tremendously under-used, especially considering how the events in the film relate to Ririka, and how in the show Chiaki served as Marika’s foil (often described as the Spock to Marika’s Kirk). I did enjoy the film, but it didn’t really feel like a satisfactory send-off to the characters and to the universe, instead leaving me still hungry for another season of the show. As far as whether you should see if – if you saw the series and liked it, it’s certainly worth watching. However, if you haven’t seen the show, watch that first, as this film is certainly not a good jumping on point. The film is available from Amazon & Rightstuf on DVD (Amazon, RightStuf), and Blu-Ray (Amazon, RightStuf) Filed under: Anime Tagged: Anime, anime review, film, Film Review, science fiction
  4. I finally take down the Kett Stronghold, and prepare to finish off the missions on Voeld. Filed under: Let's Play Tagged: Let's Play, Mass Effect: Andromeda, Video games
  5. I make my first attempt on the main Kett Stronghold. Filed under: Let's Play Tagged: Let's Play, Mass Effect: Andromeda, Video games
  6. I’m getting a little political this week with a call to action on Net Neutrality, with some arguements you can give to your Senators, your Representative, and the FCC. Send your comments to the FCC (when they’re open for comment again) through https://www.gofccyourself.com/ Find your Representative at http://www.house.gov/representatives/find/ Find your Senators at https://www.senate.gov/senators/contact/ John Oliver’s most recent thoughts on Net Neutrality can be found at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qI5y-_sqJT0&feature=youtu.be Please support my Patreon at http://www.patreon.com/countzeroor Member of The Console Xplosion Network: http://www.theconsolexplosion.com/ Watch my Live-Streams on http://twitch.tv/countzeroor/ Filed under: News Tagged: net neutrality, vlog
  7. I encounter the hardest fight I’ve faced thus far, and give some commentary as to why the fight is so difficult. Filed under: Let's Play Tagged: Let's Play, Mass Effect: Andromeda, Video games
  8. We solve the third beacon – and accidentally use a bypass because I hit the wrong button. Filed under: Let's Play Tagged: Let's Play, Mass Effect: Andromeda, Video games
  9. Wizards is what I’d describe as the first film in Ralph Bakshi’s trilogy of fantasy epics – this film, Fire and Ice (which I previously reviewed at Bureau42), and Lord of the Rings (which roughly adapted The Fellowship of the Rings and The Two Towers). The later films are certainly superior works, but the three films together definitely show a development of Bakshi’s craft when it comes to epic fantasy. However, what about his first big fantasy film? Wizards is a film with some very real problems with tonal whiplash. The story is set after a nuclear apocalypse has wiped out most of humanity and caused the emergence of a variety of magical creatures. In this world, twin brothers are born – Avatar and Blackwolf – and they both grow up to become powerful wizards. Avatar specializes in healing the land and light magic, while Blackwolf specializes in dark magic. The two are ultimately driven to fight, and Blackwolf is driven from the land. He settles in the land of Scorch (which is excatly as hospitable as you’d expect from the name), and over the years he has raised armies of orcs, er, mutants to attack the lands of the free elves and conquer them, and has repeatedly been defeated. This time he’s discovered a “Dream Machine” (a film projector showing old Nazi propaganda films), which emboldens his troops and allows them, combined with their advanced technology, to seriously push into Elven territory, leaving only destruction in their wake. Avatar and a small band of heroes have to go into Scorch to defeat Blackwolf once and for all. If this sounds like Generic Fantasy Epic #1, you aren’t too far off. The “Nuclear War returns the Magic” bit came up a lot in fantasy literature from the time, and the rest is pretty close to The Lord of the Rings, except if Gandalf was the lead instead of Frodo & Sam, Aragorn, and Merry & Pippin each being co-leads of their relevant parts of the story. That part of the film is almost executed fairly well, with the challenges Avatar and his band face being generally interesting, and the incursion of Blackwolf’s men having some very somber moments to it. And then the tonal whiplash comes in. Some bits of the film attempt to provide levity through dark comedy, which would generally fit with the rest of the film, except the execution doesn’t quite work. The comedy is done in a way to make the Mutants seem like punch-lock villains, except it also highlights their cruelty. For example, when two Elven priests stall the mutants for 5 hours while waiting for their capitulation, they tell the troops to try “Plan A” (machine gun all the prisoners), followed by Plan B (blow up the temple with the priests – and the person giving the order for Plan B) inside. However, the other part of this comedy really doesn’t work – with bits falling into straight up zany, Looney Tunes levels slapstick. This is highlighted by some of the character designs. Many of the elves, especially older elves and most of the female cast, feels like they were designed by Robert Crumb, particularly Avatar himself (who looks like the guy from the Keep on Truckin’ drawing), and the other female lead, Elsinore. Elinore’s character design in particular has some of the issues with how Crumb draws women – with revealing outfits large breasts and perpetually erect nipples that are visible through her top. The film’s other characters have a more stylized-yet-serious design, reminding me a lot of Wendy Pini’s art for Elfquest (which started publication a year later), to the point that I checked to see if she worked on this film – if she did, it was under a pseudonym, and IMDB doesn’t know what that pseudonym is. The film has a few other structural problems. A lot of information in the film is told through big dumps of exposition done over still images. The art looks alright, but it’s a very slow way to tell a story. Also, like many of Bakshi’s other films, this movie uses a lot of rotoscoping, in this case of stock footage over other films, with the original footage transformed into silhouettes, with touch-up done to make the original footage look monstrous. The problem is that in this film, unlike in Fire and Ice, it’s painfully clear that the movie is adapting footage from other films, and in some cases taking World War II footage of Nazi soldiers and tanks and simply adding horns to them. The worst example is, however, one piece of footage where some of Blackwolf’s troops are represented by rotoscoped footage of Zulu warriors from the film Zulu – an act which has unfortunate implications to say the least. I’m not saying that Bakshi was intentionally being racist, but the choice was rather tone-deaf and could have been thought through better. Is the film good? It definitely has it’s moments, enough to make it worth a watch, but it’s not something I’d feel compelled to have in my collection. Wizards is currently available from Amazon.com on Instant, Blu-Ray, and DVD. Filed under: film Tagged: animation, film, Film Review, Ralph Bakshi
  10. I’m something of a fan of The Shadow, both in terms of the radio plays, and in terms of the pulp character. The feature film starring Alec Baldwin holds a special place in my heart for how it combines the two very different versions of the character into one with some success. So, when I ended up having to find a new comic shop after my old one (Ancient Wonders in Tualatin – which was also my FLGS) closed, I found myself in need of a new comic shop. When I found my new one (Comics Adventure in Gladstone) I ended up checking out the quarter bins in the back, and finding almost all of Howard Chaykin’s 4-issue The Shadow miniseries – Blood and Judgement. I picked that up, and found the first issue on Comixology. Having read it, it’s time to give my thoughts. As a book, this is kind of rough. This isn’t due to Chaykin’s art. Chaykin’s style fits with what I expect for the 1980s in comics, especially considering that this book is literally contemporaneous with The Dark Knight Returns (no, really, issue #2 came out the same week as DKR #1). Chaykin’s art absolutely evokes the era where the book is set – the 1980’s – perfectly. Where things fall apart is the writing. It is clear, from the book, that Chaykin is extremely well versed in Walter Gibson’s The Shadow novels. His version of The Shadow is actually Kent Allard, disaffected soldier who drifted into China after the conclusion of World War I… and this is pretty much where things fall apart. In this version of the story, Allard is hired by wealthy playboy turned drug kingpin Lamont Cranston to take a plane to what turns out to be Shambhala, which is pretty much what you’d expect it to be if you’d read a synopsis of Lost Horizon. Allard thwarts Cranston’s plans – sending him into a ravine where he is presumed to have died. Allard is trained in the mystic arts by the people who run Shambhala, and sent out into the world to be their agent, where he assumed Cranston’s identity and had the adventures that we saw in the books. Cut to the present day. The Shadow appears to have disappeared. His former agents, like Margo Lane, Harry Vincent, Moe Shrevnitz, Jericho Druke, and others, have retired – when someone starts picking them off. Allard emerges, unaging, from Shambhala, with two sons from a woman he met there, and a flying car – and sets out to find the mastermind responsible. It turns out to be Cranston, still alive, who has become a vice kingpin (again), and who has a test-tube son who is meant to be physically perfect, so that Cranston can force Allard to take him back to Shambhala and put his brain into his son’s body. And if he won’t, he’ll nuke New York. So, here’s the thing. In the books – Cranston was one of Allard’s agents. Allard would assume Cranston’s identity when working in public (among other identities), while the real Cranston was being conspicuous elsewhere to spread confusion among The Shadow’s enemies. In some cases, Cranston and Allard would directly work together. Also, the women in this story are horribly written. We have three significant female characters. There’s Cranston’s moll, who basically acts like you’d expect a Gangster’s moll to act, except since this is the ’80s, we can talk openly about sex, so she’s clear that she’s having a lot of sex with both Cranston and his genetic specimen of a son. As soon as Allard kills Cranston, she basically mentally disintegrates. There’s Harry Vincent’s daughter, who is a federal agent, who puts together that someone is targeting The Shadow’s agents, and who immediately goes to find Margo Lane and her father to put them into protective custody. However, as soon as Allard shows up, she briefly complains about how Allard treats women, before deciding that she really wants to get in his pants, and the very next page after this realization, she’s in The Sanctum putting her underwear back on while Allard is lounging in a bathrobe. Finally, there’s Margo Lane. She’s justifiably upset with Allard, the man she loved, abandoning her with no word on where he’s going, and feeling like she was just used for sex and abandoned. She goes off on a spectacular, completely justified rant over his behavior, and Allard’s response is that he thinks women should know their place. This leads me to my other problem. Yes, Allard is a person whose attitudes are out of time, who has been in Shambhala since the 1950s, apparently unaging. However, Allard, in the novels from which this comic clearly takes inspiration, which Chaykin clearly has read, treats the women who are his agents with considerably more respect than he does here. Even considering the limitations of what you could or could not get away with in the pulps, Allard didn’t treat his agents like sex objects, and the women who were his field agents were field agents because they had the skills for what the missions required. I don’t know if the 1980s managed to be more misogynist than the 1930s and 40s, but going from how Chaykin writes female characters in the story, it sure feels like it. Other than that, the conclusion of the story feels very rushed. The first issue of the story is entirely focused on The Shadow’s agents being hunted. The second issue gives us Allard’s backstory, and the reveal that the antagonist is actually Cranston. However, the remainder of the conflict is limited to two issues. It really makes it feel like Cranston’s plan isn’t as thought out as it clearly is, because if it was, it would have taken a little longer for The Shadow to take it apart. Just one more issue would have been perfect. There are some good moments here, though – like Allard taking on the cover identity as the lead singer of a punk band (complete with performing on stage) to go after one of Cranston’s agents, and the final confrontation, with Allard’s surviving original agents – Margo and Vincent, and his new agents, working together to bring down Cranston – is nicely done. I just wish the rest of the comic was better. If you want to pick this up, the comic has been reprinted in a trade by Dynamite Comics (who currently has the license for The Shadow), and it’s available through Amazon.com in Physical and Kindle editions (with the Kindle edition also being readable through the Comixology app). Filed under: comics Tagged: comics, DC Comics, The Shadow
  11. We locate and activate the second Monolith. Also, I come up with a quicker tactic for getting through minefields. Filed under: Let's Play Tagged: Let's Play, Mass Effect: Andromeda, Video games
  12. This time we’re taking on the Remnant Whalers (that is hunters of Remnant Whales, not hunters of whales that are Remnant) – and activate the first Monolith Filed under: Let's Play Tagged: Let's Play, Mass Effect: Andromeda, Video games
  13. This time we begin the Legends Expanded Universe as we know it, with the Thrawn Trilogy – Heir to the Empire, Dark Force Rising, and The Last Command – by Timothy Zahn Opening Credits: Star Wars Theme from Super Star Wars on the SNES. Closing Credits: Chiptune Cantina Band from Chiptune Inc. – https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvJtiGFudFlvYMfjiU1NKJg Please support my Patreon at http://www.patreon.com/countzeroor Member of The Console Xplosion Network: http://www.theconsolexplosion.com/ Watch my Live-Streams on http://twitch.tv/countzeroor/ Filed under: Star Wars, videos Tagged: Legends of the Force, Star Wars, Star Wars Expanded Universe, Videos
  14. We go to rescue a retrieval team from a ruined Resistance base, and find some Turians. Filed under: Let's Play Tagged: Let's Play, Mass Effect: Andromeda, Video games
  15. We continue to explore, finding a very well guarded Kett installation, and our first encounter with a Kett minefield. Filed under: Let's Play Tagged: Let's Play, Mass Effect: Andromeda, Video games
  16. A while back, in the Nintendo Power Retrospectives, I covered Dragon Quest IV for the NES. Prior to that, I had picked up the DS version of the game and had been playing it off and on. Having now beaten the game, I wanted to give my quick thoughts. Dragon Quest IV, as far as the series goes, comes closest to what we associate with some of the middle Final Fantasy titles (like IV) – a massive party, multiple vehicles that you get access to over the course of the game, each allowing access to different areas of the map, and a much bigger save-the-world plot than the first few titles. On the NES, it was an incredibly ambitious game, both in terms of the scope of the game and the size of the narrative. For those unfamiliar with the game, the story goes through 5 different chapters, each focusing on an individual character or small party, telling their story and building up the larger narrative, before in the sixth chapter the characters go to form a larger party and go on to take on the main final boss and save the world. The game itself has some quality of life improvements from the NES game. In addition to a quicksave option, your attacks are retargeted when the enemy you originally intended to attack is slain. The game also has more animated sprites for your opponents – with more expression and detail to their movements than even with the Super Famicom Dragon Quest titles. That said, there are a few quality of life improvements from later titles that this game could have used, and would have also provided more opportunities to develop the character of your party members. In particular, later games give the opportunity to talk to your party members to get a reminder of where you need to go to proceed in the quest. Otherwise, the game is a solid Dragon Quest title, and a really good place to come in on the series. Dragon Quest IV is available for the DS from Amazon.com. Filed under: Video games Tagged: Dragon Quest, JRPGs, Nintendo DS, Video games
  17. So, with some of my reviews, I’ve been adapting them to videos on my YouTube channel. This won’t be one of them, for a large part because wrestling videos tend to get Content ID strikes, and I don’t want to get any more of those. Anyway, NXT, the WWE’s developmental promotion, has been doing a series of major events in conjunction with the WWE’s big Pay-Per-Views of the year – the Royal Rumble, Wrestlemania, Summerslam, and occasionally Survivor Series. In conjunction with this year’s Wrestlemania in Orlando, we got a NXT supercard to go with it. Spoilers below. Rather than going hold-for-hold in my review, I’m going to give the Highs and Lows for each match. Eight-Person Mixed Tag: SAnitY (Eric Young, Alexander Wolfe, Killian Dain, and Nikki Cross) defeated Tye Dillinger, Kassius Ohno, Ruby Riot and Roderick Strong The Backstory: Coming into the event, the new stable of SAnitY had been running rampant over NXT, and Tye Dillinger and Ruby Riot put together a group of wrestlers to take them on. The team had originally contained wrestler No Way Jose, but after he was assaulted by SAnitY over Wrestlemania weekend, the faces brought in Kassius Ohno (aka Chris Hero, making his WWE/NXT return). The High Points: Sanity really looked incredibly strong in this match. Part of that was certainly the booking, but they also were really impressive. Eric Young looks, both in terms of style and performance, night and day from the Eric Young we saw in TNA/Impact wrestling. Also, this match is somewhat hampered by the fact that Tye Dillinger was (as we know now) being brought up to the main roster, so it wouldn’t exactly be good for anyone for him to come out on top. The Low Points: Ruby Riot and Nikki really don’t show off what they can do. With the exception of a missile dropkick by Ruby off the apron, most of what they do in this match is basically a few decent strikes and rolling around on the mat. Not even chain wrestling. Considering that one of NXT’s high points is their women’s division, and considering that both women are Shimmer alumni, this was particularly disappointing. Rating: 4/5 Aleister Black defeated Andrade Almas The Backstory: None. The High Points: I think Aleister Black is the satanic wrestler I’ve seen who is a Face, while not being overtly supernatural in gimmick. Yeah, there’s the Undertaker, but ‘Taker has the weight of history on his side. The Low Points: I didn’t feel much in terms of stakes from this match. Black didn’t quite come across as feeling like he was there to make a statement or prove something, or vice-versa, Almas didn’t come across like he was there to put down an upstart. Instead, it felt like there was an open spot on the card, and they needed to fill and decided to take this opportunity to put over a newcomer to the roster. Now, this is fine and all, but you only do four of these events a year, so you might as well take the opportunity to build up the match leading up to this. Rating: 3/5 Triple Threat Elimination Match for the NXT Tag Team Championship: The Authors of Pain (Akam and Rezar) (c) (with Paul Ellering) defeated #DIY (Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa) and The Revival (Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder) The Backstory: #DIY defeated the Revival, the first two-time NXT Tag Team champions, and in turn #DIY was beaten by the Authors of Pain. Both former champions want their belt back, but the Revival in particular also want to beat #DIY. The High Points: This is a match that definitely tells a story. Between the beef between #DIY and Revival, and between #DIY and their desire to get back the belts, the match really got across the motivations and how they conflicted with each other. Making the match an Elimination match as opposed to a single-fall match helps with this, because the wrestlers have logical reasons to co-operate, but have plenty of motivation not to. I knew going in that The Revival was getting called up to the main roster (so they certainly wouldn’t be getting the straps), but there was still the possibility that #DIY might get out with the title, but when they didn’t, the match as it played out made it clear that it made sense for them to have gotten beaten. They basically beat themselves by failing to co-operate with The Revival (and vice versa). The match itself is great, with the three teams putting on a strong show, enough to get one of the two “Fight Forever” chants of the night. Also, “Fight Forever” is probably one of my new favorite wrestling chants – as like “This is Awesome”, it highlights the work that the wrestlers are doing in the ring, and adds the sentiment that the wrestlers work incredibly well together and have strong in-ring chemistry. It’s a chant that, in two words, sends strong positive feedback, and that’s always a good thing to send. Also, the new NXT Tag Team Championship belt looks really nice. Low Points: This match, however, this match doesn’t particularly showcase the Authors of Pain very well. They have a very distinctive entrance, basically as the urban-tactical version of the Pitbulls, and having Paul Ellering as their manager definitely draws connections with the Road Warriors. However, considering that they strongly present the image of powerful, barely restrained instruments of violence – having them spend so much of the match on the outside undermines that aspect of them somewhat. It makes logical sense for Ellering to have them hold back and let #DIY and The Revival beat the crap out of each other, but it would also make sense for Akam or Rezar to break discipline, come into the ring, massacre one member of either team, forcing their opponents to co-operate to drive the AoP back to the outside, before their own issues override their combined opponent and they return to fighting each other. Rating: 4/5 NXT Women’s Championship Match: Asuka (c) defeated Ember Moon Backstory: Asuka has not lost a match since she won the title. Not through pinfall, submission, countout, or disqualification. Ember Moon has set her sites on the NXT Women’s title, and she’s going to go through Asuka to get it. High Points: Again, as with the tag title match, this is one which told a strong story. Asuka had become somewhat complacent with her reign, and wasn’t particularly taking Ember Moon seriously. Over the course of the match, Asuka basically ended up being forced to realize that Ember was an opponent to be reckoned with, and she’d have to cut loose against her. Low Points: I’m not a fan of the new NXT Women’s title. The old one had a level of bling on it comparable to the main roster’s two main event titles. It really got across that the NXT Women’s title was just as important as the WWE Men’s Main Event titles. The new does have some of that with the shape of the belt (which is shares an outline to some of the old WWE and WCW main event titles), and loses some of the gendered color coding (the pink stones). However, considering the stones on the WWE Championship and the Universal Championship belts, it feels like a step down. Rating: 4/5 NXT Championship Match: Bobby Roode (c) defeated Shinsuke Nakamura The Backstory: At the last NXT Takeover event, Roode beat Nakamura for the title, in part by Roode kayfabe injuring Nakamura’s knee, which Nakamura aggravated through his own actions. During that time, Roode has been boasting about making NXT corporate, while Tron fights for the Users Nakamura fights for the fans. The High Points: Again, great story in this match. Nakamura is coming off of a (kayfabe) injury, and one in his legs which could hamper his most powerful weapon – his kicks (as King of Strong Style) – and Roode could take advantage of that. Thus, Nakamura had to keep Roode off balance and away from the recovering injury. This match got the other “Fight Forever” chant of the night. One of the problems with Puroresu is the selling, or rather lack thereof, and Nakamura is a wrestler who doesn’t have that problem. He sold the hell out of that knee in this match – from favoring the knee in his movements, to switching his strikes to the uninjured leg. Also, the new NXT Championship belt looks great – again, borrowing some visual concepts from the Big Gold Belt, while still featuring the NXT iconography. The Low Points: I… um… don’t have any. Rating: 5/5 and my match of the night. Filed under: Recap, Wrestling Tagged: NXT, Wrestling, wrestling review, WWE
  18. We move up to reach the third Resistance base. Filed under: Let's Play Tagged: Let's Play, Mass Effect: Andromeda, Video games
  19. We attack a Kett labor camp and free a bunch of inmates. Filed under: Let's Play Tagged: Let's Play, Mass Effect: Andromeda, Video games
  20. So, storyline wise, I wonder what’s going on with Miz and Bray Wyatt? The two times he’s come out to interfere was to protect The Miz, plus taking on Ambrose at Miz’ behest. Wyatt didn’t come for the save against Balor again, though, and when Miz went down in the ring to beat down Ambrose some more, he seemed very wary of Bray, attempting to actively give him a wide berth. It doesn’t feel like they’re planning to have Miz join the Wyatt family. Considering Bray’s promo he cut before Payback and after the Shakeup, had him talking about his plan for Raw, having Bray be Miz’s enforcer would be an unfortunate step down from that. Also, considering how Miz is making a big thing in his promos about the style of an Intercontinental Champion, having Miz go with the grungy swamp Cthulhu cultist as his gun-for-hire seems like a poor fit (which, admittedly, is nothing new for the WWE). Other than that, I like the feud they’re building with Sheamus and Cesaro vs. the Hardys, and the promo with Golden Truth (which I read about from Scott Keith as it was cut from the Hulu Replay), hopefully will lead to another storyline with the Tag Division outside of the title hunt. Filed under: Wrestling, WWF Tagged: Wrestling, WWE, WWE Raw
  21. This past weekend the latest installment of the Marvel Cinematic Universe has come out, and I’m giving my thoughts on the film. Please support my Patreon at http://www.patreon.com/countzeroor Member of The Console Xplosion Network: http://www.theconsolexplosion.com/ Watch my Live-Streams on http://twitch.tv/countzeroor/ Filed under: film Tagged: film, Film Review, Marvel Cinematic Universe, science fiction
  22. We reach the next Resistance outpost. Filed under: Let's Play Tagged: Let's Play, Mass Effect: Andromeda, Video games
  23. After having set up our settlement, we discover that some weird Remnant tech has been preying on scouting teams, and decide to take it out. Filed under: Let's Play Tagged: Let's Play, Mass Effect: Andromeda, Video games
  24. We land on planet Voeld, and it turns out to have mechanics shockingly close to a previous game I’ve done a LP of. Filed under: Let's Play Tagged: Let's Play, Mass Effect: Andromeda, Video games
  25. Jim Butcher’s Harry Dresden series kicked off something of a new renaissance of Urban Fantasy. The genre had existed before – authors such as Emma Bull and Mercedes Lackey had written works in the genre, but what made Harry Dresden distinctive is how well it combined the Urban Fantasy genre with the hard-boiled detective novel. I had previously read Storm Front, and several of the later books, but hadn’t read any further books in a while. So, I figured now was as good a time as any to revisit the series beginning. For those who are unfamiliar with the plot of the first book, it has Harry Dresden, professional wizard, faced with two seemingly unrelated cases, one laid before him by the police department in his role as an consultant where he has to solve a series of brutal murders, and one related to his job as a wizard and private investigator where he has to find a missing husband. If after hearing the description of those two cases, your first thought is that they’re probably related, then you’ve clearly read hard-boiled detective novels before. What’s particularly striking, coming back to this book, is how seamlessly Butcher is able to merge the necessary world building that comes with urban fantasy, with the narrative conceits of detective fiction. Butcher takes the reasonable step of combining the criminal and supernatural underworlds, and then runs with it. Female vampires normally depicted as beings of mystery and seduction? Have one running a high-class escort service. That sort of thing. While I don’t know if Butcher had a bunch of books already plotted out by the time he published Storm Front, the book definitely does and interesting job laying some groundwork for future books, often with quick throwaway lines of dialog – Dresden’s previous master (and their fate), the mention of his “Fairy Godmother” and so on. As far as faults go, the book runs into some problems with how Murphy is handled. Morgan refusing to listen to Harry makes sense – he’s single minded, and it’s clearly meant to be implied that his understanding of the mundane world isn’t great. However, when Harry withholds information on his client from Murphy because of client privilege, Murphy should understand that. Harry is a licensed private investigator, that’s his job. Yes, it’s an old detective novel trope, but so was having the police take someone in the back room and beat the crap out of them until they talk, and Murphy’s not doing that. All in all, this is a good self-contained novel, and a good start to the series as a whole. If you haven’t re-read Storm Front in a while, it’s definitely worth checking out. It is currently available in print, in a Kindle edition, and as an audiobook from Amazon.com Filed under: Books Tagged: book review, Books, Dresden Files, Urban fantasy
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