Nintendo is ruining MarioKart again

"MarioKart 64" is still one of my favorite games ever. It was fantastic. The courses were not too challenging, but not easy. The battle mode would kill dozens of hours at a time.

I got my hopes up for another fantastic game back when "MarioKart: Double Dash" was coming out — but my hopes were quickly dashed (pun intended). The problem was that instead of giving "MarioKart 64" a fresh coach of paint, Nintendo tried to re-create the game with two-man cars.

I held a grudge for a long time — but when Reggie Fils-Aime announced MarioKart for the Wii at this past summer's E3, my hopes soared again. I thought "OK, they've learned from their mistakes, this is going to be a return to greatness, and a reason to finally purchase a Wii!"

BUT then I read this on Kotaku today. Not only is the game pushed back to the spring, but the game will now feature bikes. BIKES! Tell me, how the heck is a bike a kart??? What happened to a return to greatness? What happened to learning from mistakes? I'm already sick today, this news has just put me over the edge, I need a nap.

Oh well, guess it's just me and my N64 for a while longer.

This week's comic expectations

On the rarest of occasions here on the Gaming Geek blog, we've come across a week so huge that paragraph form just wouldn't do it justice... well, it might do it justice, but it would take me too long since I get crazy wordy... of course, you know that already...

Anyway, with a week this big, we're going to go to the lightning round format!

- Booster Gold #3: The best new book that not enough people are talking about takes a trip to visit Jonah Hex.

- Black Adam: The Dark Ages #2: Teth Adam has his powers again, and everytime he uses them, his chances of resurrecting Isis decrease. If canabalism and deisemboweling yhetis doesn't do it for you, nothing will.

- Fantastic Four #550: Dwyane McDuffie's fun run continues as the FF (plus the Black Panther and Storm) do what they do best, venture into space at the start of a new arc.

- Friendly Neighborhood Spider-man #24: The second part of the supposedly universe-shattering "One More Day" storyline.

- Green Arrow/Black Canary #1: Pissed at the death of Ollie Queen? Well, I don't think it will last long, and this issue kicks off Dinah and Connor's quest to solve the mystery behind the death.

- Green Lantern #24: If I really have to tell you why you want to be reading this issue of the Sinestro Corps War, then you haven't been paying attention lately.

- New Avengers #35: "The Hood" storyline continues, which I'm no big fan of, but there is always the chance of seeing a little advancement in the "Skrull Invasion" story.

- Punisher War Journal #12: Frank Castle getting involved with Hulk's World War. Need I say more?

- Superman #668: The "Third Kryptonian" arc kicks off, as the Superman family is getting bigger again. Is it just me, or is the sudden burst in Kryptonians (Clark, Powergirl, Supergirl, KC Supes, Chris Kent, etc.) a sign of Countdown's coming?

- Wonder Woman #13: Yes, I thought Amazons Attack sucked just as hard as anyone, but GAIL SIMONE takes over the series with this issue! Give it a shot.

Wednesday's comic release list

Well, my wallet is going to be much lighter at this time tomorrow. Booster. Black Adam. Spidey. Green Lantern. The heavy hitters are on the shelves, and your local comic shop owner is going to be a happy man tomorrow. You'll be happy too, you'll just be a 25 bucks poorer or so.

DC Comics:
Batman Confidential #10
Black Adam The Dark Age #3
Booster Gold #3
Captain Carrot And The Final Ark #1
Countdown #29
Exterminators #22
Friday The 13th Summer Vacation #2
Green Arrow Black Canary #1
Green Lantern #24
Jack Of Fables #15
JLA Classified #44
Justice League Unlimited #38
Simon Dark #1
Stormwatch #12
Suicide Squad Raise The Flag #2
Superman #668
Un-Men #3
Wonder Girl #2
Wonder Woman #13

Marvel:
Amazing Spider-Girl #13
Civil War Chronicles #4
Fantastic Four #550
Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #24
Ghost Rider #16
Heroes For Hire #14
Marvel Adventures Hulk #4
New Avengers #35
New Avengers Transformers #4 (Of 4)
New Warriors #5
Nova #7
Powers #26
Punisher #51
Punisher War Journal #12
Runaways #28
Spider-Man Red Sonja #3
Wolverine #58
World War Hulk Front Line #5
X-Factor #24
X-Men Die By The Sword #1

Others:
Archaic #10
Archie #579
Beowulf #2
Blade Of The Immortal #130
BPRD Killing Ground #3
Brawl #1
Clockwork Girl #1
Deadlander #1
Drafted #2
Drain #5
First Born #2
Gargoyles #6
Gi Joe Storm Shadow #4
Graveslinger #1
Grimm Fairy Tales #17
Grimm Fairy Tales Annual #1
Hiding In Time #3
Holiday Fun Digest #12
Into The Dust #2
Jughead #185
Living With The Dead #1
New Battlestar Galactica Season Zero #2
Ps238 #26
PvP #35
Sonic X #25
Sorrow #2
Sword Of Red Sonja Doom O/T Gods #1
Tales From Riverdale Digest #24
Toyfare Alien Vs Predator 2 #124
Witchblade #110
Wonderland #5
Yearbook Stories 1976 1978
Zig Zag #2

Heroes Report on "Kindred"

Let me get this straight, Tim Kring. In the span of one-hour you not only killed off one of my favorite characters, Candice, but then foreshadowed the death of the best character the show has to offer, HRG.

And despite these annoyances, the third episode of Heroes' second season was pretty darned eye-popping great.

And really, two fo the three major developments of this episode revolves around those two moments...

We learned who dragged Sylar's near-dead body away from Kirby Plaza -- Candice -- which does help to explain how nobody realized he was being dragged away before it was too late. However, I do have to question the motivation behind saving Sylar, since it seemed she was working for "the company" and they only wanted to study Mr. Brain-eater, not save him... but I digress...

Anyway, Candice, who changed her name to Michelle and changed the actor playing her from Missy Pegrym to some random red-head, saved Sylar and watched over him as he recovered. The big shocker here is that it seems Sylar has somehow lost his powers -- a plot development that really makes no sense to me, unless the area that he's being kept in is suppressing his powers.

And when Michelle wins the Genius of the Year award by trying to seduce Sylar and offer her help in re-acquiring his powers, he predictably kills her to take her powers. However, he still can't access even this new power. And, as far as I'm concerned the show would have been making a mistake if nobody will be the show's illusionist anymore, since the power is just too cool to waste.

Meanwhile, Stalker-West took Claire for a ride in the sky, seducing her in the process... PG-13 rated seducing, mind you, perverts! The revelation here was that she found his two neck marks, meaning he can be tracked by the company. Not only that, but he then went about telling Claire the harrowing tale of the "Man with Horn-Rimmed Glasses" who abducted him.

Afterward, we get a short scene in which Claire just stares at her father, obviously meaning she is seeing him in a whole new light.

And this pisses me off. What the hell, Claire? You now know this truth that your father has put his life at risk time and time again just to save your invulnerable ass, and yet, the first boy who does a Brandon Routh impression around you can immediately turn you against HRG? You're really that stupid?

And, we're also treated to a painting of the future in this episode, depicting HRG shot through the eye while a blonde (presumably Claire) kisses some tall dark figure. As far as I can quess, this means that Stalker-West is, in fact, going to become a company operative and come after HRG.

Personally, I would also guess that this painting won't come to pass, especially since the future should have shifted from what Isaac was seeing due to the bomb's not going off, but for now it seems our man HRG is in jeopardy, thanks to Claire's hormones.

Elsewhere... did we see the beginnings of an EVIL PETER? Pinning a man against a wall, Peter took on a Sylar-esque smile as he strangled him and nearly killed him! How great is this turn of events? Who could have predicted it? Oh, wait, I did. And I'm thrilled about it!

By the way, speaking of Hormones, Peter chose to stay in Ireland and not learn about his future, and it seems he did so simply because he has the hots for a girl with an Irish Accent. I can't blame him, I can't turn down the accent either, but still, at least open the box, man!

Oh, and just to wrap things up with those other stories going on, Maya and Alejandro are still making their way toward the US and they're still boring, Hiro is still teaching Kensei to be a hero and he still has the hots for Kensei's destined girl, and Nikki and Micah make an appearance, sans a dead DL, only to split up and be irrelevant so far.

That about sum it up? A great episode, despite sad sad events.

Church embraces Halo ... you know, other than the type of Halos dead people have over their heads...

I just read this story on New York Times.com from yesterday, and I'm floored. Follow THIS LINK and read about how Churches are attracting young people to their building, using Halo 3 as the bait.

Now, I'm not going to go into my own religious beliefs or anything here.... but can you can any more hypocritical than attracting people to a peaceful way of thinking by promising sniper shots and beat downs? Sure, Halo is popular, but so is porn. I don't see any churches having porn nights to put people in the seats... plus, I don't think I'd want to see the porn that churches pick out to watch, that's just a little too creepy.

Of course, I'd take all this criticism back if there was a priest in attendance for these Halo nights constantly trying to stop people from killing in the game, claiming the christian thing to do is to exist in the game without killing, to set a good example. Check, that, I wouldn't take back the criticism, I'd laugh. Hard.

Bungie/Microsoft split

Follow THIS LINK to an IGN story saying that Bungie has left Microsoft's nest. The former subsidiary is spreading it's wings into a third-party publisher as well as developer, which would theoretically pave the way for their next game to be multi-platform.

However, as you can see in the story, Bungie isn't flying all that far from the Momma bird, as Microsoft now has some equity in the company and the two plan on maintaining a long relationship.

Now, as far as I'm concerned this could only mean two things: 1) Bungie is going to keep being MS exclusive for platforms and produce other games for handhelds (like that Halo DS that surfaced), or 2) Bungie told MS they would no longer be MS exclusive and MS is looking to cushion the blow by gaining equity in the company.

Only time will tell if PS3 owners get to Finish the Fight too.

Big week for comics around the corner

If you're like me and you're a bit disappointed with the slim pickings on the shelves this week, then you're going to enjoy this.

I took a look at next week's comic book release list, and there are more than a few heavy hitters:

- Black Adam: The Dark Age #3
- Booster Gold #3
- Green Lantern #24
- Superman #668 (beginning the third Kryptonian storyline)
- Friendly Neighborhood Spider-man #24
- New Avengers #35

Light is at the end of the tunnel, my friends. Heck, I'll have 8 comics in my buy pile. Not a record, but not too shabby.

PGR4 Review

Lost in the Halo-mania is this week's release of quite possibly the best auto racing game ever, Project Gotham Racing 4.

To read a sparkling IGN.com review, click THIS LINK.

I, for one, will be picking up this game as soon as I can pull myself away from my Spartan Mark VI armor.

Buy Pile Report: The Rest

Well, there's not much more to say this week, after the special buy pile reports for Green Lantern Corps and Tales of the Sinestro Corps.

One pleasant surprise this week was Countdown #30. The book has been slowly improving, as you could only hope it would since the "Great Disaster" is coming soon, but this week was especially strong because a good portion of it stayed with one group of people (cough, cough, like 52 did, cough cough). And on top of that, that one group of people, the Challengers, found themselves on an Earth in which they achieved their professional desires. Jason was Batman, Donna was Wonder Woman and Kyle was, essentially, Hal Jordan.

I also enjoyed The Jokester's presence in this story, acting as a representative of a third Earth in one scene, and catching the wraith of not just Jason Todd's clown-hatred, but also Jason as Batman's clown-hatred. And personally, I'm very interested in this Earth 15.

Uncanny X-Men #491 was also alright, serving as a solid conclusion to a solid five-part arc for Ed Brubaker. Storm kicks some ass with weather, Warpath kicks some ass with his fists, and we even get to keep this prophecy book around after this arc, thanks to Skids giving the book to Magneto himself. I'm certainly interested to see what his role, and the book's role, will play in the Messiah Complex crossover.

Buy Pile Report: GL Corps

It's been slow here in the office thus far, so in addition to picking up chinese food, I had the time to read Green Lantern Corps #16.

Now, this issue needs no real review, after the past few issues you know that if you're enjoying the Sinestro Corps War, you'll enjoy this book, if not, then you won't enjoy it, since this book is more than on-par with the others.

But, what this issue did do was spark my imagination on the topic of the Green Lanterns' new ability to use Lethal Force. We got to see the Corps in action using that Lethal Force in this issue, and immediately the tide of the battle over Mogo was turned. The Sinestro forces were repelled, Sodam Yat blew up Ranx, lethal force did the job... right?

Well, I think I see where this newfound ability is going to lead the Lanterns. Because, in addition all the winning, we also were hit over the head with the idea that once the rings of deceased lanterns find new hosts, it will be months until they are trained. That means that these unexpecting people will suddenly be given the most potent weapon in the universe — and the ability to kill with it.

Not only that, we have a panel in this issue of a Lantern incinerating a BABY. An Evil baby, but a baby, nonetheless.

I fear a storyline of Lanterns inciting fear is coming around the corner.

Buy Pile Report: Cyborg Superman

So, remember how high on today's release of Tales of the Sinesto Corps presents Cyborg Superman?

Yeah, scrap that.

The issue is alright, certainly not bad by any means, but it doesn't deliver on really giving anymore insight on the truly intriguing character in the Sinestro Corps event. Maybe I'm looking for more than what is actually there. Maybe I was looking for a resolution to his story, which we'll instead get down the line.

Either way, 75% of this issue was simply Hank Henshaw's backstory. And while this would be, I'm sure, a helpful resource for any young fans unfamiliar with ole' Cyborg, most of us who were on the edge of our seats throughout the "Return of Superman" arc know all there is to know about him already.

The other 25% of the issue was solid, though, with the Sinestro Corps and Henshaw making first contact on Earth and attacking the JLA Watchtower, which seems to be trashed already. Henshaw even knocks Superman around pretty good, setting up a situation in next week's Green Lantern #24 in which "Earth's Mightiest" are already beaten down.

One issue that does concern me, however, is the amount of landmarks getting destroyed already. The Watchtower is blaster. The Statue of Liberty is beheaded. While I am not a continuity buff, I prefer a good story over all else, do we really need to bust up these landmarks in one book, when we know they will likely be intact in every other book?

Here's hoping the rest of this week's short Buy Pile improves on a so-so start.

This week's comic expectations

You know, I wish I had more to recommend this week, since we all need our weekly reading material, but I don't see much worth buying this week.

Everyone should be buying Green Lantern Corps #16. Hell, if it wasn't such a slow week, everyone still should. The Sinestro Corps war is still in full swing, with the bulk of the war being fought in the pages of Green Lantern Corps and the Hal Jordan story being told in Green Lantern. If you remember back to issue #15, the battle over Mogo is still raging, while War World is zooming toward Earth...

Which brings us to our second must-buy book of the week, Tales of the Sinestro Corps: Cyborg Superman. While the previous "Tales" book told a very nice but unnecessary story about Kyle Rayner's inner turmoil, this "Tales" tale promises to tell a heart-breaking story of a man who simply wants to die, and how he got to that point. Sure, this story is likely just as unnecessary, but since the beginning of the war, one of the most intriguing points has been the involvement of Hank Henshaw and his request to die. I, for one, am on the edge of my seat.

But, other than the Sinestro Corps War there isn't much at all on the shelves this week. And there's literally nothing to speak of from Marvel, other than perhaps Uncanny X-Men #491, the conclusion to a solid Morlocks-centric storyline. But, if you haven't already read the first four issues of this story, could I recommend you purchase this issue? Of course not.

An interesting DC title debuting this week is Metamorpho: Year One #1. On the one hand, the "Year One" stories have almost uniformly been fantastic. On the other hand, it seems DC is scraping the bottom of the barrel a bit with Metamorpho. I mean, I like the character, but he's not exactly an icon like the other "Year One" subjects. It's only a six-issue mini, so if you're interested it won't cost too much all-told.

There's also Countdown #30, which I only bring up because we're inching closer and closer to that magic issue #26, which promises to shake up the whole DCU. A lot of other DC issues are ruined this week dues to Countdown, however, like Detective Comics #837 and Supergirl #22, which are both purely Countdown-tie-in-garbage.

Enjoy what you can, and remember to come on back later on for the weekly Buy Pile Report.

Wednesday's comic release list

Really not much to speak of this week, but, once again, the Sinestro Corps War is saving us. This week, the "Green Lantern Corps" and the latest "Tales of the Sinestro Corps" continues the year's best event so far.

DC:
Action Comics #856
All New Atom #16
Countdown #30
Countdown Search For Ray Palmer: Crime Society #1
Deadman #13
Detective Comics #837
Faker #4
Green Lantern Corps #16
Infinity Inc #2
JLA Hitman #2
Jonah Hex #24
Looney Tunes #155
Metal Men #3
Metamorpho Year One #1
Midnighter #12
Nightwing #137
Scalped #10
Supergirl #22
Tales Of The Sinestro Corps Cyborg Superman #1
Vinyl Underground #1
Welcome To Tranquility #11

Marvel:
Exiles #99
Fantastic Four And Power Pack #4
Howard The Duck #1
Iron Man: Enter Mandarin #2
Marvel Adventures Spider-Man #32
Marvel Max Sampler 2007
Marvel Two-In-One #4
Ms. Marvel #20
Omega Unknown #1
Shanna She-Devil Survival Of The Fittest #3
Super Villain Team Up Modoks 11 #4
Uncanny X-Men #491
Wolverine Annual Deathsong #1

Others:
Archie & Friends #113
Beowulf #1
Betty & Veronica Double Digest #155
Black Diamond #4
Bomb Queen IV #2
Buffy The Vampire Slayer #7
Buzzboy Sidekicks Rule #3
Conan #44
Eat The Dead One Shot
Futurama Comics #33
Gamekeeper #5
GI Joe Storm Shadow #4
Igor Fixed By Frankensteins
Kashimashi Manga Vol 2
King Lear
Lobster Johnson The Iron Prometheus #2
Parade With Fireworks #2
Paul Jenkins Super Summer Sidekick Spectacular #2
Roadkill Zoo #5
Sadhu The Silent Ones #2
Snakewoman Vol 2 Tale Of The Snake Charmer #4
Strange Girl #18
Suburban Glamour #1
Weapon #4

Top 50 Marvel and Top 50 DC Characters

Over at ComicBookResources.com's "Comics Should be Good" blog, they had readers vote on who the top DC and top Marvel characters of all-time are, male or female, hero or villain.

Well, the results are in, some which may surprise you, and you can see the list at THIS LINK.

Some of the more shocking rankings?

DC:

- First-place Batman nearly doubled the number of votes second-place Superman got, and five of the top ten characters were from the Batman Universe (Bats, Joker, Nightwing, Robin, Oracle).

- Four Green Lanterns made the list, Hal Jordan, Kyle Rayner, Guy Gardner, respectively, while constantly-pushed John Stewart is nowhere to be seen.

Marvel:

- My Main Man Cyclops, disrespected by everyone, namely Fox Studios, is ranked 10th, with two more first-place votes than Wolverine.

- While Spider-man was ranked #1, Ultimate Spider-man garnered enough votes to rank 26th, higher than guys like the Sub-Mariner, Nick Fury and Storm.

Heroes Report on "Lizards"

You know, I was a little disappointed in this week's episode of Heroes... right up until seeing who showed up at Copy Kingdom.

The Dynamic Duo is back together. The Haitian, yes The Haitian, the man who has been MIA for the finale of Season one and the premiere of Season two, is BACK. Not only that, but he is back with HRG.

Overall, though, the second episode of season two was still a bit slow. Not only that, but there were a couple of downright concerning moments in the beginning. I'm talking Jump-the-Shark moments. For one, You have head NYC detective guy jokingly asking Parkman if he's ever met a man who can fly? You have Mrs. Bennett say "There are seven more -- what's in the other paintings?" ? Again with the Paintings?

The show was a little too self-aware for my taste, something you could never say of the first season.

Not only that, but we actually have this virus crap? As I said last week, this story seems a stretch, with just three cases total and a real convenient way of explaining where the Haitian has been, but also it's been done in X-Men!

Oh, and is anyone enjoying the Maya/Alejandro storyline at all? She bleeds from her eyes, making others bleed from their eyes? Can that even be considered a power?

Still, not everything about this week was bad. In addition to the HRG/Haitian reunion, Claire's cutting off her toe downright made me cringe, and you know that her newfound regenerative powers will play a major role soon enough.

That said, am I the only one who cannot stand this boy who keeps talking to her? He's an annoying judgemental smug smartass, who, apparently, has nothing better to do than stalk a girl he just met. Fine if you want to peer into her window at the end of one episode, but two in a row? The only thing I liked about that scene was that Mr. Muggles was the only one smart enough to look to the sky.

And what was up with Claire's "grandma," Momma Petrelli? She can scream Parkman out of her head? And who was that trying to kill her? And, more importantly, what was up with those camera shots?

On another note, I've decided that Hiro simply makes men look bad. I mean, first he creates 1,000 cranes for Charlie, and now he makes it rain Cherry Blossom petals for some Japanese girl. Can any actual guy top Mr. I-Stop-Time?

Actually, I really did enjoy Hiro's story this week, despite the fact that it went pretty much exactly like I figured it would -- just because Masi Oka's acting for this character is that strong. You have to especially like how he played Kensei as if Kensei was a superhero, laughing with his fists on his hips.

Finally, Peter. Yes, he's still kickass. Yes, he's still the man. But he's really being blackmailed by these panzies? Why doesn't he just stop time and take that box? Why doesn't he throw his captors around with telekinesis? He's really going to rob someone just to get to the box, which has likely been tampered with already?

If there wasn't a girl with an Irish Accent involved in those scenes, they would have been worthless. Oh, and doesn't Peter still have the ability to EXPLODE? Why is that not a worry anymore?

Overall, not as strong of an offering as last week, but hey, every episode cannot be gold. Let's just be happy HRG has his buddy back.