A Retro Retrospective.

Author - MrCraiggy
If the video box comes up blank, click it a few times, that should work.

Okay, so it seems that not all of you are wrestling fans, and I understand this, so I made this quick little video for you guys of what I hope will be a regular feature which I have lovingly entitled the "Retro Retrospective" though I only thought of this title after editing the video and setting it to upload... Oh well, live and learn.

This is M.A.S.K.



Now, I looked online and found that m.a.s.k. stands for Mobile Armored Strike Kommand (Spelling error for the sake of coolness makes me cry) and v.e.n.o.m. stands for Vicious Evil Network Of Mayhem. Yeah, vicious AND evil...

I also did a bit more digging and found that the guy who turned invisible was called Jacques, and one of the characters, Buddy, had a mask called Penetrator which allowed him to move through solid matter, and there were just a load of other fun mask powers too, like another character, Brad. His mask could create realistic holograms to trick people. These are to mention but a few of the more fun masks.

Also, this had like one of the catchiest songs ever, as did a lot of kids shows from the mid to late 80's! Check it out!



And as with all cartoons, it was all about the toys!
So that's the Retro Retrospective! Hope you enjoyed it, now feed our fish!

Mr Craiggy, signing out.

M.A.S.K. is published by and copyright to DIC Entertainment.

NXT - Take Two.

Author - MrCraiggy

Okay, so, Tuesday has once again been and gone, and that means another episode of WWE's NXT program. This means it's the second part of my NXT play by play updates.

I'm writing this as I'm watching the show, so everything I write is as it happens in my eyes and there may be contradictions to things said previously in this update. That being said, I am also issuing a SPOILERS warning for this update.

So, last week's show ended with Titus O'Neil being eliminated, and my man Husky Harris is now trailing in 7th place after the poll last week. Needless to say I'm a little curious to see if he's going to actually stay on the show, being one of my two picks to win (Michael McGillicutty is currently 3rd.)

Okay, for starters, our host Matt Striker is asking the Pros what they thought about last week's elimination. Obviously, they ask Zack Ryder, as it was his rookie that was eliminated and I have to admit, now that Zack Ryder's gimmick has been explained to me (Thank you Jon) I do have a bit more respect for the guy, but still not wowing me. Then they ask John Morrison, who as mentioned in the last update, the crowd (and myself) adore. He takes a verbal shot at The Miz (They used to be tag team partners/friends but then Miz turned heel(bad)) and Miz bounces back with some mock laughter, which is fun. The Miz incidentally is really impressing me at the minute with his heelery.
Then our Rookies are introduced and make their way to the ring, now with their rank on their name when it comes up on screen too. This is also met with Michael Cole spouting his apparent catchphrase for this season when referring to Eli Cottonwood as a 'strange dude'. A little on this before we continue; myself and my friend Sam (Check out his blog at http://glassbeard.blogspot.com) have come up with the WWE drinking game, and one of the rules for Michael Cole is whenever he spouts his catchphrase of "Vintage", take a drink. This phrase of "strange dude" seems to be creeping in as a possible future rule.

Striker talks to a few rookies about their ranks, including Husky, who talks about Striker of all people knowing how dangerous he is (Husky attacked Striker two weeks ago as the show was coming to a close.) and if Striker thought he should be 7th. The mic then passes to Riley, who kinda fluffs his slot by saying Mr. MacMahon (Owner of the WWE) is his boss, when technically speaking, none of these rookies have officially been hired by the WWE yet, well, storywise anyway. This is actually picked up quickly by Michael Cole, so points to him there, for once. Also, Riley plays up the bully angle again by mocking Kaval's height (Kaval's our current #1 slot). Kaval then gets a chance to come back on the mic, and seriously, I want to take this moment to make a point. Even if you're not a wrestling fan, watch any of this series of NXT and pay close attention to Kaval. Like I said last update, this guy is tiny. I mean, he's shorter and lighter than me! But when he speaks, he's got this deep, echoey voice that you just do not expect to come from a guy that small. Check it out! Anyhoo, he takes a shot at Riley by saying that it's the fans who voted too, and all those people can't be wrong, yadda yadda, usual face mic-work, which is good to see, but nothing special.

Now, this is interesting. This week's challenge is to cut a promo, which basically means the rookies are given only forty seconds each (Ten to think, thirty to talk) where they're given a random topic which they have to then talk about. This was hit and miss last season, as a lot of last season's rookies didn't have much microphone experience, but this season has a lot of potentially good talkers, so I'm excited now.

Oh dear. Percy's up first... *sigh* Okay, here we go. His topic: Glasses... Meh, okay, he worked he mic okay, but we knew he could do that already. He still annoys me though. "I've got two words for you" Yeah, and I've got two words for you Watson, and they're not "Oh yeah!", they're the ancient words of D-Generation X, so Percy, my two words for you, suck it!

Right, Kaval, not the best talker in the business, but not bad, and as mentioned, awesome voice! His topic: Chicken. This should be amusing... Not a bad little spot (Sorry, short jokes aside) talking about how the WWE has no room for chickens, and how he's not one. Again, it's what I expected, but nice.

Eli's turn. Not got high hopes for this... But he may surprise me. His topic: Moustaches. Okay, that was funny. Eli, who's not struck me as much of a talker, turns the topic of moustaches into a bit about how moustaches are for real men, and how he can grow the best moustache of the rookies. Nice!

MMG next. His topic: Breath. Okay, not a bad little spot, talking about his background again, Grandson of a legend, son of a champion, by the end of NXT, he'll take our breaths away. A little bit of a copout, but they let it slide.

Now it's Husky, so I'm obviously excited. His topic: Doorknobs! (I should probably explain this, but I won't.) Okay, more of a rant about being 7th after saying he used a doorknob to get into the building. A little shaky on his delivery... My high hopes for him are not boding well, I think he actually may be voted off people. Thankfully this isn't an elimination night.

Okay, Lucky Cannon's turn. He won last week's challenge, so here we go. His topic: Deodorant. Not bad! Not bad at all. Saying how deodorant is for smelly, sweaty people, but how deodorant also needs those people. He then says that he is the deodorant and the WWE is the sweaty person, how the WWE needs him and he needs the WWE, not a bad little bit.

Okay, A-Ri, Alex Riley. His topic: Pidgeons. We already know Riley can talk, so this should be funny. More witty banter, more bullyish put downs. Yep Riley's good on the mic.

Ugghhh... Percy 'won', despite the crowd cheering a hell of a lot louder for Kaval... Great. This means that on next week's NXT, Percy gets his own chat-show segment... Somebody find me something solid to hit my head against please?

Anyway, on with the show! And we have our first match of the night, Percy against MMG. No prizes for guessing who I'm voting for... I'd like to take this moment, to say once again that Percy is good in the ring, and on the mic, he is a good worker, it's just that he annoys me. I can acknowledge his ability, and do infact respect him for it, but my personal opinion prevents me from liking him.
Okay, as expected, a good match from two good in ring workers, and thankfully, MMG won. Percy got in a little bit of offense, but it was pretty one sided. Neither rookie used their finishers (Percy's DDT or MMG's swinging neckbreaker) and MMG won it with a very athletic sunset flip. This raises MMG's stats to 4 matches, 4 wins.

Then we have a video segment of the Pros talking about Titus including a few of them mocking his trademark call, which you may remember I referred to as sounding like a horny wildebeest. This got me laughing as John Morrison says it sounds more like a Walrus, and The Miz went along the lines of "Really? that's his highlight reel?" and then back to John Morrison mocking his field goal taunt, again something I pointed out last time. Needless to say, I liked this segment, beautifully capped off with "Dashing Cody Rhodes saying that Titus should brush his teeth. Priceless!
We then get a replay of Titus' leaving words to the WWE Universe, which, say what you want, I feel was actually probably the most genuine and inspirational segments I've seen in a long time, telling people that yeah, sure, life is hard some times, but we still have to do what we can to, as Titus puts it "Make it a win". For what it's worth, we all know that Titus did not impress me, but his ideals, his message to the fans, that was admirable, and so credit where it's due for that.

More singles action again, this time Pro vs Rookie, The Miz vs Kaval. Now, unless WWE are going to really put a lot of fuel for a push behind Kaval, it's safe to say that Miz is going to win this. But here we go anyway.
Yep, Miz with the win, though Kaval got in some nice offense and almost hit his finisher, but it was safe to say that they're not letting a rookie beat a pro just yet.

One thing I have noticed this episode is actually letting whoever's by ringside cheering on, they've actually been standing on the apron of the ring instead of on the floor outside. Odd. Serves no real purpose. Just pointing out the difference.
We now have a video segment where the pros are talking about Eli, and much of the same thing, the pros are saying what I did last time. Sure he's big, but he's clumsy and awkward. A good bit of mentoring from my man John Morrison will sort that out though.

Okay, so now we're on to our main event of the night, a tag team match between the team of Mark Henry and his rookie Lucky Cannon and "Dashing" Cody Rhodes and his rookie, Husky Harris. This is probably going to be an above average match, and hopefully Husky'll continue to show his stuff. But first, we get the usual plug of what's happening in the rest of the WWE world, sorry, Universe... And then another video segment, this time about Husky Harris. Needless to say, most of the pros are saying he's great, so I dunno, this one could go either way people. I hope things change around and he does a lot better.

Anyway, the match! Short. This would be the word to sum up this match. Short... But good. Cody and Husky showing some good team psychology, Husky getting some solid moves in on Mark Henry, Cody getting the win on Lucky Cannon.

All in all, not a bad show. Could still go anyone's way. As for this style of review, the 'as it happens' style, I'm not sure it works textually, so if I was to do this again, I'd definitely have to do a video segment... Something to consider for the future...



This is Mr Craiggy, signing out.

NXT and all characters and trademarks are property and copyright to the WWE.

Alan Wake

Spoilers Alert- I will referance some in-game moments

So basically this is 'the Dave' doing a written review of Alan Wake and im going to have to really be brutal to myself, because I will be honest I dont enjoy picking holes into games I actually really enjoy. That being said there are moments that even I can see why people would get a little irritated, this was to be the next beloved offspring to Remedy Entertainment. Can I just say that this is the company who made Max Payne.... firstly does something strike you..... for one the title of both the games are the main protagonists. Secondly they hint towards the theme of the game 'Max Payne' sounds like 'Max Pain' which seems to be some referance to the undercurrent of the game, revenge, suffering and general action focused game.
'Alan Wake' is no different, with 'Wake' in his name suggesting he's got to try and wakeup from a nightmare which will seem never ending or to be precise a darkness.

Im all up for title relevance in fact I applaud it, but when it is also a protagonists name and not just for one of your intellectual properties but both... it may seem quirky to you but to us it seems lazy. However put this ridiculously over used title element aside and lets delve into it.

Now if theres one thing this game managed to achieve was alot of pressure, pressure to get it right. Remedy was hyping the game up badly and what made matters worse was that Max Payne was a highly popular intellectual property, which had fans begging for this to be 'The Game!' (sorry everyone)to top even the Max Payne franchise. It was hoping to be the game that defined Xbox 360, much like how Halo influenced Xbox sales to a degree back in the day, and much like how we connect certain characters with certain consoles/companies Mario with Nintendo, Master Cheif Xbox, Sonic with..... enough with sonic allready Sega!!! your only destroying him!!!
unfortunatly it did not achieve that, however they did create in my opinion a damn fine game and I will tell you why...



I may be a sucker to thrillers, but this really does feel like a fluid psycological thrill ride and allthough not the scariest of games you can buy, the darkness does throw you into slightly tense moments. It does however get bogged down to the fact that the game screams out 'Stephen King!!!' as if this one game was purely made as a hommage...hell on numerous occasions the protagonist...Alan...*pause*...Wake *sigh* mentions how he was allways inspired by Stephen King. "You and all the Stephen King fans out there Al!", it does often confuse me on whither the developers wanted to purely make this game a homage to Stephen King and basically call the game 'Stephen King....true story documentary' What it loses with the Stephen King esque loose plot it gains with good implemented results.

Its anouther adult title for a maturer audience, I would say comparable to the matureness of Heavy Rain maybe a little less so, its nice also to view a game which dosn't have the main protagonist as a pumped up action man and as a character who stands as a believable middle aged adult, dealing with problems in his life.
The episodic nature was very unique and characteristic of the game, and grabbed my attention on numerous occasions it also acted as 'put the controller down and relax moments'. The whole music at the end and re-cap at the beginning was a nice touch, I felt like I was participating within an actual thriller tv series and it actually works, only gripe is that later portions of the game become longer so its not allways a great estimate to when to put your controller down to take a break.

A gripe that a number of people state is that the environment becomes too similar after a while, particularily the beautifully rendered Woodland/forest scenes. I disallow this argument, everyones entitled to an opinion, however I feel that you cant argue about the featured environments because it stayed fitting with both plot and the isolated tense atmosphere. It wasn't at all possible to change locations too much without it seeming surreal and losing its isolated feeling. The woods seemed to go on forever, but that is a brilliant atmosphere, its exactly how I feel when I go into the woodland or I start watching a good horror film.



Anouther gripe that angers me is when people argue that due to the finding of pages you could tell what was about to happen which killed your fear factor...(aka.Yahtzee haha) well your partly right but it still dosn't change the fact that none of the pages declaire when that event or enemy will actually occure, so the element of surprise is still present. Its like if you went into a cinema to watch a horror film you know there is going to be an attempt to scare you, hell there are moments where its painfully obvious something is going to go wrong, but you still jump. The pages were a big plot element and to get rid of them or just simply replace them with unreadable pages would of been unbeneficial.

So we come back full circle to mention the plot again which does feature some twists allthough the twists are a little predictable and you can work out a few things from the offset. The characters themselves are relatively well developed in this game, there are the odd few characters who seem a little stale, but in comparison to some games of this generation, it does quite well to develope characters in what could be a restrictive means of any form of character development.

The action itself is unique and people could argue its a gimmick and if so its the only gimmick of this generation that has actual reason to be present. Motion sensing wii remotes have less purpose to be present in any game, so in comparison Alan Wake shows the wii how things should be implemented within reason. The gimmick was light being used as a weapon and it fits in nicely with plot, gameplay and general visual design. The light generally didnt kill some of the opposition bar a few, hence why you also carry a handy gun, ammo is reletively restrictive at times depending on the difficulty, I found that on normal I had a fair amount of ammo and there really was only one single part about halfway through where I completely lost ammo, however thats partly due to reckless shooting.



Finally I will put this review to a close even though I could say plenty more, the worst aspect of this game is the mouth animations, they still seem to suffer from the same horrid mouth problems in Max Payne (maybe they dont have a proper dentist and their mouths are constantly in pain...still doesn't explain the geometric mouths though haha) seriously, these are up there as the worst mouth animations for a realism game I have seen for quite some time, but put aside the minor faults and look at the great benefits and you have quite a good underated action game which will satisfy you for some hours, it may not be the longest game, but it certainly adds a fair whack of gaming hours, and also implements a nice story, maybe not the most memorable game, but worth experiencing.

Thanks for reading and generally being allround good guys, from 'The Dave'....stay awesome viewers!

NXT - The story so far.

Author - MrCraiggy

SPOILERS!! - Some people reading this may not have seen NXT and will not know some of the events I am referencing, and so I post this spoiler warning.

Okay, so, for those of you who know me, you'll know that I am a HUGE wrestling fan. But, to the extent that I actually want to wrestle, and have trained to do so in the past, and do hope to do so again in the future (Watch this space) and so I understand a lot about the business and how it works. This being said, I've always found shows such as WWE's NXT program, and it's previous incarnation "Tough Enough" as a little confusing. I've never understood how much is legitimate reality tv, and how much is already decided beforehand like in other shows such as Raw and Smackdown.

So, the premise for NXT is 8 "Rookies" compete against each other over several weeks, the winner getting themselves a WWE contract (Or with the first season, everyone getting a contract, aside from poor Daniel Bryan). They are accompanied on their journey through this exhibitioning process by a WWE superstar assigned to them as a "Pro" mentor. Now, this is a fun idea, as it allows for bonus interactions between rookie and pro, which can make for some good TV. I refer again to last season with The Miz and Daniel Bryan.

So, this season's rookies are as follows:

Alex Riley - Riley is your classic 'Jock' character. A brilliant college athlete who thinks he's better than everyone else and plays up the bully aspect of his character. Now, Riley is very entertaining in my opinion. He's good both in the ring and on the mic. His character comes over very well and it just plain works... However, that being said, at the moment it just feels like it's a little bit too familiar... Can somebody say "Jack Swagger clone"? I knew you could... I've noticed recently, he's played up the prementioned 'bully' aspect of his character, which draws away from the Swagger similarities, so I'm hopeful for Riley, but I'm not sure he'll make it all the way. Riley's pro is The Miz, the only returning Pro to season 2, and they work very nicely together.

Eli Cottonwood - Well, what can we say about Eli? He's BIG standing at seven feet tall, he is a giant in the ring. So why doesn't this work for him? Well, as far as giant characters go (Like Andre, Big Show, Khali) Eli's tiny! Not in height, oh no, but he's pretty thin for a big guy, and so just doesn't carry that same intimidation factor that other big guys seem to possess... Plus, I dunno, he just moves awkwardly in the ring. Also, his Pro is John Morrison, who I adore as a Superstar! But, again, Eli's going for a sort of sick, twisted, destroy everything in his way gimmick, which just doesn't gel with Morrison's flamboyance and entertainment factor. Not a good pairing, despite Morrison's awesomeness. I expect Eli to be voted off soon.

Husky Harris - This guy is one of my picks to win! I love him right now. I've loved him since the end of season 1 when they showed promo videos of the season 2 rookies. As soon as I saw his promo, I knew I'd like this guy. Husky Harris is what is referred to as a 'Legacy' wrestler, meaning that someone in his family, usually dad or grandad, was a professional wrestler. In Husky's case, both! This makes him a third-generation wrestler, but recently he's taken this down the heel (bad guy) route by trying to, and I quote, "make an impact" by proving he's not his daddy/grandaddy, he's his own man, and he's better. This works excellently with his Pro, Cody Rhodes, who has a very similar angle, also being a Legacy wrestler. Husky's a big guy, weighing 295lbs (That's 21 stone people) he's no lightweight, but DAMN can this guy move! I have a huge amount of respect for him, not being the smallest guy myself. Husky's fast, agile, and jumps like a cruiserweight should, much like myself, so VERY high hopes for him!

Kaval - Kaval is this season's top indie worker (The indie circuits in wrestling basically being the smaller companies that don't get TV time often but have big cult followings) who the WWE are trying to make look rubbish. Last season's being Daniel Bryan (Or Bryan Danielson as he was on the indies). Kaval (Or Low-Ki as you may know him) is a martial arts, striking master in the ring and is, quite frankly, tiny. His motto rings true though: "It's not the size of the fighter, but the size of the fight he will bring." Secretly, I want Kaval to do well, and so does everyone else who has any knowledge of wrestling outside of the WWE, but deep down I feel he's just going to get brushed aside. His pros are the diva team of Laycool. Now, Divas are the title given to the WWE's womens wrestlers. That's right, he's being mentored, by women... The ridicule begins... Don't get me wrong, Laycool entertain me, but no, just no...

Lucky Cannon - Lucky, a very fitting name. He was saved from elimination this past week by winning the rookie challenge and thus gaining immunity from the poll. Now, Lucky's another guy I like. He's the epitomy of the babyface, or 'face' (good guy). Handsome, clean shaven, athletic... He's not had much luck (ironically) in the ring so far though, but has shown some decent in-ring ability. His Pro, Mark Henry, I think is just happy of the extra screen time... Nothing to say here. This Pro/Rookie team doesn't do anything good or bad for me, he's just there...

Michael McGillicutty - A long name, granted, but MMG is our second Legacy rookie this season, and is showing the other side of the legacy coin by dedicating his wrestling and doing it for his dad, the late "Mr. Perfect" Curt Hennig. I like MMG. Like his dad, he's an excellent in-ringer and can work a mic too... His Pro, Kofi. Well, I like Kofi, but sadly, this is just another throwaway pairing I think. Kofi's huge right now, the fans love him, so I think WWE just put him as a Pro to pull in more viewers. Michael McGillicutty is my second pick to win!

Percy Watson - Oh dear... Remember Erkel? Right, now imagine Erkel but bald, athletically built, and with a slightly less annoying voice. That's Percy Watson. Honestly, I don't know how he's doing so well... Sure, he works well, he's very athletic and pulls off some very nice looking moves, but he prances around like a Night Fever reject and insists on wearing the stupidest glasses and always bearing his teeth in a goofy grin... Seriously, he annoys me, and I hope he's voted of very very soon. His Pro is MVP and, sure, they work well together, but I just can't get excited about this teaming as Percy annoys me so much!!

Finally, there's Titus O'Neil, but I'm not going to say anything about him, because he was the first to be eliminated, and rightly so. He's a former NFL player who thinks he can get by in the wrestling business because he's muscular... No! Stop it! Bad WWE! Tie this in with his stupid pose of sticking his arms up to look like the goals of an american football field and then braying like a horny wilderbeast, this just didn't work... So I'm glad he's off. His pro was Zack Ryder, who again, does nothing for me. He's entertaining-ish, in the sense that he's a good heel (bad guy) who the crowd enjoy watching lose, and can work, plus has some very interesting ring attire, but it just felt like the WWE ran out of mid-carders (a term used for wrestlers who's matches are in the middle of the show, or 'card', often good, but not great, or not great yet) to use as Pros so just slotted him in.

So, that's my first rundown of the current season of WWE's NXT. Finally! A reality show that excites me! But again, is it reality, or is it just a work?

To conclude, Husky Harris or Michael McGillicutty to win!

I hope you've enjoyed this. It's a break from the norm I guess, and I know you're not all wrestling fans out there, but this is something I'm very passionate about and again, for those who know me, you know how I love sharing my passions.



That's Mr Craiggy, signing out for now!

NXT is the property of the WWE and all character gimmicks and everything else, just to be on the safe side, is copyrighted to them. Please don't kill me Vince...

Tannhauser Review!

Author - MrCraiggy

Okay, so, we have a video review, hot off the press. Hopefully this works, as I'm trying out a few new things, like a new host for starters.

Also, for the record, the spinning finger gesture is a 'secret sign' if you will between a few of my friends that essentially means "That's what she said" or is just generally used to point out innuendos. So now you know, and knowing is half the battle... So here we go, again, hoping this works, enjoy myself and my good buddy Jon.



Also, if you can't get the video to work, here's the actual link to the host site: http://www.blip.tv/file/3833360

Also, apparently I, the English student of all people, have spelt 'potential' wrong... Remind me again why I'm taking this degree?!

And you have to watch til after the credits!

Also, apparently if you're using Firefox, the sidebar covers the video, so Jon's been censored out. So, we're gonna break the online trend of pretentiousness of people saying "Use Firefox" by saying use Internet Explorer instead.

Tannhauser is the property of Fantasy Flight Games and all copyrights belong to them.

Siddd

ok i am apparently an online reviewer....with dyslexia so forgive spelling and gramma mistakes please.

in all honesty i have no clue what is going on so i shall randomly be posting vids when craig gets back to the woo and we can met with Dave to start this shiz.

games, manga, anime, places and films...esspecially films :D

(MrCraiggy would like to point out he neither endorses the use of the nickname Siddd with the triple d - as he much prefers Sidders - nor does he endorse the use of "The Woo" when referring to Worcester...)

('The Dave' would also like to point out the irony that it takes someone from outside Worcester to mention, to not use obscure slang about our great city....brilliant thanks MrCraiggy youve done us justice :D )

Three Guys Video Test

Author - MrCraiggy

Okay! So, we have video!!

Admittedly, it's Youtube, which was not my first choice sadly. Not gonna lie, Youtube are good at what they do, but I wanted to play around with shiny new software... There were however audio issues, so for now, it's Youtube. In the future, hopefully we'll be able to provide better quality videos independantly hosted elsewhere, but for now, thank you Youtube!

And yes, I said follow up, as Punisher: War Zone is not a sequel...