We have more video content! Thanks to the masterful filming and editing skills of sage Cooper Vacheron , we have a wonderful unboxing of the new(ish) Wii Mini. For those who don't know, the Wii Mini is post-mortem reincarnation of the Nintendo Wii in a cheap, compact, and adorable package. I won't bore you with more writing. Just check out the vid.
Read MoreThe HE-400s! These are a pair of headphones I've thought about for a long time, for a variety of reasons. First off, they use planar-magnetic drivers. I won't dive into the scientific nerdery behind them, but I will say that some of the most detailed, most loved, and most expensive headphones in the world are planars. This, of course, has always led me to steer clear - I may be crazy about this stuff, but not paying-over-a-grand crazy. Recently, HiFiMan figured out a way to mass produce the drivers and other parts required to assemble planar headphones with such impressive sonic capabilities at a lower cost, and the HE-400 was born. And then I bought them. And now they're here. So let's dive in!
Read MoreIt's here. It's. Finally. HEEEEEEERRRRREEEEE!!!! Alright.... I'm gonna be ok. Ahem. Yesterday, Nintendo released its much touted and highly anticipated Hyrule Historia, an "in-depth encyclopedia" of all things Zelda. What that essentially means is that it's a large, absolutely gorgeous, hardcover coffee-table book, teeming with never before seen art, a fully fleshed-out series timeline, and all kinds of other marvelous goodies. The book has been out in Japan for a while, so the beans have already been spilled on the timeline bit, but for me it's less about the new information and more about just having the thing in my hand. Though you can't really un-box a book, it did come sheathed in a fair bit of shrink wrap. After savagely tearing the wrapping off with my bare hands and swallowing it for dramatic effect, I finally held the book out in front of me. As mentioned, it's hardcover, with a lovely green matte finish and kick-ass triforce design emblazoned on the front (seen above). Then, I opened to the first page.
Read MoreWith the recent announcement of Pokemon X and Y, I've resigned myself to the fact that I will be purchasing a 3DS within the year. With that in mind, I've been browsing the web, looking at the other 3DS games that I will inevitably end up buying. New Fire Emblem - check. 3DS Mario - check. Ocarina of Time remake - check. And then there's Animal Crossing: New Leaf. I paused when I saw this title; I didn't even know it existed. Apparently the game, set to release in America this spring, has already made a huge splash in Japan - 39/40 from Famitsu and over 2 million sales already. This is a game I will certainly buy, most likely before any others. I've never played any of the sequels, but the...
Read MoreLast week, Nintendo announced two new main-series Pokémon titles to be released for the 3DS this October. The titles are Pokémon X and Pokémon Y, respectively, and will feature fully polygonal graphics in both the overworld and in battle, as well as a “behind the character” third person view which will replace the top-down bird’s eye perspective the series has traditionally used. If you somehow haven’t heard this news already, I’ll give you a moment to walk outside the room and scream like a twelve-year-old girl. All set? Trust me, I’m not making fun - that was essentially my reaction upon hearing the news too, the difference being that after screaming I took three laps around my building, doing back handsprings while simultaneously singing the lyrics to the original Pokémon anime theme. Younger readers or relative newcomers to the series might not understand why this news is so amazing; sure, Pokémon transitioning to 3D is great, but is it really so special? It’s about damn time!
Read MoreIn a recent interview with Charlie Rose, Quentin Tarantino says, “Almost all of my characters are really good actors. They’re always playing a role. They’re always doing some sort of weird undercover thing—they’re pretending to be somebody they’re not. They’re putting on an act of some sort to get what they need done…And they pull it off with complete aplomb.” Django Unchained, Tarantino’s latest piece of exaggerated historical fiction, is filled with characters of this nature: wanted murderers and thieves hiding out as farmers, overseers, and even sheriffs; poor slaves forcing smiles and laughs for their masters; bigoted southerners masking their faces with hilariously inadequate white bags; a bounty hunter masquerading as a dentist, and a freed slave pretending to be a black slaver—all of them using their roles to achieve an end goal.
Read MoreLast week, prog-rockers Coheed and Cambria released their latest album, The Afterman: Ascension, the first volume in a double-album set (Descension comes out early next year). The album itself stands as my current favorite of the year; I've already racked up about 40 plays since last Monday. The other day, after a much-chagrined shipping delay, I finally received my physical copy deluxe edition box set extravaganza. Coming in at around $60, the set was a bit expensive, but C&C is my favorite band, and they released The Afterman independently, which I wholeheartedly support. Because of all this, I didn't mind shelling out for the deluxe edition. While a bit expensive, the set does come jam-packed with goodies. There're are the CDS themselves (of course), a medallion and certificate, a Fan VIP card, and an illustrated coffee-table book detailing the inspiration of the music. Before getting into the details, I'll say a word on the concept of the album. C&C have released all of...
Read More"I believe in Gotham City." These words, spoken by Carmine "The Roman" Falcone on the first page of Jeph Loeb and Time Sale's The Long Halloween , lay bare the heart of the work. It is a tale of four men fighting for the city they love, though each has markedly different methods and goals. Falcone, the big boss of organized crime in Gotham, struggles to maintain his dominance of the underworld in a city more and more infested with psychopaths and serial killers. Police Captain Jim Gordon attempts to clean up the streets of the place he now calls home, doing everything by the book. Billionaire Bruce Wayne dons the mask of the Batman rid his father's city of darkness. And DA Harvey Dent...
Read MoreI wasn't always obsessed with battery life. Years ago, when I was rockin' a svelte new LG Dare "smartphone," I never thought twice about it. The battery icon in the top right of the screen was divided into four segments, and I either had full battery, three quarters, half, twenty-five percent, or... well, you get the idea. The battery lasted me anywhere from one to two full days, depending on how heavily I was using the device, and that was that. Unfortunately, there has been a sinister new development with the rise of modern smartphones (specifically those of the Android variety), and it goes by a single name: the battery widget.
Read MoreEarlier today, Coheed and Cambria officially announced the release date of their next CD, a double album titled “The Afterman.” This record marks a turning point for the group. On one hand, it will be their first without original bassist Mic Todd, who left the band last year after grappling with a drug problem. On the other, it will be the first Coheed album with original drummer Josh Eppard since 2005’s Good Apollo, I’m Burning Star IV. This album will be a rebirth for Coheed and Cambria, as well as a return to form. In honor of the impending release of album six, I bring you a brief discussion of the band’s last record with Josh Eppard.
Read MoreOctober 26th is probably not a date that many people have marked on their calendars, but it's been circled on mine for weeks. Why? October 26th is the release date of Windows 8, and while that's fairly exciting on it's own, it'll also be around that time when Microsoft finally makes its beautiful, sexy Surface tablets available to the public. Though the reception to the device thus far has been mixed, I'm dying to get my hands on one, and I'm not afraid to say so. Even if I can't exactly pinpoint why.
Read MoreRumors have been kicking around about Google’s ridiculously fast, 100% fiber optic, absolutely-destroys-every-other-option internet service since 2010, but it all kind of seemed like a distant pipe dream; something amazing that would come eventually, but nobody really knew when. We’d all love to live in a world where a company built on the mantra “don’t be evil” sells us cheap, gigabit internet service, while the price-gouging cable companies of old die a slow, painful death because there archaic download speeds can no longer compete. Okay, maybe the bit about the slow painful death is just me being sadistic, but there’s no arguing that the idea of Google Fiber sounds awesome.
Read MoreSSX is so cool. I mean seriously. I know some will claim to be immune to the charms of its over the top action, its comically impossible tricks, and its cocky, pseudo-dorky characters, but I don’t care. When I play this game it makes me want to go learn to snowboard so I can hang out with team SSX for a beer after a long, hard day of tearing it up. And since I’ve been playing SSX near daily since it’s release back in March, this desire has pretty much possessed me nonstop for the past four months.
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