Friday, August 27, 2021

Year 5: August Update

As I mentioned last update, I was waiting for a Sega adapter for the Commodore 64 which I did receive shortly after that post and used in The Games: Summer Edition recording. Unfortunately, the adapter does not work with Master System controllers or the rapid fire unit, only Genesis controllers which I hadn't realized when I ordered it. I suppose it doesn't matter too much but I do like using rapid fire for some games. Unfortunately, the Intellivision Amico has suffered yet another delay though it is still expected this year. Intellivision Entertainment also posted a video on YouTube at the end of July that showed games being packaged. While some physical games were expected and I thought on a limited basis, it appears that quite a few titles are getting the physical treatment.

Amico Games

As I write this, Europe's equivalent to E3, Gamescom, is wrapping up its digital show today. Much of the news is for the types of games I don't cover on the blog aside from these brief mentions with no images or links for M-rated titles. Despite the console shortages, Microsoft unveiled a Halo-themed Xbox Series X and a release date for Halo Infinite of December 8th. Sony put a date of February 18, 2022 on Horizon Forbidden West and officially confirmed the game is coming to PlayStation 4 in addition to PlayStation 5. LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga, which I have discussed a few times in these updates, still doesn't have a set date though Warner Bros. is now saying to expect it in spring 2022. As far as new games, Deep Silver and Volition showed off a Saints Row reboot and 2K announced a Marvel game titled Midnight Suns that is being developed by Firaxis Games and is planned to release next March for Xbox One, Xbox Series X, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Switch, and PC.

Midnight Suns

I love Firaxis' XCOM games and Midnight Suns has tactical combat but it's more role-playing oriented than strategy from what I understand though no gameplay was shown. The game is based on the Midnight Sons (not suns) comic book which revolves around supernatural/magic types of characters (Doctor Strange, Morbius, Ghost Rider, etc.) and plots. However, the game will include some of Marvel's heavy hitters like Iron Man, Captain America, and Wolverine. Another new game announcement is Park Beyond from publisher Bandai Namco Entertainment and developer Limbic Entertainment (Tropico 6). This one is a theme park simulator not unlike Frontier Developments' Planet Coaster and will be available on PC, Xbox Series X, and PlayStation 5 in 2022.

Park Beyond

Something else I talk about here from time-to-time is baseball, mostly in relation to video games though I did make a trading card video as well. I read some news earlier this month that will hurt the Topps company quite a bit as MLB will not be signing a new contract with Topps when the current one expires which is at the end of 2022 with the player's association and 2025 with MLB itself (meaning it can use team logos for a few more years but not player images). Topps has been making baseball cards for 70 years and the new licensing partner isn't even an experienced rival like Upper Deck. Instead, the license is going to Fanatics which has also signed a deal with the NFL player's association that will begin after Panini's contract expires in 2026.

Thanks for visiting,
Jonathan

Monday, August 23, 2021

Photoshoot: Mego Hulk vs. Mego Superman

I set up a mini battle between Mego die-cast action figures of Marvel Comics' The Incredible Hulk and D.C. Comics' Superman. Some of the photos came out good but it was tough to get them in good action poses without the scale looking too far off or just getting them to balance well enough. Hulk is 5.25" while Superman is 5.5" and he also has a broken thumb on his right hand.

You may recognize the background from my Colorforms post and video as I'm using The Amazing Spider-Man and The Incredible Hulk Colorforms Play Set along with a couple LEGO street panels for the base. More information on the Mego figures can be found at the Mego Museum website. The colors vary between photos as I chose different settings when editing them.

Superman Arrives


Superman knocks Hulk down who then punches the wall in anger.


Superman should not have landed... Hulk smashes him into the wall! 
(I like the first photo but you can see the table as the background slid backwards.) 



Hulk puts Superman through the wall!


Superman takes the offensive!


An accidental image that kind of makes it look like they are moving...or it's just a terrible photo.


Hulk wins...


...or maybe Superman wins? Most likely the Man of Steel does prevail.


Time for our heroes to shake hands!

Sunday, August 8, 2021

The Games: Summer Edition

As the 2021 (or 2020 as they are still called) Olympics began I posted an article from Commodore Magazine about Epyx and last week I uploaded a video of Summer Games on the blog's YouTube channel. Today, as the Olympics come to a close, I have uploaded a video of The Games: Summer Edition which is the first game from Epyx to feature the official Olympics license. I rarely put "Let's Play" videos on the blog but I need more posts and wanted to add a review from Commodore Magazine. I was hoping to play Summer Games II as well, however, the disks are giving me some issues and I haven't managed to get more than a few events to load. This review is from the April 1989 issue which is a bit late for a game that released in 1988, plus it's quite long for a sports title as the writer covers each event in detail.