Master Chief (Halo, Play Arts KAI, Square Enix)

December 5, 2012 | Poe

I’ve now played through and beaten every Halo game except ODST (which I’m sure I’ll get around to someday). Halo 4 came out just last month, and represents something of a new direction for the franchise as it begins to explore the “Ancient Aliens” origin of the Halo megastructures. It also begins to (finally!) develop the characters of the franchise’s hero, the Master Chief, and his artificial intelligence-based guide and love interest, Cortana.

I’m not going to pretend that the Master Chief is some sort of deep, memorable character. He’s basically just the most prominent iteration of the Doomguy, only less expressive since you can never see his face. But nonetheless I’ve had an affinity for the Chief since playing through the first Halo. (more…)

New List at Topless Robot > Ten Video Games that Should Have Gotten Toys

December 4, 2012 | Poe

I missed the fact that my (possibly final) Topless Robot list went up yesterday (thanks to PrfktTear for pointing it out to me.)

Ten Video Games that Should Have Gotten Toys

I don’t know yet whether the Bricken-less TR will want to continue the lists, so as of right now, my plan is to start doing the occasional list right here at PGPoA. They’re great for traffic and fun to write.

Oh, and for the record, it wasn’t my idea to create a graphic that gives away the whole list before the page-turn. But I’m using it here because you’re gonna see it anyway when you click, but you can still go enjoy my lovely prose.

Odds ‘n Ends > OSM, Jitsu, Armorvor, Realm of the Underworld, Predator, Portal, DC Unlimited

November 28, 2012 | Poe

The Four Horsemen are once again selling holiday editions of their Outer Space Men figures. The current set includes the Cyclops, Gemini and Orbitron.

Mattel released the packaging photo and bio for Jitsu earlier this week. Evidently Jitsu runs Snake Mountain after Skeletor leaves for space, which seems kind of out of left field to me. Was this solely for the “iron fist” joke? Because his fist is golden. Says right on the bio. (more…)

Review > Arkham Asylum Batman (Play Arts KAI, Square Enix)

November 16, 2012 | Poe

The Arkham series of videogames is my favorite take on Batman since The Animated Series. Yes, I even like it more than the Nolan films, which are great but are bit too grounded in the real world to really feel entirely like Batman to me. Batman: Arkham Asylum and Batman: Arkham City straddle the line between the grim and gritty realism of The Dark Knight Returns and the Dark Knight Trilogy while still giving us all the “unrealistic” villains like Mr. Freeze, Clayface and even Solomon Grundy.

Both Mattel and DC Collectibles has tried their hand at Arkham-based action figures. Mattel inexplicably allowed someone other than the Four Horsemen to sculpt Batman and several of the other figures, made them all out of scale with DCUC and half of them out of scale with each other, and gave them middling-to-bad articulation. DC Collectibles’ offerings have great sculpting but minimal articulation (although the upcoming Series 4 does appear to finally have ball-and-hinge hips).

So – where can one turn to for fully-articulated action figures based on the Arkham games? For now, the answer is Japan-based company Square Enix and their Play Arts KAI line. (more…)

The New He-Man Smartphone/Tablet Game is Out

November 7, 2012 | Poe

Apparently I’ve been so distracted by other stuff lately, I missed the fact that the He-Man and the Masters of the Universe iOS game came out on October 25. I just downloaded it and will post my thoughts once I’ve had time to play it. Android versions are reportedly coming too.

In the meantime, here are a few reviews I found via a quick Web search:

Trailer for He-Man iOS Game

October 15, 2012 | Poe

The tongue-in-cheek intro reminds me of the New World trailer for Godzilla 1985, but maybe that’s just me being a ridiculously sensitive fanboy.

Anyway, the game looks fun, and as long as it doesn’t try to goad me into spending real money on upgrades and so forth (I’m looking at you, Jaws Revenge), I suspect it will be a fun time.

He-Man’s back in a new iOS videogame

October 9, 2012 | Poe

MOTU fans with an iPad, iPhone, or iPod Touch will soon be able to play the first Masters of the Universe videogame since 2005’s He-Man: Defender of Grayskull. It’s apparently a brawler. Here’s some info from IGN:

The game takes place across seven regions of Eternia, offering up 27 total levels of action. Gamers will do battle with He-Man arch-nemesis Skeletor, as well was Beast Man and presumably the rest of Skeletor’s lieutenants. Players will be able to level-up He-Man unlocking new powers and abilities as the quest progresses.

Given how cheap iOS games are, I can definitively say I will be getting this.

 

Sightings > Play Arts Kai Has Dark Knights that Rise, Return

September 21, 2012 | Poe

When did the toy world get to busy that I’m completely out of the loop half the time? Anyway, Square Enix’s Play Arts Kai line, which up to know has generally featured videogame-based characters, is expanding into movies and comics, evidently – specifically, The Dark Knight Rises and The Dark Knight Returns.

Oddly enough, the live-action-based Rises figure looks pretty good, but I’m not so sure the PAK aesthetic works for the Dark Knight Returns. And while the pinhead made sense for the Arkham videogame figures, since Bats does have a pinhead in those games, it looks wrong on the DKR figure.

Thanks to Toyark via Battlegrip for the tip.