Some say the DC Universe is like a Greek play, a Shakespearean performance.
Some choose to stray away from these routes, where the events are mere
coincidences, noting more, nothing less. Others try to embrace it; the extent
of success is up to the viewer's choice. Allow me to take you on a path, one
where the course of an entire universe was changed forever by one bad day. To
take this path, there are two places to look. The first being the comics for the
lead in to what they were inspired by. Welcome, to the world of Injustice.
Welcome to a tale of death, destruction, and the collapse of everything you
thought you knew about DC's strongest friendship.
Wednesday, 9 August 2017
Sunday, 6 August 2017
Heroes of Inkopolis: Time to paint the valley Pink, Green, Blue and Orange
First of all, before starting, #TeamKetchup. It's not Jam! (and we are
working on a joint review for Splatoon 2, we're just trying to find the time to
record)
It's safe to say Splatoon was a breakout hit for the Wii U, and success is continuing for Splatoon 2. But with every success, there are its fans, and while fan games might get taken down by Nintendo, fan art seems to be safe... assuming the artwork itself is safe for all places such as a workplace. While some prefer just to draw, some choose to tell a story in their art, with the conclusion being in the style of a comic or manga. Allow me to take you back to Inkopolis Plaza, back to Octo Valley, with two agents that have... a touch more personality then Agent 3. Heroes of Inkopolis. Before reading, to make it clear that I'm not stealing the artwork, the source of the comic can be found here: http://tamarinfrog.deviantart.com/gallery/55917023/Splatoon-Heroes-of-Inkopolis
It's safe to say Splatoon was a breakout hit for the Wii U, and success is continuing for Splatoon 2. But with every success, there are its fans, and while fan games might get taken down by Nintendo, fan art seems to be safe... assuming the artwork itself is safe for all places such as a workplace. While some prefer just to draw, some choose to tell a story in their art, with the conclusion being in the style of a comic or manga. Allow me to take you back to Inkopolis Plaza, back to Octo Valley, with two agents that have... a touch more personality then Agent 3. Heroes of Inkopolis. Before reading, to make it clear that I'm not stealing the artwork, the source of the comic can be found here: http://tamarinfrog.deviantart.com/gallery/55917023/Splatoon-Heroes-of-Inkopolis
Wednesday, 2 August 2017
Super Mario 3D Land and 3D World: When Mario plays it safe
The 3DS and WiiU were a weird console pair, weren't they? Bad launches, the
WiiU can only be described as a financial disaster thanks to its strong but
badly paced out library, and some of the company's biggest IP's either didn't
show up as any form of single console exclusive (No joke, there is no Zelda
title that is exclusive to the WiiU), or kind of showed up feeling a little
"half assed" by Nintendo's standards. Animal Crossing: Amiibo
Festival comes to mind as one of those, and some people said that about Super
Mario 3D World thanks to the 3DS title, Super Mario 3D Land. Well, as someone
who's played both, I have to both agree, and disagree. Why? Well, read on to
find out.
Sunday, 30 July 2017
Opinion Piece: Power of the Primes
So, with
Titans Return winding down, Hasbro looks to the future with its follow up, and
the conclusion to the Prime Wars Trilogy with Power of the Primes. After it's
official unveil at San Diego Comic Con recently, I've been thinking over the
news and leaks that have come from it, and would like to voice my views on the
new line.
So first
of all, I should state that I have been enjoying Titans Return overall. While
some of the figures have been pretty "meh", a lot more have been
really entertaining moulds to mess around with. While I do get where some
people are coming from, in that it doesn't make the Headmasters from G1 feel as
special anymore, and I personally would have liked some of the newer
headmasters get the CHUG treatment over some in the line *cough* Sideways
*cough* Overload *cough*. I have enjoyed the fact that it’s given some
characters new chances at life, some who haven't been seen in years, even
decades. Unfortunately, the biggest issue I've had with the line is
availability here in Australia. US readers, I hope you like your Wave 5, it’s
not going to be seen here until September at the earliest. On top of the US
Exclusives like Chaos on Velocitron and Siege on Cybertron, and you have people
like me wishing they could get a complete Titans Return set, knowing they may
never will. Another issue I've had with the line is a more personal issue. I
hate stickers. I hate Sticker details. I can live with them to an extent, if
the design is more complicated then basic paint can do, but later on into the
line, all the voyagers and leaders started using these foil stickers for
everything more complicated then paint and it gets frustrating to see them peel
off due to the quality of them. What makes it worse is that they do them for
the insignias of the characters too, and I know they've got all sizes of
Autobot and Decepticon tampographs they can apply, so to see them as stickers
makes them look cheap. I know some people like them, as it is better than no
details at all. But there are some characters like Broadside and Megatron which
would have benefited with paint and tampographs over stickers. Silver doesn't
work on grey plastic.
So, with
that out of the way, let me go into Power of the Primes. Starting with its
announcement, and I was pretty underwhelmed by it honestly. So, the new gimmick
is Powermasters... which does lead to why Powermaster Prime and Overlord were
in Titans Return, but that's beside the point. Contained in the new replacement
for Titan Master class sets, Prime Masters can be combined with Deluxe, Voyager
and Leader class characters to power them up, or used as a weapon in their
pretender shells. Prime Masters themselves are retools of Titan Masters, and
with the announcements so far, what's confirmed. It feels like a pretty average
opening wave.
For the
Prime Masters, we have Liege Maximo, which comes with the Skullgrin pretender
suit. Doing some research into Pretenders, the first thing that comes to mind
is "what's going to fill out the line?", there are thirteen primes,
and I think the SDCC panel said there would only be 12 in PotP, but I could be
wrong. To compare that to Titans Return, the Titan Masters were at bot 12 by
wave 3. If my predictions are correct, there are going to be 6 waves of both
Titans Return and probably Power of the Primes, and there are more pretenders,
33 not counting Classic Pretenders and Japan exclusives. Who's going to make
the cut? Are we getting normal Powermasters too?
Moving
onto the Legends class, and the way they sold this, it makes it sound like
they're characters they couldn't fit into Titans Return, because the way they
interact with Prime Masters is exactly the same as how most Legends class bots
interacted with Titan Masters, riding in the vehicle modes. Not to insult
Beachcomber fans, but the initial push for me wasn't there for me. The other
thing for me is that we seem to be getting a lot of Autobot Legends class
characters lately, and while I don't know if was like that in G1, from my
perspective I'd like to see some more decepticon legends class characters.
On to
Deluxe, and this is where things get a bit more interesting. Three characters
were revealed officially, Jazz, Dreadwind and Darkwing. Jazz I'm honestly
surprised wasn't in Prime Wars sooner, just due to the nature of the character,
but Dreadwind and Darkwing have my interest. While yes, they do use Combiner
Wars parts (hello Galvatronus limbs), they also do have a vehicle combined mode
like their original toys to create Dreadwing. I personally enjoy gimmickformers
depending on how the gimmick is implemented, its why I enjoy the Cybertron line,
so something like this is more interesting for me as it adds some more
originality to the line, makes them feel more unique. I admit I'm hesitant to
see the execution of the Prime Master gimmick in this and the voyager class,
because I can see things going badly depending on the execution.
Onto the
Voyager announced, and this almost killed my interest. Starscream. I have mixed
feelings about Starscream, it really depends on how he's written, but in terms
of toys. Starscream often comes with the promise of the Seekers. Skywarp and
Thundercracker at least, cone heads maybe, the "Something Storm" ones
if they're reaching hard, so when I see a Starscream, my first thought is
"Oh Primus we're going to have waves of just that mould as voyagers aren't
we?". Also, can we please pull back on sticker details?!
Last, but
not least, the confirmed Leader class characters. Rodimus Prime, and Optimus
Primal. While we haven't seen Primal, we have seen Rodimus and Rodimus does
make up for Starscream (before leaks). The fact that this is the first Rodimus
that lets you turn Hot Rod into Rodimus without trailer kibble. That genuinely
excites me, and the figure itself looks great. He's one I definitely want to
get.
Overall,
the official announcement was mediocre for me. But, what did get my interest in
the line was the leaks. Now, I'm not going to post the images of the leaks
here, as I'd rather not risk Hasbro wanting me to take this post down, as I'm
pretty sure they're image hunting them. I do encourage you look around for them
though if you want to see what they look like.
According
to the leaks, incoming characters include (and if these names are wrong, they
are phone camera captures of a computer screen, I am trying here):
Prime
Masters (I can't see some of their pretender shells..): Micronus Prime, Vector
Prime and Metalhawk, Alchemist Prime, Alpha Trion, Quintus Prime and Bludgeon,
Megatronus and Bomb Burst, Solus Prime and Octopunch
Legends:
Slash, Windcharger, Skrapnel Rerelease, Battleclash?, three that I can't see
the names for, Cindersaur
Deluxe:
Slug, Swoop, Snarl, Sludge, Rippersnapper, Moonracer, Cutthroat, Blot,
Simmertwin Novastar,
Voyager:
Grimlock, Hun-Gurr, Elita-1, Inferno, a Grimlock repaint, Predacons (to make
Predaking)
Leader: Optimus
Prime, Rodimus Unicronus (Rodimus Prime Repaint), an Optimus Prime rerelease?,
Optimus Primal, a Rodimus Prime rerelease?
Now,
there's a lot to unpack here, and many wouldn't recognise the names, so... The
Prime Masters are going to be who you expect, their pretender shells though,
not so much. Not much to say on Legends due to the quality of the picture,
we're getting G1 Dinobots in Deluxe and Voyager scale, Predaking and Abominus
incoming, lots more fembots, with Moonracer and Novastar getting toys for the
first time ever, and Leader Class is looking to get really old, really fast,
and is the one thing about this leak I'm hoping is fake. 3 waves in a row of
Rodimus Prime? I like the look of the mould, I don't like it that much,
especially since there are other characters who deserve the CHUG Treatment.
Overall though, this leak was what got me excited for the upcoming line,
because of the new characters, that don't get a lot of toy treatment, if at
all. Again, my only issue is the leaders.
While the
leaks have given me more interest in the line overall, what really interests me
is what could be coming. The main ones for me being Leader Star Saber and
Deathsaurus. The other Powermasters like Doubledealer, Joyride and Slapdash?
Some characters that were Japan exclusives? Something that justifies the S in
Generations that isn't G1 related? There's a lot of possibilities here that I
hope gives the Prime Wars Trilogy a strong note to end on. One way to find out,
maybe some of the leaks will be shown off in Hascon (I'll admit that Titans
Return Arcee looks really nice). Anyway, see you in the next review.
Wednesday, 26 July 2017
Batman; Return of the Caped Crusaders: Nothing could have prepared me for this...
Unfortunately, the review of the original TV show is going to have to wait a little bit, that one needs more time.
Up until this point, I haven't had any direct experience with 1966's Batman TV series. I've seen the references, the memes, and all the talk on the show, but I've yet to fully experience it in any capacity. I'm probably not alone in that department, it came out in 1966 after all, I wasn't born until 29 years later. Surfice to say, not even the greatest of memes could have prepared me for what I'd gotten myself into with a movie 50 years later. Well, let's see where this rabbit hole goes.
Up until this point, I haven't had any direct experience with 1966's Batman TV series. I've seen the references, the memes, and all the talk on the show, but I've yet to fully experience it in any capacity. I'm probably not alone in that department, it came out in 1966 after all, I wasn't born until 29 years later. Surfice to say, not even the greatest of memes could have prepared me for what I'd gotten myself into with a movie 50 years later. Well, let's see where this rabbit hole goes.
Wednesday, 19 July 2017
The Incredible Adventures of Wallace and Gromit: Anyone for some cheese?
Rest in Peace Peter Sallis
I admit I'm almost ashamed this one took so long to do. It shouldn't be a shock to hear that I have a lean towards animation over live action, while a strong part of it was my childhood, where most of the cartoons and animations I watched were really good (in my opinion at the time, time is cruel after all) and a lot of live action things I saw were Tween dramas my sister loved to watch that I still hate to this day, the other part in it is creativity. While it might seem like a bad excuse, I do think animation is truly limitless in its potential for creative ideas, taking away what little restraints there are in live action. To me, its a shame that some animation styles have all but died out, such as traditional/ traditional water colour (take a guess as to why. Here's a hint, they just had a big expo over the weekend) and Stop motion, or to use today's case as an example, Claymation. The only difference between the two being what was used. Stop motion being the overarching style, where instead of filming in seconds, filming is done with pictures to allow for the animators to re-position the objects in each frame when needed. Claymation is the same thing but whereas Stop motion can be with anything, Claymation focuses on the use clay for the main objects, such as people and animals, and in the realm of Claymation, two names stick out, and rightfully so. Wallace and Gromit... or Robot Chicken depending on who you are, but this is kid friendly so Wallace and Gromit!
I admit I'm almost ashamed this one took so long to do. It shouldn't be a shock to hear that I have a lean towards animation over live action, while a strong part of it was my childhood, where most of the cartoons and animations I watched were really good (in my opinion at the time, time is cruel after all) and a lot of live action things I saw were Tween dramas my sister loved to watch that I still hate to this day, the other part in it is creativity. While it might seem like a bad excuse, I do think animation is truly limitless in its potential for creative ideas, taking away what little restraints there are in live action. To me, its a shame that some animation styles have all but died out, such as traditional/ traditional water colour (take a guess as to why. Here's a hint, they just had a big expo over the weekend) and Stop motion, or to use today's case as an example, Claymation. The only difference between the two being what was used. Stop motion being the overarching style, where instead of filming in seconds, filming is done with pictures to allow for the animators to re-position the objects in each frame when needed. Claymation is the same thing but whereas Stop motion can be with anything, Claymation focuses on the use clay for the main objects, such as people and animals, and in the realm of Claymation, two names stick out, and rightfully so. Wallace and Gromit... or Robot Chicken depending on who you are, but this is kid friendly so Wallace and Gromit!
Sunday, 16 July 2017
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe: Yes, I own a Switch now
And unlike last time, I'm reviewing this as someone who owns the game and the system.
Ports, many people hate them, many see them as a waste of development time. Me? Well it depends on the state of the port but overall, my stance on the matter is "They're done by backup teams with a small time frame, meant to help fill out a library. I would rather have ports of good games then shovel ware". After having this for close to two weeks, and playing with my fellow volunteers at the Tech Games Fest this year, I think it'll be good to tackle this, and give it an update seeing as when I last reviewed Mario Kart 8, I didn't experience most of the DLC. Also, your eyes don't decieve you, this is a review of a Mario Game on its own, though technically Mario Kart Wii got their first... also reviewed around the same time... should I just do Mario Karts around this time and make it a trend?
Ports, many people hate them, many see them as a waste of development time. Me? Well it depends on the state of the port but overall, my stance on the matter is "They're done by backup teams with a small time frame, meant to help fill out a library. I would rather have ports of good games then shovel ware". After having this for close to two weeks, and playing with my fellow volunteers at the Tech Games Fest this year, I think it'll be good to tackle this, and give it an update seeing as when I last reviewed Mario Kart 8, I didn't experience most of the DLC. Also, your eyes don't decieve you, this is a review of a Mario Game on its own, though technically Mario Kart Wii got their first... also reviewed around the same time... should I just do Mario Karts around this time and make it a trend?
Labels:
blaster,
liam,
mario,
mario kart,
nintendo switch,
review
Wednesday, 12 July 2017
Transformers Marathon II; Rescue Bots: Aww, no love for Defensor
Fun fact, was going to do a Rescue Heroes joke until I saw that one of them was Blades.
Like seriously, all you're missing is a motor cycle and an Ambulance, though I think swapping Groove out for a bulldozer would be a good idea. Combiner Wars swapped him with a Swat truck after all |
Thursday, 6 July 2017
Mediaholics Promotional Video
Two months in the making, all for the sake of a promotional video. To look at least a little professional. This also has a few teasers at upcoming plans. Can you spot them all?
Huge thanks to Marcus from Inkblot Creations for the audio visualizer and CJ for the new artwork. You can find Inkblot Creations at https://www.facebook.com/inkblotcreations/ and CJ's work at http://courtenayjane.tumblr.com/
CREDITS
Credits:
Content Creators: Liam “Blaster” Sanders, Marissa “keybug55”
Trailer Editing: Liam “Blaster” Sanders
Audio Visualizer: Marcus Mathews
Site Artwork: Courtenay Jane
XY&Z: Mark de Groot
Originally performed by: Rica Matsumoto
From: Pokémon XYZ
Link to his video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBZna0xAhTY
A Brief Winter Trek
Composed by: C-Curt
Original composition by: Arata Iiyoshi, Atsuhiro Ishizuna
From: Pokémon Mystery Dungeon Red Rescue Team/ Blue Rescue Team
Link to song: http://ocremix.org/remix/OCR02994
1AM
Composed by: Manaka Tominaga, Shiho Fujii, Kazumi Totaka
From: Animal Crossing: Let’s go to the City
Sun & Moon Artwork Recreations: Kansoku
Link to artwork: http://imgur.com/a/HpLHc
Toa Nuva (Okoto) - Bionicle 2016: PANGOLIN-2
Link to artwork: http://pangolin-2.deviantart.com/art/Toa-Nuva-Okoto-Bionicle-2016-600756155
Footage credits:
Moana
Walt Disney Pictures
The A Team
20th Century Fox
Star vs the Forces of Evil
Disney Television Animation
Tiny Toon Adventures
Warner Bros. Animation
Night in the Woods
Infinite Fall
Kirby Triple Deluxe
HAL Laboratory
Transformers Combiner Wars: Bruticus vs. Sky Reign
Hasbro
BIONICLE 2016 Toa Okoto Commercial
LEGO
Blackest Night
DC Comics
Deadpool kills Deadpool
Marvel Comics
Pokémon Adventures
Shogakukan, Viz Media
Mediaholics Playlist: Big Blue
Mediaholics (for editing, song credits in video)
Mediaholics Playlist: Battle for Storm Hill
Mediaholics (for editing, song credits in video)
Mediaholics Podcast Episode 11: PrE3
Mediaholics
The Beginning of Adventure
Courtney Jane
Welcome to the Mystery Dungeons
Courtney Jane
Mediaholics Cinema: Jem and the Holograms
Mediaholics
Animal Crossing: New Leaf
Nintendo
Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer
Nintendo
Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth
Media Vision
Super Smash Brothers Brawl
Sora Ltd
Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate
Capcom
Thunderbirds are Go
ITV Studios
Transformers: The Movie
Sunbow Productions
Shantae ½ Genie Hero
WayForward Technologies
Kingdom Hearts 3
Square Enix
Pokémon Sun & Moon: The Series
OLM, Inc
Red vs. Blue
Rooster Teeth Productions
Digimon Tamers
Toei Animation
The Lego Movie
Village Roadshow Pictures
The Dark Knight Returns
Warner Premiere,
Star Wars: The Clone Wars
Lucasfilm,
Avatar: The Last Airbender
Nickelodeon Animation Studios
Avatar: The Legend of Korra
Nickelodeon Animation Studios
Sonic Unleashed
Sega
Freedom Planet
GalaxyTrail
Super Mario Galaxy
Nintendo
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
Lucasfilm Ltd.
Pokémon Sun & Moon
Game freak
Combiner Wars
Hasbro, IDW Publishing
Ghostbusters
Delphi Films
Fire Emblem Awakening
Intelligent Systems
Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky Beyond Darkness, and Time
Chunsoft
Transformers
di Bonaventura Pictures
Batman: The Killing Joke
DC Comics
Zootopia
Walt Disney Pictures
Portal 2
Valve Corporation
Digimon Adventure tri
Toei Animation
Animaniacs
Amblin Entertainment
Big Hero 6
Walt Disney Pictures
Black Panther
Marvel Studios
BIONICLE: Ignition
Lego, DC Comics
Hyrule Warriors
Omega Force
Sonic Mania
Headcannon, PagodaWest Games
Yu-Gi-Oh: The Dark Side of Dimensions
Studio Gallop
Ducktales
Disney Television Animation
Professor Layton vs Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney
Level-5, Capcom
LEGO Marvel Superheroes 2
TT Games
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Nintendo
Pokémon XY: The Series
OLM, Inc
Gravity Falls
Disney Television Animation
Freedom Planet 2
GalaxyTrail
Superman: The Animated Series
Warner Bros. Animation
Minecraft
Mojang
LEGO Dimensions
Traveller’s Tales
The Avengers
Marvel Studios
Mario Kart 8
Nintendo
Pokémon Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire
Game Freak
All credit for clips and credited artwork belong to the creators. All rights belong to the rights holders of the source material. We only take credit for any posts written about them or videos made on them (made in fair use) that are posted to Mediaholics.
Links to Mediaholics content:
Main site: http://mediaholicreviews.blogspot.com.au/
Mediaholics Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0UmlA10uAY8JFBgyAE4PJVbaZZbe3dTb
Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIM5kMZw90Ml7zUFOuaLRgg
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/mediaholicreviews
Blaster’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/Blaster944
Keybug’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/keybug55
Tumblr: http://mediaholics.tumblr.com/
Wednesday, 5 July 2017
Transformers Marathon II; Robots in Disguise 2015: They really should stop using that subtitle
Whereas Transformers Prime was a combination of Animated and
Bayformers, Robots in Disguise 2015, its direct sequel, was a combination of
Prime and Rescue Bots (next week). Doing this one early as I have been keeping
up with RID 2015, so unlike Rescue Bots, it’s the perfect thing to review while
I’m at the Tech Games Fest during this week. So with that out of the way…
Labels:
blaster,
cartoon,
liam,
marathon,
multi season,
review,
transformers,
tv show
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