Death and the Whiners

Item: Hey, remember the year or so before the release of the PS when the idea that the system would block any copy of a game that you wasn't the one the system first 'registered', in an attempt to kill the used and rented game market (also borrowing copies from friends and replacing broken games)? Remember how terrible an idea that was?
Well Epic has another suggestion for killing that pest, years after I thought they just sort of forgot about that argument. Of course, that strategy is more one for going bankrupt than for killing this apparent menace, as consumers would rather just go elsewhere than pay money for incomplete games.

Item: Holy shit. End of an era, maybe.

Item: Back to that lovely Tatsunoko vs Capcom, I find a lot of people still complaining that the Capcom character selection is an "Keiji Inafune love-fest" (Inafune, for the unwary, is the creator of Mega Man and several one-shot Capcom games of modern times, everything from Dead Rising to Zack and Wiki. He's also head of Capcom R&D).
Now, there are 11 Capcom characters so far announced (and I don't expect more than one more will be in the final game). 4 out of those 11 are from Inafune-originated games. That there tells you something. HOWEVER, where the complaint probably comes from is the fact that 5 of the remaining 7 are the perquisite fighting game characters, and that leaves only 2 (the most recently announced Capcom characters, Saki and Viewtiful Joe) non-fighting game characters that are also from games that Inafune did not direct.
Even so, it's not like the Inafune character choices are outlandish. Two of them are from Capcom's biggest franchise (Mega Man and Roll), one of them is from a series that has been fairly prominent in recent times (Soki for Onimusha), and the last one was chosen to be the giant counterpart to Tatsunoko's Gold Lightan (and I'm sure a Lost Planet robot was chosen over Capcom's other giant robots for relevance purposes).
Just like in Smash Bros., this is just a case of making up something stupid to explain why your pet character isn't in it, rather then just go for the more logical explanations.

Oh yes, there is an update

Prairiecon was good, as expected (if it didn't meet my expectations, I probably would have updated earlier with a rant). Toon was good, Wrasslin' was good, Munchkin was good, Illuminati was good, and Heroclix was good. I was worried I would end up sucking this year at clix like I did last year, but the three rounds I was in went pretty well. First guy annihilated me, I annihilated the second opponent, and the the third was an equal, epic better that ended with my Kid Flash and his Blue Beetle trading blows on a rooftop (he won in the end, but it was fun).

The only real prize I got during the weekend was a copy of Principia Discordia, which I got because I was the only one from the Illuminati group the guy running it could find. I shall attempt to tackle it one of these days.

Of course, the event has once again made me want to design a tabletop roleplaying game. This may last for another few months before subsiding, and who knows how much I will do before I get bored with the idea?

Yesterday I bought a cellphone. Not a fancy one, not at all. I probably won't even use text messages because they're charging me 20 cents for every one. Fuck that, I barely have anyone to talk to normally.

Visuals - DC Heroclix: Crisis!

Ah, been a while since I did one of these.

Now, I would have done one for the Marvel Legends Vs. set, but I unfortunately came down with the lazies. I also would have done one for the DC Legends Vs. set, but none of my sources have uploaded all the card pics yet (and it came out three months ago!). That's all the excuses I'm willing to provide today. Come back tomorrow and I may be up for more.

Now, the subject today is the newest DC Heroclix set, based around all the little comic crises over the past twenty years, with a smattering of Teen Titans and Metal Men, plus some welcome and not-so-welcome additions. But hey, it's all about cracking easy jokes, so let's get to that.


Note 1: His name is 'Accomplished Perfect Physician'
Note 2: He is a Chinese superhero
Note 3: Pick up some turkey for cold cuts


"Come off! STUPID! FRUIT! ROLLUPS!"


It's Aqualad. What else do you want me to do?


Black Adam: Ruler of Caramel Skull Mountain


ERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!


Old science geek that can't walk without assistance: Intimidating supervillain!


Oh lordy, they're finally making the Royal Flush Gang.

I'm...I'm going to have to sit down.


You're the best/around/nothing ever going to keep ya down

(You figure it out)


I don't know.


Continuing the trend of intimidating figures...it's Speedy! A kid! With a boxing glove arrow! I'm sure that Anti-Monitor you just bought is quaking!



Hmmmmmmmmm......


Is he carrying a pot of rice?


Even scarier than Speedy!

Oh. I mean, yay, more Doom Patrol!


Okay, let's take a break from joking for just one moment. I gotta say, this is a great sculpt concept. Kudos.


Hey, Uncle Sam! He's so ridiculous, you can't hate him!

Didn't feel as meaty as some of the ones I've done in the past. But oh well. You can't expect me to want to put effort into things a week before Brawl comes out! You just can't! You just can't! You just can't...

Weekend Update

I guess you want to know how my weekend of games went? It was good and fun.

First game: Apples to Apples. More like a 'normal' board game, one they would even advertise on TV!, than most of the other nerd stuff. It's a fun word association game, and with the proper crowd it can be a great time.

Second game: Age of Mythology. Surprisingly, I did pretty well at this game. To be fair, it was because I spent most of the game hoarding buildings while only once successfully smiting an opposing army with my Norse Forces. Very fun game, with many pieces that can choke small children!

Third game: Horrorclix. Finally got to play this. I used a pre-made team of ghosts. My Evil Cosmonaut, Scarecrow, and Asylum Spirit all survived the first game, but got wiped out by vampires in the second. Oh well. Got plenty of free stuff for the game, so a winner is me.

Finale: Heroclix. The big mamajamma thing. Got absolutely destroyed in almost all three rounds. Oh well, I don't play very often, don't have as many new figures, and just plain suck. Again, lots of free stuff, so it really doesn't matter.

Speaking of Heroclix, I spent this time buying many packs. I was lucky enough to pull the very rare Wizard Shazam figure, as well as that Owlman figure I nominated as the 'best piece of anti-matter' last year.

I think I may start buying these regularly again, or at least a few when a new set comes out (which is in two weeks!)

Visuals: Horrorclix Freakshow!

Well, haven't done one of these in a while. Blame that on the fact that the new VS set, World's Finest, won't be out until the end of June. So, you'll have to wait until then to see me heap praise on cards of Batmite, Batzarro, The Question, (*Crosses Fingers*)Hitman, and (*Knocks on wood*)Ambush Bug. Good thing I found an alternative.

I posted something short about Horrorclix a while ago, I'm pretty sure, but I can't find that post. Anyways, Horrorclix is like Heroclix, only...horror. Seriously, though, the game does have some nice variations on the formula. Now, I'm not much of a horror movie fan, but I do love monsters, so I can find something to like in this game.

Horrorclix also has some truly awesome looking figures. However, the newest, newest set, Freakshow, has the sculptors going all-out like never before. Seriously, some of these are some of the best-looking miniatures I've seen yet. All the better, as this weekend is the big gaming convention, and I'm signed up to play this game. So not only do I get my first taste of the game, but it's at the same time as this set is the hot new thing.

Pictures here are courtesy of It's Wicked Fun.

Hungry Bertha:

I'd nominate this the most distrubing figure in the set, but I'm far too disturbed to do so.

Kuranes:

Every Horrorclix set has some Lovecraft love in it(partly because Lovecraft is a major horror figure, and also because it's all public domain!), whether it's directly you-know-who-related or not. Kuranes is from a completely different story tangent than most of H.P.'s other stories, but that doesn't mean he's something to overlook. I mean, who wouldn't want to beat up vampires and werewolves with a magical hobo? That's on the top of my 'Life Goals' list, as sad as that is.

Zombie Ventriloquist:

Great idea, let's make ventriloquist dummies EVEN CREEPIER.

Monster Patrol:

Hey, I always thought the 'spunk kids fighting back!' idea was a neat thing they could do, but I never honestly thought they'd do it this early. So, feel free to slingshot the rest of these schmoes asses ala Bart Simpson.

Carny:

Does he have a lollipop, or is he spinning a plate? Who thinks carnies are actually scary, and not just greasy? Actually, grease can be pretty scary.

Zombie Vendor:

No matter his lust for brains, the Zombie Vendor is always willing to distribute alchohol to the masses, most likely to help them forget that they looked at Hungry Bertha.

Officer Friendly:

I don't think he's Irish enough to get that title.

Bat Boy

Man-Bat Goes to School!

1 + 1 = Skreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Flying Monkeys

No matter the game, monkeys are required.

Firefighter

I don't know about you, but the idea of hacking through hordes of monsters with a firefighter is very cool. Plus, the MOUSTACHE!

Rabid Bear

REAL rabid bears don't need metal claws to slice things up. This one is a rabid bear equivalent of a juicer, he's the Barry Bonds of the rabid bear community. Beary Bonds? No, I've gone too far.

She-Wolf:

Good thing they gave her a bra. I'm not entirely willing to use other methods to determine gender.

Tracker:

Continuing the trend of awesome moustaches in this set...

Funhouse:

Oh sure, Funhouse can scare an old lady. But how about Mr. T? Enough of the jibbajabba, Funhouse. Put up, or shut up. What the hell am I talking about?

Heart Eater:

What are the chances of a heart-eating demon lurking in the tunnel of love? It just doesn't make sense, I tells ya'.

Seriously though, that's one of the best sculpts in the game. Pure awesomeness from top to bottom.

Johnny Dead:

Speaking of awesome, whoever decided to put in a Confederate zombie deserves a 'Winner of Life' sticker.

Bogeyman

Slightly more cartoony than the rest of the set, but it makes sense. However, at first, I thought the Bogeyman was wearing an eyepatch. Why would it be wearing an eyepatch? Because eyepatches make you extra cool, which is a law of the universe. I'm pretty sure Einstein came up with that theory, so don't question it.

Templar:

More like Dan Belsing.

But hey, if they can call the generic, department store knock-off of Frosted Flakes Frosted Flakes....

Wacko Jacko Lantern:

And finally, the chase figure. That's pretty damn awesome, and the powers he has in the game include "Thriller", "Moonwalk", and "Eat it!". Kudos.

TAKE THAT CELEBRITIES OF AMERICA.

Changes

Funny how geek hobbies can become life lessons.

Last week, it was announced that Heroclix would be going through a number of changes for it's fifth anniversary. There are some minor rules changes (figures will now come with cards that have information like their powers and abilities, including brand new character-specific powers, traits for theme team building, and character bios), but nothing that makes the new figures incompatible with older ones (they might even make downloadable cards for older figures, which is nice of them.) The major change, though, is in distribution and packaging.

Heroclix is abandoning the rookie/experienced/veteran model it has used forever, instead making only one version of each figure and using a rarity system similar to the one used by the D&D and Star Wars miniatures game. Since the extra versions of each figure made up the majority of each set, they've compensated by boosting the number of individual characters from 40 to 60. Booster packs will now contain 5 figures (with packaging that allows the inclusion of 'giant' figures without sacrificing slots), although the price has gone up as well.

There are positives and negatives about these changes. On one hand, the loss of the R/E/V system means we will likely only see one version of each character in the set, thus slowing those individual character's having a version on a certain team (for example, when they make a Guy Gardner figure, we aren't guaranteed to get a a version with the Justice League team and a version with the Green Lantern team in the same set.) This may also hinder some thematic team-building, as each character will have a set point cost and you probably can't find another version of the character that will fit what you need.

On the other hand, no more R/E/V helps some characters who don't fit that mold but would be hurt by all being Uniques or being forced into a Collector Set. The Runaways, the X-Statix, the Young Avengers, and various alternate-reality characters really get a way better chance to be made now. The character cards are good in that they help players know exactly what powers they have (some discussion has arisen over colour interpretation), and the character-specific 'white box' powers are a nice touch that will allow them to better interpret characters in the game. There are also the aforementioned packaging improvements, which is really nice.

Not that the changes themselves matter to this write-up, as much as the reactions to the changes. Players have been split right now over the issue. Some players (such as myself), are perfectly fine with them. Others have violent flashbacks to Mage Knight 2.0, which effectively killed that game (although there are more ill-conceived decisions regarding tournament play in that game that probably had more effect). They also don't see the need, pulling out the old "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

The problem with this philosophy is that even if it isn't broken, how do you know it can't be improved? I'm not saying change for the sake of change is always a good idea, but neither do I advocate standing still in time. Either one is not going to get you anywhere.

Some of the best things in the world are made when the creators take risks. I mentioned the X-Statix before, and I think it's a pretty good example: Milligan and Allred took one of Marvel's lousiest titles in X-Force and completely threw out the original concept, replacing it with their own (which later turned into it's own book), and it was brilliant. Fans complained early on, but that's to be expected. There are probably a few more good examples that I'm not worldly enough to know, but I just want to show that not everything is New Coke.

It's understandable that people have an aversion to change. Humans like the familiar, it gives them comfort. When introduced to something different, they are fearful of it because of the lack of familiarity.

I guess it makes sense when someone who has devoted some part of their life to something (even if it is something ultimately inconsequential, like miniatures games), having it go in a new direction can be worrying. What if it doens't work? What if what made this good in the first place is gone? What if all the time you spent with this goes down the drain?

All valid concerns. But really, how do you know until happens? And maybe, just maybe, experiencing the failure is better than experiencing nothing?

A quick bit of Visuals

Nothing big here, just a few select sculpts from the new Dc Heroclix set that I like. These came from a poster, and I found them on HCRealms. Have a gander:



Yay! Doom Patrol!



STELLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!



The Question is freaking awesome. This sculpt is freaking awesome, even if it wasn't attached to The Question. But since it is, it is doubly awesome.



Holy fug, it's Mr. Mind! I never thought I'd see the day. I hope he just ruins people's shit in the game, because if there's anything in the world more satisfying than beating someone with a tiny bug, I've never heard of it. Or maybe I have, and I'm just using hyperbole for this particular write-up.



It's hard not to like Gentleman Ghost. He's a ghost...who's also a gentleman. Plus he has a top hat. Pretty damn awesome.

FOOM!

I don't get much Heroclix stuff anymore (no stores carry it around here anymore ;_;), but I still pay attention to it (which I have mentioned several times). And so, today, I discovered that they announced one of the things I've wanted to see for quite a while:


FIN! FANG! FOOM!

Amazing.

Halloween Insanity: Surprise of the year

Taken from HCRealms poster CarlosMucha:





Some lucky fans at the Marvel Heroclix: Supernova pre-release got a little surprise in their cases: Super-Rare Marvel Zombies! I haven't read anything with the zombies in it, but it's still awesome, because NOBODY knew this was coming. Even cooler, the zombies come with cards that make them compatible with Wizkids Games newest clicky dial game, Horroclix.

Mad Monkey Sunday: Monkeys Conquer Heroclix!

Remember the Super Apes from this post way back when?

Here is a shot from a booster box of the next Marvel Heroclix set, Supernova. Look what name is partially obscured by black tape above Silver Surfer:


HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Some Stuff

Heroclix stuff. You may may not care, but here it is anyway.





I, for one, welcome our Green Lantern Squirrel overlords.