My PSP is now also my Skype phone.  With a WiFi access point, I can make long distance phone calls at virtually zero cost with my hand held video gaming device.  If only the human race dedicates such scientific efforts towards a cure for cancer, aids, or carbon emission reducing technology…

I never thought I would purchase a game off the PlayStation Network, and once again, I am proven very wrong about the things that I will and will not do.  In my defense, Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix is a damn good upgrade of a classy classic 2D fighter that is in a class of its own.  All the major components remained the same, with an HD adjustment to keep it in pace with the digital age.  All the art for the characters and stages have been redrawn.  No longer are they pixelated in 16 bit graphics.  The E Honda’s face paint, Ryu’s wrinkles and battle scars, and Guile’s receding hairline are all prominently displayed in full detail.  If you have a sub woofer attached to your entertainment system, prepare for the bass that’s been added to the tracks and SFX.  I am also a fan of the moves list that you can bring up onto the screen when you pause the game.  No more Game Pro, or looking through the internet for button combination.  There is also a choice for you to choose between the HD Remix and Classic game play, yet I still have not been able to distinguish the difference.  The biggest addition to the HD Remix is the multiplayer format.  I am not just limited to getting beat down by the computer and whoever happens to be over at my house, I can now be humiliated from halfway around the world.  Lagging does come into play once in a blue moon, but I have yet to have a problem with finding an opponent ready to throw down.

Hmm, still need to look up that Phantom Hourglass FAQ.

Superman Doomsday made its way into my DVD player last night. Because of my childish mental state, comic book characters on any other medium fascinates me the way the birth of a new star fascinates an astronomer. To be fair when comparing excitement levels, this star would have to bear its origin in the astronomer’s morning cereal resting in a pool of milk on his spoon. Yet, there are times when this diffusion through mediums makes me wish it never took place. Superman died twice on that DVD. Once in the movie, and once in my heart. Duane Capizzi, who wrote the movie, failed to capture anything from the entire “Death of Superman” run. Like a mad scientist’s attempt at creating life, he succeeded with producing the shell, but ran out of ideas oh how to instill a soul. Seeing Superman in a live action fist fight with Doomsday can only carry the movie so far.

After having purchased their 5 volumes of comics at Comic Con in June, I got around to flipping open the cover for the first time last night. My eyes immediately found the pages where Tyco and Gabe autographed my memorabilia. I immediately regret having done so, because my mythical memory of our encounter was knocked off its pedestal by the reality of what actually took place. According to my fantasy, the three of us engaged in a conversation where video game characters danced and wielded unnatural powers to make a better world than the one we occupy. A conversation so interesting it became a damn podcast, downloaded by millions around the world. Not pirated, but purchased off iTunes. It was that fucking riveting. Sadly, the authentic experience involved the two signing my book and sending me on my way. Not a word exchanged, and no dedications to accompany their autograph. At one point, I silently questioned Gabe’s enthusiasm for having fans that are excited to see the minds behind Penny Arcade. Then I remembered that, like me, these two are supposedly indoor non sociable creatures, creatures that burn in the presence of sunlight. Two people, like me, who would probably choose to save the life of a cute kitten over another member of our derogatory society.

After quite the inadequate weekend with mediocre and disconcerting showings at the theaters, my world is right side up once more today. Having a Friday to look forward to has the same effect timely medication has on the ailing, it makes everything a little bit better for just a little while, before the ill effects of diseases and the real world swarm my mind once more.

As a avid reader of comics, it should be without consternation I am building up Punisher: War Zone as the Friday night special.  I never got a chance to catch the first one starring Thomas Jane (not having the chance stems from my lack of desire).  This was not due to my distaste for Mr. Frank Castle, because in a sense, he is really the most realistic character out of a comic book, and this puts him on the winning side of my preferences.  Rather, it was the choice of casting and lack of buildup from Marvel that turned my interest away at the gate.

Though Jane had filled the shoes of various action characters in the past, ranging from his role as Walter Downs in “Original Sin” to Carter Blake in”Deep Blue Sea”, his facial features and expressions does not threaten my manhood in any way, shape, or form.  In fact, I might even bet on my victory if a bar fight occurred between him and I.

The new Punisher on the other hand, Ray Stevenson, has the face of a rugged lumberjack that would fight a polar bear for cutting him off on the highway. If I were to somehow anger the beast of a man, I doubt he would hesitate to punch right through my chest, and drop my beating heart in fresh doggy doo before making me retrieve it with my mouth.  All this just so he can take me to the hospital save my life to repeat the process.

The hand to hand combat and gunfight scenes from the preview is more Doom 3, while the Thomas Jane Punisher was pretty Wolfestein 3-D. Bombs going off in the middle of a crowd of S.W.A.T. officers, shotgun blasts through the wall with a man about to lose his head on the other side, and last but not least, the Punisher literally ripping a man’s throat out, this is the violence that must be embraced for the audience to truly enjoy the Punisher experience.

One says “I am such a tortured soul because my wife and kids were killed.” The other says “I am a vigilante machine because my wife and kids were killed.”

If you are not into web comics, you really should be…or at least give it a shot.  They can turn you day from pure shit to sunshine and rainbows in a matter of seconds.  For that effect to occur however, you must be a connoisseur and not waste your time reading just any web comic.  Penny Arcade surrounds the lives of two video game enthusiast, can turn my day around on the drop of a dime.

The art itself is reason enough for me to put aside “A Song of Ice and Fire” time for some Penny Arcade.  Gabe, the character who pens the digital duo, has made leaps as an artist.  Dig into the archives, and read the entire line from front to back.  The progression of the art is like looking through a photo album, from the baby’s birth till a full grown adult.  Where baby Gabe once used buttons for noses, and that same half crescent over and over for eyes, his characters now have facial expressions, different shades of color to emphasize lighting on their clothes, and a sense of depth in his art.

Tyco is just an amazing writer, to the point where I would say, “He is the best writer on the net, hands down, and I will wager my privates on that.” Yeah, he is that good.  And storytelling is not my point of discussion here.  I am mesmorized by his ability to weave words into more than just an entry in his video game blog.  When he despises or loves something, you feel the wrath or the warm embrace.  There are people out there who can tell a great story, but can’t write to save their life.  Dean Koontz is a great example of this.  The man always has a great story to tell, and does it well.  His writing on the other hand, very sloppy and not very elegant so to speak.  Funny that I should be commenting on the writing style of others – a famous author with multiple bestsellers to boot.

Nevertheless, if you are a fan, keep at it.  if you are not, give it a chance and check out the Penny Arcade site to have a read at the archives.  Just give it a shot.  Better yet, pick up their trade paperbacks at the local comic/bookstore.  Hell read it there.  What’ve you got to lose?

Aside from creating pop culture’s greatest icons – Spiderman, Hulk, X-Men, Fantasic Four, and Iron Man just to name a few, Stan Lee has propped himself into multi-acting gigs over the last decade or so.  Sure, most of them were in comic book based movies, but he does have a few very memorable moments such as the one in Princess Diaries 2, his spew on Heroes as a bus driver, and of course, the path to reason for Brody in Mallrats.

Though his role is never a big one, it’s just so awesome for me to see him on screen.  I don’t know whether it’s because it feels like a shout out to comic geeks everywhere, or if it’s because he is such a charming old man.  Truly one of many talents, Stan Lee has not only shaped and moulded the comic universe, but also infiltrated the movie world with all those wonderful little cameos. And as Kevin Smith said in the Mallrats Q&A, “Stan Lee is the only dude in Hollywood you don’t have to blow for a favor.”  Doesn’t sounds like there can be a nicer guy.