Bagged and Bored Cast Episode 10

We are back at the wonderful Martin Rd. Studios to bring the nerd news to all.
Join Chris, Paul, John and Producer Scott this week as they discuss:

The Week in Geek - Lobo going to the Big Screen, New Line goes to Middle Earth and back again to bring "The Hobbit", Marvel's MiracleMan news, Wizard's Convention constriction, the PAX-Pox and DC Comics' new deal.

The List - What books have us heading to the shop the week of September 16? Find out here.

The Main Topic - What bigger news could their be then, Disney buying Marvel? Hear why Chris is excited, Paul is worried and John feels the way he does.

The Movie Fix - Halloween 2, does Rob Zombie's remake slash its way into our hearts, or just leaves Paul with an upset stomach?

If you haven't already, there's no time like now to subscribe to the Bagged And Bored Cast on iTunes. Also, be sure to rate and review us at the iTunes store and follow us at http://twitter.com/BaggedandBored as well!

Here Wii Go Again

The Nintendo Wii, or as it's referred to in my house, the "Dr. Mario" Machine has just updated it's controls with "Wii Motion Plus". Honestly, the Wii is a box I place all the games I'm nostalgic for in. I've spent too much money over the past 3 years repurchasing some of the games I still have already in cartridges. Sure the nostalgia is one of the reasons I bought into the Wii hype, but there was also the promise of motion control. Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 both recently announced plans for their own motion controls at the past E3. Wii has found mass market success with the easy to pick up an play style of the Wii-motes dominating the top spot on monthly sales charts since it's launch. Now Nintendo is looking to stay ahead of their competitors with an update from "waggle" controls to a full 1-1 motion controls. The "Wii Motion Plus" add-on was first bundled with EA's "Tiger Woods 10" last month and has now been bundled with the released sequel to the mega hits "Wii Sports" and "Wii Play", "Wii Sports Resort" yesterday.

"Wii Sports Resort" comes with 12 different sports to choose from, and small variations on those sports to unlock. "Wii Sports Resort" also comes with one annoying unskipable 3 minute tutorial on how to plug in the "Wii Motion Plus". So, as a pro-tip pop in "Wii Sports Resort" before anyone come over to play. Back to the games: bowling and table tennis make a return with updated controls, and right away the difference can be felt. A simple twist of the wrist can change the behavior of a shot now, where as before hooking the ball in bowling or placing spin on the ball in table tennis seemed impossible. The only time I was disappointed in the control was in the archery section. Pulling back the nunchuk in this part mimics pulling the string of a bow, but there is some pretty heavy lag in the movement to the action on-screen. This might be due to the nunchuk not being designed with "Motion Plus" in mind.

Overall this game is going to be purchased and played by millions. Though, I'm not sure if it's enough to draw my friends into like the original "Wii Sports" did. The "Wii Sports Resort" competes for time against party games like "Guitar Hero", "Rock Band", "Boom Blocks" and a myriad of trivia games. "Wii Play" never grabbed attention away from "Wii Sports" and "Wii Sports Resort" just doesn't have the newness to win over get-togethers. However, played alone or by two people there is more then enough to entertain on a lazy day. That is the time for this game to shine. Played by two friends, fencing and basketball can kill many an hour. So when you purchase "Wii Sports Resort" make sure to buy a second "Wii Motion Plus". Keep the competition fierce and there will be more reason to turn on the Wii other then just nostalgia. Have fun.

Gathering the Magic

I'd have to say it was the summer after 5th grade when I first saw a Magic: The Gathering deck. That year was 1994, a full year after Wizards of the Coast released the game. A friend of mine had just come back from California where he was visiting his father and new step-mother and brought back with him a box full of monsters, demons, angels and wizards. What a wonderful concept instead of boring sports stars printed on playing card, which I had collected up to the year before, these cards had all the fantasy allure my 11 year old mind could handle. Even more amazing is that these cards when sorted and arranged could do more then sit in a shoebox (my baseball cards are still in the same shoebox) they could play a game. A game full of strategy and sorcery, a game I still don't completely grasp. When I would point out the packs at the store or ask for the cards for my birthday or Christmas my parents didn't see the same magical adventure I did, they saw a complete money sink and fad.

It wasn't until 14 years later did I come into my own possession of any Magic cards. By random coincidence, I was looking for a board game of substantial depth and strategy but was quick in set up and play, when the 10th edition was released. The Christmas before I had received "BattleLore", a board game with so many pieces and a manual so think I still haven't put the game nor the idea of how to play together. So, there I was with Risk, a game I love though it has no fantasy to it and finding more then one other person to play is a pain and "BattleLore" a game which I should love, though teaching someone how to play is an even more daunting task then teaching myself. Then, then I remembered how quickly I learned how to play "MTG" during my middle school days. Each birthday party I went to during those days focused around all the kids bringing their decks and battling it out. I would borrow a friend's deck and be quickly defeated. Now however, I had time and more importantly the disposable income to learn the game of Magic and a new starter set came to market.

It's been 2 years since, and I have only played a hand full of games and still don't have a strong competitive deck. I still have holes to fill with "common" cards to build a basic deck. This is why I'm now shopping around looking to purchase a few booster packs from the newly released "2010 Core Set". Unlike the booster packs that have come out between the "10th Edition" and now, the "Core Set" is filled with more basic cards that a new player like me can easily understand.
Combine the new "Core Set" and the new "Magic: The Gathering - Duels of the Plainswalker" Xbox Live Arcade game and I am ready to jump into the magic again. The Xbox Live Arcade game is downloadable for 800 Xbox Live points (roughly $10) and is a good premier into MTG. Just playing through the tutorial gave me an overview on all the play mechanics. Plus, it allows anyone to pick up and play without delving time and money into developing decks. On the downside, the full library of card aren't available, since the game is played with pre-built decks.

Hopefully, I can convince a few of my friends to dust off their old decks and put up with my need to ask questions every round to play a few games again. Maybe this time I can stick with it longer then a month and learn how to play well enough to win. I doubt it.

New Old Republic.

Play "Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic"

BioWare's first bought in the Star Wars universe set even a longer time ago in a galaxy far far away. The game was released for both the PC and original Xbox. If you don't own a copy I'd suggest purchasing the "Star Wars: Best of the PC" box, which can be found new on sites like Amazon for about $38. If you are looking to pick up "KOTOR" alone be ready to drop close to $90 on it new.

Pop "KOTOR" back in and familiarize yourself with the setting. The Mandalorian War has just ended but a new threat to Galactic peace has risen. "KOTOR" does start a little slow and the battle mechanic takes some getting use to. However, once you get your first lightsabre the game really picks up. Plus, the puzzles in the game are unique and fun. Overall "KOTOR" is a great Star Wars game buy it, barrow it, play it.


Build a Lightsabre.

Yes, build your very own lightsabre. I have so it can't be that hard. All it takes is a few trips to the plumbing section of your local hardware store, an L.E.D. and some tinkering. Maybe I will write another post on the step by steps, but for now here is what a few hours of work and $60 got me:

Check out http://www.thecustomsabershop.com to learn more about the process of constructing a new lightsabre and then your skills will be complete.

Read Star Wars Comics.

Dark Horse Comics is the home for Star Wars comics, and tomorrow (July 1) releases a new book: "Star Wars: Invasion #1". I'll be jumping on this book with the #1, all the reviews I have read about the Dark Horse Star Wars line have been glowing. Invasion joins the line along side "Legacy" (follows Cade Skywalker the last descendant of Luke Skywalker) "Clone Wars" (Anakin Skywalker pre Vader post puberty) and "Knights of the Old Republic" (yes, based on the game you should have played by now).

Hope that helps stoke your Star Wars love enough to hold you over, if not keep checking back.

Does Busting Make Me Feel Good?

What is it about 80's nostalgia, that make me run to the theatre on an opening night or, in this case, to the store to buy the latest video game? I'm not completely sure but, I blame Ronald Reagan. From movie studio re-makes of 1980's horror movies, to new release of old Saturday morning cartoons, there seems to be a cash cow for anyone willing to push past the rubik's cubes and pet rocks to find gold. Though for a while it seemed, there was one major 1980's gem that would never see a new millennium make-over: "Ghostbusters".



Rumor has it that both Harold Ramis and Dan Aykroyd had plotted a third Ghostbusters film shortly after the release of the slime time sequel "Ghostbusters 2". For reasons unknown this plot has never seen the silver screen, but has now been released on video game systems world wide. "Ghostbusters: The Video Game" was released 25 years after the first film and over 2 years after the game's announcement. It wasn't an easy two years of development, Activision dropped the game a few months before its first scheduled release date of last holiday season, but even before that Bill Murray was not signed on to come back to provide the voice of Peter Venkman. Luckily for all, Bill Murray realized he had nothing better to do with his time and got to a recording studio and another star from the 80's stepped up to publish "Ghostbusters", Atari.

The promise of more ghostbusting is something I think few of us children of the 80's could pass. "Ghostbusters: The Video Game" takes place in 1991, one year after "Ghostbusters 2". You take on the role of a new buster, whom is referred to only as "kid" "rookie" and other assorted nicknames. As luck would have it, on your first day a strange paranormal wave sweeps through the Big Apple, making a ghostly mess only the Ghostbusters can clean.



I have to say this game falls below the 1984 classic film, but well above the horrid 1997 cartoon "Extreme Ghostbusters". Most of the voice acting comes across as a mailed-in effort at worst or a "Ghostbusters" the experience ride at Universal Studios at best. Adding to the feel of an amusement park ride verses a whole new movie, is the fact the first 3 levels are locations from the first film. The hotel we first saw "Slimmer", another fight with the Stay Puff Marshmallow Man, and lastly the public library where the ghostbusting trio failed to "Get her". Maybe I was looking for a gentle nod to the past instead of a full drag down memory lane, since I can pop in the DVD and see those scenes and places at anytime. The is no real death mechanic in this game, there is however, the doom of acting like a turtle flipped on its back (those proton packs are heavy mother pussers). When your teammates start shouting "Help I've fallen and I can't get up" the player has to go around and pick-up each other. If the whole party is knocked over then game over. Expect your teammates to get knocked over a bunch, leaving most boss battles to be running from one fallen friend to the next fallen man. That makes the game feel more like babysitting then ghostbusting.

On the plus side, the wrangling and trapping ghosts feels exactly like it should, like catching fish, a real big heavy ugly undead fish... It feels good. It feels good enough to keep me playing through one controller throwing aggravation filled boss battle to the next. The moments where I was along side some of my childhood heroes, zapping away at ghosts were awesome. Come on, I even got to try the fire pole. Isn't that what I was really looking for, that feeling of empowerment I once got when I strapped that Kenner toy plastic proton pack to my back and press the trigger to send a piece of yellow Styrofoam a spinning? Yes, yes it is.

My advice is if you are like me and you bought the game new, order some Chinese take out and chew slowly, cause you just spent a little too much of the petty cash. I'm not seeing all that much in replay value. The game also, does not work out well as a pass the controller party game, as it is a little too frustrating for a complete casual gamer to have fun playing. This game is a real strong rental or a wait for a price drop.