Biz Monkie

293 posts
Boisterous laugh, great smile, serial killer eyes. "the Confucius of Central Indiana" - Botswana Meat Commission - Follow me on twitter: @monkeybiziu

Why You Need to Go See Pacific Rim and Elysium

There are two times a year where Hollywood really rolls out their Big Tentpole Franchise Movies: summer and the holidays. This summer, we’ve already seen Iron Man 3, The Great Gatsby, Star Trek Into Darkness, The Hangover Part III, Fast and Furious 6, and Man of Steel. We still have World War Z, The Lone Ranger, and The Wolverine.

For those of you keeping score at home, that’s comic-book movie sequel, book adaptation, sequel to a reboot of a 60s TV show, REALLY unnecessary sequel, another sequel, comic-book movie reboot, another book adaptation, another TV adaptation, and another comic-book movie sequel. Continue reading →

The Coming Fight Over Marvel Movie Rights

MarvelGirlOver the past several years, fans of Marvel Comics characters have been truly blessed. After years of nothing but Batman and Superman movies, Marvel has firmly staked its claim as the king of the box office. Unfortunately, all that success has come with a price, and the big studios that own the rights to various Marvel characters are gearing up for a turf war that may prevent some of the biggest characters in the Marvel universe from ever appearing on screen together. Continue reading →

A Musical Retrospective of the Mass Effect Trilogy

Mass_Effect_logo_smallI recently found myself with a great deal of free time and very little to fill it with, so I figured I’d take a crack at playing the entire Mass Effect trilogy back-to-back-to-back. I had played all three games when they released, and done multiple playthroughs, but never a complete playthrough from start to finish.

As I was working my way through the games, I began to pay more attention to the little things I missed working my way through playing them separately. Bits of conversation, foreshadowing, etc. that added to the experience in unexpected ways. After I was finished, I realized that, more than anything, what moved me the most was the music. Continue reading →

Midnight Movie Reviews: Iron Man 3

I love movies. More importantly, I love seeing movies before almost everyone else. Certain movies will get me to the theater at midnight, so I figured I’d see them first and write a review the next day so you can get a real review from someone that isn’t a Hollywood hack.

In this installment… Iron Man 3. Continue reading →

Dispatches from Ponyville: One Man’s Journey Into the World of Bronies

poniesRecently, adult male fans of Hasbro’s “My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic”, (MLP:FIM) colloquially referred to as “Bronies”, and their female equivalents, known as “Pegasisters”, have garnered the interest and attention of the media, or at the very least the internet. As I was reading the various articles about the phenomenon, I found myself fascinated at how the residents of 4Chan, generally agreed upon as the worst people on the internet, had become enthralled by a cartoon about ponies aimed at pre-teen girls.

Several months ago, I set out to answer that question. These are my dispatches from Ponyville. Continue reading →

NCAA Tournament – Round of 64/32 Wrap-Up

The first week of the 2013 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament is in the books, and the Sweet Sixteen is set. For those of you that missed the action, here’s a recap of this weekend’s memorable moments, a preview of next weekend’s action, and an update on the Crasstalk Bracket Funderdome Challenge.

Before we begin, let us all recognize the efforts of the NIT 16-seed Robert Morris Colonials in bouncing the NIT 1-seed Kentucky Wildcats last Tuesday. Godspeed, Colonials. Continue reading →

Why Consoles Are Killing Gaming

I’m a gamer. Unlike the vast majority of gamers, however, I game on a PC. I’ve been gaming on a PC for nearly 20 years. I’ve invested hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars into gaming hardware over that span to run the latest releases at resolutions, framerates, and detail levels that would make your eyes bleed, and I’ve done it without a second’s hesitation; in fact, I usually do it with a smile.

So you’re going to have to trust me when I say that the consoles are killing gaming. Continue reading →

Game Over, Man! The Story of Aliens: Colonial Marines Epic Fail

Torus_Trooper_Game_OverEarlier this month Gearbox Interactive released their highly anticipated first-person shooter based on an original story in the Aliens universe, Aliens: Colonial Marines. The game is set between Aliens and Alien3, with the player taking on the role of Winter, a Colonial Marine sent to investigate the appearance of the U.S.S. Sulaco over LV-426, in a continuation of the storyline from Aliens.

Continue reading →

EA Makes a Blatant Microtransaction Money Grab in Dead Space Three

I’m a big fan of the Dead Space series from EA. I loved the first two installments, so when I heard there was a third coming out, I was super pumped. As the game got closer to release, disturbing news about the game hit the internet: EA, Dead Space 3‘s publisher, had included microtransactions, allowing players to buy weapons, skins, and resources for the in-game crafting system. Developer Visceral Games assured players that they could still find everything they needed in game, and with some careful resource management would have more than enough resources to play and beat the game.

Having not played and beaten the game, Visceral wasn’t far off the mark; there were times where I was strapped for resources, but eventually was able to get most of what I wanted.

However, the inclusion of micro-transactions in a full-priced game is still disturbing, as it shows how a publisher like EA views it’s gamer customers: walking piggybanks. Continue reading →