Archive for April, 2007

Spider-Man 3: Second Video Game Trailer

// April 19th, 2007 // No Comments » // My Stuff


The Spider-Man games from Activision have consistently been outstanding. This is a surprise, considering most movie based games often turn out horrible, usually do to inflexible release schedules.

I find these games to be fun just to explore and swing around New York. In this new release, the city is bigger, deeper, and more detailed. Aa long as the Wii controls hold up, this is destined to be an amazing adventure game. This trailer has me salivating for this game even more than the first trailer.

activision, controls, marvel, new york, nintendo wii, spider-man 3, spider-man 3 the game, spiderman, video game, wii, trailer

Who is Ronin Now?

// April 18th, 2007 // 1 Comment » // My Stuff

New Avengers 027 - Page 9.jpg

Ronin joined the New Avengers last year when she helped them out in Japan. It was later revealed that Ronin was in fact Maya Lopez formerly known as Echo. She was good friends with Matt Murdock, in fact they had a off an on relationship for awhile. Lopez was raised by Wilson Fisk, the Kingpin after he killed her father.

She was born deaf, but with the gift of being able to reproduce anything she saw anyone do. This includes playing the piano, fighting styles, flying planes, etc. It makes her a formidable opponent, especially if she has witnessed someone fight in the past.

After revealing herself to Captain America, Iron Man, and the rest of the New Avengers, she returned to Japan to infiltrate the organized crime group “The Hand”. When Civil War broke out shortly after, her contact with the Avengers was broken.

Following Civil War, she contacted Matt Murdock as she feared being captured or defeated by Elektra (leader of The Hand). He in turn told Iron Fist, who told the New Avengers she needed help.

By the time the new New Avengers arrived in Japan, Maya had been killed and resurrected by Elektra. Clearly Elektra intended to convert her to The Hand’s cause.

New Avengers 027 - Page 21.jpgThe interesting thing about all of this, Ronin arrived with the New Avengers. So the question is, who is Ronin now? Considering the fact that she contacted Murdock to help her, that’d be my initial guess. However… The picture to the right shows Maya and Ronin’s first interaction which seems to indicate this is not Matt…

The only other hints come from author Brian Michael Bendis in a Newsarama interview: “It’s someone with a long history in the Marvel Universe. There are quite a few people it could be, and it’s not necessarily the person you immediately go to, but it’s someone I have an affection for who also has a history of donning a guise that best suits his or her mental tone. And this is his or her mental tone right now. And it just so happens there is a costume that needs filling and a person who can fill it, and so it’s taken.”

If I was to take bets, these are the odds I’d give on who Ronin will turn out to be:

Clint Barton (Hawkeye) – 3:2
James “Bucky” Buchanan Barnes (Winter Soldier) – 3:1
Nick Fury – 5:1
Sharon Carter – 20:1
Jessica Jones – 40:1
Frank Castle (Punisher) – 50:1
Marc Spector (Moon Knight) – 100:1
Matt Murdock (Daredevil) – 250:1
Wade Wilson (Deadpool) – 500:1
Tony Stark (Iron Man) – 10,000:1
Steve Rogers (Captain America) – 1,000,000:1

New Avengers 028 - Page 3.jpg
avengers, bendis, brian michael bendis, bucky, captain america, civil war, clint barton, daredevil, deadpool, echo, elektra, frank castle, hawkeye, iron man, james buchanan, jessica jones, kingpin, luke cage, marc spector, marvel, matt murdock, maya lopez, moon knight, new avengers, nick fury, punisher, ronin, sharon carter, suit, the hand, tony stark, wade wilson, wilson fisk, winter soldier

Google Presentations Coming This Summer

// April 17th, 2007 // No Comments » // Technology Bits

Google announced today that presentations are coming to Google Docs and Spreadsheets. This was of course rumored a couple months ago, and certainly expected (or eagerly awaited…) by the tech industry.

From the blog:

we want to welcome the team from Tonic Systems to Google. Tonic, which we’ve just acquired, is based in San Francisco and Melbourne, Australia. They have some great technology for presentation creation and document conversion, and it will be a great addition as we add presentation sharing and collaboration capabilities to Google Docs & Spreadsheets.

Looking into Tonic a bit more deeply lead to the FAQ on tonicsystems.com:

“Tonic Systems is a San Francisco-based company that provides Java presentation automation products and solutions for document management – Tonic Systems Builder, Tonic Systems Filter, Tonic Systems Transformer, Tonic Systems Viewer, and JarJar Links. Features of their products included text extraction for indexing documents, presentation creation capabilities and document conversion tools.”

My only fear is that the technology they are buying as part of the Tonic acquisition is Java based. Docs and Spreadsheets is much lighter as pure javascript and xhtml. I trust Google will strike the appropriate balance and get this new application integrated and working nicely. As soon as screenshots begin to emerge, I’ll be sure to post those.

google, google presently, tonic, tonic systems, presentations, presentation, powerpoint, office, docs, documents, spreadsheets, docs and spreadsheets, writely, docs & spreadsheets, java, javascript

Transformers Movie: Sweet Stand-up Poster

// April 17th, 2007 // No Comments » // My Stuff

Transformers Standee

DreamWorks Pictures has released this sweet new stand-up poster or “standee” for director Michael Bay’s Transformers, opening in theaters on July 4. The sci-fi action-adventure stars Shia LaBeouf, Tyrese Gibson, Josh Duhamel, Anthony Anderson, Rachael Taylor, Megan Fox, John Turturro and Jon Voight.

Optimus Prime staring down Megatron with the “defend” and “destroy” below their images respectively. It kind of gives me chills a bit. I was initially hesitant, but am now entirely excited about the release of this film!

Anthony Anderson, John Turturro, Jon Voight, Josh Duhamel, Megan Fox, megatron, movie, optimus prime, poster, Rachael Taylor, Shia LaBeouf, stand up,, standee, transformers, Tyrese Gibson

Next – Another Philip K. Dick Story Turned Movie

// April 16th, 2007 // 1 Comment » // My Stuff

Philip K Dick is maybe the most significant Sci-Fi author in the second half of last century. His stories of often center around varying perceptions of reality. This may be due to drugs, mental illness, or a science fiction plot device. Examples of modern films that are heavily influenced by Dick would include: Being John Malkovich, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Stranger Than Fiction, etc.

Additionally, there are a number of films directly based off of Dick’s work: Blade Runner (Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep), Total Recall (We Can Remember It for You Wholesale), A Scanner Darkly (same title), Paycheck (same title), Minority Report (same title), etc. Most of these movies are not very good. Other than Blade Runner, none of them has garnered much critical acclaim. In most cases the director’s stray wildly away from Dick’s core plot points, merely retaining overall themes.

I would expect this new film, Next based off the short story “The Golden Man”, starring Nicolas Cage, Julianne Moore, and Jessica Beal to be similarly forgettable and poor. However, the fact that Dick’s name is attached to it, means I will pay it closer attention and certainly see it as soon as I have a chance. The trailer is certainly interesting. The movie is due out April 27th.

I hope someday Dick’s stories start to become amazing films. In the meantime, I highly recommend reading anything and everything Philip K. Dick wrote. I especially like his short stories, which in turn are often what become films.

a scanner darkly, blade runner, do androids dream of electric sheep, jessical beal, julianne moore, minority report, movie, movie trailer, next, next movie, nicolas cage, paycheck, philip k dick. philip dick, sci-fi, science fiction, scifi, short stories, stories, story, total recall, We Can Remember It for You Wholesale

Manhunt 2 for Wii Trailer

// April 16th, 2007 // No Comments » // My Stuff


I was never excited about the original Manhunt game from Rockstar, but it got a lot of play in my house. For months this was the game of choice at lunch everyday for my friends. It is likely this was the most played game on our XBox.

With this in mind, I am reluctantly watching Manhunt 2 emerge for Nintendo Wii. I am particularly interested in the fact that Rockstar was willing to publish with Nintendo. This should go a long way towards getting them adult gamer respect.

manhunt, manhunt 2, nintendo, nintendo wii, rockstar, rockstar games, video game, video games, wii, xbox

A Darker Spider-Man

// April 15th, 2007 // 1 Comment » // My Stuff

Amazing Spider-Man 539 - Page 25I am certain that putting Spider-Man back in the black suit was primarily a marketing ply to bring him inline visually with the new Spider-Man 3 film coming out this summer. It can’t help but sell comics if the book on the newsstand looks just like the character on the big screen.

However, I have been pleasantly surprised by how they are playing out this change in the books. First of all, in the wake of Civil War, Aunt May was shot by a sniper hired by the Kingpin. All evidence indicates this bullet will be lethal, but for now she hangs on, in a coma, sustained by life support. He vows to avenge her by all necessary means. In fact, as you can see in the image on the left, he intends to find who is responsible and he “is going to kill them”.

Additionally, Peter Parker decides not to take the pardon offered by new director of S.H.I.E.L.D, Tony Stark/Iron Man. This leaves him as a criminal fugitive in defiance of the Superhero Registration Act. As part of this he remains a member of the New Avengers who are now made up entirely of heroes in a similar situation. Now led by Luke Cage, the New Avengers are made up of Wolverine (Logan), Spider-Woman (Jessica Drew), Iron Fist (Danny Rand), Ronin (unknown), Echo (Maya Lopez; formerly Ronin), and the surprise addition of Doctor Stephen Strange. This is a group who are known far more for street level crime fighting as opposed to global/galactic/cosmic level events. They start right out fighting Elektra and The Hand, but Spider-Man is here to fight the Kingpin’s crew.

This newly formed team is certainly darker, with a much more aggressive take on crime fighting. The US government considers all of them criminals and this combined with their plans, means they will be taking out their aggressions in potentially lethal ways. I would not want to be a street thug in the Marvel Universe with these guys out for vengeance. The image below shows that they are not implying this, but stating it outright.

New Avengers 029 - Page 18

Al of this leaves us with a Spider-Man who has turned to much darker tactics. His life has taken a dark turn. So… using the black costume as a symbol of his new stance both to fans reading the book and to criminals he will encounter in the Marvel Universe is a nice and accurate touch. Again, the marketing aspect of this change had me a bit hesitant about their decision to make this change, but I’m loving the story lines that are emerging.

aunt may, avengers, black suit, danny rand, dark, doctor strange, echo, iron fist, iron man, jessica drew, lethal, logan, luke cage, marvel, marvel universe, Maya lopez, new avengers, power man, ronin, s.h.i.e.l.d, shield, spider woman, spider-man, spider-man 3, spider-woman, stephen strange, tony stark, vengeance, wolverine, elektra, the hand

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