Tuesday, July 6, 2010
This guy makes me want Little Caesars as much as he wants backstage passes to Cannibal Corpse
Sunday, March 21, 2010
We met some new friends... From out of town!
“Dinosaucers” was the brainchild of Michael Uslan in 1987 and was on for one season with 65 episodes. Now in the grand scheme of things this show is the skid in the underwear of Mr. Uslan’s illustrious career. Most notably he is one of the producers of every single Batman movie from Tim Burtons 1989 classic “Batman” to Christopher Nolan’s phenom “The Dark Knight”. Also his resume reads producing “Batman: The Animated Series”, and educational game show “Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?” In my personal opinion “Dinosaucers” is Michael Uslan’s most creative endeavor.
Even though the show was only on with continual new episodes for only one 65 episode season from September to December in 1987, I remember this show being in syndication up until 1997. So it shocks me when people tell me they have never heard of it.
The premise of “Dinosaucers” is complex at best. It is about a race of dinosaur aliens that came to Earth called the Dinosaucers and, their battle with the evil Tyrannos. Upon their visit they befriended a group of teenage children and became allies calling them Secret Scouts. The Scouts were each given rings that gave them each individual powers. (almost like a precursor to “Captain Planet”) So, every episode involved how the Dinosaucers could foil the Tyranno’s plans for world domination with the Secret Scouts stuck in the middle of the confrontation. Kind of sounds like the premise for every good vs. evil cartoon of the 80’s doesn’t it? Well here comes the kicker!
On the Dinosacuers and Tyrannos uniforms was this button. What does the button do? When this button is pushed the Dinosaucer or Tryranno that pushed it would transform into a full grown dinosaur and do battle old school style. None of these fancy lasers and ships but it all came down to brawn, horns, and teeth. Now what kid in the 80’s didn’t like the prospect of dino on dino violence? To me it was the apex of awesome. I dreamt of pushing a button on my shirt and turning into a full grown t-rex as a kid because I saw it on TV, and you would’ve too if you saw “Dinosaucers”.
I had no idea that the show had been cancelled when I first saw it in 1989. I looked for action figures every time we went to Toys r Us. Because of the short run, figures were never released, but they were made, just never put in retail stores. The only country where the toys were for sale was
Now most of my life has been about the obscure, forgotten gems in my childhood. But how this epic show has slipped through the cracks is beyond me. I just wanted to take this opportunity to introduce you to something that you may find yourself enjoying. Expand your mind, and your cartoon education. More gems to come, but the one that has stuck in my mind the longest is and will be “Dinosaucers”!
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Death to Boosters!!!
TheSavageRandy’s brand deals with hunting down boosters in free for all matches and ruining their party; then following them to the next room until they log off. If you haven’t seen it yet it’s a treat to the eyes; the video is 6 minutes and 55 seconds of pure piss off to these cheaters with a heavy metal track and commentary by the man himself Duke Nukem.
Now Dino8623 has a very special way of dealing with these frauds. He joins into the 3rd person cage match mode, and agrees to boost with the other player. Then, when he gains their trust he starts acting like he has no idea what he’s doing, and just pisses off whoever he’s playing with. He continues to lead them on throughout the match and then set them back down in disappointment. The first time I saw “theres some one in the gift shop?!?” I died laughing. And even though I have seen it like 30 times it’s still funny. I don’t know if it’s his seemingly oblivious behavior that’s funny or the ridiculous overreaction of the 12 year old kid that takes the cake. Either way, its internet gold, and in my opinion comedic genius.
I have actually had the privilege of interviewing Dino, the creator of “Theres some one in the gift shop?!?”
Tales of the Nerdy Kind- Age, location, Alias, Favorite mode of CODMW2 Multiplayer?
Dino8623- 17, Toms River NJ, Dino or Dyno, definitely demolition when not crippling boosters in cage matches.
TotNK- What was your defining moment that you decided to begin fighting back or screwing around with boosters?
Dino8623-My defining moment was easily watching these two kids get nukes every game because; they would find a spot and start killing each other until one got 2 to ruin the game. So, I caught on, killed the boy with the streak, they left and my twisted mind was created to end this nonsense.
TotNK- How do you pick out people that will be falling for your trickery? How do YOU find boosters?
Dino8623- I look for personality first, then find what easily agitates them, then their output (their voice) if they all add up then it’s easy. Trust me; it doesn’t always have to be 13 years olds that flip out.
TotNK- What gave you the idea to videotape this particular "cage match"?
Dino8623- Well it just clicked. After I heard him curse the first time, I died in laughter, and then felt like every one needs to feel what I’m feeling
TotNK- How do you not blow your cover and die laughing while messing with these kids?
Dino8623- Sometimes I do blow my cover but blame it on my dogs licking my feet or a distant cousin tickling me (laughs), other times I mute the mic or just sit and play in tears until after the match.
TotNK- What do you think Infinity Ward should do to fix the booster problem? Other problems?
Dino8623- Well there’s not much Infinity Ward can do, its almost unstoppable unless they hired people like me to become booster nightmares.
TotNK- Is there a time and place in games for cheating of any kind?
Dino8623- There is a time and place for cheating when it pertains to ones self and not affecting the community, and leader boards, its just poor sportsmanship.
TotNK- Have any of these people you mess with responded or contacted you since you humiliated them on the internet?
Dino8623- Not a word has been said to me yet from these boosters.
TotNK- Do you think GR4NNYSc00kies will grant me an angry 12 year old boy interview?
Dino8623- Yes, he would if he hasn’t seen the video, otherwise I don’t think so. (laughs)
TotNK- How do you keep your subject online long enough to make it funny?
Dino8623- I call it fishing. As you can see in my videos; I kill them a few times then throw out the line and once they kill me, I just reel them back in for more anger when they think all is well.
TotNK- What do you love the most about CODMW2? Hate the most?
Dino8623- I love the gun selection and the maps. I dislike the reality aspect, I think u should be able to break down doors, and open more to a map with an explosion or something along those lines.
TotNK- Have you experienced this in any other online games?
Dino8623- No just Call of Duty, and a few times of angering people in Madden.
TotNK- Any future plans for more videos?
Dino8623- Yes, I will definitely be releasing at least 10 videos by the end of this year, and hopefully T-shirts if I can find the help. I also might have a few videos stored for now with some basement oldies.
TotNK- Is there anything else you want to say on the record?
Dino8623- Hopefully I’ll be majoring in computer science this year at NJIT. Could maybe give another advantage to finding ways to beat boosters or create a game in the future!
I would like to thank Dino for the interview and I wish him the best in his journey to piss off boosters. So if you are a CODMW2 fan and you hate boosters, shoot them in the face for all of us, and if you are a booster then you know that your cheating days are numbered. VIVA LA ANTI-BOOSTING REVOLUCION!
Thursday, February 4, 2010
The Top 10 Games I Wish I NEVER Played!
10. Contra Force (released September 30, 1992 NES)
Hey you wanna play some Contra? Fluid run and gun action. Just you, your guy, your gun, the Konami code and a friend (if you want)? We got a run and gunner but you don't fool me this is not Contra. This is less Contra than Metal Gear 2 is Metal Gear. What's wrong you ask? First and most important NO ALIENS! Instead your fighting some terrorist organization. Gone is the style of upgrades and along with that is the good ol' spreader (lame). Also you remember how awesome it was to play original contra with a friend? Well they still have co-op but it’s so slow its like watching a slow motion video. I reject this as a Contra game. From now on I will refer to it as "That Generic Shooting Game".
9. E.T. (released December 1982 Atari 2600)
This would be at the top of most peoples list but not on mine for a few reasons. First, as a child I only played it for like 5 minutes realized it is a piece of crap and stopped. And as an adult I bought it at a pawn shop for 35 cents, so its not like a broke the bank on this one. But, unlike a fine wine it does not get better with time. It just got moldier and stinkier (I think that’s a word). Everybody knows all about the history, that it single handedly killed the industry in the early 80’s, and the landfill where possibly millions of unsold E.T. copies are buried. But what a lot of people don't realize is that back then it took 3-6 months to properly program a game. But Howard Scott Warshaw only had a measly 5 weeks to make the game. If this game turned out this bad with a full programming schedule it would be higher on my list.
8. The Adventures of Bayou Billy (released June 1989 NES)
Konami, this is game number 2 on this list for you already. For those of us that have played this game know exactly why it’s on my list. There are so many layers to this game like a big, fat, stinky onion. The game was broken up into 3 game styles. Side scrolling beat-em-up, driving stages, and shoot em ups that you can use the zapper for (which is kinda awesome). First the side scrolling missions were next to impossible. They seemed to be 5 miles long with almost no power ups and every enemy takes like 80 hits to kill. Not to mention crocodiles come out of the water to kill you. And if an enemy has a knife or gun you might as well turn off the game. The driving missions are kinda cool you have a gun and grenade toss but you have to have precise aim and if you hit another vehicle, rock, pothole, bunny rabbit, old defenseless lady, baby, your car explodes. And just like the side scrolling missions IT NEVER ENDS! The shooting missions were kind of a breath of fresh air. From start to finish it’s just a non stop trigger fest. This is the only saving grace of the game that kept it out of the top 5. But it doesn’t save it from me saying “Whoever made this game so hard should be eaten by a crocodile!”
7. Friday the13th (released February 1989 NES)
When I saw this game I had to have it. I knew nothing of it at the time but just by the sheer fact that it was a Jason game it had to be mine! Soon after I realized why everyone says it’s lame. First off you’re not Jason. You’re the campers booo. Second you have to go around
6. Pac-Man (released March 1982 Atari 2600)
Now for those not in the know I am not bashing the Pac-Man we all love and adore. This horrible travesty barely represented the genies that Namco gave us in the arcades. Instead we were given a boxy incomplete mess of a game. The sounds were gone. The round pellets were gone; instead Pac-Man ate pez. And the ghosts were all the same color and barely visible. I stilled played it because it was the closest thing that we got at home at the time. It still amazes me that Atari was so arrogant that they printed 12 million copies of the game when there were only 10 million Ataris in existence. Which meant they thought it was going to be such a phenomenal hit that everyone that has an Atari would buy it and they would sell 2 million more Ataris to accommodate the difference. Also AGAIN, just like E.T. the game was developed in 6 weeks instead of the 3-6 month average time. Most embarrassing thing about this is that I actually own 2 copies of this game. If you are a retro game collector for your own sanity buy the Colecovision or NES version of this game they are vastly more superior.
5. C2 Judgment Clay (released 1994 SNES)
During the mid 90’s we were bombarded with good and awful 2d fighting games. And oh man is this one of the awful ones. I know I know, Shaq-fu was worse but guess what. I never degraded myself into playing Shaq-fu because I knew it was bad. You know how I knew? It was freekin Shaq-fu. What has Shaq touched besides a basketball that didn’t turn into a giant turd? But I digress. C2 Judgment Clay was the second game in the Clayfighters series. I never played the first but this game played off the popularity and sheer awesomeness of Terminator 2: Judgment Day and for that Interplay should be ashamed of themselves. I’m sure they’re not because they sure got my 60 bucks! I mean what’s not to like. Claymation, awesome! Fighting games, great. A claymation fighting game, a plague of biblical proportions. With its broken fighting engine, crappy graphics and slow motion game play I regret ever considering spending my hard earned allowance on this. In a fighting game there is always a clear winner and loser. But in the case of C2 Judgment Clay, you are always the loser.
4. Amagon (April 1989 NES)
I will forever be haunted by this game. This was the first game I bought with my own money. When I was young I got paid 2 dollars a week allowance by my father. Now after 25 weeks I would have enough money to buy a new Nintendo game. I remember my dad asking me if I wanted to buy a game. I was all like “Hack yes I do, lets go do that RIGHT NOW!” So we went to the Toys r Us in
3. Fester’s Quest (released 1989 NES)
Remember how awesome the Addams Family was? How they were just so darn kooky and that was the joke of the whole show. Hey you remember that episode where Uncle Fester was just chillin’, sipping on a sweet tea and aliens came and invaded the town, and Fester had to go around the town shooting all the aliens with his blaster? Yeah, me neither. But that’s the premise of Fester’s Quest. Every enemy took like a million hits to get rid of. The power ups actually hindered you more than helped you and it was hard as titanium. I can’t past the second level yet again! I don’t get it its not that I can’t beat hard games. I mean for crying out loud I’ve beaten Ghosts n’ Goblins! Hard is never a factor for me, its cheapness and that’s what this game is. The cheapness of this game is worse than the rubber band effect in NFL Blitz. I don’t suggest ever touching this game but if you’re a masochist like yours truly do yourself a favor. Play it with a game genie.
2. Batman Forever (released 1995 SNES)
Wow! We are now scrapping the bottom of the pig crap silo. This is the third movie based game for batman. The original Batman on the NES is just brilliant. Batman Returns on the SNES is one of the best beat em ups of all time, reminding me of Final Fight or Streets of Rage. But, something happened for Batman Forever. The fluid controls were gone, as well as the awesome music, visuals and most importantly the fun. They basically took all the fun and replaced it with a spoonful of hatred. They took away the button mashing beat em up style and replaced it with a Mortal Kombat type fighting engine. Mix that with crappy unfair bad guys, obstructive views, and ridiculous controls and you have this frustrating piece of garbage. I hate how Acclaim took two of my favorite things Batman, and video games and made me hate them both at the same time. To me that’s a crime against nature. But wait it gets worse. You can play co-op with robin. Because everyone wants to play as Robin….(sike!) Because Batman Forever is a title that’s so bad you need to share the nightmare with others. But as bad as this game is. It’s not nearly as bad as our number 1.
1. Superman 64 (released May 29, 1999 Nintendo 64)
What can be said about Superman 64 that hasn’t already been said? From the second you press the start button you’re thrown into this puke green world and forced to… fly through rings in a certain time limit? What? You’re Superman you should just be able to fly around, beat the mess out of baddies use heat and x-ray vision and pick up heavy stuff. Not only is the game boring and has no point but, it just seems like Titus Software got to alpha testing (the period of the game development where the team works to get the bugs worked out) and said “Good enough. Ship it out!” You run through walls into no mans land, Superman looks like Rocky Dennis from “Mask”, and the game just makes no sense whatsoever. So in the game you fly through rings, destroy some cars, fly through rings, save a couple citizens, fly through rings, beat a couple bad guys, and the FLY THROUGH MORE FREEKIN RINGS! It’s just a never ending cycle of crappy game play with time limits. I wish that I had a time machine to go back and shred the memo that Titan sent out to make this game and sully the good name of Superman for the past 10 years. Now throughout gaming history, Superman has gotten no respect in any video game form. And this is the biggest slap in the face to the most recognizable symbol of good ol’ fashion