"Where's Cousin It?"

Dark Shadows is a film directed by Tim Burton, which naturally means it’s starring Johnny Depp, and is based on the “gothic soap opera” of the late 60s and early 70s of the same name. But is Dark Shadows a new Tim Burton classic? Or was it better left in the shadows? Read more

Today is the sixteenth anniversary of the US release of Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars! To celebrate the sweet sixteenth of this masterful RPG, I decided to compile this list of the top ten characters that were introduced in Mario’s debut RPG. Keep in mind this list is exclusive to characters that were unique to the game, so some obvious characters (Mario, Bowser, Princess Peach) aren’t included. So without further introduction, the top ten Super Mario RPG characters! Read more

"YES!"

It’s all been building up to this. Ever since Marvel Studio’s Iron Man, the “Marvel Cinematic Universe” has been hinting, teasing and hyping The Avengers. While all of the Marvel Studio films thus far, from Iron Man to Thor to Captain America, have all held up very well as standalone superhero films, they all found their own ways to subtly (and sometimes not-so subtly) hype the movie that would bring Marvel’s heroes together. With four years and five movies building up to it, The Avengers’ hype became an entity in itself. But, does this multi-franchise sequel live up to all its hype and produce a memorable movie of its own? Or is it not-so super after all? Read more

I just received issue 278 of Nintendo Power, and they have a fun section dedicated to the “best of” the Mario series (similar to the Zelda and Metroid lists the magazine has conducted over the past two years). They have a few snippets like “Best Bowser fight” and “Best Power-Up,” but the majority of the section is a fun countdown of the ‘best’ Mario games (that is to say, the Mario platformers).  Here’s their list as well as some commentary by me. Read more

Recently, Shigeru Miyamoto stated that the long-awaited Pikmin 3 will be revealed at this year’s E3 (after having first announced it at the event in 2008), and it seems as a means to advertise the game, 2004’s Pikmin 2 will finally be getting its re-release on the Wii in the US this coming June.

In Japan, both GameCube Pikmin titles were re-released with modified Wii controls in 2009. Though only the original Pikmin’s Wii makeover made it to the states. After three years of waiting, we’ll finally be getting the revamped edition of one of Miyamoto’s most underrated games.

As for Pikmin 3, so far all that’s known about the game is that it will be for the Wii U. Hopefully we’ll find out a lot more than that at E3.

E3 is nearing, and Shigeru Miyamoto has already announced that a new Mario game for the system will be shown at the event. But what, exactly, could it be? Read more

"Katniss ain't got nothing on me!"

Kid Icarus: Uprising is the long-awaited revival of Nintendo’s Kid Icarus franchise, which has laid dormant for over twenty years, last seen on the original GameBoy with Kid Icarus: Of Myths and Monsters. This third iteration, developed by Kirby and Super Smash Bros. creator Masahiro Sakurai, also looks to follow in his tradition of weaving a deep gaming experience through the simplest possible means. But does Uprising welcome Pit back into Nintendo’s canon with open arms? Or is the series better left in memory? Read more

Today is the 20th anniversary of A Link to the Past’s US release. Happy 20th to one of the greatest video games of all time!

To all the Ghibliholics out there, Disney has announced the blu-ray release date for three Studio Ghibli films. On May 22nd, Disney will release the recent Secret World of Arrietty (which I still need to review), Miyazaki’s classic Castle in the Sky, and Whisper of the Heart will all be released on Blu-ray in North America.

This will make these three films the third, fourth and fifth Studio Ghibli films released on blu-ray in the U.S. following Ponyo in 2010 and Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind in 2011. Hopefully it won’t be long before Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli’s other masterpieces see a blu-ray release (I can’t be the only one who thinks Spirited Away, My Neighbor Totoro and Princess Mononoke are well-overdue).

Once again, these blu-rays will be released on May 22nd in the U.S. I highly suggest getting them if you have any love for animation, films and brilliant story-telling in general.

Here’s some colorful eggs.