"The Cat in the Hat has met his match."

Puss in Boots is a spinoff of Dreamworks Animations’s most popular franchise, Shrek. As the title suggests, the films stars Puss in Boots, who we first met in Shrek 2. But how does Puss fair without Shrek and Donkey?  Does he bring a freshness to the franchise? Or should the Shrek series have stuck with the green ogre? Read more

With the Oscar’s coming up I figured I’d write yet another blog on what is just about the only Academy Award I care about (or should I say, used to care about). The award has been presented for ten years now (this will be its eleventh year), so I decided to write a little something something about each year the award was presented thus far, detailing a little bit on who the winners were, what they were up against, if and when the right movies won, and which films were snubbed, ect. So yeah, enjoy as I take you back a decade and chronicle the Best Animated Feature Oscar’s history from 2001 (presented in 2002) until now. Read more

2011 was one great year for video games. Although there were only a few notable titles for a good chunk of the year, the last few months brought one great game after another. Some even claimed that there was no better time to be a gamer (these claims are, of course, exaggerated. Despite the quality gaming year 2011 was, it was no mid-nineties, or even a 2005 or 2007). 2011 was the year we saw the fall and rise of the Nintendo 3DS, the year the fourth-quarter proved more fruitful than ever, and the year we caught a glimpse of what the future of gaming holds.

In such a noteworthy year in games, which ones stood out the most? Well, I may not be able to get the chance to experience every major gaming release, but as far as I’m concerned, the following ten games are the games that shined the brightest in 2011.

The top 10 video games of 2011!

It’s that time of year again…Award season! Okay, so technically award season is primarily in January, but what the heck.

The following are my awards for the best in gaming in 2011, in categories such as best visuals, best music, and so on and so forth. I will write about the winners of each respective award in detail, and include a brief mention of the first and second runner-up for each category.

Keep in mind that my “Game of the Year” award will soon follow in the form of a top ten list.

And so, here they are, my 2011 video game awards! The Yammies! Read more

"By the power of Hyrule Castle...I have the power!"

The Wii has had a roller-coaster of a ride. Launching in 2006, the Wii brought a new life to the world of video games with motion-controls, the likes of which have since been “borrowed” by its competitors. Nintendo also found new audiences with  this hardware, but others felt alienated by the often long gaps between quality titles and the lack of third-party support.  And while a number of the Wii’s premiere titles are among Nintendo’s all-time greats, they have been surrounded by lesser games that just couldn’t figure out how to best utilize the hardware. Read more

"AKA Rayman: No more Rabbids."

Rayman has had an interesting history. His first game was a critically applauded 2D platformer in the mid-90s, while his second outing (released back in 1999) is widely considered one of the best 3D platformers. After that, Ubisoft’s unofficial mascot had a little trouble finding his way. Rayman 3 had some praise go its way, though maybe the fact that Rayman’s original creator, Michael Ancel, had little to nothing to do with it prevented it from reaching its full potential. Then enter Raving Rabbids, a game that was originally to be a vast 3D platformer that was to take advantage of the Wii’s capabilities, but ended up as nothing more than a hash of (uneventful) mini-games after rushed schedules (which led to another Ancel departure). While the Rabbids went on to success in their own series, Rayman himself was left in the dust, appearing only in the countless remakes of Rayman 2.. This is what Rayman Origins, which sees Ancel’s return to the series, hopes to rectify. But is Origins the boost Rayman needs to get him into the realms of relevance? Or does the limbless hero not have a leg to stand on (couldn’t resist, sorry)? Read more

"Don'tcha just wanna hug this game already?"

Pushmo is Intelligent System’s puzzle game available through download on the Nintendo 3DS that looks to take advantage of the handheld’s 3D abilities. But is Pushmo a puzzler to be praised? Or is it another novelty in the quickly-flagging downloadable gaming scene? Read more