News and Opinions

Prince in Persia, Game Dev in Texas, and PS3 dominant in 2009? - Welcome to the column that predicts it will be #1 in readers by 2010 (but probably remain at 4,235) known as Dare to Play the Game.

Welcome to another edition of Dare to Play the Game. I did get my brand spanking new 20" screen. I think I cried in joy when it turned on. I had been flopping around with my 17" tube for so long, I forgot what it was like to actually really see wh...

The Wishlist, Part 1. Wherein I pine over films that are overdue for a DVD re-release, or have yet to see the light in that format at all. Today’s subject: the 1980 sci-fi fiasco Saturn 3.

The film is a joy for a number of reasons. First, there’s the absurd plot: on a research base orbiting Saturn, passions flare as the idyll of the couple living there is disrupted by an unstable new arrival and his killer robot, who both wind up lusting after the woman on board. If the storyline were all that was ri...

No more farming, No 360 Port for Ninja Gaiden & No sense in Zelda II - Welcome to the column that refuses to take no for an answer (but gets it anyway) known as Dare to Play the Game.

Welcome to another edition of Dare to Play the Game. I'm kinda in limbo this week. I feel I'm on the verge of something but I'm not sure what the heck it is. Work is going okay for the most part but I still don't have anything resembling a social life. I would j...

A couple of months back, Shriek Show released its Evil Animals box set, presenting a triple feature treat for fans of 70's horror that has more than a touch of cheese to it. There are two theatrical flicks here, and one made-for-TV opus, and the titles should ring nostalgic bells for anyone who was a kid in that decade.

Two of the films – Grizzly and Day of the Animals – are the work of director William Girdler, and man whose output was never what one might actually call “good,” but was always...

A Complete Lego Star Wars Set, Master Chief Gone Wild, and time for one more Party - Welcome to the column that will soon have a patch available to remove all explicit content (but then only consist of 5 words) known as Dare to Play the Game.

Welcome to another edition of Dare to Play the Game. I spent Memorial Day on a pretty good note. I spent most of the time with a friend I hadn’t seen in roughly ten years. We went and saw a movie (Shrek 3...

And now for a little change of pace this week, here’s a list of my Top Ten War Movies in honor of Memorial Day. Everyone should never forget…with the inclusion of these into your collection.

I figured what the hell, let me attempt to dive into my own list, and attempt to do some justice to a hotly debated movie genre…war movies. The ability of fighting forces across the world to hurt people and break things has evolved over the years, and so have the war movies, as many have done with the dramatic death in ...

On May 21, Bruno Mattei died. He was the director of uncounted low-end Italian exploitation films, occupying a niche of horror and sex (frequently both) not unlike that owned by Joe D’Amato. It would be stretching the truth rather too far to say that he left us some good films, but he did leave us some entertaining ones. Viewers wanting a taste of his work should steer clear of Hell of the Living Dead, a zombie film that unfortunately is as dull as it is ludicrous. But Rats: Night of Terror (1983...

Metroid Prime 3 to the Wii, Xevious to the XBLA & GTA IV takes me to the poorhouse - Welcome to the column that is available now for only $.99 (plus a small fee) known as Dare to Play the Game.

Welcome to another edition of Dare to Play the Game. A rather brisk week for me, a lot of organization on my part. I took the liberty of cleaning up the house a bit since the assumption process was approved last week. My house could really be worth something in a few years but I'm...

Hopefully the next generation format’s week to put in Thunderdome can bear some real fruit.

Well for the sake of relevance, Tuesday is THE week to be a supporter of the next generation formats. On the HD-DVD side, the Matrix films see their debut from Warner, with the extras from the Ultimate Matrix Collection for those who want them, and IMEs on each of the films. Meanwhile, Blu-ray buyers get to see both Pirates of the Caribbean films on two-disc editions, with Blu-ray exclusive content, and...

It has been a commonplace for quite some time now to take for granted that the B-movie, as we used to know it, has died. The types of stories we used to get in those films, from, for the sake of argument, the 30s to the late 70s, have been taken over by the blockbusters. So we get the same narratives, but with budgets in excess of 100 million dollars. So not only has the B-pic lost its turf, but it has also lost its natural habitat. The drive-in is almost extinct, and anyway, it is almost impossible for such films to...