[TV] Castlevania: Season 1 Review

While I was never a die hard Castlevania fan growing up, I don't think many folks in my generation could have escaped playing at least one game in the long-running franchise or at least heard about it. And the Castlevania story is pretty far-reaching given years of development and so it's a prime basis for any number of adaptations.

 I didn't  have much advance warning of the release of the Netflix Castlevania series, but that's just as well. It helped me get into the series without too much advanced research so I just dove into the experience.

But man it's a short experience though. Clearly Netflix was hedging its bets when it gave the green light for this series. Who runs a half-hour animated series with only four episodes? Were they that eager to release it without finishing the story? Did they want to see how the first four episodes would perform before going ahead with the remaining episodes?

Why did Netflix go into this so hesitantly? Because that's what it looks like to me.

[Infographics] Nintendo's Success

It's hard to escape the legacy of Nintendo in the gaming world. And while they weren't exactly the first, they remain to be one of the greatest in terms of sheer impact on the entire gaming industry as you track their history over the years.

The folks over at MBA Online have put together this lovely infographic discussing the nature of Nintendo's success across console platforms and especially in the handheld gaming console market. And while we can argue well into the night whether or not they remain successful in the current marketplace, it's not like we're going to forget them any time soon either.

[Games] Super Scribblenauts (Nintendo DS)

For one reason or another, I never really owned any of the handheld consoles made by Nintendo until we opted to get a Nintendo 3DS given our relationship at the time. The primary purpose was to be able to play the various Super Mario games that my ex-partner enjoyed in an effort to get him into gaming more. And on the flip side, it was an interesting opportunity to finally try some of the unique games exclusive to the console.

I had long heard about Scribblenauts from various blog posts and stories from friends and was admittedly curious about the game. It seemed pretty formidable that the game allowed you to create a wide variety of creatures, objects and other helpful tools solely through the use of word combinations. And being the geek that I am, I was pretty excited about testing its language library and seeing just what kind of crazy things I might be able to create in order to solve the various puzzles.

[Gaming] LEGO Donkey Kong

Image via WikipediaLike most geeks, I am (and no, it's not WAS) a major LEGO fan. There's something about the discipline of making something greater from individual pieces, the bringing or order to chaos, the nice way everything lines up and all that good stuff. All that adds up to something that is sure to make any geek feel better about the world.

Now combine that wholesome LEGO goodness with something as fun and innocent (?) as some of our old school games from the Nintendo Entertainment System era and you get this - a wonderful attempt to recreate the original Donkey Kong game using LEGO! It may not be perfect in terms of the timing of the barrels, but it's still pretty darned impressive either way!


LEGO Donkey Kong - front

[Viral Video Chart] iBand

Okay, what's with all the geeky music? Still, this was pretty cool too...


#8 - iBand

[Gaming] There's still hope, PS3 fanboys

PS3 fanboys, take heart.

In the August figures for consoles sold in Japan, the Nintendo Wii outsold the Sony PS3 - 245,653 to 81,541. Yes, the Wii still outsold the PS3, but this time, it is just 3-to-1. To put things in perspective, the ratio was 4-to-1 in July and 6-to-1 in June.

See, there's still hope. Sony's world domination plans are still on track. Now, if only quality games finally appear for PS3...

And, oh, Microsoft's Xbox 360 sold 11,288 units, if that's enough consolation to PS3 fanboys. Xbox 360 fanboys, well.... at least you'll have Halo 3. And the Red Ring of Death.

[The Web] Houston...

We've all heard about the many Wii-related accidents out there because of the initial faulty straps released for the infamous Wii-mote ranging from broken television sets to sprained ankles.



One of the more amusing sites that have come up is Wii Have A Problem.com, a site pretty much dedicated to documenting every possible Wii accident out there. The site isn't claiming to be against the Wii though - in fact it's pretty much a fansite in its own right, which is surprising.

The site updates fairly often based on user-provided images so feel free to check on the site regularly or subscribe to the RSS Feed - it's more than worth the time if you want a quick laugh.

Now I really want a Wii, hahaha!