On this blog I will be reviewing video games, books, comics and movies, writing short stories, talking about memes, and anything else I want to do so enjoy.
I first saw Kawhi Leonard and his relentlessness on display in game 7 of the playoffs against the 76ers with an epic game winning shot a la Michael Jordan. I knew then that he was one of the greatest basketball players of all time. I said how good he was right there on the spot, that he was the next Michael Jordan and should be in Space Jam 2. Lebron is getting dethroned as king, by Kawhi Leonard. The game was only on in the background, but I soon took notice of the skills of the Toronto Raptors and Kawhi. It's not just basketball that Kawhi is good at either, while all of these other players are trying so hard to be cool, he is really humble and doesn't need to try to be cool, he just does it effortlessly. Let me back up a little and say that while basketball is my favorite major physically active sport, I've never been much of a player of it or a big watcher of the NBA. Though I have been known to dominate at street ball occasionally. I'm really only getting into it now, inspired by Kawhi. I also know lots of other people have been inspired by him as well. But, lots of people haven't been as confident in Kawhi as I have, I've been mocked about my support and thinking that he can win, but look at him now. Seeing Kahwi's fans come out in droves, cheering and representing him is also so inspiring. Amazing things have happened in Toronto, like "KaWine n Dine", where Kawai Leonard eats free at every restaurant with the program. Though Kawhi and I both understand that, while the fans and team are so nice and welcoming and that while being on the Raptors is nice, Kawhi is better alone and needs to live up to the fullest of his potential. Which is why I totally get it when he says that he's only playing for himself, that's what you have to do to be the best and be relentless.
For the past few weeks I've been envisioning this picture of Kawhi and the Raptors holding the NBA Championship trophy up. And now that it's finally happened, I don't know what to say. Kawhi rightfully getting MVP is also just icing on the cake. It was a hard fought championship. But, Kawhi and the Raptors, as well as all his fans in Jurassic Park and beyond earned this. I don't know where Kawhi or the Raptors will go to next, but wherever it is, I'm sure to follow.
Stay connected. We the North! We the Champs!
The Electronic Entertainment Expo, commonly known as E3 is a big convention for gaming announcements. Many of the major developers host panels about their new and upcoming games. It would be impossible to cover everything. But, as the king of video games I have to cover something. So, I'm going to be writing about the top 5 games that stood out to me and that I'm excited for.
Star Wars Jedi: Fallen order:
For the new Star Wars game from Respawn and EA, about 15 minutes of gameplay was shown. They show Cal on a mission for Saw Gerrera on Kashyyk. The gameplay has cool wall jumps and climbs and a fun combat system with force powers, blaster deflection, and slowing weapons down. There were lots of Kashyyk creatures including flame beetles, wookiees, and giant enemy spiders. Some other characters in the game are K-X series droids like K-2SO from Rogue One and the host of the panel wants Watto in the game and so do I. At the Microsoft conference they showed a new trailer. Links below. It shows that AT-AT's are going to be in the game and pilotable and reveals how Saw met Cal on an AT-AT. I think Cal looks really powerful from what we've seen, they could have him a bit nerfed at the beginning though, as he is a padawan. So far what we've seen from Fallen Order is very cinematic and graphically epic, it looks like a fun and amazing game. Fallen Order releases November 15th of this year.
Cyberpunk 2077:
For Cyberpunk 2077 from CD Projekt Red, a new cinematic trailer shows a robbery, a fight scene and reveals you can change character design through in game choices. Last but not least they showed that Keanu Reeves will have a character in the game and everyone freaked out about it. He is the front man of the samurai band from the original role playing game, Cyberpunk 2020, and they said that extremely bad things happened to him in 2020. Speaking of 2020 the release date is 4.16.2020. It's ironic that a game based on Cyberpunk 2020, is coming out in 2020 lol.
Battletoads:
For this one it was just a little gameplay teaser but it showed some great beat-em up side-scrolling action and racing. The game also had some nice graphics and animation. now we can actually call GameStop and Rick Harrison's pawn shop to ask for Battletoads. The main point is that the Battletoads are back! There's no release date for this game yet, but last E3, they said that it is coming in 2019.
Halo Infinite:
Microsoft showed a new story trailer for Halo Infinite. It starts out with backstory on a seemingly random guy in a spaceship separated from his family and around the broken Halo ring. Something hits his ship and he finds master chief floating in space. Master Chief wakes up and the guy tells him that humanity lost everything and then Master Chief goes off to battle. Halo Infinite launches with the next generation Xbox console, Project Scarlet in the holiday season of 2020.
Avengers:
The upcoming Avengers game from Square Enix dropped a new cinematic trailer. In which the Avengers set up a new base with Terrigen technology that gets stolen by Taskmaster and causes explosions. Captain America "dies" trying to stop it and the Avengers disband. It's interesting that they chose Terrigen technology and Cap "dies" right by it in an explosion. Leads me to believe that they're probably bringing in Inhumans somehow. It picks up 5 years later with a new threat. The team is Iron Man, Black Widow, The Hulk, Captain America, and Thor. Hank Pym aka Ant-man is also revealed for the game at the very end The release date is far out on 5.15.20.
That's all I've got for you today, see you soon and stay connected.
We have some news from long ago about Disney's Investor Day about Disney Plus and Star Wars Celebration in Chicago. But before both of those things occurred there was some other minor news, an announcement of Disney's animated Monsters Inc series, Monsters at Work, announcements for nonfiction Disney Plus shows such as behind the scenes Marvel, and a new trailer for Jon Faverau's live-action Lion King. That's all before the service presentation, but here's Disney Plus.
I won't get too much into the logistics, but it's an amazing service. Here we're really only interested in the nerdo media series. It launches on November 12th for $6.99 a month or $70 a year, which is $5.83 a month. They revealed the layout of the streaming service, which revealed the logo of Falcon and Winter Soldier as well as The Mandalorian. They revealed from National Geographic, The World According to Jeff Goldblum, where Jeff explains everyday objects and concepts. The Vision and Scarlet Witch series was announced as WandaVision, Elizabeth Olson has said that it will be set in the 50's, leading me to believe that it will take some notes from the comics, House of M to create or alter a universe in Scarlet Witch's mind. The animated Marvel What If series was confirmed, the first episode will be what if Peggy Carter was Captain America and Steve Rodgers was a prototype version of Iron Man from Howard Stark. The Mandalorian was confirmed for day 1 of the service for the first episodes. Alan Tudyk was confirmed to be in the Cassian Andor series. Star Wars behind the scenes shows were announced and Jon Faverau was the best part of the presentation when he came out for Lion King and The Mandalorian.
Then came the preview day for Star Wars Celebration, which didn't generate much news except for a mural which represented all of Star Wars.
The next day was the big Episode IX panel, hosted by Stephen Colbert, they brought out JJ Abrams, Kathleen Kennedy and the cast. They talked about not replacing Carrie Fisher, how the movie will have a time jump, and how it will be an adventure that all the characters go on together. Anthony Daniels announced his memoir about his life in Star Wars, which was originally called Telling the Odds, but was changed to I am C-3PO: The Inside Story. Naomi Ackie is playing the character of Jannah. They revealed a new droid, Dio to accompany BB-8. There were very many more photographs and details revealed regarding Episode ix at the panel. On to the Episode IX trailer, link in the description. It starts out with Rey out of breath on a desert planet, possibly Jakku or Tatooine, similar to Finn in the beginning of the Force Awakens teaser. A TIE Fighter attacks her, presumably Kylo, but it could just be her training and the footage is cut with footage from a different scene, because she isn't being fired upon. Then Rey uses some sweet force flip skills with Luke's repaired blue lightsaber. It then says, "Every Generation has a Legend" which is a line directly from The Phantom Menace's first trailer and is probably in there for Phantom Menaces 20th anniversary, this year. It shows Kylo Ren fighting in a forest against what looks like a Knight of Ren. Then it shows a bunch of different scenes one that looms kind of like Coroscant for a second and a ship that looks like the one that dropped off Rey on Jakku. We see Lando back on the Millenium Falcon, Leia hugging Rey, and Kylo's rebuilt helmet. Then Leia is holding Han's ceremony medal from A New Hope, I hope Chewie ends up with it. The characters are shown looking down at the remains of the second death star, reminiscent of Seven Samurai. Throughout the entire trailer, there is new dialogue from Luke Skywalker, "We have have passed on every we have learned" pretty much confirms other force ghosts. At the end of the teaser, Luke says, "No ones ever really gone" then we hear the emperor laugh and Ian Mcdiarmid came out on the stage and said, "roll it again." Then we see the title reveal, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. My uncle, Mark was at celebration and he gave me a good quote,"when the emperor laugh came over on the trailer everyone got really excited. And when Ian Mcdiarmid walked on stage to say "Roll it again" excitement levels peaked. There will be a lot of speculation about the title 'Rise of Skywalker', and what that could mean, but it is definitive that this will be the conclusion of the Skywalker saga." I don't know what form Palpatine will come back in, many other people have and will speculate on that, but I am pretty sure he will be the main villain. I would have never even heard this as a theory, if not for the master genius of Kristian Harloff over at Collider. He has always been speculating on Palpatine's return and now it's come true. People doubted him, saying such things as "I'd like to see the fan-fiction going on in Harloff's head." Basically his reasoning for Palpatine coming back is that his master, Darth Plageuis was always, seeking the answer to eternal life and had the power to save others from death, but he couldn't save himself, maybe Palpatine found out how. I do hope it isn't like in legends where he clones himself, that was pretty wacky. Palpatine coming back could also have to do with his Imperial outposts, contingency plan, or plans in the unknown regions. If I had to guess I would say that he is haunting the remains of the Death star in some way. Then the title reveal, The Rise of Skywalker, I like it, a different title than the other movies, but it sounds very optimistic. I've seen lots of speculation but I'm pretty sure that it refers to Rey, not in relation to the Skywalkers, but that she might take up the name in spirt. That, and/or it becomes a name to replace the Jedi, so that the Skywalker name can live out in the future and have a legacy after the saga.
At the Lucasfilm Publishing Panel, they announced that there will be Journey to Episode IX books and showed a banner. They didn't give any details relating to the topics of the books. But after Celebration some news broke that there will be a novel called Resistance Reborn, a young adult novel called Force Collector, and a Marvel comics series titled Allegiance. I'll put a link for the announcement below.
At the Galaxy's Edge panel, for the. new land at Disney Parks, they revealed some new shops that we haven't seen such as Imperial Outpost and Street Market. They talked about why they made a new planet for the park instead of going for an existing one like Tatooine and that is because a new planet would represent you more than a planet that already represents one character. They showed some in universe Star Wars Coca-Cola that was in Arabesh and had a neat design. Through the Play Disney app at the park you can hack droids & terminals, translate signs, listen to First Order & Resistance signals, and participate in a park-wide game fighting over the outpost. Frank Oz was announced for a voice role probably Yoda and he would have to be a force ghost for this point int the timeline.
No gaming videos this week, JK we got Jedi: Fallen Order. When they had a panel for the upcoming game, Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, they mentioned it would be an action melee game with thoughtful combat and no micro transactions. The game looks like a bit of a spiritual successor to The Force Unleashed. The main characters name is Cal and he is a Jedi Padawan in hiding. He has 3 rules for survival, "Don't stand out, accept the past, and trust no one." His mentor will be, Cier a former Jedi Knight. The main villain is going to be the inquisitor, the Second Sister, along with Purgetroopers. You'll have a droid assistant, BD-1, with sounds by Ben Burtt, Sound Designer for many things Star Wars. They also later announced an art book for the game which may have some reveals. The game will be released November 15th, 2019 for Xbox One, PS4, and PC.
Next was the Marvel Comics Star Wars panel, they announced that Greg Pak and Phil Noto will be taking over creation on the main Star Wars comic. A limited series called Target Vader was announced focusing on the character of Beilert Valance from Robbie Thompson and Marc Laming. Valance was a bounty hunter and former stormtrooper in the classic legends star wars marvel comics. He hated droids and fought against Luke Skywalker who he thought was a droid-lover, but then teamed up with him to fight Darth Vader.
Next was the big panel of The Mandalorian. They talk about how the The Mandalorian is bringing order to the galaxy like an old western gunslinger or a samurai. The show will unite all eras of Star Wars. They showed some pictures of new characters from the show. They revealed Gina Carano's character of Cara Dune, an ex-rebel shock trooper. As well as the character that Carl Weathers is gonna be playing Greef Carga, who runs a bounty hunter guild. There was a sizzle reel at the panel which showed some Jawas, Dewbacks, and basically confirmed Tatooine. They showed and talked about The Mandalorian's ship, the RazorCrest. They showed a poster for The Mandalorian. At the end of the panel they showed some footage only to the audience, with 4-Lom, an IG droid, IG-11 fighting, roasted Kowakian Monkey Lizards, Werner Herzog as an Imperial on the run with stormtroopers, and Bill Burr the comedian is in the show. That was pretty much it from that panel, but I just have to say again how much of a legend Jon Favreau is, he even called Gina Carano a gamer for doing all of her own stunts.
Alan Tudyk had a panel which he gave a bit of hype around the Cassian Andor series, but didn't reveal anything big yet.
Then the Clone Wars animated series panel, Warwick Davis epically hosted it. They confirmed 12 episodes for the new season. They showed several clips including, Bad Batch clone unit fighting against droids and Ashoka on level 1313 of Coroscant. They talked about the siege of Mandalore that is coming and how huge it will be. Darth Maul will have a lightsaber fight with Ashoka that Ray Park did some motion capture for. They showed Ashoka and the clones and they decorate it based on Ashoka's face paint and they show that the Clones still respect Ashoka even though she left the Jedi Order. They showed a new trailer link in description.
At Del Rey's publishing panel, they announced a secret project called Project Luminous, coming in 2020, with Claudia Gray, Daniel Jose Older, Charles Soule, Justina Ireland, and Cavan Scott. I believe it's a project connected with the 40th anniversary of Empire Strikes Back in 2020, possibly a collection of stories, like From a Certain Point of View. Luminous even references Yoda's Luminous Beings quote from Empire.
Then was the panel for Star Wars Resistance, we got a poster for Season 2. Then they showed the full first episode to the audience at Celebration. It picks up right after the last season. Tam is becoming a First Order pilot. There is some zero gravity action and a ball droid fight. And we learn that The Colossus stopped about 3 parsecs from the Resistance base on D'Qar.
IDW comics had a panel, where among other things, they announced that Cavan Scott will continue on with his Tales from Vader's Castle comic series. And that Jaxxon the rabbit like alien from the original Star Wars comics is coming back to Star Wars Adventures, with a cover by Stan Sakai, creator of another famous comic-book rabbit, Usagi Yojimbo. Which I coincidentally am reading that series now.
Then the final announcement was that Celebration 2020 will be held in Anaheim, California probably because it is right next to DisneyLand, where Galaxy's Edge will be open.
That's pretty much it from Star Wars Celebration. As this video is coming out late, there are a few news items I'd like to touch on that have happened recently, first, Avengers: Endgame came out to worldwide success, I probably won't directly blog about it soon, but I really liked it, it's a great film. Marvel also announced that tv shows about Ghost Rider and Helstrom will be coming to Hulu in 2020, very hyped there for the sprits of vengeance.
Then Disney has announced release dates for the next 3 Star Wars movies for December of 2022, 2024, and 2026. Another news drop happened when Vanity Fair releases a big photo shoot and article from behind the scenes of The Rise of Skywalker. Then some sad news, Peter Mayhew, the actor behind Chewbacca has died, RIP.
May The Force be with you and stay connected.
