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The Orioles are falling apart, artist John Cassiday passed at 52, James Earl Jones is gone at 93, and Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse may not see the light of day until 2027.
This is an aggressively Monday-assed Monday.
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Welp, I’m in for a new Apple Watch and new iPhone.
But I was going to be anyway, my personal refresh cycle was up.
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Blog
9.9.99: 25 Years Later
Twenty-five years ago today, the Sega Dreamcast hit North American shelves.
I remember this launch like it was yesterday. I saved all Summer for the system, a VMU, and copies of Sonic Adventure and Soulcalibur. I remember grabbing the tickets from Toys R Us’s video game department, paying my pre-order deposits, and holding onto those tickets and their stapled receipts like they were the nuclear football.
What I didn’t expect, however, was how this system would become my favorite video game system of all time. As a console, it had a short lifespan, being discontinued in March 2001 – but the legacy it left reverberates even today.
So many hours spent with the Sonic Adventure games, taking the SEGA mascot into 3D for the first time. So many hours playing the amazing Soulcalibur, the first time I can remember a home console version looking better than the arcade. So many hours playing the Marvel vs. Capcom games, the perfect party game fighter, showing the comic heroes in a light we’d never seen before. So many hours playing SEGA classics-in-the-making, like the arcade perfect Crazy Taxi, or the stylish Jet Set Radio.
It was even easy to play import games, where the 1-2 punch of my first real disposable income met the ease of access via the Internet of ordering Japanese titles. I spent far too much time creating, tweaking, and then playing characters in Fire Pro D.
And this doesn’t even include the quirky titles like Seaman or underrated games like the Power Stone series.
Developers were making their art. Trying new things. Each game felt so different from what Sony was producing. It was truly a special time.
In many ways, you can see a shared DNA with what the Nintendo Switch has become, but there truly is, was, and likely never will be anything like the Dreamcast.
25 years on, I salute you. Even if your “It’s Thinking” tagline would be considered a threat in 2024.
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An afternoon at the theatre.
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It was a fun night at the ballpark. LFGO’s
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The latest episode of Conan O’Brien Needs a Fan might be one of the most emotion filled podcast episodes I’ve ever listened to. Check it out here, but be prepared to tear up between laughs.
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Played the opening two levels of Astro Bot over lunch. Yeah, this game really is something special.
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This joke might land for like eight people, but:
Linkin Park is back together. And with it, a world of Dragon Ball Z music video creators breathed a sigh of relief.
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Blog
Ocean’s 14: Apparently A Thing Which Is Coming, And I Cannot Support This
This is a bit early, but The Dish hears momentum is building on the Smokehouse-produced next installment of the Warner Bros caper film franchise that started with Ocean’s Eleven. Sources said that George Clooney and Brad Pitt are coming back, and they are courting Edward Berger to take over directing duties.
This is of no slight to Mr. Berger, who I am sure is a perfectly fine director, nor Mr.’s Clooney or Pitt.
This is a terrible idea.
Even if apparently, there’s been a script in the works, and Clooney even likes it. (How did I miss that?)
Ocean’s Eleven is one of my favorite movies of all time. The times I’ve watched it count easily into the dozens, if not hundreds. Danny Ocean, Rusty and the gang, I love their adventures.
And then Ocean’s Twelve happened. Though I’ve come to appreciate it as its own, scrappy movie, a fun European vacation for a bunch of actors who like to hangout together, it’s a total mess when compared to the first film, which is/was perfection.
They got very lucky with Ocean’s Thirteen. This is the first movie I can recall having the pitch of, “We know we screwed up last time, but this time, we nailed it.” And honestly? They did. While definitely the second best Ocean’s movie, it’s back to the rhythmic fun of the first, effortlessly cool.
A fourth film, going on two decades (god I’m old) after the third installment? You are TEMPTING FATE. You got your mea culpa. Ocean’s 8 was fine. I’m intrigued by the Ocean’s prequel coming with Margot Robbie and Ryan Gossling. But there is no need for Danny and Rusty to come back. Rob Reiner has passed. Bernie Mac has passed. The need for this has passed.
Just keep doing more Ocean’s-like movies like Wolfs. I’ll watch ‘em every time you make ‘em. And you’re already getting a sequel for that one. Don’t tempt fate. You won at the roulette table. Take your winnings.
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The new Reeder has arrived. It’s weird to call an app which is so beautifully minimal “a hefty re-think”, but it really is a new way of interacting with feeds. I’m testing it out, and seeing how I feel.
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AWESOME news: Balatro, one of my games of the year, hits mobile on September 26th! And if you have Apple Arcade, great news: same day access.
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The reviews have hit for Astro Bot, and it sounds like Sony has a very special game on its hands. Incredibly excited to give this one a spin.
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Air conditioning was out at my local theater, so my plan this afternoon to see Alien: Romulus was thwarted. Boo.
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A little bummed to be saying goodbye to one of my all-time favorite runs in comics. Hopefully they run back Krakoa one day.
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Self promotion alert: your dear pal Marty Day (that’s me!) has been featured on Manuel Moreale’s People and Blogs. Get my thoughts on blogging, my favorite folks doing it today, and how I run all of this stuff from one site.
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Happy New Music Friday, folks! I’m excited to check out the new Tycho album, along with the first EP from Appleseed Cast side project Black x Sea. What are you checking out?
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The season premiere of Only Murders in the Building was fantastic. Who would’ve thought that the show would still be good, four seasons in?
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This cassette tape archive is super cool. More projects like this on the Internet, please.
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I don’t know what it is, but as I’ve gotten older, I’ve grown to really enjoy Metroidvania games. I suppose its the exploration and unlocking aspects, but, I love ‘em.
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With announcements of Pizza Tower (coming today!), Power Stone 1+2, and a collection of the DS Castlevania titles, today’s Nintendo Direct was aimed for me directly, it seems.
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It’s almost the beginning of Fall, and I don’t know about you, but I like to – just as in Spring – enjoy doing a run of looking at my subscriptions, tidying up my follows, uninstalling my unused apps, and generally, making my tech experience lighter. I recommend it for you, too!
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What I've Been Watching/Reading (Late August Edition)
Just some thoughts about some media I’ve ingested the last few days…
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Batman: Caped Crusader (Amazon Prime Video) is pretty fantastic. I finished the 10 episode season this week, and as someone who is an avowed fan of the classic Batman: The Animated Series, this doesn’t replace or improve it, but certainly can sit on the shelf next to it. If you were ever a reader of the very early Batman comics, like, around his debut, they did an excellent job of capturing the look and feel – even with some digressions into the supernatural, which was, once, a regular feature of the characters stories.
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I’ve started watching Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Paramount+). I really dug last summer’s Mutant Mayhem, and while this trades 3D animation for 2D, most of the voice cast is back (with one exception, handled in a clever way) and the same good vibes persist. Really love how the whole thing still has that “sketchbook” feel, and each turtle feels distinct and like an actual teenager. If you dug the movie, give it a spin. If you haven’t seen the movie…check it out!
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I ran through the first nineteen issues or so of Ryan North’s run of Fantastic Four on Marvel Unlimited. I’ve never been a big Fantastic Four guy, but I was absolutely locked in here. Each issue has a real “science mystery of the month” vibe, kind of like a wholesome Twilight Zone? And, there are more issues where they aren’t in costume than are, which was a pleasant difference. When Doom appears, North does a killer job of writing him. I think this run will be as beloved as his Squirrel Girl run when all is said and done. And if not, at least we had that run in the Marvel Dinosaur Universe.
Shout out my iPad for delivering all of this in a cool, easy to enjoy way. We live in the future, every day.
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Warner Bros. Reveals Its LORD OF THE RINGS Anime, THE WAR OF THE ROHIRRIM
Peter Jackson presents a groundbreaking journey back to Middle-earth through the eyes of legendary director Kenji Kamiyama. #LOTR The War of the Rohirrim - only in theaters Christmas.
OK, let’s go ahead and ignore that the trailer has footage from the original Peter Jackson LOTR trilogy awkwardly shoehorned into it.
How buck wild is it that Warner Bros. has produced, and will be theatrically distributing, a full on (2D?) anime-assed anime, to theaters this Christmas? And it’s by a guy who has a serious pedigree (Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, Jin-Roh, etc.) and not some anonymous name.
What a time to be alive.
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LEGO has revealed a new set based on The Nightmare Before Christmas. Truly a great example of what LEGO sets can be these days, this is gonna FLY off the shelves.
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Forgot to post about this when I first saw it: Legendary is Kickstarting a series of 3 Pacific Rim graphic novels, to wrap up the universe. I’d love to know what input GDT had, and I don’t love the 3 year wait, but it’s intriguing just the same.