Entry 11: Marvel v.s Capcom 3, The NHL All Star Game, and Geoff Johns

Okay, folks here we are for another rousing series of ramblings patented exclusively by me.  Today I'm going to talk about the impending release of Marvel v.s Capcom 3, The up and coming NHL All Star Game, DC Comics writer Geoff Johns, and Greek philosopher Plato.


We'll start off with the gaming stuff.

Firstly, I usually dislike Marvel Comics.  I could elaborate on that, but we can save an entry on that for later, but I usually do appreciate the mass media products Marvel puts out, such as movies and games.  And that Marvel v.s Capcom is absolutely no exception.  The first two games, predominately more infamous for being arcade games, are some of the most intricate fighting games ever released.  And, if not truly a buff at them, requires some surious button mashing.  Marvel v.s Capcom 2 came out 11 years ago in the turn of the new millennium, and was a 2 dimensional fighter released under the Naomi arcade platform.  It was a wildly popular game, and a wildly difficult game.  One I happen to not be very good at.  Anyway, 11 years later, we get a beautifully polished looking game with a full blend of characters ranging from Ryu and Viewtiful Joe to Wolverine and Iron Man.  Not counting Downloadable content, the game features a whopping 36 characters, and the game builds upon a intricate, meticulous strategy where a player selects up to three characters at a time.  There's been unbelievable hype for this game from the gaming world, not unlike that for Super Smash Bros. Brawl back when the Nintendo Wii was first released, and it looks nothing short of promising.  The game is to be released on February 17 on US Shores.

Left to Right: Captain America, Taskmaster, Spiderman

Moving right along to our next topic,  The NHL All Star game is this Sunday, and like All Star games, no one is going to watch.  Forget the fact it's a hockey all star game, just the fact that it is indeed an All Star game all but cements the fact no one will watch it.  However, I think the NHL's Vice President of Hockey and Business Development, and former Red Wings, Brendan Shanahan has done a great job at developing some sort of hype for this all star slug fest between the all stars of the NHL world.....Except for Sydney Crosby....Who got a bruise or something and can't make the game....For the second straight time....*Ahem*  (Note:  Editorial Bullshit:  The NHL would have a better face for the league, if said current face wasn't partially covered up by his pacifier.)  Moving on, this time around, the NHLPA(National Hockey League Player's Association) took the players voted in by fans and picked by the league itself(picked by seasonal statistics and accounted for by parity's sake to give every team some sort of representation), and voted for two captains.  Nicklas Lidstrom, greatest defenseman of our generation and current captain of the Detroit Red Wings, and Eric Staal, one of the premier league's power forwards, and captain of the hometown Carolina Hurricanes(game's in Raleigh, North Carolina).  The two Captains then go on to have a draft and pick their own team.  This aspect of the game has sparked more interest in the weekend than the actual game has itself.  The theory is Lidstrom will pick many other countrymen, being that he's from Sweden, and that many NHL Swedes are pretty close.(2006 Turin Olympics unified the countrymen substantially)  And on top of all that, The NHL Guardians, which'll either be decent, or laughably horrible will make whatever debut they have Sunday as well.  So, stay tuned for entertaining NHL festivities this weekend.

Next order of business.  I'd like to talk about one of my very favorite writers of the comic industry currently.  The architect of what may be the best ongoing book of the last decade, and the best crossovers in ages, Geoff Johns.  Geoff Johns is solely responsible for The reinvention of Hal Jordan and the entire Green Lantern Corps.  He took the series starting from Rebirth, moving into the Sinestro Corps War, and then to Blackest Night, and currently is working on Brightest day.  Six years of phenomenal work.  It's because his dialog between characters, his character development, and attention to details is incomparable.  He may not have the subtlety that fellow writer Grant Morrison has, but he knows how to write and enthralling and exciting book.  And to think, he's had all of this outlined since it's inception.  He's made the Green Lantern so popular within Comic circles that it's inspired a film to be released this summer before another Superman movie or even a Wonder Woman movie.  DC Comics editor Dan Didio is fully aware of the prominent success of Johns and has handed him the reigns to many other DC books, such as some Superman books, the Flash, Booster Gold, the Justice Society of America, among others.  I just wanted to give a shout out to probably my favorite second writer of the business.  Perhaps I'll elaborate more on the Green Lantern mythos in a future blog.

Alright folks, I had it planned that I'd rant about Plato in this blog too, but frankly I wrote a lot already, so I'll save that for the next entry.  But for now, I bid a humble adieu to all, and to all a good night.  Seeya my few, and faithful.