Rayman:-Origins

Even the Pittsburgh Pirates played video games this year. Knock on wood, you guys, but I managed to get through 2012 without having all my video games stolen from my house while I was sleeping [EDITOR’S NOTE: It’s 2013 now, you dummy. You don’t need to knock on wood]. Should that even be an achievement? 2012 seems to be a shift in the status quo. Perhaps it’s because the new console generation hasn’t yet kicked off, but I feel like fewer and fewer AAA, big budget titles have been grabbing my attention lately. Of the 56 games on this list I feel like very few (about 12) were big, huge landmark games. Maybe that’s not all that different, but it feels different… ...

[caption id="" align=“aligncenter” width=“500” caption=“Baseball is BACK! The (Miami) Marlins are headed to Philadelphia for their second/third series of the year.”] [/caption] Baseball. It signals the end of winter. Guess what, guys? Winter is GONE! The Marlins are off to a rocky start (1-3), but they’re still looking pretty good and, in the past two games, playing pretty well too. I really hope this season is better than the last, but, either way, at least baseball has returned. ...

[caption id="" align=“aligncenter” width=“500” caption=“26! (Photo courtesy DJOtaku)”] [/caption] Everything’s all creaky and sore and old, but just because I’m 26 and old doesn’t mean you guys don’t get to find out what I’ve been doing. Movies Drive - Finally got around to catching this movie. Min was accurate in calling it more of an art movie than an action movie. Ryan Gosling’s pure rage and “coolness” bordered on psychopathic and I actually sympathized with Albert Brooks’ villain character. This movie is not for the faint of stomach. Lots of brutal violence. Has an 80s ambiance too that’s reinforced by the synth-heavy (and awesome) chillwave soundtrack ...

[caption id="" align=“aligncenter” width=“500” caption=“Here’s a suggestion: If you’re playing Cave Story for the first time, don’t pick hard mode (Photo courtesy escaped.monkey)”] [/caption] Busy weekend with lots of media consumed. That kind of thing happens when I hang out with Min. Movies The Descendants - Shailene Woodley was a revelation as Alex in this movie. Excellent acting. George Clooney was also quite good. Pretty chill movie and worth seeing, even if the land ownership subplot is kind of tacked on and not as interesting. ...

A pretty neat “Making of” featurette about Rayman: Origins. You really should check it out. I was surprised at how fantastic this game was. It’s really delightful and now I’m anxiously awaiting the next time I can play it multiplayer. Below is Giant Bomb’s Quick Look of the game with Jeff Gerstmann and Ryan Davis: ...

[caption id="" align=“aligncenter” width=“300” caption=“This is a French video game for sure. (Picture courtesy Giant Bomb)”] [/caption] Movies Evangelion 1.11 - Min has never seen Evangelion all the way through, so I figured the movies would be the best/easiest way to watch them. Ip Man - I ran into this movie as a “Watch It Again” recommendation on Netflix, so I thought I’d show Min the aggressively pro-Chinese/anti-Japanese parts because I find it funny how blatantly nationalistic this movie is. Also the kung fu is pretty great to watch. ...