Video Games

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Entertainment Link-Off: E Pluribus Anus

Happy Memorial Day everyone! To celebrate America’s kickoff to the summer, I’m here to cover the entertainment and pop culture beat. What contest in hell did you people win to deserve this? There are alternatives to reading me this weekend. Men In Black III and Chernobyl Diaries are opening this weekend. Actually, you’d be better off locking yourself inside and grabbing MiB1 and Paranormal Activity off Netflix instead. Anyway, let’s start with Mary Elizabeth Winstead.

What happens when a new technology threatens an ancient business model? A massive lawsuit! Fox, NBC and CBS are suing Dish Network over a new feature which eases skipping over ads on DVR. (Time)

After the jump, the death of the screenplay, scads of Community links and even Siri hates Chris Brown. Continue reading →

10 Comments Posted on by Steve Murray Entertainment, Video Games

Video Game Review: Mass Effect 2 (or ME2: Modern Warfare)

My hard drive failure forced reprogression through the Mass Effect trilogy brings me to Mass Effect 2. After the launch of Mass Effect, BioWare was bought by EA, who were recently named the worst company in America. The apparent influence of BioWare’s new corporate parent is readily apparent in changes made between Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2 (though we may never get the true story as to how much EA influenced the design of the game and how much of the changes were BioWare’s own choice). While Mass Effect could be described as an Action RPG, Mass Effect 2 edged toward Shooter RPG as many of the RPG elements from the first game underwent a complete overhaul.

Today, I review the second part of the Mass Effect trilogy with three year’s worth of hindsight and the accompanying DLCs. Continue reading →

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Wednesday Link-Off: Easy Writer

I wasn’t sure who to kick off this linkdump with but Fox kept telling me last night was the season finale of Glee. Given that the ads made it seem like most of the cast was “graduating” and that the show is terribly written, I doubt it’s long for this world. Anyway, since she’s likely soon to fade out of the public eye without steady network employment, here’s Lea Michele.

Tim Tebow needs new handlers and a new outlook on life. His handlers have requested the deletion of all pictures of him with female cast members of Rock of Ages. Tebow like women and musicals! How can he be the second coming if that’s the case? (Awful Announcing)

For some reason, Rick Reilly is still writing columns for ESPN. I don’t know how he’s still employed after turning in crap like this. (Deadspin)

Though there might be a scientific reason why Reilly’s columns seem so awful. I mean, beyond the writer. He’s writing his columns at a 5th grade level. (Deadspin)

After the jump, the worst baseball hitter ever, George Lucas gets revenge on his neighbours’ wallets and Will Smith (and everyone else) raps the Fresh Prince theme on live TV. Continue reading →

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Sunday Link-Off: Four Seasons And A Netflix Revival?

It’s a holiday weekend here in Canada. SUCKERS! Okay, next weekend, the shoe’s on the other foot. For now: SUCKERS! Anyway, in honour of the Canadian holiday, here’s Canadian model Alyssah Ali.

Bad news! NBC has turfed Dan Harmon from his post as showrunner of Community. Alan Sepinwall looks at how this will affect the show. (HitFix) So should we change the official hashtag to #FourSeasonsAndANetflixRevival?

Jose Canseco is trying to make a comeback using Twitter and minor league baseball. Here’s a look behind the scenes at the current life of Jose Canseco. (Sportsnet Magazine)

Good news! BioWare is bringing back the crew of the Normandy to do voice-over work on the Mass Effect 3 Extended Cut DLC. (G4 TV)

After the jump, Drew Magary tries to turn Justin Bieber into a man, a sneak peek at Unreal Engine 4 and the best of Booker Corrigan. Continue reading →

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Wednesday Link-Off: Game Breaker

It’s the Wednesday before a long weekend… Well, a long weekend in Canada, anyway. So I suppose it doesn’t really count since our biggest contingent of visitors is the Americans. Anyway, here’s new Victoria’s Secret model Barbara Palvin.

The most controversial man in the media is now on network TV. Here’s a profile of the newest judge on America’s Got Talent, Howard Stern. (New York Times)

Remember when Flickr was cool? Well, it was an important website for photos until Yahoo killed it by forcing the corporate mentality upon it. (Gizmodo)

Guess who might be coming to the Toronto Raptors? The Raps are rumoured to be planning a run for Jeremy Lin. It’d be Linsanity 24/7 for Toronto. (Sports Grid) Coincidentally, 24/7 is roughly the price that scalpers can get for Raps tickets: 7 tickets for $24.

After the jump, scads of video game links, Kim Kardashian’s amazing IMDB bio and the art of the instakill. Continue reading →

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Sunday Link-Off: More News And Les Nessman

Did I just drop a WKRP in Cincinnati joke in the title of this post? That just happened. Also happening in Candice Swanepoel.

Facebook’s IPO is coming soon. And it’s going to be absolutely massive. (Business Insider)

Sun News Network personality David Menzies is accusing Brian Burke of supporting his son’s You Can Play charity, which is trying to get homophobia out of hockey, as a PR boost. Words can not describe how low Menzies is but most of those words would describe him as sub-human. (Pension Plan Puppets)

A top Republican pollster says that the GOP must “evolve” on same-sex marriage and other gay issues or the party will cease to be relevant. (The Daily Beast)

After the jump, the history of Animaniacs, a breakthrough in quantum teleportation and call Harvard baseball… maybe. Continue reading →

6 Comments Posted on by Steve Murray Entertainment, Video Games

Video Game Review: Mass Effect (or When Hard Drives Stop Dead)

Let me set the scene for you: It’s the last Friday of January. My 2010 HP Pavilion laptop is my third consecutive laptop which starts to experience major issues. It still ran but it was slower than my nearly 30-year-old Macintosh SE. I tried starting it up when I get home from work but it’s dead. It won’t go past the splash screen. The hard drive has seized up and won’t go any more. Apart from some photos and some old radio show clips, I’ve lost nearly everything from the last two years of my life.

Why do I bring that up at the start of a Mass Effect review? I’m one of the many who played the Mass Effect series on PC. My three Shepards and two games worth of story were lost. When I got my computer back two weeks later (with a new hard drive), it was back to Eden Prime to stop the Reapers. And since I had to do everything over from scratch, I thought it would be fun to re-review Mass Effect some four years after coming out for PC (five years after XBox 360) to see how hindsight affects how we perceive the game and how it influenced games since. Continue reading →

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Sunday Link-Off: Missing The Mark

Around here, we like to keep you apprised of the latest Canadian talent. The latest up-and-comer is Michea Crawford. And it’s pretty easy to see that she’s going to be in our 2013 Hottest Canadian bracket.

As a robot, Canadian Prime Minister Steven Harper has trouble grasping such things as distasteful comments and facts. He accused the NDP of being pro-Hitler in 1939. That was a fabrication because the NDP didn’t exist until 1961. Anyway, the Canadian people weren’t willing to let him get away with such a ridiculous statement. (CBC News)

Edvard Munch’s famous painting The Scream is up for sale this week. It’s estimated auction value is over $80 million. (Wall Street Journal)

ESPN is so busy trying to seem like a proper bunch of journalists that they’re forgetting basic journalistic principles. A recent report suggests that ESPN has no actual evidence that the New Orleans Saints wiretapped other teams. (Awful Announcing)

After the jump, how the NBA and WWE are similar, how husbands/wives feel about movie sex scenes and a Star Wars lip dub. Continue reading →

Leave a comment Posted on by Steve Murray Entertainment, Video Games

Gaming Has Its Benefits (Infographic)

I’m sure everyone’s parents and teachers said that video games would rot their minds. While I’m also sure that perception hasn’t changed and won’t any time soon, science is doing its damnedest to prove otherwise. Studies show that being a gamer makes you smarter and a better person than non-gamers. Continue reading →

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Sunday Link-Off: The Aftermath

Back to back days with me? Bonus! Okay, nobody else is excited about back-to-back Steve. Maybe I can make up for it with Lindsay Ellingson. If there was such a thing as an underrated Victoria’s Secret angel, it would be her.

The NFL schedule came out last week. Since the NFL has a pretty rigid scheduling protocol, you’d think it would be pretty easy to put together a schedule. However, scheduling a 16-game schedule for 32 teams is a total nightmare. (New York Times)

Buzz Bissinger, one of my favourite sports writers, is allowed to cash in every now and then. He’s doing a follow-up book called “After Friday Night Lights.” Here’s an excerpt. (Grantland)

WWE announcers often like to refer to crowds who don’t follow the script as “bizarre.” However, crowds cheering and booing against the WWE’s wishes are becoming more the norm than the exception. (The Classical)

After the jump, ESPN thinks pot is destroying college athletics, the new look of KFC Japan and blowing random shit up in super slow mo. Continue reading →