DrVenkman PhD

Piracy killed the Dreamcast. At least that's what I told people on IRC that talked about pirating games.

It dawned on me last night that I sort of knew a SoA employee when I was younger. I had friends whose father worked as a buyer for Ford and this apparently afforded him sports tickets from suppliers. Long story short, one of the Red Wings games we went to, we went for dinner with the supplier and his wife (an attractive SoA employee). My friends had a Genesis and were given a free copy of Comix Zone (apparently they had excess copies). 64. Throughout the thread, there seems to be a few common themes: Sega mocking games or hardware that didn't deserve it (seen early in the thread) or Sonic being booked so poor that the franchise slowly but surely lost marquee value. This one falls into the latter: Sonic Shuffle. If you never played it, keep it that way. In the early days of Mario Party - a fun game with simple mini-games and a straightforward goal (win games, buy stars) - Sega decided to strike while the party game iron was hot and release Sonic Shuffle. Since copying the Mario Party formula may have resulted in a good Sonic-themed game, it was decided to make mini-games confusing and frustrating (with long load times) and make the AI cheat it's way to victory by stealing your best cards (which was also a stupid system). Way to go, team. Edit: Numbering corrected

Regarding PTW and Heenan's awesome rant about Patera, I know he's supposed to be the heel and all, but Heenan seems to be right. Why is he being blamed for Patera smashing a window and assaulting police? Love Mean Gene's intro to that installment of the Ken Patera story, talking about rapists and murderers getting off while American Hero Ken Patera had to go to jail.

In regards to the George Steele Coliseum Video in Specials right now, I figure most are inclined to ignore it, but watch it for the intro. An amazing intro piece that starts with a text crawl on a space background talking about the 5,000 year history of wrestling.

A new month's schedule means a new preview for NEXT month, so here's what we can look forward to in 4-6 weeks: It’s the “Showcase of the Immortals” as WWE’s signature event, WrestleMania is featured throughout March on WWE 24/7 On Demand. Plus, all your favorites are here as well: HALL OF FAME * From his signature top rope leaps to his unmatched intensity in the ring, few Superstars in the 1980s could excite a crowd quite like “Superfly” Jimmy Snuka. Relive Snuka’s Hall of Fame Career including bloody rivalries with Magnificent Muraco and Roddy Piper and his 1996 Hall of Fame Induction. THE BIG ONES * WrestleMania III: The Championship Edition – See the biggest event in wrestling history in a whole new light. This digitally remastered version looks better than ever and features interviews with the Hulk Hogan, Vince McMahon, Ricky Steamboat, Bobby “The Brain” Heenan and many more of the legendary figures who were a part of this groundbreaking event. Video pop-ups throughout provide interesting facts about WrestleMania and the featured Superstars. Of course, all the great matches are here as well, including Hulk Hogan battling Andre the Giant for the WWE Championship and Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat challenging “Macho Man” Randy Savage for the WWE Intercontinental title. PRIME TIME * The Monday Night Wars – Michael Cole hosts two (2) new episodes as WWE and WCW continue to battle for sports entertainment supremacy. Highlights include Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. Vader on Raw. While on Nitro, Eddie Guerrero battles Chris Benoit and the NWO continues to wreak havoc with WCW. * Monday Night Raw 3/22/99 – An explosive night on Raw gets you geared up for WrestleMania XV. Stone Cold Steve Austin has a huge surprise for The Rock and Mr. McMahon. Shane McMahon battles X-Pac in a Greenwich Street Fight. Plus, Stone Cold faces the Big Show and much more. SPECIALS * Hulk Hogan: The Ultimate Anthology – The biggest matches of Hulk Hogan’s career are presented in this comprehensive collection which includes classic contests against Nick Bockwinkel, the Iron Sheik, Andre the Giant, The Undertaker, Sting, The Rock, Triple H, Mr. McMahon and many more. * Saturday Night’s Main Event (3/11/89) – The groundbreaking network hit returns with a huge show leading to WrestleMania V. Miss Elizabeth must make the “Decision of a Lifetime” as she is forced to choose between Hulk Hogan and “Macho Man” Randy Savage. TERRITORIES/ECW * History of ECW – Tazz and Joey Styles host three (3) new episodes as they chronicle the evolution of extreme. ECW gets an incredible infusion of talent with the debuts of “Stunning” Steve Austin, Rey Mysterio and The Eliminators. SHORTIES * Gene Okerlund presents the greatest celebrity moments in WrestleMania history, featuring Pamela Anderson, Liberace, Pete Rose, Ray Charles, Lawrence Taylor, Mike Tyson and many more. Odd note: This whole schedule disappeared from WWE.com after I copied it, replaced with the February schedule.

I found this amusing, mostly due to Kane staying in character: Kane interviews Robert Englund Written: January 31, 2007 In this edition of WWE.com’s Superstar to Superstar, SmackDown’s Kane talks all things frightful with actor Robert Englund. The two have plenty in common when it comes to blood-curdling for the big screen – Kane was eye-popping psychopath Jacob Goodnight in See No Evil, while Englund is best known for giving sleep a bad rap as the murderous Freddy Krueger in A Nightmare on Elm Street. Even scarier, this terrifying tandem killed time recently to discuss Englund’s latest role in the upcoming screecher-feature, Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon hits theaters March 16. Kane: I used to wear a mask, and frankly, nothing makes my Valentine’s Day better than a massacre. But I heard this is a “mockumentary” horror movie. It will have a lot of blood and guts, right? Englund: Oh yeah, oh yeah. We suck you into it like you’re watching a thinking man’s horror movie. You know, it’s got a little bit of The Blair Witch Project/Scream aspect to it. But by the end, we’ve completely mutated it into a full-on slasher film. Kane: That sounds very unique. Englund: Unfortunately, I don’t get to be the bad guy; I play more of a victim in this one, so I don’t get to participate in any of the bloodletting. Kane: Oh, no. That’s a disappointment. Englund: It’s great, because there’s a great moral question in this movie. The old idea of like a photojournalist – when do you stop taking pictures of the war orphans, put down the camera and help, you know? So we kind of bring that up, just for a second. I don’t want anybody to think this movie is too intellectual. But by then everybody’s in the quicksand of the plot and it just mutates. Kane: Your character in this film is an obsessed psychiatrist trying to stop Leslie. I personally hate psychiatrists. When I was a kid I saw quite a few of them, and they ruin everything. Why shouldn’t I hate you in this movie? Englund: Well listen, I think shrinks suck (laughs), but I may play the last good shrink. I’m kind of like the Donald Pleasence character [Dr. Loomis]… Kane: From Halloween, right? Englund: Right. So I’m a pretty psycho-obsessed shrink. But yeah, I agree with you — shrinks suck. Death to all shrinks! Kane: Leslie’s inspired by Jason Voorhees, Michael Myers and Freddy Krueger. I didn’t see you mention my movie, See No Evil, or Jacob Goodnight. Maybe you’re suggesting he isn’t in their league? Englund: I don’t know why, because Jacob is certainly in Leslie’s league and in the league of all those other guys. He should be mentioned in the same breath with all of them. I think part of it might be when those guys wrote it. The guys are all University of Pennsylvania guys out here in Hollywood. I think they wrote it before… Kane: Before See No Evil’s release? Englund: Yeah, that’s why they didn’t include it. I know they loved dropping the names of all the psycho killers, all the way through this film. The more the merrier. Scott Wilson – who was in the original In Cold Blood and just finished playing the casino owner and father of Marg Helgenberger’s character on CSI — plays like a retired serial killer in this. It would be great to have had him just list… See, like you and me and Jason, he calls us like the new kids on the block. We’re like the young whippersnappers. Kane: Right, right. Going old school there. Switching gears a little bit… Freddy Krueger got roasted in a boiler room. I can sympathize with that; I know how that feels. Still, don’t you just love the way a fire dances around the human body, feeling the heat and watching it melt the flesh off the bones? Englund: I love watching it. I just don’t like doing it. I’ve got to tell you, I love fire. Fire is hypnotic. And you’ve had this experience, too. When you’re on a sound stage and you’re shooting a fire stunt, this weird thing happens where the fire eats up all the oxygen and everybody gets a little dingy. And you know, the stuntmen, those guys know how to count, but when you’re an actor and you can set your arm on fire, you feel kind of magical. And I always forget to count. I’ve singed my eyebrows. Once, the back of my makeup head caught on fire — you’re not counting because you know, you look so cool. That’s why you really have to have a stunt double for that crap. Those guys, they have this internal clock and they’re always counting it off. They know when it’s going to burn off the protective gel and stuff. So yeah, I love fire. I just think it’s hypnotic and great, but I’ve got to tell you — on a sound stage, that stuff scares me. Kane: Really? Something scared you? Englund: Oh, yeah. It’s weird because you’re in an enclosed space and it eats the oxygen. I just think it makes everybody a little off their game; it makes the stuntmen, the camera crew and everybody a little dingy. So it always spooks me a little bit. Kane: I recently had an Inferno Match with MVP. The object of the match is to set your opponent on fire. I won the match, and I can tell you it’s definitely one of those things that’s better to give than receive. Englund: (Laughs.) Kane: I was wondering if I could ask you for a little advice here. I want people to be afraid of me, and I’m always looking for new ways to inflict pain and suffering. Do you have any advice on that? Englund: I think you’ve got to get to them from the inside; scare them psychologically first. If that fails, you know, there are always fingernails. Kane: Yeah, especially the ones you used to wear. Englund: Yeah, the extended version. Kane: Freddy Krueger was one of my childhood heroes. I cheered you on in Freddy vs. Jason. How about you and Jacob Goodnight go one-on-one someday? Are you scared that I’ll give you nightmares? Englund: I like that – Krueger vs. Goodnight! Kane: If we didn’t do it on Elm Street, maybe we can do it in a WWE ring. Englund: We could just get in the ring. I love it. When we did the promos for Freddy vs. Jason in Vegas and we got to use your announcer. Kane: Oh, cool. Englund: It was great, hearing him call it out. We just did kind of a mock weigh-in, like for the heavyweight bout. Kane: That’s definitely a main event. Englund: With all the wrestling stuff going on, we got all those fans there for the publicity stunt and it was just great. What a great audience you guys have. It’s like a rock ’n’ roll audience. They’re great. Kane: Yes, they’re very into it. … I just have one last question. You said fire on the sound stage scares you. What else scares a master of horror like you, besides someone like me? Englund: Oh, I don’t know. I guess scary bitches? Kane: (Laughs.) That may be the scariest thing in the whole world. Englund: And my snake thing goes way back to when I was a little kid. I used to go to the movies – they had movies for kids then. You’d go to the Saturday matinee and somehow I got stuck in the movie theater where they were showing the adult movie, some war movie. And I loved war movies when I was a kid, but there was one on a South Sea island – I guess it was the Americans vs. the Japanese and some of the infantry guys got bit by snakes. I think it was called… gosh, Norman Mailer wrote it… I just can’t think of the name of it now. Great, great book. The movie wasn’t so great. But the guy died from these tropical snake bites and then it freaked me out for a year. I was looking under the bed. I was checking out my closet. So snakes are definitely up at the top of my list. I’ve worked with them – maybe you have, too. I’ve worked with them, pythons and stuff, in a couple of movies, and I had to wrangle around, and I was okay. But still, if I’m out in the country or something, I’m still spooked by them. Ever since I saw that… The Naked and the Dead – it’s an old horror movie from the ’50s and this guy dies in it, and the poison comes out his ears and his nose and his eyeballs and the corners of his mouth, and man, that just seared itself into my brain and it freaked me out for years. I’ve worked with snakes – maybe you have, too. I’ve worked with pythons and such in a couple of movies, and I had to wrangle around, but I was okay. Still, if I’m out in the country or something, I’m still spooked by them. Kane: Wow, one would never have thought that. Englund: Yeah, snakes. They’re my fear factor. Kane: Good luck with Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon.

I watched Kamala vs Andre the Giant in a steel cage match today. Nothing solid workrate rise, naturally, but interesting. The finish was great (I've never seen Andre do a top rope move). Mike Von Erich and Stella Mae (I think that was her name) vs Gino Hernandez and Nickla "The Lady Giant" Roberts was ok, but the angle where before the match some girl named Sunshine arrived in a helicopter to excite the fans was pretty cool. I had never seen In Your House 2 before today except for a streaming video (from 24/7 Online) of the Jarrett/HBK match, which watching on my computer caused me to become distracted with other things. It's not a great show or anything, but finally watching a god quality version of HBK/Jarrett was awesome. The opener between Roadie and 123 Kid was ok and the ending move was pretty burtal, especially for the time period in the WWF. Even Razor/Savio vs MOM was not terrible, but I'm a mark for Razor Ramon's offense (love his punches) and seeing Sir Mo do a moonsault was a bit bizarre.

Spring Stampede 94 will be airing this month, and that alone is worth the monthly cost to me. I watched the new ECW episode (good) last night as well as the HoF profile of Sherri (also good).

I thought I heard someone yell "hard camera" over our PPV group chatter but was not sure who said it or why.

I forgot I had Shawn on my roster, so hooray.

Oh you all know D&D will only cut a promo this week or walk out during a Kendrick/London match, if anything, just so we all wasted $4M.

I guess the Fantasy board did remove 24 of the 40 points they gave Undertaker for SmackDown, which I expected. I think the only ECW person I have this week is "Marcus (according to Fantasy) Coy Von", with Deuce and Domino and I think Benoit for SmackDown. I have Khali and Hardy for Raw because I'm a non-gambler like that with TV title matches as well as Orton, Shad, and Super Crazy.

I don't know how to get up, to be honest, I just do. Unless you're beat up, then you sell. Just don't hold O (or 360 equivalent whatever it may be) that's for possum attacking. I finally won a Legend difficulty MITB match today and I assume it was pure luck. After such an accomplishment, I went into the ECW ONS arena and had RVD win the million dollar title from John Cena. Good fun.

Re: The original TMNT on the NES. I also remembering it being very difficult, and I always feel humbled in some way when I see someone speedrun a game like that (20 minutes!) http://youtube.com/watch?v=v_hLTKWF8zw

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spider-Man:_Web_of_Fire Says it's very rare and sells for a lot on eBay. "The magazine also had its own comic character in Niles Nemo (created by Bill Kunkel). Niles (a play on Little Nemo) was a teenage boy with sun glasses who loved pizza and everything Sega." That character... where have I seen something similar... where... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nester

Give your regards to broadband By Noah Starr Written: January 29, 2007 On Thursday, WWE.com will launch its brand new broadband network. For the first time ever WWE fans will be able to access all the free videos on WWE.com from one convenient location. The network will feature new content every day and host fan-favorites like Superstar entrance videos, Heat, OMG Moments, Hardcore Hangover, previews of upcoming WWE DVDs and of course, weekly Raw and SmackDown highlights. WWE.com currently streams over 40 million videos a month, and since WWE fans seem to love our videos, we’ve decided to give you even more to love! The WWE.com broadband network will launch with eight brand new web-only programs. WWE Sidesplitters will be a weekly show featuring hilarious moments from WWE programming past and present. For the romantically challenged, Val Venis’ Sex-U will offer up love tips from Superstars like Maria, Viscera and Val himself. Seein’ Superstars will focus on Hollywood celebs like the Carters, Steve-O, and Kevin Federline when they attend WWE events. If you really want to get up close and personal with your favorite Supertsars, check out Lifestyles of the Built & Dangerous which will provide WWE fans with a guided tour of their homes. To catch the rest of the brand new shows, log on to WWE.com on Thursday -- you’ll be glad you did.

Does anyone recall hearing about a game in development called "Virtua Hamster"? Did anyone ever read Sega Visions? I don't want to list Visions as a reason for Sega being stupid since I don't remember much about it, but I don't remember it being good.

For Jerry “The King” Lawler, it’s not a dream, not an imaginary story…but it is what he calls “the fulfillment of a lifelong fantasy.” DC Comics has summoned The King to draw Superman for an upcoming project that will appear on the company’s website, dccomics.com. Needless to say, Lawler—an accomplished artist, a huge comics fan and a lifelong Superman enthusiast—accepted the job faster than a speeding bullet. Check back with WWE.com next week when The King reveals the secret origins behind his super-art assignment, his artistic influences, and how he compares drawing the Man of Steel to WWE Superstars.

Benoit lasting from the opening bell until the 30th entrant of the 2005 Rumble (making it the second year in a row he did so) seemingly went unnoticed but I loved it.

Before Dana Plato and Kirk Cameron moved onto more worthwhile projects like snorting lots of coke and/or Christian propaganda films, they were doing FMV games. Ha! Funny stuff. The "and/or" sells it. 6. Showing off the awesome BLAST PROCESSING~! in a commercial that mocked, of all games, Super freakin Mario Kart. That's the Sega = WCW equivalent of Tony Schivonie telling people that ol' unpopular Mick Foley was going to win the title - to me, anyway. http://gameads.gamepressure.com/tv_game_co...cial.asp?ID=883

Wow, so if this is true, it has to be the dumbest shit I ever read. It's been established that it's NOT true And on top of that, the above situation occurred just last year anyway with no negative backlash (that mattered, anyway). A friend of mine seemed mad, but I made some retcon up where HHH and Cena won the main event / last match spot by winning the battle of the main events on SNME.

It's a well known fact that Meltzer leaks fake news with different versions of the Observer to different parts of the world. The Canadian version says Benoit is getting the surprise win. Credit: Wrestling Observer (see, now you have to believe my outrageous claim because I stamped a fake credit at the bottom. Stupid dirtsites).

I think someone once suggested or implied it was selfish of the site writers to complain about not getting feedback from people, or that they would be writing 'for nothing', with the idea being they should be writing to give the site content or because they personally wanted to. While that's all well and good and I understand the point (if you're writing articles as a volunteer then you should expect nothing in return except the joy of writing), if you were to apply this "fake internet" writing to a real world situation, I'm sure novelists wouldn't keep writing if no one bought their books (or at least gave some sort of indication that they cared what the author was writing about).

Every time I have an idea to write something (ex. recapping shows on 24/7), I end up deciding not to, usually just posting my thoughts in shorter, non recapped detail on the forum. Although that's just me, it does give me a theory - no one reads the main site and no one e-mails feed back to the writers. Everyone that writes or had written is also a member of the forum. Posting something on the forum usually results in people replying. Therefore, it's just easier to share your thoughts via threads on the forum, or possibly a blog. 9 times out of 10 it guarantees someone bothered to read what you wrote AND had a comment to make about it. A good example would be when I wrote a 2004 Royal Rumble preview / WWE 03 in review for the site. I received no feedback to that from forum outsiders, but posting a link to it on the forum itself lead to some spirited discussion about what would suck worse - Flair/Batista vs Dudleyz or Holly vs Lesnar, as well as who really was the worst wrestler of 2003 (most people said Test!).

The 'quantity' plan may pan out after the Rumble.