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Lots of Nintendo related artwork coming soon from Bottleneck Gallery out of Brooklyn, NY, and a new Mario Kart print

Bottleneck Gallery based out of Brooklyn, NY is doing a show called 3NES, where each artist they've contacted for the show must do a piece related to each of of Nintendo's "Big 3":   Mario, Zelda, and/or Metroid.

The show opens this Friday, September 6th, and here is a preview of some of the artwork that's been unveiled so far

Carlos Lerma

Here's the full set from Lerma:

Glen Brogan

Jesse Phillips

Jorsh Pena

Russ Moore

Kim Herbst

Kim Herbst

Harlan Elam

Cig Neutron

Ricardo Chucky's 3

JP Valderrama

There will be two online preview sales of prints from the show this Thursday:  10-10:45 am PST, and 5-5:45 pm PST. Any available artwork after the preview and actual show opening will be available at the site on Saturday.

Lastly, today saw the release of the first that I know of Mario Kart art print.   Available at Nakatomi, Inc.   The print is called Drifting Into Darkness and is by Russ Moore

Here's the regular:

and variant:

With the release of the remastered version of Ducktales having been released a few weeks ago comes the inevitable(?) flood of limited edition art prints

We all saw it coming.    Okay none of us probably saw it coming, but for some reason Mondotees.com, home of Tyler Stout, Olly Moss, and all the other artists with near impossible to get limited edition art prints is releasing 6(!!!) art prints tomorrow morning at a random time depicting Scrooge, the boys, and some duck witch I've never seen in my life.

I have a feeling these won't sell out instantly, but then again some have very small edition sizes so some of them probably will.

keep an eye out for @mondonews on twitter for the exact release time (which usually is fruitless in a quest to score a print from them, but in this case maybe not)

Here are the prints (they usually run about $40-$60:

JJ Harrison (featuring the full cast)

Scrooge by DKNG (regular edition)

Scrooge (Variant) by DKNG

Nephews by Anne Benjamin

Magica De Spell by Phantom City Creative

Magica De Spell (Variant)

Still available if these dont tickle your fancy is Dave Perillo's take on Ducktales, in what might just be the best one of the bunch

A quick preview of an upcoming Ashley Wood 3A toy release of Emile from the Halo series

Ashley Wood returns with another toy in the Halo series for his 3A Toys company.   This one debuts at www.bambalandstore.com next Friday Hong Kong time (typically late Thursday afternoon in the US) and should remain available for at least 24 hours.

I don't believe pricing is available yet, but it'll probably run about $200-$225 (I know, I know, ya'll can't afford that or dont think it's worth it).   Anyway, if you can and you're a fan of the Halo series, check it out.  These arent your dad's GI Joes.

Here are some stats:

figure stands 13.5 inches tall features: *Fiber-optic illuminated combat armor
*Magnetized Shoulder Shields that all weapons can be attached to
*Rubberized suit over a fully articulated body with complete outer armor attachments
*Fully articulated fingers
*Cloth utility pouch with functioning clasps

Weapon loadout:
UNSC M45 TS shotgun
Removable Kukri knife with sheath
Chest grenades x 10
Waist grenades x 10

And now allow me to break gouki.com with these huge pics from 3A's production blog

Biggest collection of videogames ever sold on ebay for over a million dollars

Holy.....

http://www.ebay.com/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=300736846867&item=300736846867

EDIT:  Didn't realize this was from a while back.   It may be posted already?

Article about sale:  http://www.latimes.com/business/technology/la-fi-tn-enormous-video-game-ebay-20120709,0,6539757.story

New Art Exhibition opening Friday in Los Angeles to help celebrate the 25th anniversary of Street Fighter

Over 50 artists will contribute some work.   Should be an interesting show and I'm expecting a lot of nice pieces and prints to come from this

One artist has already previewed some of his pieces that look pretty neat IMO

The amazing 3A toys are releasing 2 Halo toys next Wednesday (actually Tuesday evening in the US)

Ashley Wood and his company 3A toys continue their toy domination with 2 new toys based on the Halo franchise.

First up is the HALO Spartan MKV Commando, which is a www.bambalandstore.com exclusive

Next is the HALO Commander Carter Spartan III, which will be available at www.bambalandstore.com and then later at select toy retailers

Both figures stand 13.5" tall and feature:  * Fiber-optic illuminated helmet and armor * Magnetized shoulder shields and rear pouch that all weapons can be attached to * Rubberized suit over a fully articulated body with complete outer armor attachments * Fully articulated fingers * Weapons: M392DMR (designated marksman rifle), M9 HE-DP APG Frag Grenade (x2), Combat Knife with sheath

They will be $200 each USD, and go on sale Wednesday in Hong Kong time which usually translates to Tuesday evening for those of us in the US.

A review of Split! for the iPhone.

Split! is a new action/strategy game from Touchy Interactive that I was recently provided to be able to review.  It was developed by Touchy interactive for use with the iPhone or iPad.

Not much to the story: two characters want to escape from some giant mega prison.  No real background on what they were doing in prison to begin with or any depth whatsoever.   

You control both characters.   Click on the one you want to move and draw a path to where you want them to go and they will go there.   There are spots of "cover" throughout the level where your character is safe as long as you stay behind it.  Guards patrol the area and if they see you they begin firing.  The main objective is to take cover and draw attention and fire from the guards while you then use the 2nd character to come up from behind or alongside the guards to kill them.   

Balancing action style gameplay with strategy can be tricky, and it's where I find the most fault with Split!   Oftentimes I knew exactly where one character should go to prepare myself for the 2nd, but had difficulty trying to drag the path to lead them to the specific spot I wanted and the next thing I knew my character was running right into the line of fire.  You do have the ability to cancel a run, but sometimes you need to run past several guards who will be firing upon you while you're trying to make it to cover and canceling in the middle is not an option.  I lost several games because of this and it became very frustrating.  Other times I would draw my path to a spot, and the character would zig or zag or run to the spot of cover and then move AWAY from cover for a second and get shot.   Needing to be completely precise on a touch and drag game on the iPhone is simply not the easiest thing to do.   On an iPad I'd guess it's easier to control with the larger screen   

I found the lack of variety in just about everything in the game to be disappointing.  Enemies always looked and acted the same, and all had the same guns.  The only real variety I saw in the game was that they started incorporating switches to open doors which did add a new element, albeit an expected and unexciting one, and I found myself getting bored of beating a level only to go to the next one to find little to no variety present.   Some differing enemies, guns for the players, or environmental obstacles would go a long way.   Also I know AI isn't exactly something to be expected in this type of game and there probably wouldnt even be a good way to implement it without it becoming a straight up action game, but sometimes it's laughable when you have one character drawing fire from 4 enemies, and the other is able to basically run circles around them without being detected.

I  found myself quickly lowering the volume of the background music.   Probably a personal preference but I didn't enjoy the drum n bass style music that sounded like the stuff I avoided in the early 2000s

Overall I think Split! has the potential to be a good game with some tweaks to the controls and some added variety.  I think the premise behind the gameplay is solid but there just isnt enough to it at this point to keep me coming back for more.  I'm going to give it a Rent it! rating in that it might be worth giving it a shot if there's a free version or maybe with some updates made in the future.  Not worth a purchase based solely on what they're offering so far.

My Team

So I already knew who one of my two characters was months ago.   The moment I heard they were in the game, I knew.

Poison.   Duh.   SAY NO TO PROP 8!   Plus Jimmy will be ultra distracted during gameplay.

The 2nd member was a process.   

1.  Eliminate all Tekken characters because Tekken is awful.

2.  Eliminate all ShotokoKONNONWNONK characters because .....  well, there's no explanation needed really.

3.  Eliminate Rufus because Rufus along with Hakan are the worst designed Street Fighter characters in history.   I'd rather play Gil

This leaves

Abel (potential)

Balrog (Not a fan of his moves typically)

Cammy (I like the Poison/Cammy combo with the whole Interpol teams up with NYC Tranny Police Department, but in the end, just not really a fan of playing Cammy in previous games)

Chun-Li (never been a fan of her moveset)

Cody (I can't have a former lover of Poison's on her team.  I need new love)

Dhalsim (if you've ever seen me play Dhalsim, this is self explanatory)

Guile (Hm, maybe, though I tend to like to play characters that are a little against the grain. )

Guy (I'm assuming Cody shared with Guy.   Too much history.  Though teaming someone named GUY with Poison is kinda hilarious)

Hugo (360 Characters are a no go for me.   if a move requires more than 180 degrees, I'm fucked.  I'M GETTING TOO OLD FOR THIS SHIT)

Ibuki (too combo dependent.  I can't do any combo that is longer than 2 hits)

Juri (too many moves.  I need characters who have 3-4 moves max.  Not ones where you hold a button then jump around and do other things then let go of a button.   WUT)

Bison (there's something appealing about this teamup.   Potential)

Rolento (like the sound of this)

Vega (nah, havent enjoyed playing him since SFII Championship.  Dont expect that to change now)

Zangief (see Hugo)

So final 4 are Abel, Guile, Bison, and Rolento.

I'll probably end up trying all of these as a combo.   Abel since I have some more recent familiarity with using his character (poorly, to boot).

BUT ULTIMATELY, THE TEAM I WOULD LIKE TO PLAY, AND WILL TRY TO "MASTER" FIRST.

POISON AND ROLENTO.

The kinkiness that will ensue......

Top 5 Anticipated 3DS games - contest entry

I havent owned a handheld gaming system since the Game Boy. That being said, here's my entry

1) High School Musical 3DS - With an option to eliminate Zac Efron and all the other male characters in the show from the game. Stop Vanessa Hudgen's nude pics from leaking! Help Ashley Tisdale get fitted into her cheerleading uniform! (Hellcats crossover FTW). Explore lesbian themes! Do homework. Sing songs. Mature audiences only.

PS.  For jimmy there will be an option to eliminate the female characters.

2) 5 Hour Energy 3DS - Oh no! You only have 2 hours to get ready for work AND read the newspaper. Find the 5 Hour Energy hidden in your cupboard in order to relax. Find the 4 Loko instead and play a bonus game of "Where did I hide the murdered hooker?" Rating: Everyone

3) Guy with a gun on a decimated planet attacked by Hostiles 3DS part 8 - just to get this over with because you know it's coming by the 5th month of the 3DS being out. Rating: People who don't get tired of the same thing

4) Ke$ha presents - I am the Dance Commander and I Command You to Dance 3DS - self explanatory. The future of music presents the future of gaming. Unicorns, lasers, Jack Daniels, HOT FUCKING TUNES. Must buy

5) Final Fantasy Presents the Sleep Chronicles Online 3DS - For those nights you have insomnia

CROWN ME

For the first time in forever, I was surfing the internet and found something I actually thought would be relevant to this site. Not only that, it's surely the best thing on here at the moment

http://www.cracked.com/article_18970_5-ways-video-games-are-about-to-get-way-more-f2340kable.html

When these things are happening, I will care about video games again.

The first in a series of 5 post it notes. Telling an epic story in the future

This is a look into a crystal ball to the year 2025.  The Video Game Hall of Fame opens it's doors in Des Moine, Iowa.  Tens of people flock to it to relive their 30s

iPhone game discussion

This a continuation of this story: Best game to play while taking a shit Jimmy Gems nominees