Geek Strand: Another Exciting Edition of Bits & Bytes

I know you all love my Bits & Bytes segments. I do, too. However, to be honest, I just couldn’t think of anything to write long about, so I am throwing out some of the cool little things that I have seen out into the ether.

Gotham Goes Nuts

The Bat and the Cat are obviously tied up in each others lives in Arkham CityDespite the fact that everyone even slightly aware of the video game market and the dynamic success of Batman: Arkham Asylum has known for months that a sequel was coming (Heck, there has been a teaser trailer out there for most of the year), everybody has gone gaga over the recent and official Time Warner announcement. Of course the big news was the name: Batman: Arkham City.

As the name, and the teaser trailer, hints at, the madness of Arkham has spread beyond the walls of the asylum and escaped into Gotham itself, along with Joker and a host of other cronies.

Teasers and hidden clues abound, but nothing from this spat of hype over the Fall 2011 release is cooler than the awesome Batman and Catwoman images released for the announcement.

The only disappointment is the one-year plus wait for the game. I hope that Rockstar Studios and WB will use that time wisely.

Geeking Out on the Beach

So, where do you get your geek on at the beach? Well, places vary, but if you want to hook up with the geek-like-minded on the strand, you need to head over to MBGeekOut.com. While the site is simple, the group is worth checking out. With interest and professions ranging from real estate to video games, the Geek Out celebrates their diversity with monthly get-togethers ranging from baseball games to trivia nights at area pubs.

So, if you are a geek feeling alone in a sea of frantic tourists and crazy locals, look them up. You can also find them on Twitter and Facebook at #mbgeekout. (Yes, use the “#” when searching Facebook for them, too).

Starcraft II: Wings of Commerce

Just for the record, Blizzard’s Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty, the long-awaited (12 years!) sequel to the hit sci-fi strategy game sold 1 million units in 24 hours.

Other game designers should take note of this, because Blizzard produces two of the most successful brands of computer games (Starcraft and Warcraft) and when they release a product, they do it for BOTH computer systems – Windows and Mac – at the SAME TIME.

That’s right. There is no whining about no market for games on Apple computers or that it’s too hard to do both. Blizzard does it, and they are consistently among the top computer game earners every year.

Published in: on August 12, 2010 at 22:44  Comments (1)  
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Holy XXX, Batman!

Warning: This episode of Geek Strand contains content of an adult nature and should be read only by mature readers.

(Of course, Really? How mature and adult can we be in a column about a Batman parody?)

There comes a time in a young boys life when thoughts start to turn from comic books to girls and the possibility that they might have something to offer other than cooties. During the time these two separate worlds co-mingle. Debates on whether Wonder Woman or Catwoman was hotter or if Robin and Batgirl were hooking up were quietly discussed outside of adults’ hearing range. (more…)

Published in: on July 30, 2010 at 12:26  Comments Off  
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Enemies and Allies – Retro Batman and Superman story not found on the comic book rack.

Enemies and Allies by Kevin J. Anderson

Enemies and Allies by Kevin J. Anderson

When last you read your loveable geek writer, he was raving about the latest, high-tech version of Batman in the blockbuster (over 2.5 million sold) “Batman: Arkham Asylum” video game. Could that be the end of our loveable author? How could he possibly write more about Batman? Could this be the Bat-end of this Bat-parody intro?
While Batman’s video game success is scoring headline after headline, there is another Batman story that deserves some recognition. As much as Arkham Asylum is at the cutting edge of entertainment technology, Kevin J. Anderson’s “Enemies and Allies” is just about as retro as it can get.
Well, first off, it’s a novel. No, not a graphic novel. A real, hardcover (no paperback release yet) that re-images the first meeting of DC Comic’s two iconic heroes, Superman and Batman.
–to read more of my review, go to my Examiner.net page at http://tinyurl.com/enemiesalliesreview

(Yes, this is a ploy to get people to check out my articles on Examiner.net)

A little Batman: Arkham Asylum review

So, if you haven’t heard, I have been writing for the examiner.net as a comic book “examiner.” It might be stretching, but here is a link to my look at Batman: Arkham Asylum…http://www.examiner.com/x-18371-Columbia-Comic-Books-Examiner~y2009m9d13-Mad-Skills–Batman-Arkham-Asylum-tests-the-Dark-Knights-and-players-skills-and-sanity

Published in: on September 14, 2009 at 14:09  Comments Off  
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