The Wii U gets its own arena shooter this week, plus early Chappie, anime finales, and Looney Tunes…
Happy Memorial Day to everyone celebrating it today – for unemployed podcasters, this feels pretty much the same except I feel more respectful towards soldiers and their sacrifices. But no matter what the day, I’m always in the mood to buy things, so our weekly Amazon article works as a nice reminder of what I should be shopping for. The dominating themes this week are cartoons, cartoony games, and awkward non-Americans trying to make it in the world. Buy any of those things through our Amazon links, or anything else for that matter, and it helps Laser Time at no extra cost to you. Also, I wouldn’t be doing a good job of plugging if I didn’t remind you to our commentary tracks for Avengers and Iron Man 3! Now, let’s dive in.
Since first playing it at E3 last year, I’ve been looking forward to Nintendo’s take on arena shooters for some time. An original series, Splatoon is a squad-based shooter that explores a war between anthropomorphic squid and octopi. Getting headshots and flinging grenades is part of the fun, but it’s really a turf war of blasting as much paint as possible in the arena. It’s a smart, animated expansion of the overexposed shooter genre, and the pre-release buzz for Splatoon has been real good. You can even see Chris play around with the demo for it Also, as is the case for pretty much every major Nintendo game these days, there are accompanying Splatoon amiibo on Amazon as well – though good luck snagging any.
Believe it or not, we’re closing in on seven years since Street Fighter IV first came to Japanese arcades, and versions of the game are still coming out! This time the Ultra (and seemingly final) version of SFIV is coming to the PlayStation 4. Likely hitting Sony’s system as a way to prepare PS4 owners for the console-exclusive Street Fighter V, USFIV has all the features and fighters from previous versions, but it’s only available as a digital download. But don’t worry, you can pick up some more PSN money on Amazon as well. In general, if you’re buying anything off PSN or Xbox Live, why not get a digital code for the funds through a Laser Time Amazon link?
Interested in the expansive world of Witcher 3 but don’t have a lot of cash on hand? Well, can I interest you in the Magnetbox/Sorny equivalent, ArcaniA for PS4? Previous versions of this game got middling scores, but for as bland as people have accused it of being, most saying it’s a lengthy game. Add in previous expansion to this new-gen port and a price tag under $20, and you could do worse than ArcaniA… Ok, to be totally honest, I wanted a third game in this feature and this was my only option. But if you’re ever going to buy it, do it through our link, please.
As is happening more and more often, high profile films are heading to streaming services like Amazon Prime, with Chappie being the most recent example. The newest film from Neil (District 9) Blomkamp, this has a good deal in common with Blomkamp’s hit. Chappie is another sci-fi/social commenary piece that takes place in South Africa, is based on a short film of Blomkamp’s, and stars Sharlto Copey (as the body double for the robot protagonist). However, Chappie adds the rap stylings of Die Antwood to the mix for its tale of an android growing up – basically a modern Short Circuit 2. It didn’t get the best critical response, but with Blomkamp currently working on an Alien film, that should at least get genre fans to give this film another chance on streaming services.
After co-writing The Office with Ricky Gervais, then creating Extras and a popular podcast with David Brent’s performer, Steven Merchant has been looking to strike out on his own in the last few years. He did some stand-up and made his own HBO series, both revolving on the concept that he’s a weird looking guy that has trouble getting women. The goggle-eyed freak, as Steve is so lovingly called by Ricky, is living in Los Angeles, and is trying to adapt as an outsider looking for love and only finding awkward situations. It only lasted a single season, and received a proper finale in the form of a TV movie that aired late last year. That’s all in the season set, so fans of Merchant’s work (myself included) should give this a shot now that it’s all available in a single package.
Takahashi Rumiko might be my all-time favorite manga creator, so much so that I write her name in the Japanese order. Ranma 1/2, Maison Ikkoku, and Urusei Yatsura remain some of my most cherished series, with both the comics and the animation being a huge part of my anime fandom. I even enjoy Inuyasha, though in my mind I consider it one of her newer works – the fact that it’s almost 20 years old freaks me out, to be honest. This series also is the most infamous of Takahashi’s for taking forever to end, with the anime basically going on hiatus until it could finally be completed. And here, on DVD, is the entire Final Act of Inuyasha, which does get a true conclusion, which is better than Ranma 1/2 got. If you fell of the wagon for this series, hop back on to see how it all works out.
After the Laser Time crew even attended the WrestleMania 31, WWE got right back on track with Extreme Rules, the annual night when the sports entertainment brand “goes extreme.” But you won’t see any barbwire, thumbtacks, or even blood on this DVD. What you get instead is John Cena defending America, a surprisingly good Reigns/Big Show match, guys driving away during a street fight, and the New Day going from the worst tag team to the best is just one championship match.
If you own the previous Looney Tunes collections, this DVD will seem like a bunch of repeats to you, but if you don’t, this includes some of the greatest cartoons Warner Bros. ever produced. How good are we talking? Well, there’s Michigan J. Frog’s premier in One Froggy Evening, Bugs compressing Wagner’s 9 hour work into What’s Opera, Doc?, and the Stan Freberg tour de force, Three Little Bops, among many others. They’re all great pieces of animation history, and the DVD gives me the perfect ending for this week’s Amazon article. That’s All Folks!
CAPE CRISIS RECOMMENDS:
UPCOMING VIDEO GAME PRE-ORDER BONUSES
listed roughly in order of release date
Call of Duty: Black Ops III
-Pre-order for early access to the Black Ops III beta.
Mad Max
-Pre-order and unlock The Ripper vehicle early
Payday 2: Crimewave Edition *NEW*
-Pre-order before the release date to receive the “Hardtime Loot Bag.”
Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain *NEW*
-Pre-order the Day 1 Edition to get a physical map + DLC content which includes: • Adam-ska Special Handgun • Personal Ballistic Shield (Silver) • Wetland Cardboard box • Fatigues outfit (Blue Urban Snake Costume) • Metal Gear Online XP boost
Star Wars Battlefront
-Pre-order and get early access to 2 map packs, including one based on The Force Awakens
Batman: Arkham Knight
–Pre-order to play as Harley Quinn. Utilize her unique weapons, gadgets, and abilities. Plus, contains 4 Exclusive Challenge Maps
Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Siege *NEW*
-Pre-order for FREE guaranteed Beta Access
I’m getting Splatoon, i really enjoyed the the Testfire thing they did over the past few weeks. I’m just a little worried about it being thin of content.
There is no escaping it, Splatoon’s biggest problem is lack of content despite having a ton of customization and a great single player.
Its the fact that there’s only 1 game mode and 5 maps.
Nintendo is planning on stretching the game by giving more content via Free DLC like more weapons, around 8 more maps, and more games modes, so its more of a game of patience, they stated they’ll do it throughout the summer and all of it should be out by August.
“Splatoon’s getting good pre-release buzz” then links to Chris poo-pooing it for an hour.
I hope Chappie’s good. As a lover of both Short Circuits and District 9 but hater of Elysium I want to put B-kamp back in the positive column.
Nice, cant wait for Splatoon, gonna be great