Pads & Panels

Title: LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean: The Video Game

Platform: 360 (PS3, Wii, PC, Mac, 3DS, DS, PSP)

ESRB Rating: E10+

Publisher: Disney Interactive

Developer: Traveller’s Tales

Rating:

Review by: Bill Jones

The latest franchise to be stamped with the LEGO makeover is Pirates of the Caribbean, following the release of the fourth film in the series. Fans of previous LEGO titles (like Harry Potter, Star Wars and Indiana Jones) already know what to expect here, and the Pirates franchise proves a great fit for the zany LEGO characters and stories. Players can, as usual, go solo or play with join-in/drop-out co-op, working through 20 stages divided evenly between the four movies, with cutscenes done only the way LEGO can. Port Royal serves as sort of an expanding hub in this one, where players can accomplish more by earning characters of differing abilities, the most noteworthy of which is the addition of underwater elements. All in all, it’s a great addition to both franchises, and fans of the series will get a kick out of the game, even though the later films undeniably sucked. (more…)

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Product: MIMOBOT Star Wars Series 5

Company: Mimoco

MSRP: $39.95

Review by: Bill Jones

Last year, Mimoco caught our attention with releases of Master Chief and Star Wars designer MIMOBOT USB flash drives. We received Master Chief and Darth Maul MIMOBOTS from the previous series. The idea is that a USB drive doesn’t need to be a boring piece of plastic or metal, but can speak to the users’ tastes with custom designs. In the case of the aforementioned drives, that meant small, licensed character designs with little feet to stand on and arms at the sides, not to mention elongated foreheads that pop off to reveal the USB connector. They’re a nice way to characterize a small computer accessory, especially with the Darth Maul character that added extra nubs to the top of the head, but the price was a sticking point, at an MSRP near $40 when equivalent, boring-ass traditional 4GB drives can be easily found for $10. Essentially, the art and limited edition aspect costs fans $30 extra. (more…)

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Title: Family Guy: Something, Something Darkside

Format: Blu-ray

Created by: Seth MacFarlane

Producer: 20th Century Fox

Feature Rating:

Blu-ray Rating:

Review by: Bill Jones

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The Film

Most fans are probably familiar with the on-again off-again rescheduling history of Family Guy on Fox. The discerning fans of that group are probably even more familiar with the diminishing returns of the series over the course of these changes, even while Seth MacFarlane has practically taken over all of the programming of Fox’s prime time schedule.

Something, Something Darkside marks the second of a planned trilogy of Star Wars parodies courtesy of Family Guy. Like Blue Harvest, Darkside starts with power in the Griffin household cut once again. It forces the family to gather in the living room, and Peter tells his version of the ongoing Star Wars saga, this time based on The Empire Strikes Back. (more…)

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E3 has come and gone. John and Bill offer their impressions on this year’s biggest gaming event.

John’s Ponderings

So this year’s E3 has come and gone with quite a few nice surprises mixed in with the usual expectations which, for the most part, have exceeded my expectations. It is hard to argue with the claim that Microsoft ran away with the most buzz surrounding its next fiscal year, and Nintendo recognized their hardcore gamer mistreatment and addressed it in a big way. Sony, for me, left an underwhelming sense of “That’s it?” from a show that really needed to boost their presence. (more…)

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