Story and Photos by Bill Jones
WrestleMania 27 took place Sunday, April 3, at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Ga., and aired live on pay-per-view to homes around the world. And whether wrestling fans loved or hated this year’s incarnation of the annual sports entertainment extravaganza, one thing was certain, it was a great WrestleMania for fans of gaming and comics. Pads & Panels recaps the top reasons why. (more…)
As promised, Bill took a lot of pictures on Day Two of C2E2, and this isn’t the beginning or the end of them. In this batch, children dress up in awesome superhero costumes, Danny McBride signs to promote Your Highness at the Dark Horse booth, cosplay continues to happen, and Matt and site friend Issac go head-to-head in Street Fighter. All photos copyright Pads & Panels, by Bill Jones. (more…)
.
I’ve been thinking about this for a while, pondering even. Over the past few years, we’ve been given an increasing amount of movies based on comics. Is this necessarily a good thing? You may be thinking to yourself, “Definitely! I need my Marvel fix on the big screen!” The thing is (besides Michael Chiklis), we’re being told the same story a minimum of three times!
Take the 1989 Batman, for example. When the movie was released and shown to be a cash cow prime for the milking, DC began releasing more comics, more cartoons and more video games based on the character. Some of these turn out good like Spider-Man for PS2. Most of them turn out bad…Iron Man bad. (more…)
Title: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Smash-Up
Platform: Wii (PS2)
ESRB Rating: E
Publisher: Ubisoft
Developer: Game Arts
Rating: 
Review by: Dan Braun
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Smash-Up is a perfect example of cashing in on a popular franchise without having to do anything creative or fun. The game unabashedly flaunts itself as a game in the same fighting vein as the Smash Bros. series, but it is clearly an inferior title, due to lame voice acting, muddled animation and just a poorly-executed fighting system.
The game offers an array of modes, ranging from arcade beat-em-up to a convoluted story. Unfortunately, it all plays relatively the same, save for the addition of some terrible cutscenes that provide an abhorrent plot and an earful of some of the crappiest dialogue performances one would ever want to sit through. (more…)
Publisher: Ubisoft – Developer: Ubisoft Montreal
.
Splinter Cell: Conviction is arguably the best installment in the series, and definitely the most accessible. It allows players to tackle it as an action game, but rewards them for stealth execution. And Conviction is a case of the entire package being greater than simply the sum of its parts, with campaign, co-op and competitive multiplayer offering plenty of value.
–Bill (more…)
It’s been way too long since we posted an edition of Trailer Madness. We guess that’s why we’ve got more than 10 videos comprising this post. You can always watch the videos as they’re uploaded on our YouTube account. Otherwise, we’ve got the latest recap of videos we’ve posted there, and highlighting this edition is Lost Planet 2‘s “Gears of War” video. Capcom also sent a Super Street Fighter IV promotional trailer our way. We’ve got two trailers apiece for Risk Factions and Shiren The Wanderer, and a whopping three videos for Blood Bowl. Things are rounded out this edition by new videos for bittos+, Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars for iPhone, Super Monkey Ball: Step & Roll and Napoleon Total War. Enjoy!
Trailer Madness turns 10 today, in a manner of speaking. Lots of exciting new trailers. Capcom released a new Super Street Fighter IV trailer featuring the characters Guy, Cody and Adon. The Beatles: Rock Band has a new holiday commercial. Marvel sent new Astonishing X-Men and Super Hero Squad Show trailers our way. Ubisoft sent a Just Dance video our way, while Delicious Vinyl sent a smattering of DVDJ videos. And Machines Studios finishes things off with a few new bittos videos.
Title: Street Fighter IV Original Soundtrack
Format: 2 CDs
Published by: Sumthing Else Music Works
Review by: John Gustafson
Without a doubt Street Fighter IV reinvigorated the fighting genre, as well as the 2-dimensional playing field. Equal credit also goes to its fantastic soundtrack, thumping and driving the combos and special attacks.
The Street Fighter series has one of the strongest pedigrees in regards to video game soundtracks, and SFIV sets the bar even higher. With its eclectic mix of trance beat, industrial grind, drum ‘n bass thumping and electronic, spinning this soundtrack not only sets an appropriate tone for the epic battles on screen but cannot help but influence the players. (more…)
Capcom sent out an email addressing the many questions the company has been fielding about specs for Street Fighter IV‘s PC release. The game is expected in June. The specs are as follows…
————— (more…)
Title: Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix
Platform: XBLA (Also on PSN)
ESRB Rating: T
Publisher: Capcom
Developer: Backbone Entertainment
Review by: Kevin Haverty
Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix is the latest Street Fighter title in the series to get the digital download re-release. Unlike Street Fighter II Hyper Fighting, SSFIITHDR’s visuals are redesigned to take full advantage of high-definition video and it looks jaw-droppingly sexy. (more…)
