I'll be the first to admit, that the new Street Fighter Movie caught me off guard, after the disaster that was Street Fighter The Movie (1994 and staring Jean Claude Van Dame and Raul Julia in his second to last role (the 1995 drama Down Came a Blackbird was the last film Julia would make before his death) it looked as if no one would touch the franchise with a ten foot pole. Well, I finally got a chance to see it today, and in my opinon the results were mixed.

Legend of Chun Li is essentually a prequel to the Street Fighter games with the plot essentually telling Chun-Li's origins. In terms of the film itself, Legend has a far better cast, and marks the return of Robin Shou (who played Liu Kang in the Mortal Kombat Films) as Chun-Li's mentor Gen, and sticks closer to the backstory outlined in the games, specificially Bision infusing the good half of his soul into Rose and the murder of Chun-Li's father at Bison's hands. Unlike the 94 film, in which Balrog is portrayed as a camera man, and a good guy, Balrog is portrayed as Bison's right hand man, as well as his chief enforcer, also differing from the 94 film is that Bison's organization: Shadaloo is presented as a Mafia esque Terrorist Group, as opposed to a country/city. One of the biggest improvements though is M.Bison himself, specifically in his portrayl. In the original film he was seen as little more then a deranged General with delusions of grandure, in Legend though, his portayl is that of a sadisitic monster with no remorse, who kills and tortures the innocent for his own amusement, while at the same time mansqurading as a swave saphistocated gentelman.

The fight scenes are also far better corographed then Street Fighter 94, and many special movies such as the Haiduken actually look like how they are portrayed in the game. However, in all of the major fights (Chun-Li vs. Vega, Gen vs. Balrog, Gen vs. M. Bison, and Chun-Li vs. M. Bison) the character's special moves are rarely used, had they used the special moves more often, the fight scenes could have had a far bigger impact.

Story wise is where the movie falls apart though, the primary plot of the movie is taking down Bison and Shadaloo, however it is told from two points of view: Chun-Li's and Charlie Nash's. The story is also where Chun-Li's character differes from the game. In the game Chun Li is an Interpol Agent, seeking revenge against M. Bison for the Murder of her father. While revenge is still Chun-Li's motive, the film portrays her as a wealthy concert pianest who over time transforms into a Batman-esque vigilantie working for the Order of the Web.

Over all Legend of Chun-Li is a vast improvement over Street Fighter 94, but it still falls short, owing to it's cleche story line, lack of special moves, and the lack of fan favorite characters like Blanka, Ryu and Ken. However many people chose to lable this a bad movie, simply because Kristin Kreuk doesn't look like the Chun-Li in the Video Game. However, the Chun-Li in the video game is simply a drawing created in a developer's mind, and it's impossible to find any actress that looks exactally like her.

In the annals of Video Game History, there have been numerous failed consoles, but one of the most well known is the first of two add-ons developed for the legendary Sega Genesis: The Sega CD. Much like the Jaguar, the Sega CD, while a bad console, or add-on in this case, is a tragic console. Like the Jaguar the Sega CD had lots of potential to make a killing, but it was ultimatally done in on account of bad management and a game library that was flooded with enough Z-Grade FMV games that you'd think Sega was channeling the spirit of Ed Wood when it came to the Sega CD.

Unlike it's 32X counterpart the Sega CD is actually the better of the two Genesis add-ons. There are two specific models, the Model 1, which is a frontloader and fits nicely on the bottom of a Model 1 Genesis. The Model 2 is the more common of the two Sega CDs, and is a top-loader similar to the Sega Saturn and Playstation 1, and attaches to the sides of a Model 2 Genesis. The Sega CD also had a first, that many consoles would later copy, an internal hard drive to which games could be saved. The add-on's black finish and rounded design fit rather nicely with the Genesis's own sleak design. The CDs are fairly easy to insert, however they tend to be rather loose, once placed in the console, but this also makes the disks easy to remove. The Sega CD does have a very flimsy feel to it, but despite that it can hold up rather well, but like all disk base consoles, the Sega CD is sucepitble to Disk Read Errors brought about by dirt or damaged disks.

However, the biggest drawback to the Sega CD, and one of the primary reasons for it's downfall, is that it's an Add-on vs. a stand alone console. The result of this is that the Sega CD is acutally very expensive, since it requires the purcheus of a Genesis console, and from what I'm awhare of, the CD model 1 will only work with the Genesis Model 1 and the CD Model 2 will only work with the Genesis Model 2.

The Sega CD's Game Library however, is one of the worst ever put out. For a console that was capable of producing gems like Sonic CD and Sol Fece, having a library that is made up of almost entierly of interactive movies and FMV based games is inexcusable. With the exception of games like Sonic CD, which use in-game graphics engines, the Sega CD's FMV/Interactive Movie based games are nightmares, with many cut scenes long enough to warrent an intermission and a trip to the refreshment counter, and offer very little in the way of actual game play, much of which is simply point, click, and then fall asleep while watching some of the worst acting in history, and the FMV graphics are down right attrocious, with the footage taking up about 25% of the screen, and is so badly pixilated it's almost unplayable.

Despite it's flaws, the Sega CD has it's place in history as the first commercially successful CD-based game console, as well as being the console that introduced internal memory to consoles, and when compared to the 32X, the Sega CD actually has a decent sized game libary. However with a game library that is flooded with some of the worst games ever produced, the Sega CD is a console that should be given some thought too before deciding wheather or not to buy it.

I finally had a chance to see a piece of Batman History: the 1966 adaptation of the TV Series, Batman the Movie. Over all it's not the worst Batman movie ever produced, and in many ways, like the TV show itself, the movie hovers between being a comedy and a spoof of the Batman Character as he existed in the 1950s and early 60s. Today the crowing achievment of the Batman series is the greatness that is the Dark Knight, but back in the 60s Comic Books were treated the same way Video Games are seen today: something that appeals only to children or a small majority of adults.

The plot of the film is cleche at best, and is in many ways just a big screen verson of an episode of the TV Show. Batman and Robin (played by Adam West and Burt Ward) confront four of their biggest enemies: The Joker (Ceaser Romero), Riddler (Frank Gorshin), Penguin (Burguss Meradeth, who would later go on to play Golobulus in GI JOE: The Movie and Mickey Goldman in the Rocky Movies) and Catwoman (Lee Merriweather) who have united in an attempt to take over the world by using a disintgrating gun on the members of the United Nations Security Council.

In many ways the film can be seen as the point where the Batman TV Series "jumps the shark" since there are a few scenes and events that are so rediculus that they're good. For example about half way through the movie there is a scene where Batman is running around like a maniac trying to get rid of live bomb, howeve he keeps running into every thing from Nun to a band that plays the same song over and over again to baby ducks, the result is probably one of the best bad lines ever written: "Some days you just can't get rid of a bomb. Towards the end of the movie, the Batcopter is damaged by a Polaris missile, fired from the Penguin's submarine, and despite what should have been a fatal shot, the Batcopter lands safely at a conventally placed Foam Rubber Convention, and shows no signs of any kind of damage.

Another thing that people will notice in this film is Batman's relationship with the Police. In the film, much like the TV Series, Batman and Robin are honorary members of the Gotham City Police Department, which is portrayed as being made up of rejects from other cities police accademies. Unlike the Comics, which even at the time, showed Batman's relationship with the GCPD was at best strained or uneasy, the film portrays the GCPD as being unable to function without them. In fact Batman and Robin are apparently so well loved in the film and the TV Show that they are even allowed to store the Batcopter at the Gotham City International Airport, instead of in the Batcave.

The acting is what one would expect from the 1966 era TV Show, poorely written dialogue, combined with over acting at it's best. At times, Adam West and Burt Ward act, and sound like, they're reading their lines from que-cards while an acting coach is directing their movements. However, it should also be noted, that the 66 film does pay homage to the romance that exists between Batman and Catwoman, although it is never taken seriously, and the audience knows in advance that Catwoman is simply playing Batman for a fool, owing to her identity as Batman's love interest: Kitka, a Russian Report, being revealed at the beginning of the movie.

In the end though, Batman the Movie, like the 60s TV Show is actually watchible, but it should be remembered that it's a comedy/spoof of the Batman Universe, and isn't meant to be taken as seriously as the Tim Burton and Chris Nolan films of later years. When compared to a film like Batman 89 or the Dark Knight, Batman 66 is outdated, and is seen as a slap in the face to many Batman Fans, especally those who grew up watching the greatness of Batman: The Animated Series or were introduced to the character through the Tim Burton and Chris Nolan films.

I finally was able to complete the Waters of Life Main Quest in Fallout 3, finally allowing me to try out the Operation: Anchorage Expansion Pack.

Over all it's pretty good, and actually presents a rather original idea: Recreating a Pre-Great War event, allowing you to experence World War III before it went nuclear.
The only really big grip I can find with the add on is that it's a simulation as opposed to the acutall Anchorage Reclimation. Based on a lot of the trailers I was expecting this be a seperate campaign, serving as a prequel to the events of the original Fallout Games. However though it is a nice change of pace to see what the Fallout Universe looked like before the bombs fell, and the addition of new enemies in the form of the Chinese Red Army and some new quests will provide a welcome change for those wanting to expand their Fallout 3 playtimes.

Hopefully Operation Anchorage lays the foundation for a Fallout Prequel, set in the days leading up to the Great War, or focusing on the Rise of the Brotherhood of Steel and the Enclave

Even though I'm a huge Xbox 360 fan, I feel it's not right that PS3 owners who bought Fallout 3, and spent 60 dollars for it, won't have the chance to experence any of the three expansion packs.

I've been through two copies of Castlevania Curse of Darkness for the Xbox, and both have had the same problem: the Sound Effects aren't coming in clearly. I'm able to get the music, and cut scene dialogues but when the actual game commences I can't hear any of the sound effects.

I know it's not my Xbox, because I've played other games on it and they work perfectally, has anyone else had this problem?

The Turbo-Grafx 16 is one of the forgotten systems, a good little console that is often overshadowed by the success of it's two main rivals: the Sega Genesis and the Super Nintendo. It's easy to point to the Genesis and the SNES as the primary reasons for why the TG-16 went under, but much of the blame can also be leveled against NEC for failing to properly advertise the TG-16 in the US, which climaxed in the abysmal Johnny Turbo ads.

On the surface the TG-16 can be described as essentually a poor man's Sega Genesis, while it containes a 16 Bit Graphics card, it was powered by an 8bit main processor. However the results are quite impressive, with many TG-16 games actually looking like they are true 16bit games.

In terms of appearnce, the TG-16 is a mixed bag, it has a nice sturdy feel to it, but it lacks any of the sleekness that the Genesis has, and ultimatly has a very bland outward appearence. However the worst feature is that the TG-16 only has one controller output, so a multi-tab is required in order to use many games multiplayer features. Also the controller tends to be a chore to unplug.

The worst aspect about the console as a whole though, is the idea that in order to attach the RF and Power Adaptors, you must remove the back of the console, which reveals the expansion port for the Audio and CD attachments. While this isn't neccisarily a design flaw, the problem is that the covering is wedged on too tightly and requires a lot of effort to remove.

The Controller though is actually one of the better controllers out there. It's comfortable to hold, and is similar in nearly every aspect to an NES controller, except it's larger. The best aspect of the controller though is that it has Turbo built in, which can be controllered by moving the turbo switches on the controller. However one of the problems with the controller are the labels, instead of SELECT, START, B, and A, the TG-16 has SELECT, RUN, II, and I which can be confusing for gamers who are used to the NES layout.

Game wise, the TG-16 actually had a decent library, and the Turbocard Cartridges are actually fairly well designed, and their smaller size makes them easier to store then the bulkier NES and Sega Genesis cartridges, and are also compadible with the TG-16's other incarnations, the Turbo-Duo and the Turbo-Express Handheld, and thanks to the smaller size of the Turbocards, the cartridges could actually be carried in a pocket.

The problem with the games though, can be traced back to NEC's terrible advertising campaign, the artwork makes them very unattractive, and many Turbocards lack any artwork on the cartridges themselves. When you look at a Sega Genesis, NES, or SNES cartridge, you notice how vibrant and colorful the artwork is, with characters in action poses, or engaging their arch-enemy. The Turbocards have none of that, with many often only having the game's name on a sold color background. The result is that many good games, such as the Legendary Axe Series and Galaga 90 were over looked or mistakened for bad games.

All in all, the TG-16 is a budget system, but unlike other budget consoles, the TG-16 does possess a decent library, making the system something for collectors and fans of old school games.

With the Dark Knight offically the greatest Batman Movie ever produced, thanks in no part to Heath Ledger's Oscar Worhty Preformance (and if he doesn't get an Oscar for that role, then the Academy needs to go back to Film School)

Of course the big question is who will be the villians in Batman 3?

Here's my top 10 list

1. The Riddler

Best Choice: Johnny Depp

Portrayl: For some reason I can picture the Riddler as possessing Hannable Lector's intellect, Jigsaw's skill with puzzle traps, and the Zodiac Killer's randomness, and skill with mind games, such as leaving encoded notes at the scenes of his crimes for the police.

2. Talia

3. The Mad Hatter

4. Catwoman

5. Kurt Langstrum/Man-Bat

6. Black Mask

7. Harley Quinn

8. Clayface

9. Lady Shiva

10. Poison Ivy

I've done some reviews of my various consoles, so for a little fun I decided to make a list of the consoles I own from my least favorte to my favorite and a list of my favorite games for each.

11. Atari Jaguar

Favorite Jaguar Game: Wolfenstien 3D

10. Nintendo Wii

Favorite Wii Game: House of the Dead 2&3 Return. Favorite Gamecube Game: Star Wars: Rogue Squadren II

9. Atari Lynx (Model II)

Favorite Lynx Game: Batman Returns

8. Sega Master System (Model II)

Favorite Master System Game: Shinobi

7. Nintendo DS Lite

Favorite DS Lite Game: Contra 4

*6. Nintendo Entertainment System (Top Loader) *Note: I also have a grey box NES that is in need of refurbushing.

Favorite NES Games: Ninja Gaiden and Castlevania

5. Gameboy Advanced SP

Favorite Gameboy Advanced Game: Dynasty Warriors: Advanced

4. Playstation Portable Lite

Favorite PSP Game: Castlevania Dracula X Chronicles

3. Xbox

Favorite Xbox Games: Ninja Gaiden Black and Halo

2. Sega Genesis

Favorite Genesis Games: Sonic the Hedgehog and Mortal Kombat

1. Xbox 360 Elite

Favorite Xbox 360 Games: Halo 3, Gears of War, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, Fallout 3, BioShock and DarkSector

Consoles Wanted

Playstation 3 (60 GB)

Where do I begin with this one, everyone knows about the Atari Jaguar, one of the biggest failures in the history of Video Games, and considered by many to be the worst console ever produced. I managed to buy a Jaguar off a friend of mine today and here's my take on this one, while it's not the worst console ever made, it's still terrible.

Over all the console itself isn't the problem. As a whole the Jaguar is actually a very cosmectic consle, it's very sleek and very easy to set up. The addition of a blood red Jaguar Logo is also a rather nice feature in terms of how a console should look. In terms of construction the Jaguar's base unit is farily well put together and feels extremely sturdy. The Games are of course fairly easy to put into and remove from the cartridge slot, although like many consoles that are cartridge based, it can be suceptible to dust and dirt, and the lack of any kind of covering for the cartridge slot makes contamination a very big problem. Another problem though is that the Jaguar will only work with the actual Jaguar cables, where most consles allow you to use any AV Cables to hook it up.

While the Jaguar had a very cool sounding name, and was all together a sleek and well built console, it didnt' help stave off the console's downfall. There are many reasons the Jaguar failed, ranging from Atari's terrible buisness descisions to the arrival of the Playstation One in North America. However there are four issues in particular that I would like to address.

Problem #1 is right on the console itself. Just below the Atari Logo is the phrase that ultimatly doomed the Jaguar right from the get go: 64-Bit Interactive Multimedia System. If you've owned or played a Jaguar Console, you know for a fact that statement is a blatent lie. For starters the Jaguar IS NOT 64 Bits, and second, without the Jaguar-CD attachment, the Jaguar IS NOT an Interactive Multimedia System. In terms of bits, I don't know what Atari was trying to make, but it wasn't a 64 Bit consol. It's like they couldn't decide if they were making a 64, 32 or 16 Bit console so what you end up with is a three way hybrid. This statement also played into Atari's marketing campagin for the Jaguar, resulting in the infamous "Do the Math" Campaign.

Problem #2 is the controller. Where do I start, the controller is huge, and comes complete with it's own keypad. For starters this is a video game controller, not a telephone, and it's practicatlly useless, except for games like Doom and the Iron Soldier Series. When it comes to the keypad the question is if it didn't help Coleco Vision, Intellvison or the Atari 5200, why would it help the Jaguar? The additon of the keypad makes the controller extremely uncomfortable to hold, and to add insult to injury there is no start button either. One of the worst features though is the D-Pad which ultimatly feels way too sensitive and in simulater and shooter games this can be annoying.

Problem #3 lies in the Jaguar's Game Library, it had very little in the way of games that gamers wanted to play. Although the Jaguar had a few worth while games like Tempest 2000, Wolfenstien 3D, Doom and Alien vs. Preditor, the bulk of it's games were jokes, left overs that Sega, Nintendo, and Sony didn't want or were poor First Party Games produced by Atari itself, and were little more then remakes of popular Atari games from the 70s and 80s, although one, Atari Karts, ammounted to little more then a clone of the SNES Mario Kart game.

Problem #4 was Atari itself and the timing of the Jaguar's release. In this instant the root of the problem could be traced to an interview Atari's president conducted with Next Generation magazine. Through out the interview Atari's President essentually brags about how successful the Jaguar will be, going so far as to annouce that a Jaguar 2 was in development, while offering little in the way to support his argument and even admits that the 32bit Playstation 1 is more powerful then the so called 64 Bit Jaguar. The timing of the Jaguar's release couldn't have been worse, being released just as the Sega Saturn, Nintendo 64 and Sony Playstation were just about to hit the North American market, and Atari's reptuation had long since been destroyed by inept management and a flood of bad consles and bad games.

Over all the Jaguar is with out adoubt a horrible console, part of it comes from the fact that the Jaguar was never pushed to it's full potental and being forced to wear the mask of something it wasn't just to improve it' s maker's image. While the Jaguar isn't a console I would recomend to casual gamers, if you're a collector or a fan of Atari then I would suggest taking a look at it.

Where to begin, all I can really say is that the current economic storm is what people have wanted. it's easy to blame corprate greed for the mess, but the annoucement that a bailout for the auto industry went down because the UAW refused to give up any of it's bonuses and benifits shows the side of the meltdown no one wants to look at, worker and consumer greed.

we live in a world where who ever tells the saddest story is the one who gets off the hook, with out a second guess. People have failed to realise that they are allowing history to repeat itself, the mentality of "don't bailout wall street or the buisness out, teach them a lesson by letting them go under." is the exact same mentality that caused the Great Depression. In 1929 the government did exactally what the people wanted, and one year later those who cheered as wall street fell apart were themselves on the street, and the tone changed from "no bailout" to "why didn't you bail them out?"

Today people advocate isolationism as the solution to the mess, but it's not, in fact it will only make things worse. The world is too integrated for any nation to cut itself off from the rest world, because what happens to one will affect us all eventually.

It's easy to say "It's all Bush's Fault or it's all Big Buisness's fault." But what about homeowners who took out loans they knew they couldn't pay back and bought houses, cars, and boats they couldn't afford and never changed their ways? What about the people who ran up their credit cards to the point where they couldn't pay them off, buying stuff they knew they couldn't afford and didn't need? what about Unions who demanded too much from their companies, knowing they would one day run that company into the ground? Why is it they seem to get off scott free?

The point of this is simply that it's not Bush's fault, the Republicans fault, or even greedy CEOs and Workers. The true blame for this current mess lies with all of us, from the wealthiest to the poorest for being too blind to see it. Instead of swollowing their pride and making concessions that would have helped solve the problem, all we're doing is pointing fingers and shifting blame while the problem continues to get worse.

The future is not set in stone, and the world will recover from this recession like it has from all the others. Yet it will only happen if people stop blaming everyone but themselves for the mess and start doing stuff to help solve it.