Top 5 Cards

I'm really late on this, I know, but I didn't have the time and wanted to think about it a bit.

For those of you who don't know, the gaming / blogging buddies have been waxing nostalgic about their top 5 favorite cards from any game. Here's what I liked:

#5 - Borg Queen - Star Trek Customizable Card Game (Decipher)


One of my favorite cards to emerge from the chaos that was the development of First Contact which was, imho, the best STCCG set produced. I could have put down any of the Borg cards, but the Queen and her amazing ability to download half your damn deck just takes the cake.












#4 - Cloud City Dining Room - Star Wars Collectible Card Game (Decipher)


I swear to God it was a joke. During the development of this set, I just jokingly said that we should add the text "Jek Porkins deploys free here." The day this card released, my inbox was flooded with email about how Decipher hates fat people. Imagine my surprise when I saw the text. There was a LOT of flavor and game text in that set (Swing and a Miss, anyone?) that should have never made it.




#3 - Royal Assassin - Magic: The Gathering (WOTC)


Holy shit. How could you possibly get a card more powerful than this in the meta it was released in? Provided you could protect him from Lightning Bolts and Fireballs or Armageddons and such, he was a...well...assassin. Team it up with the Icy Manipulator (which I frequently did and no I won't sell you either card) and it pissed off more early Magic opponents I faced than anything else. (Outside of the one turn win I pulled on a guy with the Channel-Fireball-Mountain-Black Lotus crap.) Regardless, RA is a great card.








#2 - Web-Headed Wizard - Overpower (Fleer)


Yes, I really enjoyed this game and played the crap out of it when it released. At the time, I was making more money than probably 99% of my opponents so I was the guy who had several of every card, including this difficult to find promo. (Moreso because there was no ebay yet.) This was the ultimate "get it back from the dead" card and I played it to death. Ah, the good old days.










#1 - Obi-Wan Kenobi - Star Wars Customizable Card Game (Decipher)


This was actually the second "main" I pulled out of booster packs when Star Wars CCG came out. (Despite having done both playtesting and been responsible for Force Draining, the only reason anyone ever moved from one site or system to another I wasn't given any cards until A New Hope.) I got further lucky in that my Obi-Wan is one of the rare "blue" set. Apparently it had something to do with a couple of bad sheets printing up with a blue tint. (No, I won't sell it either.) Despite that, this card was a beast. Always drew destiny, killer with a lightsaber and he could sweep away opponents like no one's business. Plus, it was just cool to play the old man.






Also rans:

- You'll notice that I didn't include any cards from The Lord of the Rings TCG. As much as I liked the game, looking back at it, there aren't many cards that stand out to me.

- There are two cards that I would very much like to put on this list but both are from the second expansion for the WARS TCG. However, those artists were never paid for their work and I suspect I'm the only person that has a full set of the cards (albeit electronic). Hence, they will never see the light of day, sadly.

- There was a great card in Rage that almost took the #4 slot and probably would have if I could have remembered the name and found the image.

- The game with the best cards, would be hands down Star Trek CCG. Of every card game I played, that one just has the best memories.

Gaming on Saturn

Games rejoice. Saturnians prefer hex maps.

Read it here.

It Was Only A Matter Of Time

We laughed so hard at work today watching this...

Cowabunga...

I've seen a handful of blogs and reviews already of movie-snobbery, turning their noses up at this film, but here's my unbiased review.

I loved it.

I took my three-year-old to see this today, much to the chagrin of the significant other who AS WE WERE LEAVING decided to complain this was a rated PG film. After a quick run through the snack bar (popcorn and Hershey Kissables) we settled into our seats. He was greeted with previews for The Fantastic Four and Spider-Man before the TMNT logo finally came up. I kept asking him if he was ok and whether or not he was scared. At one point, when a particularly silly little red monster is attacking Raphael, he looked up at me and beamed with the biggest smile I have ever seen. We had an absolute ball.

I could go on about how great the graphics and character voice work was but it all boils down to a great popcorn film on a Sunday afternoon. I'd see it again tomorrow if I could.

One Life Is Enough, Thank You

I play World of Warcraft, more occasionally now than anything. It's pretty much a silly escape from the everyday world and in the later levels, it's a fashion show with magical broadswords. Think Barbie meets Conan and you'd be about correct.

There is another MMORPG out there that I have only a passing knowledge of called Second Life. It came up in a conversation at work and my assistant sent me the following column about Second Life, written by Warren Ellis. Based on this article, there's no way in Hell I will ever long into this nonsense.

Considering the Plunge

I'm going to be spending a lot of time on airplanes over the next couple of months so I'm considering purchasing an iPod (or another MP3 player). Since I think I'm the last person on Earth to get one, I had some questions that I can't seem to find non-biased answers for. So, since I believe everyone who reads my blog owns one, I thought I would turn for you guys to help.

1) I have MP3's on my system that were ripped using a non iTunes program. Can I transfer those to an iPod?
2) If I put iTunes on my home system and work system, can I use both systems to add songs to the iPod?
3) If I go with the larger iPod with a video screen, how do I get videos on there? Is there a way other than buying them from Apple?
4) Is there a significant reason to buy an iPod as opposed to another MP3 player?
5) Is there anything else I should expect? Any pitfalls to avoid?

That's it. Any help is appreciated.

PS3 Goes Home

The PS3, the flailing entry into the next-generation console market, has finally shown it's "killer app" that might just tip the scales in Sony's favor. The XBox 360 has a pretty well established base at the moment and the Wii is certainly the "new hotness" (just try and find one). "Home", however, is off the charts. Check out the video trailer
here.

Cap is Still Dead, Day 5

And although I'm not a huge Colbert fan, I thought this was funny.

Captain America is Dead

Sorry for no "spoiler" warning but pretty much every news outlet is blaring this out. I don't really have a big statement on this. It certainly won't "stick". The Death of Superman didn't (he got better). Captain Mar-Vell just came back (thank you time travel). Heck, Spider-Man died last year.

It's still a pisser how after several months of being portrayed as a right-wing lunatic (don't get me going there) they choose to end it by having a sniper take him out.

Breathtaking

This is a MOVIE of the Cassinni spacecraft flying from above to below the plane of Saturn's rings.

Simply astounding. It's not a movie in the sense we're used to, but a condensed set of pictures taken over the 12-hour flyby. To think that we can see something like this is incredible. It makes me wonder what my children will see when they're my age.

Check it out here.