Nvidia, why do you taunt us so?

The video card in my main box is an Nvidia Geforce GTX 470. http://www.geforce.com/hardware/desktop-gpus/geforce-gtx-470 Not the best card on the market but the best I can justify at the moment. (If any of you feel bad for me, buy my products so I can get a new one ;) )

A couple weeks back Best Buy had the Sony PlayStation 3D display on sale for $199, and being that like a true nerd I am attracted to all things new and high tech, I snapped it up. I had been drooling over this for ages and it was finally mine!

Mine! All mine! My precious! Err, sorry, I switched genres on you there.

I plug my PC into one of the HDMI ports, and it works perfectly right from the get go.

I pop in a copy of the Green Hornet (Don’t judge me!) 3D, put the glasses the screen came with over my own, and hit play.

Gorgeous! Glorious! Great! I can’t wait to load up Dragon Age. Ferelden will be saved in 3D!

It loads! It looks..... freakin 2D...

What the hell Nvidia?  I mean I know my GPU is a little out of date but I paid you 300 bucks for it not all THAT long ago.

Maybe it’s a driver issue, no those are up to date... Off to the Google cave!

It seems if I want to play a movie, Nvidia will graciously allow me to do so. Bless their tight-fisted, money-grubbing, shriveled hearts.

HOWEVER

If I want to play a game, any game, games they brag about in their compatibility list in 3D, I need to buy another program that they will be happy to sell me so that my video card can play in a mode they brag about.

Ah, who cares?  I don’t really mind spending 10 bucks here or there. (If I did Facebook would be much poorer.)

So let’s see, Nvidia 3DTV Plat will cost me... FIFTY DOLLARS? WTH! I mean, come on, I can’t be the only one that finds that ridiculous. I wanna play a game, not buy a new one, for Pete’s sake!

All right, fine, I’ll pay it, but I won’t like it. Let me go buy your overpriced program, you greedy power hungry bast....

Oh, come on!

So, first, you want me to pay for a program that should be free, and then you aren’t even set up for me to buy it?

*Checks calendar*

Nope.  It’s not April Fool’s Day.  They just suck that much.

Maybe when I do upgrade, I’ll go with ATI.

This gets the Nerdly Seal of Suck.

*wanders off muttering*

Holy Review Batman!

The Dark Knight Rises (2012)

To me, this is and will likely always be the defining set of Batman movies.  They did a wonderful job of erasing the stain on the franchise that was Arnold Schwarzenegger making horrible horrible ice puns in Batman & Robin.
               
I’m going to be honest.  I was kind of nervous about Bane being the big bad of the final movie.  I mean, come on, Bane?  Yeah, sure, he “broke the Bat” in the comics, but we’ve already had that story, and aside from that, in my opinion, he’s never been more than a B-list villain.  His look in the 90s Batman: The Animated Series compared to the new look didn’t help.

I did really like that they nailed the cultured refined psychopath vibe in this movie.  Again, I won’t even mention Batman & Robin. *shudder*

By the way, how sad is it that the extra playing the kid doing the national anthem at the football game had a far better voice, and knew the words better, than any of the professional stars to “grace” the super bowl in recent years?

Anne Hathaway as Catwoman.  Please permit me a bit of stereotypical male appreciation, but wow, could she work that cat suit.

I can’t find a picture online of her riding the Batcycle from behind, but shame on you, Mr. Nolan.  You had to have planned that since the first movie.  It was engineered to show off her butt.

Here’s a picture from the side to hold you over until the DVD, guys.

Er, back to the movie.

It was well written and enjoyable.  It was a great set up for Batman 4: The Dark Knight Concludes.  Unfortunately, there won’t be one, so I came away kind of lukewarm.

I think except for poor Heath Ledger’s death, they would have been better off switching Dark Knight and Dark Knight Rises.  The ending left me with more questions than answers, and felt like a bait and switch.

Maybe I’m wrong.  Maybe it’s because I’ve enjoyed this series so much, and I’m sad to see it end.

Still, I did love this movie, and I look forward to adding it to my collection.

I recommend getting your friends together, busting out the Batman tees, and heading to the movies.  This is one to see on the big screen.

The Dark Knight Rises gets the first use of the Nerdly seal of awesomeness, and who wouldn’t rather have that than an Oscar?

PS: Here are two more shots of Hathaway as Catwoman.

Dun ah nuh nuh Lego Batman!

Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes

by Nerdly Sorcerer Supreme

Beware of spoilers

Full disclosure before I start.  Given a choice I will tend to choose Marvel properties over DC, I feel more at home in their universe and more of my favourite characters are Marvel.  This isn’t to say that I don’t have my favourites within the DCU, just that I’d sooner pick up a copy of Avengers over the Justice League, Doctor Strange over Doctor Fate, and Captain Marvel over Captain Marvel.

One thing I do enjoy, though, is the Lego video game franchise.  I rank the first Batman game as my favourite yet, so when I heard that there was going to be a second one, one with an expanded DC roster, my mouth began watering.

So let’s get to the plot.  Lex Luthor breaks Joker out of prison and the two team up to try and defeat Batman and Superman.  Eventually the Justice League gets involved as well and mayhem ensues.  There aren’t many twists and turns to the plot, but it’s kept reasonably light.  Like when Joker and Luthor discover the location of the Bat Cave and casually mention “Oh look, there’s Wayne Manor.”

Wait, what?  Mention?  That’s right, for the first time the Lego game series has proper voice acting and dialogue.  I liked the games better without talking, it added a certain charm and I thought it helped with the comedic factor.  On the whole I don’t think it added much to the game, but it wasn’t a deal breaker.

The one little spot that the plot falls flat is that the game felt to me like it ends abruptly with the likely next villain making an appearance.  After the story ends comes the free play mode, and that’s where you get to explore the world as any character you please, discovering the individual advantages and disadvantages.

The mechanics are simple, and if you’ve played previous games they shouldn’t come as much of a surprise.  Flying is new, and it’s tricky to figure out, but it’s still enjoyable.  I can’t count the number of times I’d have a character fly close to the ocean just to see the water spraying in the air, or just hovering in the air, staring around the city.

To further the point, being Superman yields the advantage of hearing his iconic music in the background while he flies, and it still sends chills up my spine to hear it.  The bulk of the music, however, is more Batman oriented which is fine by me, it’s his name on the title.

I would be remiss if I didn’t touch on the roster.  

 

 

 

Your primary characters through story mode are Batman, Robin and Superman (picking up Green Lantern, Flash, Cyborg and Wonder Woman later on) but come free play mode you can pick up all sorts of people, from Aquaman to Zod.  There’s such variety, with only a slight emphasis on Batman and Superman’s supporting cast, that you’re sure to find a favorite character in the game along with some of the generic henchmen.  There’s something amusing about having the Riddler fighting off his own goons in the middle of the streets of Gotham City.

On the whole I give the game a solid 8 out of 10.  There’s room for improvement, but it’s a welcome addition to the franchise. It receives a good happy Nerdly seal.

 

 

 

Our best to you all

We at Nerducopia try to present fun and interesting things in a jocular manner both for your amusement and our own. We had planned when we got up today to post what we hoped would be a fun and witty review of Dark Knight Rises.

Sadly this is not the time for such light hearted fun.

Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of those hurt and killed in Aurora, Colorado last night.

This tragic event brings to mind how quickly we can lose those who matter to us most.

Dave Fitzgerald

Spider-Man, Spider-Man, does whatever a spider can… again. (Review)

The Amazing Spider-Man (2012)

Spider-Man, Spider-Man, does whatever a spider can… again.

That’s a good summary of the latest incarnation of Spider-Man. It has some good moments and several good points but it is yet another reboot telling more or less the same story.

Boy sees girl, boy gets bitten by radioactive love bug, boy gets girl, boy loses girl, boy saves New York City, boy gets girl back.

Like I said, though, the film does have some good things going for it.

First, Gwen Stacy. Everyone knows about the redheaded cannabis named Mary Jane, Peter's one true love. What you non-nerds may not know is that before Petey found his one true love, he found his one true love: Gwen Stacy. Well, okay, before that, his one true love was Betty Brant, but she’s not in the movie, so who cares.

It was nice to see a relatively little known but important character getting a moment to shine.

Emma Stone did a great portrayal of the character, and hopefully she won’t fall off a bridge this time.

Getting Martin Sheen and Sally Field to play Uncle Ben and Aunt May was another bit of casting I enjoyed, nothing spectacular to point out, but good solid acting in distinguished roles.

I was also happy to see the return of the mechanical webshooters. I know movies are all about suspension of disbelief, especially comic movies, but when watching the original trilogy I couldn’t keep from asking myself how he generated so much fluid and did not look like a prune when he was done webslinging. I mean, if his body was making it, it had to come from somewhere.

Also this movie had the best Stan Lee cameo of all time! I cant even describe it without ruining it but hands down the best!

On to the bad…

I saw the 3D version of this film. I was conflicted. Parts of the 3D were spectacular. You really felt like you were there. The webswinging POV was awesome. Most of the rest of it felt like a 90s simulator at Disneyland: out of synch and blurry. If you or someone you know suffered from 3D-induced motion sickness, go for the 2D or bring a barf bag for them.

Sam Riegel, I’m sorry, but we already have someone to play Edward Cullen... oh.  You’re here to play Peter Parker...

Actually, I don’t blame Andrew Garfield for this.  I blame the make up department. If you look up pictures of the guy, it's not bad, but for Peter you get this.

I kept waiting for him to lurk outside Gwen’s room complaining about how he can't turn her into a sparkly vampire spider.

I had a similar problem with Rhys Ifans as the Lizard.  The acting was great; the costume, however...

The Hulk is on line one.  He wants Abomination back.

It's sad when good acting is held back by bad writing or effects. Natalie Portman, anyone?

So on a scale of A-F

Acting - A
Plot - C
3D - C
Costumes - D
Writing - C-

Comes out to about a C+ all together. Like I said at the beginning of the review, a decent retelling of a story we all know. If you have a kid who loves Spider-Man or you love Spider-Man, see it and get the blu-ray when it comes out, it's enjoyable enough. If you're just a casual fan or a comic movie completest, like me, wait until you can grab a used copy from FYE or Gamestop in a few months.

The not so Amazing Spider-Man gets the Nerdly of Nerducopia seal of “Meh.”