MAFEX action figures may be expensive compared to McFarlane Toys’ or Hasbro’s offerings, but they’re worth it. The two newest characters announced from Medicom Toy are a horseback Batman from the classic The Dark Knight Returns comics and the iconic T-800 endoskeleton seen in Terminator 2: Judgement Day.
Batman stands 6.3″ tall and has a static horse close to 10″ tall. The two capture the fantastic scene where Batman and the reformed mutants try to bring order to Gotham City after a nuclear explosion causes a massive power outage. The Batman figure is bulky, just like how Frank Miller drew him, and he has lots of articulation. The unretired Bats are priced at $164.99.
The Terminator looks far better than the NECA version I’ve owned. Hydraulics is one of the hardest things to get right on the endoskeleton. You want a lot of articulation, but it’s tough to nail the engineering with many tiny moving parts.
My NECA T-800 broke the second it was out of the box, with little parts falling out or coming loose. The MAFEX version is far superior, especially with that $139.99 price tag.
Both toys are scheduled for a February 2024 release but can be pre-ordered at the Big Bad Toy Store.
The horse-riding Dark Knight comes with the following:
Alternate face sculpt
Bloody torso piece
Alternate mask piece
Batarang piece
Saddle piece
Weirdly, Batman has an alternate cowl, but there’s no Bruce Wayne head to use with it. Maybe this accessory is intended for people who purchased an earlier MAFEX figure?
The Star Wars galaxy, Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, and the X-Men are all up for some new issues in the latest comic book pull list from Marvel Entertainment. In this list, we see two members of the mutants get back together as Gambit and Rogue are reunited for a new series.
“In ROGUE & GAMBIT (2023) #1, destiny strikes your favorite X-Men duo! Krakoa is on a precipice. Destiny alone can see what’s coming—but the precog cannot act. For that, she’ll need her adoptive daughter, Rogue. Husbands need not apply…but with mutant duties stealing Rogue away so much these days, Gambit is determined to make the most of the mission and put some Cajun spice back into their increasingly complicated love affair. He just has to make it out of the bar first,” they said in a statement. “Powerhouse writer Stephanie Phillips joins fan-favorite artist Carlos Gómez for a thrill ride that’ll lay bare some of Krakoa’s biggest secrets in ROGUE & GAMBIT (2023) #1…”
They revealed the list on their website:
New Comics
CAPTAIN AMERICA: SENTINEL OF LIBERTY (2022) #10
COSMIC GHOST RIDER (2023) #1
GHOST RIDER (2022) #12
HALLOWS’ EVE (2023) #1
I AM IRON MAN (2023) #1
MURDERWORLD: GAME OVER 1 (2023) #1
ROGUE & GAMBIT (2023) #1
SPIDER-GWEN: SHADOW CLONES (2023) #1
SPIDER-MAN (2022) #6
SPIDER-MAN: UNFORGIVEN (2022) #1
STAR WARS (2020) #32
STAR WARS: HAN SOLO & CHEWBACCA (2022) #10
STAR WARS: HIDDEN EMPIRE (2022) #4
STAR WARS: THE HIGH REPUBLIC – THE BLADE (2022) #3
STAR WARS: THE MANDALORIAN (2022) #8
VENOM (2021) #17
X-FORCE (2019) #38
New Collections
DEFENDERS: BEYOND TPB
ETERNALS: A HISTORY WRITTEN IN BLOOD TPB
IMMORTAL IRON FIST & THE IMMORTAL WEAPONS OMNIBUS HC AJA COVER
X-MEN BY GERRY DUGGAN VOL. 3 TPB
X-MEN: THE ANIMATED SERIES – THE FURTHER ADVENTURES TPB
Marvel Unlimited
ALIEN #3
ALL-OUT AVENGERS #3
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #14
AVENGERS FOREVER #11
DAREDEVIL #5
DEADLY NEIGHBORHOOD SPIDER-MAN #2
DEFENDERS: BEYOND #5
DOCTOR STRANGE: FALL SUNRISE #1
FANTASTIC FOUR #52 FACSIMILE EDITION
GENIS-VELL: CAPTAIN MARVEL #5
MIDNIGHT SUNS #3
STAR WARS: REVELATIONS #1
STAR WARS: YODA #1
X-FORCE #34
X-MEN #17
These titles will be available in print or digital on March 1, 2023.
The 2022 reboot ‘Urusei Yatsura’ is based on the romantic sci-fi comedy manga created by Rumiko Takahashi and published from September 24, 1978, to February 4, 1987. The show is developed by the Japanese animation studio David Productions. HiDive acquired the rights to stream it in the United States and announced plans to produce an English dub.
“When aliens known as the Oni threaten to invade the Earth, they promise to leave under one condition—a randomly-chosen human must win a one-on-one game of tag against Lum, the beautiful daughter of the Oni leader. The “lucky” person selected happens to be the lustful and unlucky high schooler Ataru Moroboshi. Given 10 days to attempt to grab Lum’s horns, Ataru realizes how impossible the challenge is as he is faced with Lum’s extraterrestrial powers.
Motivated by a promise of marriage from his childhood friend Shinobu Miyake, Ataru manages to catch Lum off guard. He mistakenly grabs hold of her bikini top first, but he eventually achieves his true goal. Although the game is over, Lum misunderstands that she is the one whom Ataru wants to marry, and she decides to move in with him. The poor student constantly tries to shake off the clingy Lum while doing his best to reconcile with his desired fiancée. After Ataru’s heroic feat results in such a disastrous outcome, it is questionable whether luck will ever be on his side.”
‘Urusei Yatsura’ had been previously adapted into an anime in 1981.
With Creed III set to release in theaters soon, everyone is getting in the mood for some boxing. Boxing is a sport that while brutal has always had an allure to an audience that loves seeing combat sports. Many call boxing the sweet science, but it’s also been a sweet space for those who love video games. If you’re looking to get ready for Creed III, then you may want to revisit some of the fun boxing games you may have forgotten about.
Now while there have been many boxing games developed over the years, not all of them were hits or even mediocre successes. Sometimes you just have to take the loss and move on to fight another day. But the boxing games mentioned here are each game that was either fun or interesting enough for anyone to check out, even if you’re not a big fan of the sport of boxing. At the same time, none of these games is necessarily better than the other, both in terms of adapting to what boxing is or how fun they are to play. But if you want to get into that feeling of studying the sweet science, then you’ll want to check out these boxing games before you go see Creed III in theaters.
Ready 2 Rumble Boxing
One of the more over-the-top takes on boxing developed by Midway Games in 1999. The game was released first on the SEGA Dreamcast, and then later ported over to the original PlayStation and Nintendo 64. Not only does Ready 2 Rumble Boxing simplify the sport, but it takes certain aspects of boxing to a far extreme.
And yet the competition was fierce while the gameplay was fun to get into, allowing players to take on challengers alone on a championship run, or box each other in multiplayer exhibitions. And to top it all off, legendary boxing announcer Michael Buffer appears in the game and gives his iconic introductions and catchphrases just before a match. It’s everything fun that you love about boxing in a great package.
The fighters you play as each has their own gimmicks and outlandish personalities, but also have a variety of powerful punches and special moves to use in the ring. How ridiculous is it to get into the ring with a fighter named Afro Thunder, who sports a giant afro hairstyle and dances around the ring with smooth moves? And when a fighter lands enough hits to spell out RUMBLE on the screen, things can get pretty crazy just before a quick knockout.
The first game proved to be successful enough to entice Midway to develop a sequel, conveniently titled Ready 2 Rumble Boxing: Round 2. The second game featured more characters on the roster and a few special guest characters like Michael Jackson and Shaquille O’Neal as playable fighters. Even funnier was the inclusion of then-US President Bill Clinton and first lady Hillary Clinton as well. There was also a third entry of the series called Ready 2 Rumble: Revolution for the Nintendo Wii but did not receive as good of a reception as its predecessors.
EA Sports Fight Night
When it comes to real-world boxing, the undisputed champion is the EA Sports Fight Night series released by Electronic Arts. From 2004 to 2011, there have been multiple entries of Fight Night that featured many professional boxers of all weight classes, as well as legendary boxers from throughout history. What many don’t remember is how Fight Night is actually a continuation of the EA Sports Knockout Kings series. These games were released annually from 1998 to 2002 on various platforms until they underwent a rebrand into the Fight Night series.
The Fight Night games were incredibly popular among sports fans because of the realistic approach to boxing. Everything from the entrances and presentation to the real damage and boxing mechanics was well received, convincing EA to continue releasing new entries for multiple years. Even the commentary emulated what boxing fans saw on television very well, utilizing the talents of media personalities like Max Kellerman. And of course, you could play alone in various Championship modes or enter the ring against other offline and online for ranked matches.
Much like many other EA Sports games, the roster of fighters in each new release of Fight Night was complimented by iconic boxers from different eras of boxing. Fighters like Muhammad Ali, Mike Tyson, Oscar De La Hoya, George Forman, Joe Frasier, and many others were often shown on the box art. Anybody that wanted to see dream matches between their favorite boxers could do so.
Punch-Out
It doesn’t get any more old-school fun with boxing games than Punch-Out. Considered one of the great video game releases in arcades and for the Nintendo Entertainment System, Punch-Out puts you in the boots of underdog Little Mac as he aims for a boxing championship. Blocking his path is an ensemble of goofy fighters who will try to stop him. And if you played the game on NES, you had the chance to throw down with Iron Mike Tyson in a final battle that has gone down in video game history.
Punch-Out is one of the simpler games to adapt to the sport of boxing. Little Mac has a few punches that he can throw, but it’s all about timing your dodges and punches for the right moment. And because Little Mac is so small compared to his opponents, one hit from them is enough to knock him down or out cold. Yet at the same time, as it can be in real boxing, one good shot at the perfect time will knock out an opponent and bring Little Mac closer to the championship.
One thing that Punch-Out doesn’t get enough credit for is showing other aspects of boxing during the era it was released. Little Mac running with his trainer Doc Louis is something pulled straight from the Rocky movies, playing more onto the theme of boxing. Later entries, such as Super Punch-Out on the SNES and Punch-Out for the Wii, also included different aspects of boxing culture in comedic and goofy ways. With the release on the Nintendo Wii, Little Mac can end up in a boxing match against Nintendo’s Donkey Kong and his trainer Doc Louis too. While more of a parody of boxing as a whole, Punch-Out still remains a classic game series that keeps the sport of boxing on everyone’s mind in some way.
What are some of the boxing games you remember playing back in the day? Is there a favorite boxer you have that you watched on TV? Tell us about all of it in the comments down below!
Viewtiful Joe 2 comes on two LPs and is pressed in a translucent red, blue, and black vinyl, featuring 39 tracks from composers Masami Ueda and Sayaka Morita. The cover art is by Drew Wise, who also did LP covers for the Persona series.
One of the most exciting inclusions here is Fantasy Zone because it marks the first time the vinyl has been released outside of Japan (officially, anyway). The trippy shooter was one of my first SEGA Master System games growing up. Attempting to keep Opa-Opa alive while also managing money and weapons were challenging, and Hiroshi Kawaguchi’s score gets stuck in my head occasionally.
Mondo, sadly, does not give us images of the Animal Crossing or Fantasy Zone LPs. However, we know that Fantasy Zone’s LP “is pressed on 180g opaque pink vinyl, with audio sourced from the original arcade machine.” The classic arcade game’s soundtrack includes a live medley by SEGA Sound Unit [H.].
From what I’ve seen elsewhere, the Animal Crossing: Totakeke Music Instrumental Selection LP is a simple black vinyl. There’s a video of it below.
Viewtiful Joe 2 is a Mondo Exclusive and is going for $45. Fantasy Zone is only $30 while the Animal Crossing selection is a pricy $80.
Originally released as a web novel by an author known as Shu, ‘The Misfit of Demon King Academy’ is a light novel series published by ASCII Media Works since 2018. The Japanese animation studio Silver Link picked it up for an anime adaption in 2020. The second season premiered in January 2023 after a hiatus.
Crunchyroll announced that they would be streaming it as well as producing an English dub with Aniplex. They released the cast list on their website:
Anos Voldigoad voiced by Aleks Le (Zenitsu in Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba)
Misha Necron voiced by Brianna Knickerbocker (Filo in The Rising of the Shield Hero)
Sasha Necron voiced by Kayli Mills (Takagi in Teasing Master Takagi-san)
Lay Glanzudulii voiced by Griffin Puatu (Seadall in Fire Emblem Engage)
Misa Ilioroagu voiced by Jackie Lastra (Koguma in Super Cub)
Eleonore Bianca voiced by Abby Trott (Nezuko in Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba)
Zethia Bianca voiced by Lisa Reimold (Perla Pucci in JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Stone Ocean)
Shin Reglia voiced by Daman Mills (Frieza in Dragon Ball Super)
Erdomaid DittiJohn voiced by Jonah Scott (Kirishima in The Yakuza’s Guide to Babysitting)
“In the distant past, a war between humans and demons brought about widespread chaos and bloodshed. To put an end to this seemingly endless conflict, Demon King Anos Voldigoad willingly sacrificed his life, hoping to be reborn in a peaceful future.
In preparation for their king’s return, the demon race created the Demon King Academy, an elite institution tasked with determining Anos’ identity when he reawakens. He reincarnates two millennia later, but to his surprise, he soon learns that the level of magic in the world has drastically waned during his absence. Moreover, when he enrolls at the academy to reclaim his rightful title, he finds out that demonkind remembers him differently. His personality, his deeds, and even his legacy are all falsified—masked beneath the name of an impostor. This “lack” of common knowledge renders him the academy’s outlier—a misfit never before seen in history.
Despite these drawbacks, Anos remains unfazed. As he sets out to uncover those altering his glorious past, he takes it upon himself to make his descendants recognize that their ruler has finally returned.”
Square Enix has released a manga version that began publication in 2018.
The Scottish thriller series ‘The Rig’ is returning for a second season, Amazon Studios confirmed. The supernatural show was developed by FirstStage Studios and streamed to Prime Video.
“Prime Video will return to Scotland for a second installment of supernatural series The Rig. The global hit show is the second UK Original drama to be renewed in recent months, following the success of The Devil’s Hour,” Amazon said in a statement. “Production returns to FirstStage Studios in Edinburgh with filming due to start later this year. The new series will launch exclusively on Prime Video in over 240 countries and territories.”
Series creator David Macpherson expressed his excitement for the renewal, saying in a press release, “It was always my aim to build a story that starts in Scotland but speaks to a global audience about global themes.”
“In Series Two, I’m looking forward to expanding the world of our show through the eyes of our excellent cast, as we deliver more shocks and thrills and delve deeper into both our characters’ and our show’s expanding original mythology,” he continued.
The new season will star Iain Glen (Game of Thrones), Martin Compston (Line of Duty), Emily Hampshire (Schitt’s Creek), Rochenda Sandall (Criminal: UK), Owen Teale (Game of Thrones), Mark Addy (Game of Thrones) Molly Vevers (The Spanish Princess), Abraham Popoola (Cruella), and Stuart McQuarrie (Des), alongside new faces who will join the team.
Amazon added, “Helicopters have taken the surviving crew of the Kinloch Bravo to a bold new location, where new dangers await them. The crew will have to deal with the emotional and physical fallout of the epic Series One finale and contend with swirling conspiracies, conflicts, and new threats from the dark depths of the world’s oceans it has unleashed. Series Two of The Rig will continue exploring global themes about the past, present, and future of the planet, all while delivering epic thrills and gripping action for its compelling cast of characters.”
A release date has not been confirmed for the new season.
Siegmeyer and Siegward have joined First4Figures’ line of premium statues. Regardless of which Dark Souls III character you’re a fan of, there are multiple versions of each to choose from.
First4Figures is planning on releasing two editions of Siegmeyer and Siegward, along with a combo set. Check out the breakdown of the editions below.
First4Figures is offering up these Dark Souls III collectibles at a discount. The “early bird” offer ends on March 27th. After that, the price of each will go up an additional $15.
The company has not announced how many pieces will be made of each edition, but we do know that the estimated release date will be sometime during the first quarter of next year.
Photo Credit: First4Figures
Photo Credit: First4Figures
Photo Credit: First4Figures
Photo Credit: First4Figures
Check out the recently announced Bee Banjo statueif you’re more light-hearted video game collectibles. First4Figures also has figures coming out for other franchises like Cowboy Bebop, Kirby, and The Legend of Zelda.
What video game characters would you like to see get the premium collectible treatment? Let us know in the comments section below.
E3 has been having a difficult time since the pandemic started. 2020 saw the event canceled. 2021 gave us a ho-hum virtual event. In 2022 both live and virtual events were binned. Now, as things slowly get back to normal, one of the headliners is pulling out. Nintendo has announced that it will not be attending 2023’s E3.
Engadgetgot the exclusive word from the iconic company, more or less saying it had better things to do: “Since this year’s E3 show didn’t fit into our plans, we have decided not to participate. However, we have been and continue to be a strong supporter of the ESA and E3.” This marks the third big name to ditch the once-legendary Electronic Entertainment Expo.
Without Sony, Microsoft, or Nintendo showing up, what’s left? Gamers can access these companies anytime via social media accounts or live broadcasts. So, E3 may have become irrelevant. We’ll have to wait and see how this vacuum gets filled when E3 takes place from June 13th through the 16th.
There’s no doubt that developers and publishers will still show off their upcoming slates of games, but this leaves a void regarding first-party titles. You can only get so excited when Ubi-Soft reveals another not-so-stealthy Assassin’s Creed game or when it is revealed the game you’re looking forward to is considered a live service title with a battle pass and always-online single-player.
Speaking of Nintendo, the final trailer for The Super Mario Bros. movie will premiere on March 9th on Nintendo Direct.
What are your favorite memories from E3’s past? Was it Sony’s laughable $599 PS3 price tag announcement? Maybe the Giant Enemy Crab debacle? Or was it when Microsoft flubbed the entire XBOX One reveal? Should E3 bring back booth babes? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
Fans of Middle-Earth have a lot to be excited about with the news of Warner Bros. Discovery and New Line working together to make new movies based on The Lord of the Rings series. What those films will be or who will be directing them is anybody’s guess for now, but that doesn’t mean Middle-Earth won’t be making an impact anywhere else. Embracer Group has confirmed to have new video games based on the Tolkien series on the way, with a few coming out within the next few years. But could we see more beyond that with new Lord of the Rings films getting made? Things might be getting ready to explode in Middle-Earth very soon.
Currently, Embracer is set to release five new games in collaboration with third-party companies within the next 24 months. This includes Lord of the Rings: Gollum, LOTR: Return to Moria, Heroes of Middle-Earth, and an untitled game being made with GTA company Take-Two. These projects were already in development before the Warner Bros. Discovery news broke out. So as new movies are made, could Embracer Group look to have other games put into development afterward? Here are a few ideas of what we would like to see video games finally tackle within Middle-Earth.
The Fourth Age – The Aftermath
The ending of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King in Tolkien’s world marks the end of the Third Age and the beginning of the Fourth Age. While there was some downtime in the wake of Sauron’s defeat, J.R.R. Tolkien did begin making a new story that was a follow-up to his epic story, which was titled “The New Shadow”. This story was set around 120 years after the fall of Sauron. While he didn’t get to finish that story, he only wrote 13 pages, a new game can continue onward from where Tolkien had started. What happened after the war of the ring?
Much like what was done with Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor and Shadow of War, elements of what Tolkien wrote can be explored and expanded upon, with a basis on the previous lore of the series. Luckily, there’s a ton of information to pull from made by Tolkien (“The Peoples of Middle-Earth”) to put together an interesting story and game to take place within the Fourth Age. Who or what the main evil present in Middle-Earth is something the developers could decide on, but it would be interesting to know if there were people or races within Middle-Earth that wanted to see a resurgence of Sauron’s evil. Or worst yet, aim to become a greater threat than what he was within this new age.
The Second Age – Before Lord of the Rings
Although much to the dismay of Tolkien fans, the Rings of Power show is set during the Second Age of Middle-Earth before the events that take place in The Lord of the Rings. However, the Amazon-made show was not able to adapt many of the events or characters that appear during that time within Tolkien’s world. Much of this was due to rights issues with various parties that have ownership of different parts of Tolkien’s stories.
But that doesn’t mean Embracer Group couldn’t have something to truly adapt this time in Middle-Earth, and with far better care. The rights issues are still complicated and could still cause hurdles, but Embracer owns much of the rights to create games and other media based on Tolkien stories, which could prove very helpful for doing the Second Age right.
If this is the case, what can be done in the Second Age? Covering the major battles that took place during this timeframe would be a smart move. Much of this age was a catalyst for what came later on during the Third Age, directly leading to what we saw happen in all three Lord of the Rings stories. Big parts of Middle-Earth history such as the rise of Sauron, the fall of Numenor, or the War of the Last Alliance would be events that would be super interesting to play through in some way. Whether that meant seeing events through the heroes’ eyes, or giving us a different perspective and showing us things through the eyes of Sauron as he rises to power in the Second Age.
During this timeframe, we can also get to see other characters that were heavily featured in Lord of the Rings. Heroes and main players such as Elrond, Isildor, and even Celebrimbor could be a significant part of this. The benefit of this is that all of it can be significantly different than what was done in the Rings of Power show. Of course, things would also need to include the creation of the rings of power in some way to connect to everything else, but there is a lot to pull from and use for a new game.
The First Age of Middle-Earth – The Silmarils
But what if we go back even further in the timeline and set things back to the First Age? Major events and occurrences in the history of Middle-Earth can be traced back to this time. A lot of this is centered around the elven race and their clash with the power of Morgoth, an evil being that predates Sauron. If there ever was a part of Tolkien lore that would revitalize everyone’s interest, this would be the era to look into.
Some of the most notable parts of the First Age that could make excellent material for a video game include the stories about the Sons of Feanor and their relentless pursuit of the Silmarils, some of the most important items in Middle-Earth. Much like the rings of power and The One Ring, the Silmarils are powerful objects that are the cause of many tragedies and giant events that impact many within Middle-Earth. The twists and turns of their stories can be adventurous, as much as they can be tragic.
There are many battles and other events that involve these jewels that have yet to be adapted in any media outside of books from Tolkien. Again, much of this has been due to rights issues over the years. But with things changing now, players could finally take the role of major characters during this time in Tolkien’s world. Imagine following the Sons of Feanor or any of the major players through this history and partaking in some of these major battles. The First Age last around 500 years, so there are a lot of events within Middle-Earth to look towards for inspiration. If adapted well, this could be a very interesting side of Tolkien to see that hasn’t been tackled yet.
With all of the news coming out about Lord of the Rings, what are your thoughts about it? What kind of games do you want to see get made that are based on Tolkien? Post your thoughts in the comments and let us know!
