Wreck-It Ralph

I've been telling everyone I know about this upcoming movie all week. It just received it's first trailer, and if you're a gamer, you're probably going to end up watching it. After you see the above video, you might have the urge to just keep continuously throwing money at your screen to make it come out faster.

The list of game characters that I can recognize so far are the infamous Bowser from nearly every single Mario game, M. Bison and Zangief from Street Fighter, Dr. Robotnik from every Sonic game (yes, shut up, it's Robotnik, I don't care), Clyde from Pac-man (the orange ghost), and I think I recognize the rhino on the left as the final boss of Altered Beast. I also see the popular Q-Bert, and if you look hard enough, you might find Chun-Li, and I think the Medusa eye from Castlevania (not sure on that one).

Holy hell. Did Disney really make something like this? It looks like something out of Pixar in terms of coolness. Granted I have nostalgia for the House of Mouse, but I'm somewhat shocked and relieved that they're still alive and kicking!

Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go to the bank to withdraw some more money to throw at my computer screen.

Rated G for Games

There are many things to be said about the television channel G4. Supposedly it was once known as a channel for gamers with entirely original programming. From cheat code shows to game reviews, it had some interesting shows.

Today, while it does try and create it's own original programming, most gaming content has been condensed in to the still-alive show "X-Play", which acts more as a general gaming news show rather than a review series. I suppose that has its advantages, but as far as I've seen, it's mostly the hosts and maybe a special guest or two talking about what we already know about recent or upcoming games. You'd think that they could offer us some new information or something.

There are some semi-related shows too. "Attack of the Show" is another that is still going, though they mostly talk about technology and geek culture. Also fine, but not every episode has a gaming segment; just the ones that premier close to a major game release. For some reason, we also have a few game shows from Japan (complete with subtitles) that can be interesting, but most of them are reruns, and once you've seen them all, you won't be seeing anything new for about half a year.

Speaking of reruns, I heard that gamers really, REALLY love the show "Cops". I heard they also really, REALLY love the show "Cheaters". No? I could have sworn otherwise, because if it's not the early evening or mid-day, one of these two shows will be always on. ALWAYS. For multiple hours on end.

Is it possible to have a channel with original content for gamers? Maybe, because it was relevant at one time. I'm not sure if it can be recreated in today's world, but it's something that I'd like to see or at least attempted once again.

Can't Play Games? Watch 'em!

A new addition to my interests that I've only recently discovered (and I'm sure they've been around for a lot longer than I think they have) is watching streams. For the unfamiliar, it's basically a live video feed of some professional or popular gamer playing a usually competitive game. If you'd like a comparison, it's like listening to one of your favorite radio DJ's, complete with their personality and appeal, but you get to watch them play a game you enjoy at the same time.

I find it highly entertaining to watch some of the best players in the world play the same games that I do. For one, it's cool to see how different others play, especially at such a high level where players regularly attend national tournaments that award cash prizes. For two, they usually stream by themselves or with one of their friends, and while they earn money by playing ads, you usually learn some valuable tips and see some helpful plays that the streamers pull off.

There are an endless amount of games that people stream, and frankly, it's possible to stream any video game with the right equipment, be it on console or computer. The most popular are competitive PvP games that are big on the eSports scene such as League of Legends, Starcraft II, and recently Diablo 3.

If you're looking into watching some of your favorite games, a few popular sites are own3d, twitch, justin.tv, and my personal favorite, teevox, which has all of the above built into one website with convenient lists and features (pictured above, try it out and you'll instantly love it, though right now I think they're missing a couple of websites because of an update they're working on).

Watching streams has become pretty much a second form of television for gamers recently, and like in other mediums like sports, it's a great way to watch an event that you're interested in.

Now if only some other sorts of gaming television didn't mostly suck...