www.npcreviews.com

This blog has moved to our very own real domain: 

www.npcreviews.com

Go there.

A Couple Of Good Samaritans

Here's a shot of me and Hellboy hanging out in Universal Studios yesterday.

OK, so it's not the Hellboy (a.k.a. Ron Perlman), but this guy was a damn good double. 

Related Posts:

• To Hell And Back

The New Philosophy

Well, it has been decided.

NPC Reviews  is the name of our new site. For those of you unfamiliar with the term, sitting there scratching your heads and wondering what the hell the NPC stands for, it's a gaming term for Non Playable Characters, the kind of characters that you see and can talk to, but you never get to control.

Why we chose it? Who knows. But it's a bit less obscure then Don't Feed The Trolls.

The site is scheduled to launch (we hope!) on August 17th, and with plenty of great content. We're going to have a review of the new Star Wars animated film, a few game reviews, specialty columns and full coverage of the August 16th Rockstar Mayhem Fest.

Tell your friends, cross your fingers and get ready to change your homepage. If you have any ideas or suggestions, leave us a comment right here.

-Stephen Ortiz

(Future) Managing Editor

NPC Reviews

Until Further Notice (Important Read!)

I don't know how many people actually read this site regularly, but first I'd like to say thank you to all of those who do.

You may have noticed the content has not been updating as regularly as it used to and it's not because I don't care anymore, but actually because I (along with some close friends) are working on a real Web site, an official site with our own .com (none of this blogger stuff)!! 

We're hard at work on making something we really want to make happen and recognized as a viable source for video game, music and movie news. We plan on launching August 17th, after our first official covered event - Rockstar Energy Mayhem Fest, complete with interviews and reviews, columns, etc! These are very exciting times for us.

We're still thinking up a name for the site but here are our favorites. Let us know what you think with a comment!

Don't Feed The Trolls

NPC Reviews

w00t Reviews

-Steve

'Look Out For Detox'

After Snoop Dogg let loose last month that the long-awaited Dr. Dre album, "Detox," was completed, the good doctor himself confirmed to USA Today that the album is indeed complete.

Dr. Dre has led a long a illustrious career from his role in the historic N.W.A. as well as discovering other rap acts like Snoop Dogg and Eminem, but only has two solo projects to his name: 1992's "The Chronic" and 1999's "2001."

Considered the "Chinese Democracy" of hip-hop, "Detox" may be the end of Dr. Dre's career.

"I'm going to put this record out, promote it, tour and then become a hermit," he said. "I'm going to stay in the studio and produce."

• Dr. Dre's 'Detox' has music industry buzzing

In Memoriam. ('The Dark Knight' Review)

The hype leading up to Christopher Nolan’s “The Dark Knight” could stretch for miles. From forums to message boards, previews and early reviews, the entire media world has had one collective, large hard-on for the Caped Crusader’s newest adventure against the late Heath Ledger’s maniacal Joker.

 Well, if you’ve been skeptical about the whole thing – you best start believing. The hype is real. “The Dark Knight” is the best superhero movie ever made.

Christian Bale returns as Bruce Wayne by day and Gotham City’s raspy voiced protector by night, but his performance (which is as good as the one he did in “Batman Begins”) is overshadowed by the real star here – Ledger who met an untimely death January of this year. While Wayne and his alter ego Batman battle everyday life, love (Rachel Dawes, played by Maggie Gyllenhaal, is dating Harvey Dent) and the difficult responsibility of protecting people that don’t really like him, The Joker terrorizes Gotham.

Covered in scars and face paint that’s always running and smeared, Ledger transformed himself into something else, something beyond normal. He speaks in a nasally tone, licks his lips and always is one step ahead.

Long gone are the memories of Jack Nicholson’s Joker from 1989’s “Batman,” Ledger’s will be the one the films will always remember – a villain every bit unnerving as he is whimsical. This Joker is not doing it for the money or for power but rather he thrives in creating panic and chaos and revealing that everyone is capable of performing evil deeds. He is a very complex character with complex morals.

In the opening scene, The Joker and a group of his masked thugs are robbing a bank when the manager questions what it is that he believes in. Ledger responds, “I believe whatever doesn’t kill you simply makes you … stranger.”

With all that said, the rest of the cast also does a stellar job. Gyllenhaal was a great choice to replace Katie Holmes and her lackluster performance from the first film. Aaron Eckhart is the perfect Harvey Dent, Gotham City’s D.A. and, down the line, Batman villain Two-Face. He’s confident and determined to do the right thing while upholding a public image and is also one of the few in Gotham who believes in Batman.

Both Alfred and Lucius (played by Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman respectively) provide guidance for the conflicted Bruce Wayne while chiming in with sarcastic wit, and are delightful members of the cast.

At its heart, “The Dark Knight” is a summer action movie. The special effects range from cars and buildings exploding, to Batman flying through the sky with new gadgets, and the score and sound effects boom through the surround sound – complementing the whole experience perfectly.

Although it clocks in at two and a half hours in length, “The Dark Knight” leaves you wanting more, but in a good way – more explosions, more menace, more of The Joker and his antics – but it also leaves you with the sad realization that there will be no encore for Ledger and his alter ego. The curtain certainly closed too soon on his memorable career, but some would only be so lucky for their swan song to be so brilliant.

Rating for “The Dark Knight”: 5/5 stars

E3 Day Three Wrap-Up

The Electronic Entertainment Expo (or E3 as it’s known by the gaming community) has officially kicked off and will run for the next few days. Each night, The Playlist Blog will post the cream of the crop from the new news and announcements.

It’s A MadWorld Out There – Sega unveiled a new trailer for its uber stylish, uber bloody action game. If you haven’t had the honor of seeing this thing in action, definitely check it out. It’s like “Sin City,” except ridiculously gory. The trailer plays out like a highlight reel of the top kills of the day on murderous reality show Death Watch.

Our favorite? The Rose Bush – Jack, the game’s protagonist, puts a tire around a guy, stabs him through the face with a road sign and then proceeds to throw him into a wall of spikes.

MadWorld is set for a March 2009 release.

“We’re Making ‘Pikmin.’” – Shigeru Miyamoto’s exact words at the Nintendo Developer Roundtable. That’s all we’ve got to work with.

Chinatown Wars Online – Yesterday, the newly announced Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars made our list just for the fact that it was a GTA on the Nintendo DS. Today, it makes our list again because turns out that there will be some sort of online component to the game. The title’s official Web site shows the Nintendo Wi-fi logo. The excitement just builds everyday.

Bungie Cockblocked By Publisher – So Bungie was supposed to announce a new Halo game at E3 this year, but then Microsoft, the game’s publisher, changed their mind last second and decided it wasn’t necessary to pull out such a big gun due to Sony and Nintendo’s lackluster unveilings. Expect some sort of something at Leipzig later this year.

Wolfenstein – Wolfenstein returns with Nazis, the supernatural and, well, more Nazis. You reprise the role as B.J., and with a bevy of weapons of both the realistic and fantasy sort, you need to stop the Nazis yet again from a mythical world domination. id will be developing, Activision publishing. The trailer looks great, but there's a bit too much going on in it to really judge the early build.