game

Owen Hart as the Game

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Hi Scott,

I've heard a couple of times over the years that Owen Hart was originally going to get the "Game" Gimmick. Is there any truth to it? If so, was it the same "Beat everyone with a Sledge and win the World Time forever etc…" gimmick?
​Never heard that one, but I assume he would call them on their cell phone and pretend to be Stu Hart, then get the pin when they're distracted.  ​

MeekinOnMovies On…1001 Spikes (or a Red Hot Poker Up The Ass: The Game)

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Game: 1001 Spikes
Platform: Xbox One (also available on PS4, Vita, PS3, Wii U, Steam) 
Did I pay for it: No.  
Price: 14.99
Like a stern high school teacher looking over your shoulder during a test and coughing in your ear when your answer to the essay question is only two sentences long, 1001 Spikes guilts you into bettering yourself. You cannot come lightly to it, else perish on a forgotten trap or die jumping directly into an arrow you really should have known was coming.

Taking a retro 2D platforming art style, offering same-screen multiplayer, and hundreds of levels, 1001 Spikes will conjur up ghosts of the first Spelunky, but outside of the visual style and genre and requiring keys to progress to the next level, the games aren’t that much alike. Yes, there are traps and spikes and enemies, but Spelunky encouraged speedy and skillful play and 1001 Spikes demands focus and patience. It’s the difference between The Fast & The Furious, and Drive – both movies features cars and violence, but they could not be more different. Additionally 1001 Spikes is a bit more streamlined. You have a jump button, and attack button, and that’s it – whereas Spelunky involved item shops and all sorts of goodies and nicknacks to aid you on your journey. 
Though by the end of 1001 Spikes fifth level you may be rooting around the level for some cyanide to end your suffering. When people say Golf is a bad way to ruin a good walk, they’re essentially saying the intense challenge and frustration of golf results in a stressful, but ideally rewarding experience. 1001 Spikes is the same way. 
Namely because 1001 Spikes does a wonderful job of setting the rules. You know what a given level is going to entail, you just need to be prepared and maintain focus long enough to succeed – It’s like taking that aforementioned test, if you’re prepared, it’s not nearly as scary as it seems. There are few ‘gotchyha!’ moments, and despite using 200 of the 1001 lives you’re given at the start of the game, I never felt cheated or unfairly punished. Instead I turned the rage inward, blaming myself because I either took a shortcut I shouldn’t have, or miss-timed a jump I made a dozen times before out of frustration with my own skill.
1001 Spikes is from Nicalis, the creators of the excellent Cave Story, and they share similarities in their zen like nature. They require peace of mind. With distractions, slamming doors, people talking in your ear, or worries about what tomorrow will bring, 1001 Spikes will eat your lunch all day long. But in a meditative state of concentration, the progress you make is as rewarding as it is enthralling – it’s acing a test you actually studied for. It’s getting a birdie on a par 4. It’s asking the cute girl from the movie theater out on a date while maintaining eye contact and not stumbling over your words. 
You find yourself surprised by what you’re capable of. 
Which is to say that in its best moments, 1001 Spikes helps transcend your own perceived limitations. There will be frustration and seemingly impossible challenges, and you will fail way more often than you succeed. But because the failure is your own fault, victory is your own doing too – and all the more sweet because of it. To paraphrase Taylor Mali, 1001 Spikes makes you work harder than you ever could, coughing in your ear that you better not dare waste its time with anything less than your very best.

QOTD 174: Same Name Game

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So, Blog Otters, one of my favorite games to play with folks while on a bus or road trip or while we can’t do anything else, is to play the same name game – which I cribbed from Cougar Town. So, lets play it!

Combine movie titles into silly, dumb, insane names that conjure up an idea of possibly the best worst movie ever. 

For example: Iron Man + Man On Fire = Iron Man on Fire

The 40 Year Old Virgin + The Virgin Suicides = The 40 Year Old Virgin Suicides 

And so on. You can do it for music, games, TV shows, whatever. Bonus points if you come up with a silly plot involving BODers!

More MeekinOnMovies:

10 Awful Plot Twists That Ruined Great Games
10 Most Jaw Dropping Moments from the Major E3 Press Events
9 Biggest Bombshells from Microsoft’s Xbox Conference
WWE: 10 Inventive Big Match Finishes
10 Gaming Franchises That Suffer From Extreme Over-Complication
Watch Dogs: 10 Reasons It Sucks
7 Great Games Playing Watch_Dogs Will Remind You Of
Far Cry 4: 10 Essential Features It Must Have
10 Video Games Ruined By The Hype
MeekinOnMovies on Facebook
MeekinOnMovies On Twitter
My personal facebook if you feel so inclined.

Questions on playing the long game.

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With rumors that WWE will be setting up up to two matches for Wrestlemania 31 tonight or Monday (Sting vs. Taker, Punk vs. Austin), I thought I would get your opinion

1) Is there a correct way to do a year-long build to a match?

2) How long is too long to build up a single match?

3) When do you think feuds culminating in Mania matches should begin, ideally?


1.  Sure, and they used to do it all the time before the "Reality Era".  Set up two guys as allies, push them as partners on top of the promotion, then one guy turns on the other because he's jealous and BAM, there's your money feud.
2.  Anything more than a year, I'd say.  You don't want to risk your audience cycling out while you're in the midst of telling the story.  
3.  For a tippy top level one, the day after WM is fine.  For anything below that, you wouldn't even need to start until Survivor Series or Royal Rumble.  Unless it's something where the audience is going to be emotionally invested in it, there's only so much you can do (or more accurately, the writing team can do) with more than 8 weeks of build.  And there's only so many times guys can compete against each other in gimmick matches or four-ways ordered by the authority figures before you burn out the feud.  

QOTD 124: You Are the Game…I really really want to play you.

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Lets talk about video games! As you all certainly know in addition to cultivating this C+ player of a daily feature, I write about video games in my spare time – though oddly, otters, the QOTD hasn’t really featured them all that much.

Thus:

Whatcyha been playing, interactive media wise, lately? 

What’s your favorite game of all time? 

Least favorite that everyone else seems to love?

What game have you played the most, for the longest period of time? (it’s WoW isn’t it! You know its WoW!

For starters: 23 vintage games you can play in your browser


Paul Meekin’s Big Ole List of Free Games and S---: 

Show/hide

——————————————————

If you want to submit an idea for a QOTD or something you’d like to see
discussed but don’t have a ‘question’ per se, you can hit me up at
[email protected], follow me on twitter @MeekinOnMovies, or find me
on Facebook – Facebook.com/pmeekin
——————————————————

Paul Meekin
is a writer, producer, video editor, reviewer, and long winded, and in
the past has been referred to as “The American Harvey Pekar”. He’s
written extensively for, Hollywood Chicago, TouchArcade, Starpulse, and Scott’s Blog of Doom – and hopes to make a career of it someday.

His
writing is viewed by thousands of folks monthly – and most of them
enjoy it. He’ll happily write or ghost write for you, for free stuff, 
$25 dollars PayPal, or real money online poker chips.

New wrestling game

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Hi Scott, I saw that you wrote about wrestling games in the past, so you may be interested in my project too! It's called Ringmaster, and is a promoter simulation with beautiful artwork and unique gameplay modes, built from the ground-up for iPhone and iPad. I'm looking to raise funds before January 13, so any help in spreading the word would be appreciated!

A game changer for TNA?

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qN1ZlVzYgp8#t=15m08s


If Vance Middle School can't put them over the top, nothing can!

That sounds like a guy from the WWE developmental name generator.  Vance Middleschool!  
As for TNA, Meltzer was talking about it on the last show, and basically they're ditching PPV completely and going into survival mode by attempting to cut everyone who won't take a $300 per show deal.  So expect to see basically everyone but the tippy top guys cut loose when their contracts expire, and a lot more indy geeks used instead.  

Its time to play the game…

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Scott, I know we've beaten this into the ground but I think I've recently changed my opinion on the HHH/Bryan angle and wanted your opinion.
Im on record as liking the angle as a whole so far, and was trying to be objective about HHHs involvement, and not let his past transgressions impair my judgment of his current role.  However, wouldnt it be a much better angle if it were just the hottest babyface in the business (D Bry of course) vs. a well established superstar fresh off a delayed heel turn (Orton obviously.)  Forget all the "is the face taking to much of a beating every week", "does it make the rest of the roster look weak", etc. talk. Wouldnt just a straight up Bryan vs Orto

n

feud work better in your opinion?  

No, because the whole reason Orton is such an effective heel is that HHH is making him one.  If it was just Orton v. Bryan then Orton would get turned babyface by the crowds and negate the whole point.  

Post Smackdown Video Game Streaming

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Hey there guys, if you need something to do after Smackdown tonight. I’m streaming again over on Twitch TV if you’re up for watching some simmed Fire Pro Wrestling Returns matches. Originally I had plans to sim extreme rules in WWE 13, but apparently the servers are down and I couldn’t download creations for the shield.

Here’s the link if you’re so interested.

twitch.tv/thepiledrivingcritique

Pro Wrestling X PC game (Kickstarter fund)

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http://t.co/id3S264j


Worth checking out. A Kickstarter fund for a wrestling game for the PC that Lance Storm's helping with, and one of the main guys from No Mercy has pledged on.

Apparently they want to make it very customisable and base it around No Mercy.

At first impressions, it doesn't look great from the video. But they said some of the money will be used to re-do artwork and animation, so that's fair.

Looks interesting!

I don't know about their chances of hitting 75K with only a couple of days left, but I heartily endorse anyone trying to revive the No Mercy engine, so I'll be happy to throw a couple of bucks their way.  

Three Hour Raw Drinking Game!

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———- Tommy Wiseau from the blog here… Thought this might be a fun little exercise for the blog. Since it seemingly feels as if the WWE is turning into WCW everyday, I felt nostalgic and had a look at the DDTDigest and noticed their WCW drinking games and thought we could work out a modern one to help us get through these three hour Raws much like they did to get them through three hour Nitros… http://www.ddtdigest.com/features/drnk1998.htm
http://www.ddtdigest.com/features/drnk2000.htm To start with the obvious stuff… – take a drink every time a match ends will a roll-up following a distraction by a guest commentator or a WWE SUPERSTAR coming out to the ramp (complete with theme music)
     – chug if the match has lasted less than 3 minutes.
– take a drink every time Michael Cole says VINTAGE
– take a drink every time a secondary champion loses a match
– take a drink every time two WWE SUPERSTARS who apparently cannot stand the sight of each other manage to talk to each other in the middle of the ring for a prolonged period of time.
– CHUG if a divas match goes off without a botch. You guys take it from here… ——————— Every video package of something that happened earlier in the show.

The Game

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Scott,
Sorry for the 2nd question within a week but the blog response on my precious HBK question really needed some follow up (I'm sure you've explained this but I couldn't find it in your blog)…I know the Internet wrestling community hates HHH but looking at his career objectively he's an all-time great.  He's had a plethora of 4+ star matches, an insane amount of good money drawing feuds (Rock, Foley, HBK, Angle, Batista, UT, Austin, etc.), not to mention significant events he's been involved with (marrying Steph angle, DX, etc).  Yea, I know that he hasn't always put people over when needed but he's been a top level player when WWE/F has at their pinnacle.  Any profession is going to be littered with politics and I can't say I really blame the guy for trying to keep his top spot and make the big bucks.  Is what he did really any worse then what other top level guts have done through history.  What am I missing with the HHH bashing?  Please fill me in.  Thanks
PS.  Yea marrying Steph looks shady but who are we to say and speculate as to why?  I think that anyone who says it was strictly to keep himself elevated shouldnt speculate.


I don't think anyone thinks that HHH married Steph just for personal gain, it just worked out REALLY well for him, that's all.  
And HHH has certainly been in a ton of great matches, but he also was in a ton of stinkers during his worst time, 2002-2005, when he was on every show like John Cena x 10, and he could have fixed the problem and chose not to.  I think that's what you're missing, as compared to those of us who had to sit through it night after NIGHT after night.

Video Game Plug

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Hey Scott, I’ve been working on a retro wrestling video game review series for a few months, found athttp://www.youtube.com/mikeandtompresent.  We’ve already covered a lot of the classic (and not-so-classic) games of the 8-bit, 16-bit, and arcade era, and we’ll be hitting the N64 games soon.  In honor of the new Wrestlefest remake, here’s a review of the original: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTs7ygQV84M

I’ve actually been following your reviews on The W and I’m a big fan, in fact.  And speaking of WWE Wrestlefest, here’s the video of the new version for anyone who would like to avoid it:

Video Game Plug

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Hey Scott, I’ve been working on a retro wrestling video game review series for a few months, found athttp://www.youtube.com/mikeandtompresent.  We’ve already covered a lot of the classic (and not-so-classic) games of the 8-bit, 16-bit, and arcade era, and we’ll be hitting the N64 games soon.  In honor of the new Wrestlefest remake, here’s a review of the original: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTs7ygQV84M

I’ve actually been following your reviews on The W and I’m a big fan, in fact.  And speaking of WWE Wrestlefest, here’s the video of the new version for anyone who would like to avoid it:

Video Game Plug

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Hey Scott, I’ve been working on a retro wrestling video game review series for a few months, found athttp://www.youtube.com/mikeandtompresent.  We’ve already covered a lot of the classic (and not-so-classic) games of the 8-bit, 16-bit, and arcade era, and we’ll be hitting the N64 games soon.  In honor of the new Wrestlefest remake, here’s a review of the original: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTs7ygQV84M

I’ve actually been following your reviews on The W and I’m a big fan, in fact.  And speaking of WWE Wrestlefest, here’s the video of the new version for anyone who would like to avoid it:

Video Game Plug

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Hey Scott, I’ve been working on a retro wrestling video game review series for a few months, found athttp://www.youtube.com/mikeandtompresent.  We’ve already covered a lot of the classic (and not-so-classic) games of the 8-bit, 16-bit, and arcade era, and we’ll be hitting the N64 games soon.  In honor of the new Wrestlefest remake, here’s a review of the original: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTs7ygQV84M

I’ve actually been following your reviews on The W and I’m a big fan, in fact.  And speaking of WWE Wrestlefest, here’s the video of the new version for anyone who would like to avoid it: