Pads & Panels

Product: Hot Heads: Pac-Man

Company: ThinkGeek, Fred

Price: $14.99

Review by: Bill Jones

Fred, the wonderful (person?) company that brought nerds things like Space Invaders ice cube trays, brings us Hot Heads: Pac-Man. It’s made from silicone, but designed to withstand temperatures from -58 degrees to 446 degrees Fahrenheit, though most will be using it at the hotter end of that spectrum. It turns everyone’s favorite yellow chomping circle into a nerdtacularly fashionable oven mitt. (more…)

Product: TV Clean Electronics Duster

Company: ThinkGeek

MSRP: $59.99 (Base Unit), $18.49 (Refill)

Review by: Bill Jones

ThinkGeek’s electronics cleaning products, as tested by Pads & Panels, are batting a miserable 0-2 right now. What a complete piece of garbage the TV Clean Electronics Duster turned out to be under our testing.

The core concept is a great one. We have screens on just about everything we use nowadays — whether it’s watching TV, on the computer, our cell phones or iPods. And while it has saved a lot of room going to flat-panel LCD, plasma and LED, the screens have become super sensitive. So while they collect a ton of dust, we’ve got to be very careful about what we clean them with, so as not to scratch or otherwise damage the delicate surfaces. (more…)

Mortal Kombat Movies Go Hi-Def, Still Pretty Bad

By Bill Jones

For damn near two decades now, video game film adaptations have been serving as more of an embarrassment to the industry than anything else. And at the cusp of that movement in 1995 was Mortal Kombat, the New Line Cinema adaptation of the now-defunct Midway’s popular fighting series, following by Mortal Kombat: Annihilation in 1997. Now, in time for the release of the latest installment of the video game franchise, the Mortal Kombat movies hit high-definition Blu-ray for the first time.

But no amount of lines of resolution can make the Mortal Kombat movies good. The first helped launch a career of crappy movies (including more game adaptations in the Resident Evil series) for Paul W.S. Anderson, and the sequel is made not less than four times worse by the high-definition output, as its effects were horrendously bad, and the clarity does them no justice here. (more…)

Battlefield 3 Live Demo Impressions

Story by Archie Easter

While at C2E2, I got a chance to sit in on a live demo of Battlefield 3. The rep stressed that it was extremely early and unfinished code, so they didn’t allow pictures of any kind. Using DICE’s new Frostbite 2 engine, Battlefield 3 is now boasting some heavy duty tech to back up its arguably more tactical and compelling gameplay. (more…)

Title: Dance Central

Platform: 360

ESRB: T

Publisher: MTV Games

Developer: Harmonix

Rating:

Reviewed by: Sarah Kumley

Dance Central is an awesome new game that utilizes Kinect. The main premise of the game is to dance in front of the camera, as it recognizes if the player is moving correctly and to the beats of the song. There are 32 songs that come on the game disc, with many others available for download. The game also boasts more than 90 dance routines and more than 650 different dance moves. It has something for everybody, from dancing beginners to experts and everyone in between. (more…)

Title: WWE: Bobby The Brain Heenan

Format: DVD

Studio: Vivendi Entertainment

Rating:

Review by: Matt Peters

Arguably the best manager to grace the WWE, Bobby “The Brain” Heenan defined everything a heel should be. He had a witty repartee with anyone he shared the screen with, managed to sway the opinion of the then-WWF fan base just by liking or disliking someone, and built careers for bad guys by just opening his mouth. Without his participation, some of the top moments in WWE history would not have nearly the impact they do now. If any one manager deserves a retrospective, it’s this man. Does the WWE deliver? Well… (more…)

Title: The True Story of WrestleMania

Format: Three-Disc DVD Set

Studio: WWE Home Video

Rating:

Review by: Bill Jones

The True Story of WrestleMania hit shelves just before WrestleMania 27, offering fans a deeper look into more than quarter century of history the of the sports entertainment extravaganza. From the major gamble Vince McMahon took putting on the first event, to the week-long spectacle it has become in recent years, WrestleMania has become a major force in bringing the realm of the athletes and celebrities together, and this DVD set seeks to document its history. (more…)

Title: WWE Royal Rumble 2011

Format: DVD

Studio: WWE Home Video

Review by: Bill Jones

Royal Rumble marks the official start of the Road to WrestleMania in the WWE, and this year it was bigger than ever, upping the traditional 30-man over-the-top rope affair to a 40-man match for the first time. Though it is bigger, the massive cadres of jobbers that are Nexus and The Corre essentially take up the additional 10 spots. Still, WWE found the space for some fun surprise returns, which spiced up an otherwise middle-of-the-road rumble. The two championship matches – The Miz vs. Randy Orton and Edge vs. Dolph Ziggler – also provided enough entertainment value. Which is good, because the four-way Divas Championship bout was little more than filler and a chance for the live crowd to do a beer run. The special features, as per usual, are also disappointing. (more…)

Product: Cookie Misfortune Evil Fortune Cookies

Company: ThinkGeek

Price: $9.99

Review by: Bill Jones

So, “funny” story. ThinkGeek sent us this box of Cookie Misfortune Evil Fortune Cookies. The idea is that with generic clear plastic wrappings, the cookies can blend in with orders from almost any restaurant, and instead of having the positive (albeit broken English) messages upon cracking them open, they’ve got negative ones designed to put the recipients in a state of unrest. (more…)

Chris Hemsworth Thor Q&A (C2E2)

Story and Photo by Thomas Braaksma

On Saturday, March 19, C2E2 brought out some of its biggest stars in the IGN Theater at McCormick Place. Among those stars was the up-and-coming Australian actor Chris Hemsworth, star of the soon-to-be-released live-action Thor movie. Marvel Studios held a Q&A with Hemsworth to go over Thor, as well as some of his past and upcoming projects. (more…)