Monday, June 29, 2009

Chris Jericho and Edge, The NEW WWE Unified Tag Team Champions

Well, it seems Canada finally got a boost last night at The Bash as two of Canada's favorite sons made them proud.

SmackDown GM Teddy Long's job was on the line, if he didn't do something good, and I mean really good, then he would be fired.

So, he added the former Intercontinental Champion Chris Jericho and the former World Heavyweight Champion Edge to the Unified Tag Team Title match.

They would be facing Legacy's Ted DiBiase and Cody Rhodes and of course the current Unified Tag Champs themselves, The Colons.

We all thought going into the match, that the WWE would finally give Legacy a boost by having DiBiase and Rhodes win the tag titles. However, that was not the case as Edge and Jericho won the belts in a hard fought contest.

I think this is a stupid move by the WWE. Sure, Jericho and Edge have been tag champs before respectively. But they are both the two best heels in the WWE behind the current WWE Champion Randy Orton.

They are singles Superstars, why make them go back to the tag title race when they don't need to?  A team such as Legacy needed those titles if you ask me.

I personally think it makes no sense at all, and whoever thinks otherwise must have forgotten how to think.

I am by no means trying to say the WWE is trash here. However, the move they made to have Jericho and Edge win the titles was complete trash.

Edge is now a 13 time Tag Team Champion. He doesn't need to go back to the tag team division. He has been there, and done that. He bought the T-Shirt, and even bought property to the land there.

If you ask me, there will be a storyline with the two going against each other.

Both of their egos are bigger than The Big Show's buttocks, so obviously they will melt down and lose the titles because they just cannot get along.

I don't see a face turn for either Jericho or Edge, as they are both great heels. But I do expect them to see a few beefs with one another leading to the titles changing hands and a storyline with the both of them.

Having Edge win a title right now is dumb anyway, he is set to take time off in a month or so as he has been in some hard fought matches, along with the normal house shows and TV show matches he is in every week.

I know you have to be tough to be a wrestler, but come on. This man has been in two Elimination Chamber matches, a Steel Cage match, and a Ladder Match all within a few months. So he is in need of a break obviously.

Because of this, I see the two losing the tag titles most likely at Night of Champions next month. It will be storylined as they just cannot get along. But we all know it is because Edge is in need of a rest. Who they will lose them to is up in the air, but for now Canada can celebrate.

Jericho and Edge both will be coming home to their home country with the titles to a celebrating audience. However, as I mentioned, it will be short lived.

NES Review #8: Punch-Out!!

Few NES games are shrouded in mystery as much as Punch-Out!! is. So many rumors as to the reason that Mike Tyson was originally tapped, then replaced and so on and so forth.
Originally an arcade game that eventually came out for the home console, it was at one point a vehicle for Mike Tyson and his budding (at the time) career.
Originally titled "Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!" the game later did not include Tyson, as he ran into legal troubles.
It featured plenty of in-jokes, such as Donkey Kong as one of the spectators, and the producers of the game made no qualms about the fact that they were simply re-using characters, just rendering them different colors.
When Tyson's contract was not renewed, he was replaced with "Mr. Dream." The game didn't drop off in quality because of the change, but the game lost it's cache and became harder and harder to find.
It was an entertaining game, one that has recently been remade for the Wii. If only they could find a way to get Iron Mike back in the game, it would really take it to another level.

Friday, June 26, 2009

RIP MJ

You would have to be living under an extremely large rock to not have heard about the passing of Michael Jackson yesterday, due to a heart attack.
It's interesting that depending on your view, Michael Jackson was either a world renowned pop star or the sickest person alive. In my opinion, there is merit to both of those ideas.
If Michael Jackson stepped out of the limelight once the Jackson 5 folded, odds are we would be mourning a music legend today, rather than joking about his various public missteps, some more serious and law breaking than others.
But all in all, he was talented.

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Grub for Gamers

A new product is about to hit Toywiz.com called Gamer Grub .
The idea behind Gamer Grub is pretty self explanatory. It's food for gamers, in place of the old mainstays, like Hot Pockets and whatnot.
Gamer Grub, comes in a re-sealable package that is designed to sit on your desk, much like a drink. That would eliminate the need to get your keyboard dirty and allow you to eat food that has a great deal of protein and a cognitive blend of vitamins.
The creators really began to roll out their product at the E3 Expo earlier this month.
Right now there are two flavors, PB&J, as well as Pizza. There are plans to add two more flavors, Wasabi and Chocolate.
Look for them to hit our website in August!

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

The Transformers Hype

With each new summer brings us "The Summer Blockbuster."
Consumers are heckled with advertisement after advertisement for the next "hottest" movie, which is usually based purely on special effects or star power.
Recently, Hollywood's newest craze has been comic book heroes. In the last couple years almost all of the major DC & Marvel comic book characters have been brought to life on the silver screen.
And those that haven't yet found their way into the multiplex, are slated for release in the future. These characters are very rarely given just a one-shot deal, such as Iron Man being slated for a sequel, Spider-Man up to "sequel" number 4 and of course, our topic of discussion, Transformers:Revenge of the Fallen.
Whether the new treatment of Transformers is a failure or success, the amount of promotion & hype around this film astonishes me.
Of course, the film will do huge numbers at the box office, but does that mean it measures up as a film of substance? A film worth watching more than once?
If you have seen the new movie, let us know what you thought of it!

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

NES Review #7: The Adventures of Bayou Billy

The Adventures of Bayou Billy brings to mind Crocodile Dundee. Although Crocodile Dundee was from Down Under, the character was said to have been based on Dundee, portrayed by Paul Hogan in three movies.
It is known as a "beat-em up" game, although the storyline is just a little muddled.
Billy West, or "Bayou Billy" must fight save his girlfriend Annabelle Lane from the gang of Godfather Gordon.
There are ten stages in total, with six of them being of the "beat-em up" variety, and two levels each of "shoot-em up" and two driving stages.
There isn't much to set apart Bayou Billy from any of the other similar games. Although there is the southern gimmick, and the familiarity with the Crocodile Dundee storyline, the game is a dime a dozen.
Surprisingly, a comic was made with Bayou Billy as the titular character. The comic didn't last very long, and is as forgettable as the game was.

Monday, June 22, 2009

NES Review #6:The Simpsons Bart vs. the Space Mutants

The Simpsons are one of the most bankable franchises in the history of TV.
They even lampoon their status as Cash Cows on many occasions, usually joking that Krusty the Klown will endorse anything, even products that are clearly not used by him or even in his target audience.
When a series such as the Simpsons constantly churns out T-Shirt after T-Shirt and Video Game after Video Game, there are going to be some clunkers.
Bart vs. The Space Mutants is one of those clunkers.
The objective of the game is to stop Space Mutants from taking over the world. Conveniently, the only one who knows about the hostile takeover is Bart Simpson.
Bart has to complete a certain number of tasks, picking up items before meeting up with a "boss" at the end of the level. The boss was always someone who was well-known to Simpsons fans. In fact, much of the jokes are familiar to Simpsons fans, most notably that Bart prank calls Moe, time after time.
Each level takes place in a place that will also be familiar to Simpsons fans. The first level is Springfield, which even the most pedestrian fan will notice. Subsequent levels are better known to the hardcore fans, especially the level that takes place at Krustyland, the site of one of the best Simpsons episode ever (in my opinion, of course.)
The main drawback for the game is that Kang and Kodos do not appear, despite the fact that they are the only space invaders to ever appear in an episode of the Simpsons. It would kind of be like having a Simpsons episode that didn't feature Homer. It could be good, but there will always be something missing.
This was the first in what has now reached 20 games in the Simpsons series. While this game is good for nostalgia sake, it's probably better to avoid this early one and seek out a game with a little more umph to it.

Friday, June 19, 2009

NES Review #5: Q*Bert

Q*Bert is one of those games that sounds ridiculous until you actually play it. Then you see how ridiculous it is.
Q*Bert was originally an Arcade game and a popular one at that. It was originally conceived as a shooting game but was toned down to make it more fan friendly.
The idea of the game was to jump on cubes to try to reach the top of the pyramid. While jumping on the different cubes of the pyramid, color changes occured.
Q*Bert was impeded by several enemies: Coily, a purple snake that chases after Q*bert; Ugg and Wrong-Way, purple creatures that run along the sides of the cubes; and Slick and Sam, green, non-lethal gremlins.Contact with purple enemies and red balls results in Q*Bert swearing and dying, although the swearing was actually replaced with nonsensical phrases.
The game was popular enough that it spawned two sequels, neither as popular as the original.
For me, the everlasting legacy of Q*Bert was the time Family Guy did one of it's famous cut-aways, with Stewie as a roommate of Q*Bert who was annoyed that there were so many lights on in the pyramid.

Thursday, June 18, 2009

NES Review #4: Back to the Future

"Where we're going...We don't need roads"
-Emmett "Doc" Brown

I'm not going to lie, I am a huge fan of the Back to the Future series of movies. I've written about it on the blog before, I talk about it all the time and I'm basically just a big ol' Back to the Future nerd.
The Back to the Future series spawned rides at amusement parks, tons of merchandise and of course, video games based on the movies.
All of that being said, the game was not one of the best. It was so loosely based on the film that you periodically had to check that you were actually playing Back to the Future. Even the famous DeLorean looked like some weird blue hovercraft.
The idea of the game is to navigate through streets and pick up loose clocks that are scattered around. Once you get through five levels, you can move on to games like throwing milkshakes at bullies and avoiding kisses from your mother.
You can even show off your sick guitar moves, and maybe even influence Chuck (or even Marvin) Berry in the process.
It's a shame that for such a great trilogy, the game based on the first installment was so subpar.
I feel that if there was a Back to the Future game for one of the newer generation systems, it would be very successful. I know I would buy it.

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

NES Review #3: Magic Johnson's Fast Break

Magic Johnson's Fast Break, despite some minor flaws, was one of the better Sports games for the NES.
Fast Break really set the tone for a generation of Sports games, such as NBA Live, because it simulated basketball games in a way that you could normally not see them.
Although the same basic rules of Basketball were present, they were slightly modified so it would be more user-friendly.
Rather than a normal 5 on 5 matchup, the teams consisted of only two players, which really allowed the action to open up.
The game is somewhat corny and obviously, at this point, hackneyed. The court was crudely drawn and the baskets are crooked, but other than that, for an NES game, it at least resembled a real game.

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

NES Review #2: Where's Waldo?

To start, I'd just like to point out that in other countries, Where's Waldo is know as Where's Wally. That's the good news.
Moving on, there are few games that are as historically bad as Wheres Waldo? for the NES. It's no surprise that the game has not been made for newer generation systems.
I would have loved to have been in the production meeting at THQ when someone suggested making one of the most boring books ever into an interactive Video Game.
The thing I would have liked even more was the favorable reaction that suggestion must have received, because the game was eventually greenlit and found it's way into homes nationwide.
And when I say nationwide, I mean the 4 people that bought it.
I don't think I have to go into what a Where's Waldo video game entailed, but I will.
The focus of Where's Waldo is to find "Waldo," who no matter the weather, always wore his trusty striped Turtleneck and matching ski hat. Whether he's on a beach, or in the middle of a snowstorm, Wally is always there, smiling and waiting to be found.
Like most video games, there were varying levels of difficulty, with a time limit to match. In this case, you had your choice of 10 minutes, seven minutes and five minutes.
Basically, the only reward from Finding Waldo is being able to tell your friends: I just wasted 10, seven or five minutes of my life.
As far as I know, there was no light at the end of the tunnel when he was found. No grand prize, nothing.
If you must play this game, I suggest doing it alone and not telling anyone what you did. It's just safer that way.

Monday, June 15, 2009

NES Review #1: Paperboy

Paperboy.
That word alone brings back memories of how quaint video games once were.
The object of the game was very simple. You were a paperboy and you're mission was to deliver papers to one of three streets for a full week. The streets were based on how difficult the level was.
If you fall of the bike, you lost a life. Losing all lives results in being fired, with a fun graphic and a gruff voice, just like Don Brodka from the Simpsons episode "Marge Be Not Proud."
You know, the guy who says capisce, but Bart hears Catfish? Leaves messages that sound like he's carrying on a conversation? No? Bueller? Ok, moving on..
Of course, as there is in any video game, there were obstacles. Life isn't easy and neither was Paperboy.
As the Paperboy, you had to dodge certain things on your route, such as skateboarders, bees and even breakdancers, because apparently in the 1980's people liked to breakdance in the street.
I'm pretty sure no one ever completed Paperboy, so I can't tell you what happens at the end. I bet it's awesome, though.
Just thinking of this game makes me wanna break out my old Gameboy and try to save the neighborhood from the world of TV journalism.

Thursday, June 11, 2009

New Rise of Cobra Figures

New G.I. Joe Rise of Cobra figures will be going on the website tomorrow!
So after you check out those Bakugan episodes, make sure to check out the new figures from Rise of Cobra, which hits theatres in early August!

Tv at Toywiz?

Starting tomorrow, you can watch all the episodes of the Bakugan TV show, right here at Toywiz.com! Just follow this link: Bakugan TV Show!
Check it out tomorrow and start watching...or just catch up on any episodes you haven't seen yet.
Hope you can hold on until tomorrow.

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

New Wrestling Sets

New Wrestling sets are up for pre-order, and it's always interesting putting them up, for the old names that are thrown in there.
The best are when putting up the Classic Superstars packages, because those are when you really have the blasts from the past.
For example, Classic Superstars 26, which went up yesterday had an Andre the Giant figure. Pretty awesome, right?
Whether you remember Andre the Giant as a wrestler or as an actor, it's pretty awesome when a new figure like that comes out.

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

New Comics!

There are a bunch of exciting new comics coming out over the summer.
First, there's a few new Captain America comics coming out. There's Captain America Reborn and then the 600th issue of Captain America!
Then the new Archie comics hit shelves, in which Archie marries Veronica. Will he go through with it? Will the comic be as exciting as predicted?

Monday, June 8, 2009

WWE Extreme Rules

WWE Extreme Rules took place last night, and The Heavyweight title changed hands, not once, but twice.
The favorite, Jeff Hardy eventually faced off against CM Punk, and the title that Hardy held for just a number of minutes, changed hands again.
After Hardy beat Edge in a ladder match, CM Punk decided it was time to cash in his money in the bank that he has had since Wrestlemania 25.
It was clear that Hardy was tired, as he had just finished a grueling match against Edge, the first time the two had faced off in a ladder match.
It should be interesting to see how CM Punk will fare as the new Heavyweight Champion.
One sure thing is that Jeff Hardy won't go lightly and will fight his harder to get the title he had for such a very short time, back.

Friday, June 5, 2009

Muhammad Ali

These really cool new action figures came in the other day, featuring the great Muhammad Ali in his fighters pose.
There's even an action figure that's in Black & White. How cool is that?
It's a pretty solid figure.

Muhammad Ali

These really cool new action figures came in the other day, featuring the great Muhammad Ali in his fighters pose.
There's even an action figure that's in Black & White. How cool is that?
It's a pretty solid figure.

Thursday, June 4, 2009

Sammy Sosa

Sammy Sosa announced his retirement yesterday, ending a career that was shrouded in doubt.
Sosa, who along with Mark McGwire had a legendary chase for the all-time home run record of 61 in 1998, heard the whispers about his steroid use and decided he didn't want to do more damage to his already shaky reputation.
Along with the whispers of his steroid use, Sosa was also caught using a corked bat in a game against Tampa Bay early on this decade.
Sosa is basically the poster boy of the steroid era, along with McGwire and Barry Bonds.
Will Sosa eventually make the hall of fame? He does have over 600 home runs and there's no doubt that he was a popular player in his better years.
Should hall of fame voters be swayed by a player's personal history? Sosa never failed a drug test, so should he be penalized because of doubt?

Sammy Sosa

Sammy Sosa announced his retirement yesterday, ending a career that was shrouded in doubt.
Sosa, who along with Mark McGwire had a legendary chase for the all-time home run record of 61 in 1998, heard the whispers about his steroid use and decided he didn't want to do more damage to his already shaky reputation.
Along with the whispers of his steroid use, Sosa was also caught using a corked bat in a game against Tampa Bay early on this decade.
Sosa is basically the poster boy of the steroid era, along with McGwire and Barry Bonds.
Will Sosa eventually make the hall of fame? He does have over 600 home runs and there's no doubt that he was a popular player in his better years.
Should hall of fame voters be swayed by a player's personal history? Sosa never failed a drug test, so should he be penalized because of doubt?

Marvel Universe

The Marvel Universe 3 3/4" Series 5 Action Figures are now up for pre-order. This set is loaded with some of the favorites from the Marvel Universe.
It comes out in August, which will be here before we know it.

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

New Moon

A big treat for all you Twilight fans...
Starting tomorrow the poster for New Moon, the brand new Twilight flick, opening in October, will be up!
It's a great addition to any room, so don't hesitate.

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

New Mario

It was announced today that there will be a new Mario game coming out for the Wii.
Mario is video games, simply put. If not for Mario, video games may not be as popular as they are today, and of course, who can forget the awesome Mario movie from the '90's?
So will the new Mario game, described as "Mario Galaxy meets Mario 64," be a good addition to Nintendo, or will it fizzle?
It's coming out during the holiday season, will it be worth the wait?

Kimbo!!

So word has it that Kimbo Slice is going to be appearing on the upcoming season of the Ultimate Fighter, which is the UFC's reality show.
The season will feature all heavyweights, rather than different weight classes, as it has in the past.
Is this a good move for Kimbo Slice, the internet sensation that fizzled out late last year?
Does he have a chance to win the Ultimate Fighter?

Monday, June 1, 2009

Crazy Bones Are Going Nuts!

Crazy Bones is a hot new craze that's sweeping the nation.
Crazy Bones is a modern version of a game played in Ancient Greece, played with characters molded from plastic.
There are hundreds of individual characters, each character having a unique face and name.
More Crazy Bones are coming in by the day, and they're being scooped up faster than you can say "Crazy Bone."
So don't hesitate, and keep checking every day for more and more crazy bones.

Up!

Disney/Pixar's Up is in theatres now.
Disney/Pixar has a great reputation for fun family movies, especially during the summer and this looks like it is no exception. It's already made close to $75 Million in it's first weekend.
Partially based on the famous actor Spencer Tracy, the main character Carl Fredrickson is your typical grumpy old man.
He attaches thousands of balloons to his house, in order to fly, which is where the title of the movie comes from.
There are some funny characters and the previews for the movie look pretty solid.
With all the blockbusters coming out this summer, watch for Up to be the one that is most talked about.