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	NOVEMBER 20, 2007


						Hulk takes on a new shade...


	By St. Tim You know what I like about the Hulk? He's big, He's strong, and he's... Red? Well that's what the people of Marvel Comics have planned for him, following the crazy summer series titled "World War Hulk" where the Hulk comes back with an army of Aliens after being exiled from earth to exact revenge on the world's greatest Heroes... So what does a half ton Green Goliath do? Well, he wrecks shop on The Avengers, The Fantastic Four, The Xmen, and everyone else who dared come near him, he put New York under seige and made a gladiator arena out of The Gardens. Sounds like a villain, but forget all those guys, someone has to put Iron Man in his place. So now, after laying waste to everyone, the powers that be decided to turn him Red. I am a little put off by this, but am still feeling a little ok with it. (Simply because one of the best comic writers today Jeph Loeb is steering the wheel in the new Hulk series). But still... Red? I'm pretty sure that they will change him back to green eventually. (They tried to change Superman's costume and Spiderman's costume before, but you can't beat the classics) Seems like they could do better than just try to sell some issues. This better be good.

	MARIO'S BACK IN THE GALAXY AGAIN!


	Nintendo and Sony roll out big titles


	By Scott Hillis SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Two new video games from Sony and Nintendo have players exploring jungle islands for lost treasure or skipping across the galaxy to save a kidnapped princess. On the face of it, Sony's "Uncharted" and Nintendo's "Super Mario Galaxy" can't be more different. "Uncharted" harnesses the PlayStation 3's graphical muscle to produce a movie-like adventure, while "Super Mario Galaxy" for the Wii uses cartoonish graphics and simple controls to breathe new life into an aging franchise. The games also answer challenges facing Sony and Nintendo. Although Nintendo has been selling as may machines as it can make, players have started to grumble about the lack of must-have titles that offer a more rewarding experience than short mini-games. That's where "Super Mario Galaxy" comes in. A product of Nintendo's legendary game designer Shigeru Miyamoto, "Super Mario Galaxy" is being hailed as the most innovative and fun Mario adventure in more than a decade. The portly Italian plumber once again has to save Princess Peach from the clutches of the evil Bowser, and this time his path hops across an amazing variety of planetoids. Add in dizzying perspectives, weird gravity effects, and finely-honed motion controls, and you end up with a game that has scored 97 out of 100 on Metacritic.com and is expected to sell 16 million copies worldwide, according to online prediction market simExchange.com. "It definitely captures the essence of what makes Mario so great," said Jeremy Parish, features editor at gaming news Web site 1up.com, which scored the game a 9.5 out of 10. "Some hard-core gamers might be turned off by how cutesy this is, but if you look beyond that, the gameplay is rock-solid, it's incredibly new and inventive," Parish said. For Sony, "Uncharted" is the kind of showcase game it sorely needs to drive sales of the PS3, which has languished behind the Wii and Microsoft's Xbox 360. "Uncharted: Drake's Fortune" puts players on the trail of a hidden treasure of Sir Francis Drake, the 16th century English privateer. It is set in the modern day but crafted in the style of classic adventure movies -- think Indiana Jones meets "Tomb Raider" meets "Lost." Its lush jungle settings and mix of brawling, shooting and exploration set it apart from other popular games this year that feature heavy military or alien-invasion themes. "There are lots of sci-fi games that are very dark and brown and grey and sort of post-apocalyptic. We wanted to do something more lush and green and vibrant," said Evan Wells, co-president of Naughty Dog, the Sony studio known for cartoony games like "Crash Bandicoot" and "Jak and Daxter." "The goal was to create this pulp action adventure and make it very cinematic and make it feel like playing the lead role of a hero in a summer blockbuster," Wells said. "Uncharted" has an average rating of 89 on Metacritic.com, the highest of any exclusive game for the system along with "Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction," which came out last month. "It is another solid addition to the library and I'm sure that for some folks that is something that would push them to buy a console this holiday," said Billy Pidgeon, games analyst for market research firm IDC. "Super Mario Galaxy" was released in the United States on November 12 while "Uncharted" comes out November 19.

NOVEMBER 21, 2007

Wizard’s Comic Book
Convention Conquers
Arlington
Busy Gamer Shows Up For Pillaging

Lou Ferrigno TV's Incredible Hulk

by Grits
As soon as the Busy Gamer Reckon Crew walked through the doors of the
Arlington Convention, the convention staff could tell there was going to be
trouble. There was Reverend Torres with her BG “Paddle Me” shirt, disarming
smile, and the camera that would soon be in everyone’s face. Then Crutchboy
swaggered in with his Public Relations attitude and Bag of Tricks slung over
one shoulder, just daring anyone to ask who he was and what the hell Busy
Gamer was all about. And then came Grits…stuttering, stammering, and
hyperventilating.

I’m no stranger to conventions. In my previous life as a Network
Jockey/Engineer, I attended some of the largest technology conventions in the
world. I met Chuck Yeager in person when he was a keynote speaker at a
Cisco Networker Convention, asked Steve Jobs questions at a Q&A about
upcoming products, and shook hands with the devil himself, Bill Gates. But
none of these things could prepare me for the sheer awe I would feel when I hit
Wizard’s Convention floor.

The moment I made my way into the convention proper, I could feel myself
slipping into a trance-like state. A childish grin spread across my face and
suddenly I wasn’t a writer or editor any more. I was a little kid in a candy store.
That would be the only pitfall of being such a huge fan of comics to this day. I
was so star struck that it took most of the first day for me to calm down long
enough for me to do my job.

'Scarecrow'
1st Place
costume contest

Laura Vandoort
Smallvilles Supergirl

Kaiju Big Battle Booth
Mike enjoys his BG Koolie

Hopefully this gives you some indication of how impressive this convention
was as a whole. The line up of talent that Wizard Entertainment was able to
have appear this year was well worth the long trip we made even if we had
been there in a non-press role. The Busy Gamer crew was hard pressed to
manage to squeeze three days worth of events and sights into the two days we
were able to spend there covering the event.

The event was largely successful for us as we were able to speak (when I
wasn’t too busy blowing into a paper bag) to many of the artists in Artists’ Alley.
Many of these up and coming stars were well worth the trip and were very
friendly to us once Crutchboy threatened them with free koozies. I can only say I
feel sorry for those poor souls who didn’t make their way to these kind and
talented artists’ tables to rub shoulders with future greatness.

Reverend Torres snapped away with the camera capturing the feel of the event,
taking pictures of those who came in costume and showed their true fan colors
by wearing the likenesses of their favorite heroes. She took time out of her busy
picture taking to introduce herself to Lou Ferrigno and take his picture but not
before he made her “tee-hee” out loud by complimenting her “Paddle Me” T-
Shirt.

Crutchboy could not make his way out of the star struck masses without
having his picture taken with Dermot Crowley (General Madine from
Return of the Jedi for those of you who are heathen enough not to recognize
his name) and procuring his autograph. Crutchboy also made his way to
the Suicide Girls booth to mingle with the lovely tattooed ladies there.
He managed not to drool too much.

We watched from afar during most of the autograph signings, not wishing
to anger any of the fans who were, on occasion, rabid in their quest to have
comics signed by the likes of Marc Silvestri, Humberto Ramos, Ethan Van
Sciver, and the many others who endured the lines of fans good naturedly.
Friday night at the Heroes 4 Heroes charity event we attended, we would have
the good fortune to watch many of these talented individuals perform their
magic in person as they created art for the very successful auction held in The
Diamond Club.

While it was unfortunate that we were unable to attend on Sunday due to
another event that we were attending (namely the Misfits’ reunion show Sunday
Evening in Victoria, TX), we were able to witness the costume contest hosted by
Wizard. The level of detail in the costumes present were mind-boggling to say
the least and had a very convincing, and frightening, Scarecrow walking away
with First Place in the contest. Only missing out by a hair were the Ghostbuster
team walking away with second and a male and female team of Green
Lanterns grabbing third.

Grits & Crutchboy

Rev Torres

Storm Trooper

Grits VS. The Bull

BG Crew & Bloody Mary

To finish out our tour of duty, we managed to get Reverend Torres close
enough to the lovely Laura Vandervoort, who plays Clark Kent’s cousin Kara
(Supergirl) on this season’s Smallville, to snap some pictures as she signed
autographs for the throng of fans who attended her court on Saturday. Weary
but ultimately satisfied with both the event and our coverage, we made our way
for the exit to begin our trek out of Arlington, already planning our next visit to
Wizard Entertainment’s next event.

In the end, the Busy Gamer Reckon Crew would like to thank Drew Seldin
for allowing us the privilege of covering the Convention. Without him, our first
press event as a team may not have even been possible. So here’s to you,
Drew… We hope the headache from the event was completely overshadowed
by its success.

Grits – End Of Line

Photos by Rev Torres 2007 BusyGamer Inc


NOVEMBER 22, 2007


		*•BUSYGAMER EXCLUSIVE•*

		Behind the Lines More from Wizard’s Comic Convention in Arlington An Interview with Matthew Mohammed, writer and creator of “The Black Bastard” comic


By Grits It was hard for the Busy Gamer Reckon Crew to miss Matthew Mohammed on Artist Alley. Sporting a leather jacket, a shirt that read “Major League Bastard” and an immaculate ‘fro (I admit to my jealousy), Matthew certainly stood out in the crowd. Friendly and outgoing, he was willing to spare some of his time and his wit for an exclusive Busy Gamer interview. Grits: So I'm here with Matthew Mohammed, creator of Black Bastard, and we're going to do a quick interview about his comic books. Matthew, the first question I have to ask is, why did you name the comic book "Black Bastard"? Matthew: Well, Black Very Un-Nice Guy didn't have the same ring. But seriously, a friend of mine had seen Austin Powers and came into work one day saying "Fat bastard this, fat bastard that", and he went on like that for about half an hour. After awhile I said "Yo man, you have to get back to work." He pointed his finger at me and looked at me, and said "You know what, you're the black bastard." And it just kind of rolled from there. I designed a t-shirt and everyone was like "Yo, where's the comic book?" So I said "OK, we're going to make one." And I just wanted it to be as wrong as possible, just to go with the name, right? And well, it's just been rolling ever since. Grits: So when did you first get involved with comics? How did you get into artwork and writing? Matthew: Well I actually don't draw, I'm a writer. I went to school for film and screenwriting and I've always enjoyed comics since I was a teenager. It was just one of those things where I enjoy it and I want to write it, and I don't necessarily only want to write comics. I've written movies, I've written stage- plays, and it's one of the things I love to do. I love writing, and it's just another medium to express myself in. Grits: Well, do you have a favorite comic? Outside of your own, of course... Matthew: I like the things like Marvel and DC. I like Batman, I like X-Men, but I REALLY like Black Panther, I think that's a cool comic. Nothing too shocking or anything like that. Grits: Where do you get your inspiration for your comics on a daily basis? Matthew: I just watch the news. I was talking to my buddy Mark before we came here and I was saying "Do you think I should put up a sign saying 'Accepting donations for the OJ Simpson/Barry Bonds/Kanye West legal defense fund?'" You just gotta turn on the TV or look in the newspaper and it's there.

Read and See More...	Matthew Mohammed photo by Rev Torres ©2007 BusyGamer

HAPPY TURKEY DAY FROM BUSYGAMER.COM

St. Tim reminisces some of his mighty morphin days...


BusyGamer salutes 15 YEARS OF POWER RANGERS


By St. Tim So I'm watching TV the other day and a commercial comes on for the newest line of Power Rangers toys. There is a small icon in the corner of the years that advertises 15 years of Power Rangers... Can it be? I do the math. I can't remember when I first saw the show, but I do remember an old high school girlfriend getting mad because I paid more attention to a ridculously fake show with giant robots than her. (Can't help it those random hand movements were awesome) They have come a long way from the days of fighting Rita Repulsa... Over the years, The Power Rangers have made quite the franchise for themselves by having cute chicks doing kung fu, huge robots, comical villains and a wonderful plotline that never fails (Villain attacks unsuspecting teeneage heroes trying to hang out at Angel Grove's local soda stand, someone loses, Villain comes back, grows to the size of skyscraper, heroes jump into big robots which are great but not quite enough, then Heroes morph into huge robot known as a type of "Zord", and save the day, there is a lesson learned and everyone has a laugh over soda and fries and local burger joint in Angel Grove mall) Gold I tell ya....


	NOVEMBER 24, 2007

	'MANHUNT 2' STILL STRANGLING WOULD BE CENSORS Lawmakers Attack Video Game Ratings


	By K.C. Jones/InformationWeek Four lawmakers, including one presidential hopeful, want the Entertainment Software Ratings Board to review the rating system for video games since Manhunt 2 received an "M" for mature. Senators Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), Sam Brownback (R-Kan.), Evan Bayh (D-Ind.), and Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) sent a letter to the board this week, saying that Manhunt 2's rating had "opened the door to widespread release of the game, which depicts acts of horrific violence." Rockstar representatives have argued in favor of free expression and likened the fears about video games to protests over various art forms, including rock music. In June, the British Board of Film Classification refused to rate Rockstar's Manhunt 2 video game, effectively banning its sale in British stores. The British board said the game has an "unremitting bleakness and callousness of tone ... which constantly encourages visceral killing with exceptionally little alleviation or distancing." The British board said that any other action "would involve a range of unjustifiable harm risks, to both adults and minors." In October, it refused to rate a revised version of Manhunt 2, stating that "there has been a reduction in the visual detail in some of the 'execution kills', but in others they retain their original visceral and casually sadistic nature." The American ratings board originally rated the game "AO" for adults only. However, it changed the rating to "M" after the game was revised, allowing widespread distribution and licensing approval by Sony, Nintendo, and other game manufacturers. "While significant progress has been made, the FTC reports that 42% of unaccompanied children 13 to 16 years of age can still successfully purchase M-rated games meaning that the practical difference between an AO and M rating affects more than simply 17-year-olds," the Senators said in the letter. On Nintendo's Wii system, Manhunt 2 players can act out torture scenes and murders instead of pressing buttons or moving joysticks on traditional remote controls. "This led one clinical psychologist to state that the realistic motions used with the Wii mean that 'you're basically teaching a child the behavioral sequencing of killing," the Senators pointed out. They said the American ratings board should take the Wii remote controller, and other advances in game controllers, which create more realistic gaming environments, into consideration in their ratings system. The AO version was leaked through the Internet, reportedly by a Sony employee who was fired. "The possible use of the Internet to circumvent the ESRB and permit broad access to kids is another concern," the letter states. The letter calls on the board to explain why it does not fully inform the public and developers about the reasons for rating changes, even after games have been released. It also asks whether those who provide the original ratings also rate revised versions of games, how frequently the board uses more than its minimum of three reviewers, and whether three reviewers is sufficient. Finally, the lawmakers want to know how often reviewers disagree over the ratings and how frequently ratings are a result of majority opinion, rather than consensus.

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