Apocalypse is coming!

It’s no secret that I’m a big X-Men fan. Well, not so big as to follow the comics religiously or anything like that, but since I was about 12 (when the animated series began on Fox) I have been mildly obsessed with the franchise. Especially since the arcade game was so great back in the days of The Machine in Crystal Point Mall. Now that the movies have been out I am loving X-Men even more, and I find myself spending quite a bit of time studying characters’ backgrounds online. Last year, right around this time, a game called X-Men Legends came out. Most of the time games featuring the X-Men have been sub-par or worse. I was still interested, however, hoping that this action-RPG version of an X-Men video game might be kind of okay. It turned out it was awesome, and I’ve played through it three times since I finally found it to rent on Xbox, and I now own it.

X-Men Legends II ships out tomorrow and will be on shelves Wednesday the 21^st. I can’t remember the last time I was this excited about a game. Maybe Final Fantasy X. I seriously feel like I used to feel on Christmas morning when I was about 10 years old. I just wanted to share this excitement with the 2 whole people that might check this thing. And if anyone wants some high-intensity co-op action, I’d love to play with a friend or two or three. Check out the official website to see pictures, videos, and some limited character info (they’re being very tight-lipped about it for some reason). I do know that you can be Professor Xavier, and he has a wheelchair rolling special move. Well…I think we’ll have to wait and see if I’m right about that one until Wednesday.

If you like games like Gauntlet or RPGs or the X-Men, I wouldn’t even recommend renting this one. Just go get it on Wednesday. Or buy the first one for less than $20 first if you aren’t sure. I know for sure that one is good.

-J

PANDORA

Something called the Music Genome Project was started back in 2000 and it has brought forth something amazing. Pandora is a subscription service (a very inexpensive one) that creates an internet radio station based on music you like. Now, Yahoo has something similar with its Launchcast service, and while I'm not sure exactly how that chooses new music for you to hear, Pandora actually tells you about the music you like and how it chooses the next song. It's brilliant, really.

If you are ever looking for some new music you haven't heard before this is a great way to do it. Just type in one of your favorite bands/songs and then you can direct it by saying whether you like the songs it chooses or not. You can listen for 10 hours for free, and then after that it's a mere $36 a year to subscribe. If you spend long hours in front of a computer and can listen to music, this is something great. And even if you don't use it as a radio station but as a way to find new and hard to find music, $36 is really a bargain for any music lover. Have fun with it.

-J