Toronto Thumbs

FanExpo 2010
4th Dimension - Two Things Worth Trying

Conventions are a hotbed of marketing; so many products are being pushed into the spotlight, and at a crowded event like FanExpo, you can be pretty sure that companies will push even harder. Even so, some overshadowing is bound to occur, and interesting and worthwhile projects may not get the attention that they deserve.

When I was wandering the floor, I found two really neat things that I wanted to share with our readers…

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Posted in First Impressions, PC | No Comments »

FanExpo 2010
Item 3 - Checking Things Out

The Halo: Reach tent.

By noon, the Metro Toronto Convention Centre was packed with people, both fans and superfans alike! In some areas were relatively easy to traverse, while others were like rush-hour in Taiwan. I do not pretend to understand how the sites for the different booths are chosen; whether they are picked by the companies that are represented, or by the governing committee of the event itself.

In our travels, we managed to visit a number of booths…

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Posted in Events, Microsoft, Nintendo, Sony | No Comments »

FanExpo 2010
B Number 2 - Tron: Evolution

Easy to recognize.

When Tron 2.0 came out, it was pretty clear to me that only those of us who saw the original movie would be excited, if at all; fans are a fickle bunch; resistant to change; any departure from the plot is met with a frown and an insistence that “this never would have happened in the original”. Monolith did a good job toeing that line between canon and the introduction of new material. Even with generally favourable reviews, Tron 2.0 underperformed from a sales perspective, and support was eventually dropped; a shame, really, since the faithful user community kept producing mods for it, as well as an expansion.

Tron: Evolution, though, is a whole other story, and has something going for it that 2.0 did not: an accompanying motion picture (Tron: Legacy); even though that film may not be as closely tied to the game as one might expect.

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Posted in Events, First Impressions, Move, PC, PSP, PlayStation 3, Wii, Xbox 360 | 2 Comments »

FanExpo 2010
Section A - Arrival and Elbow Rubbing

When Kirk, Mike, and I decided to attend FanExpo Canada 2010, we were not sure what we were letting ourselves in for; there has been so much said about the previous events that would be cause for severe intimidation (to less stalwart individuals, of course). Seriously, being able to talk directly to some of one’s favourite celebrities (after possibly lining up for a long time) would be a squeee-issuing prospect. Primarily, we decided to go to support our good friend Shaun Hatton, who is one of the correspondents from The Electric Playground; as the weeks went by since we registered, though, we had lined up a few interviews and will deliver some interesting tidbits to you all. Shaun’s panel was on the Saturday, so that was the day that we registered for; and we planned to be there for the long haul.

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Posted in News Bytes | 2 Comments »

X’10
Chapter 9 - Making a Kinection

Spread around the venue were a few stations that had no controllers. Some folks who were at these demos were waving their arms all over the place and jumping up and down like monkeys; some were dancing with abandon; some were even doing Tai Chi and yoga.  The common elements that they shared were curiosity and fun.

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Posted in Events, First Impressions, Kinect, Xbox 360 | No Comments »

X’10
Chapter 8 - Reaching the End

Xbox and Halo are two words that go together like bacon and bacon. Since the beginning of the lifespan of Microsoft’s console series, gamers have been enjoying Halo (and abusing in-game chatting). The game has been the subject of many a comic, and is even the driving force behind a hilarious webisodic show. Halo: Reach is the end of a successful line of games, and Bungie is making sure they go out with a bang…

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X’10
Chapter 7 - Spin Me Another

Music games and I have a love/hate relationship; due to the fact that I live in a relatively small house, I don’t really have a lot of space for games like Rock Band or Guitar Hero. My gaming area is also located right under my daughter’s room, so playing games that involve singing are usually a no-no; this may be about to change. DJ Hero allowed me to get a music game that was awesome to play and had a controller that could be easily stored away (although I did buy the Renegade Edition). As I burned through the whole game, I wondered how they could possibly make this game better; I wonder no more…

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Posted in Events, First Impressions, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 | No Comments »

X’10
Chapter 6 - Can You Play Me Now?

In a land dominated by two different mobile OS powerhouses with fruity sounding tie-ins, it’s hard to imagine anyone breaking the mold. Microsoft’s previous portable OS’s have not really rocked any boats; they are reliable, not really too flashy, and honestly overshadowed fairly easily by iOS and RIM’s proprietary OS. However, Microsoft may have just evened the playing field with their new mobile OS. Intrigued?  So was I, so I made sure to snag a demo when I was at X’10.

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Posted in First Impressions, LIVE, Microsoft, Windows Phone 7 | No Comments »

X’10
Chapter 5 - Need For Spider-Man

Sometimes a franchise begins and then, with every iteration, slowly loses the magic that made the initial title so awesome. I haven’t played a Spider-Man game in a long time that resonated with me. Also, the Need For Speed series, though consistently fun, never seemed to capture the magic that made Hot Pursuit so amazing. Luckily, it seems that two new titles may have reset my opinion…

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Posted in Events, First Impressions, Xbox 360 | 2 Comments »