Blade Runner – Tears in Rain (in LEGO) from Zach Macias on Vimeo.
Archive for the 'Fun and Games' Category
My last post worked like a kind of a trigger. Remembering all those cool toys and shows we had when we’re kids really brought back some strong memories of how much I loved some of that stuff. From all those toys / shows the one I was most fond of was definitely Masters of the Universe. To this day I still remember how I was introduced to He-Man and his buddies, a TV commercial showing the first figures, vehicles and what was probably the greatest playset ever made: Castle Grayskull. The commercial was very cool, with a strong voice behind singing “He-Man, He-Man” and kids playing in a huge diorama with all the figures… how could a kid not be instantly hooked???
My initial reaction was “WANT!!!” and there I went to ask my parents to buy me the entire collection… this was how advertising worked the kids on those days 
Curious, my parents went to the usual toy shop and found out that each figure cost, back in 1982, 2500$00 (in escudos our old currency), €12,50 on today’s “money”! WOW, talk about huge money back on those days! Guess that He-Man and company was out of the question for me, my parents told me thay couldn’t buy toys with those prices… I was sad, but it didn’t matter, I was a smart kid and understood this things, Christmas was almost there and I knew the usual Lego toys were there for me (yes, I loved Lego as well).
So, Christmas came, and by then I knew that I was going to get a Lego Space Station, I saw the big wrapped box stored on my parent’s dresser, I was already making plans on the ships I was going to build to play with it… I just didn’t know how wrong I was. At midnight we started to open presents, I went to the big box, my Lego Space Station, which was really Castle Grayskull! What a RUSH! My parents got me the most awesome toy of that year, I was nearly exploding with joy, my reaction was funny, still it wasn’t near the Nintendo 64 kid’s reaction.
But wait, there was more! With the Castle I also got Attack Track, He-Man’s all terrain vehicle and the mighty Battle Cat. But, (there’s always a but), the two figures I got were not from Masters of the Universe 
I got two bootleg figures from a cheap mock collection that were sold back then. So, I had the Castle, a vehicle, He-Man’s tiger, but no He-Man or Skeletor… or anyone else from the line
There was a reason for this. My parents bought all the toys from a Spanish shop that sold wayyyy much cheaper than it was sold in Portugal, but He-Man and Skeletor were sold out everywhere! That’s how big this line was back then! Years passed and I got a few more figures, real ones this time, but naturally I grew up and stopped playing with them, still I had them all stored in perfect conditions. Sadly, my mother gave all the Masters of the Universe toys to my cousins… I only manage to save He-Man and Battle Cat which I have until this day.
After the original MOTU line, two more followed, New Adventures He-Man, that changed all the universe of the line, He-Man went to the future followed by Skeletor, new heroes, new foes, crappy figures. In 2002 Mattel tried to resurrect the brand with a new cartoon and line of figures, this time more anime styled. The cartoon show was good, and they followed the classic line, including all the original characters and new ones, all with a new design. The line was well accepted by fans but not much by the real target audience, kids, and it lasted until 2007.
Back in October 2009 I was surfing the web and some how (can’t remember) I came across with Mattel’s Masters of Universe Classics line. A new line of figures had been started in 2008, this time only available through Mattel’s collector website – Mattycollector.com. Masters of the Universe Classics, MOTUC as it’s known among the fans and collectors, is a line for adult collectors, featuring figures from the original Masters of the Universe line, New Adventures He-Man and the 200x line. It’s an amazing line, the figures are sculpted by the Four Horsemen Studios, the same as the 200X line, but so far, no action features are included in the figures. They are highly posable, with 20 to 25 points of articulation and have very good paint jobs and extremely detailed.
I was very disappointed with one thing. I could get no figure whatsoever from Mattel’s site. You see, this figures are sold mainly through an annual subscription, which is only available to buy from July to August or when the figures are released, generally at the 15th of each month. This is a highly sought line, by collectors and scalpers alike, which means that if you want a figure for a low price, you have to get it from Mattel on the day it’s released. If you miss this window of opportunity, eBay is your destination.
When I visited Mattycollector.com they had He-Man announced to be re-released on November, along with two new other figures. I booked the day on my calendar and in November I ordered He-Man… and learned that in December Skeletor was being re-released… and booked the day and got the sucker. And that’s it. I said to my self that I was going to stop there. I just need the main guys, the good and the bad. This was until 31st December, when He-Man’s figure got delivered (yes, Matty’s packages take forever to get here).
Wow… The figure was even more amazing that I thought it was, bringing back that 80’s feeling I was so fond of . That was the He-Man I played with as a kid, adapted to the 21th century action figure standards. In January, Skeletor came, and I was even more amazed. The figure is probably one of the best of the line.
I decided to collect the line, and by now I already have eight figures, all amazing and that I will review here in the next days. This line has the best action figures for adults available out there, and if you were / are a fan of the old Masters of the Universe line, you need / you have / you owe it to yourself one of this figures.
Closing this post, that’s going very very long, there’s a rumor that with the upcoming Masters of the Universe movie, Mattel will release this line on retail, still it’s just a rumor. For now, if you want to score a few figures, your best chances are Matty’s website on the 15th each month (16th this month and it’s Battle Cat day ), eBay or the He-Man.org forums, where all the collectors and fans unite to discuss and trade / buy / sell figures and other merchandise MOTU related. You can even find some of the old figures there 
Yup, in my house since yesterday! One of the greatest titles of the series. It’s like Nintendo mixed all the classic Mario titles from the NES and SNES into a brand new game. Expect a full review on 8-Bit Revolution!
I don’t recall exactly when I saw Blade Runner for the first time. I remeber seeing it when I was very young, on national television, with my mother, who by the way, introduced and exposed me to Sci-Fi at an early age.
Years passed until I watched Blade Runner again, I was 19 and this time it was the Director’s Cut on DVD, one of the first I bought. Watching this movie at this age is something of a life changing event, you have a different sensibility, understanding and maturity which is indeed needed to appreciate a movie like Blade Runner. I have friends that until this day don’t understand the greatness of Ridley’s masterpiece.
I became a fan, of the movie, of the wonderful Vangelis soundtrack (which btw I’m listening right as I write this), of all that derranged world / universe and necessary darkness needed to make it work. I read Philip k. Dick’s book that was the source for the adaptation “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?” and even got the excellent Blade Runner game from Westwood.
Blade Runner is a 27 year old movie, but it still manages to be up to date, which is incredible. In todays movie industry, movies are made like fast food, ready to be consumed and disposed of. But BR is more than a sci-fi flick, for me, Ridley’s Blade Runner (along with Gibson’s Neuromancer) defined the concept of Cyberpunk in perfection and set grounds for a whole generation of sci-fi works.
The latest iteration of Blade Runner is the Final Cut, which it’s the only of the 7 BR versions that Ridley Scott had complete artistic control. This is also known as the “25th Year Anniversary Edition” since it was released to celebrate BR’s anniversary. This is probably the most common edition to be found on stores, and it’s one of the best to watch. The image and sound has been remastered and there’s a Full HD version on Bluray. Still, if you really want a crash course on Blade Runner, get the 5 Disc Collector’s edition with the Final Cut, the 1982 Theatrical Version, the 1982 International Version and the 1992 Director’s Cut. This pack also includes the excellent documentary Dangerous Days which tells the compelling and controversy story of the movie’s production. Amazon.com has it for $21.99 and it’s region free, meaning you can watch it everywhere, and while you’re at it, get the 25 Year Anniversary Soundtrack, you won’t be disappointed.
I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser gate. All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain. Time to die.
Just to give you a heads-up, if you live in Portugal, check 8-Bit Revolution for a Resident Evil 5 giveaway. We’re celebrating Capcom Week at 8BR so, stay tuned for more Capcom game reviews and giveaways!
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A few months ago I wrote an article about the Konami code on 8-Bit Revolution which surprisingly is become an Internet trend / meme. If you don’t know what is the Konami Code, well, I’ll give you the light version.
The sequence of keys on the image above is the Konami Code, and is probably the most popular video game cheat code of all times. Most games from Konami have almost always a cheat or a small easter egg triggered by this code, but the most interesting is the number of publishers besides Konami that still today include this code in their games, as a “nod”, a small tribute to the Konami Code.
The Konami Code was created by Kazuhisa Hashimoto, the developer responsible for the port of Konami’s Gradius for the NES in 1986. After finding the game very difficult to play during the tests, he created a code that allowed the player to have all power-ups that would normally be acquired during the game. When the final version of Gradius was released on the market, the code was included by mistake.
The code would only become famous in Contra for the NES. The difficulty of Contra was too high but with this code the player could have 30 extra lives and playing the game became a possible mission.
Even today, all iterations Gradius react to the Konami Code, each in its own way. For example, Gradius III destroys the ship when you load the code.
Today, Konami Code is more than a simple “cheat code” is a cultural icon of a generation. A generation of retrogamers easily recognizes and identifies the code, many are proud to recite in the code by heart
There are references to the Konami Code / Contra Code in music lyrics, t-shirts and even in some sites like Digg and Google Reader, and it’s becoming more and more used, to a point that Konami Code Sites was created to track all sites that use this code. So, don’t forget to enter the Konami Code when visiting a site, you’ll never know what might happen. I’ll even give you an extra tip: 8-Bit Revolution is Konami Code enabled since 2007
Today I finally spent some time “reviving” my videogames site – 8 Bit Revolution with some new articles and brand new logo. Let me know what you think!
20 years ago, in Japan, Nintendo released what it would be the world’s most famous portable console ever: the Gameboy.
Today any cell phone can do 1000000 times more a GB could do at the time, but I’m yet to find a cell phone that amuses me as much as the Gameboy did.
The original Gameboy was my first console and even today it’s my favorite portable system. Playing with the first Gameboy, 20th years ago (well, not 20 because it was only launched on Europe in the 1990) was an exciting experience. It was like playing in a portable NES, since Nintendo ported almost all the major successes of the NES to the GB. It had a screen the size of a sticker, gray and green, but playing Super Mario Land was huge. The sound was lousy compared with today’s standards, the screen was sometimes blury, but it had multiplayer games, a camera add on and a printer that printed the photos on stickers. It sold like hot cakes and the evolution of the system was what made Nintendo what it is today, and it saved the company when the home systems like the SNES and the Gamecube were selling poorly.
The Gameboy was replaced by the Nintendo DS, taking down the name that made the thrills of many gamers but even today it’s still remebered and recognized by the world. I hope one day Nintendo will release another Gameboy console, a new system that takes the DS to a next evolutionary step, a console that will be as innovative as the Gameboy was 20 years ago.
Happy Birthday Gameboy!
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