The Muppets & Miz TV Pay Tribute to the Troops

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Tonight, WWE aired its annual two-hour Tribute to the Troops show on USA, and guest starring throughout the show were none other than the Muppets! Right here is what might be the best segment with them, as The Miz asks the hard questions about Kermit and Miss Piggy’s relationship on his talk show-within-a-show, “Miz TV.”

You can find more clips on WWE’s YouTube Channel, and miraculously, people outside the United States can actually view them! It’s a very nice and welcome change, to say the least.

For those who’d rather see the televised version, there will be a one-hour version running on NBC this Saturday night, December 22nd, at 9pm.

WWE Brings Christmas Hijinx Highlights from 1985′s TNT

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WWE posted something interesting to their YouTube page recently: Some holiday-themed clips from their old television show Tuesday Night Titans, a talk show of sorts hosted by Vince McMahon and Lord Alfred Hayes which ran from 1984 through 1986. I’ve only seen bits and pieces, but it seems like an interesting enough program, and if WWE ever gets their network off the ground, maybe they can create a new version of it. Then again, part of the appeal here is in how 80′s it all feels.

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The Essential 100, No. 22: Mortal Kombat on 1UP

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Updating here isn’t going as swiftly as I’d like, for all the stuff I’m doing elsewhere. Stuff such as my latest work for 1UP, which is now available for all to see: “The Essential 100, No. 22: Mortal Kombat.”

This was one I was eager to do, because it pretty much writes itself as one of those games which, while its quality may be up for debate, has definitely made its mark on history by helping to influence the industry like no other. Plus, I’ve always had a soft spot for the series ever since discovering the first game with my cousin on a trip to California.

Anyway, I hope you’ll enjoy that while I get back to work, and hopefully I can actually write something up about my trip to the Wii U launch in NYC sometime before Nintendo announces the Wii V.

Review Round-Up – 11/7/12

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Oof, I’m a bit late with this one. Here’s a little of what I’ve been up to elsewhere, but don’t worry, I have some fun stuff to add here soon as well.

From Slide to Play:

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic – I have no idea how I was selected to do this one, but I was. No regrets; it’s a pretty decent game, though not without its downsides.

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On 1UP: Mega Man’s Comic Career: The Good, The Bad, The Bizarre

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Ah, right; I should have mentioned this last week. In addition to my other stories for 1UP for their Cover Story “Mega Man: 25 Years of Theme-Park Levels and Stolen Robot Powers,” my wife and I collaborated on one other piece.

“Mega Man’s Comic Career: The Good, The Bad, The Bizarre” looks at a sampling of noteworthy comics and manga from around the world, each of which treating the franchise in its own way. From the bizarre self-gratification of bad writers in Brazil to the current Archie Comics series (with comments from series writer Ian Flynn), and several stops in-between, there’s a lot of ground covered here.

Please check it out, and feel free to leave comments on what you think of any of my articles here or on 1UP!

That wraps up that theme. Hopefully I can soon get my foot in the door for another!

1UP’s Mega Man Cover Story (and My Contributions to It)

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As I mentioned on The Mega Man Network, this week’s 1UP Cover Story is “Mega Man: 25 Years of Theme-Park Levels and Stolen Robot Powers,” and I’ve been privileged enough to write some things for it!

Much like my previous contribution about “The Many Versions, Ports, and Re-Releases of Super Mario Bros.,” so too have I written one for the many versions and variations bearing the Mega Man name. Another which went up today is a little more editorialized as I reflect on the first time Capcom let me, a lifelong Mega Man fan, into the Blue Bomber’s world in “The World View of Mega Man.”

There’s one more to come, and I don’t go it alone. Stay tuned, and I’ll let you know when my third and final(?) piece for the week goes up.

Yahoo’s “13 Fast Food Menu Items That Have Fanatical Cult Followings”

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There is so much else I need to be writing right now, but I’m hoping this will help shake things loose a little bit.

Yahoo! has an article which, as the title says, looks at 13 fast food items with cult followings. With a hook like that, how could I resist?

It has some of the usual suspects on there, such as Shamrock Shakes and the McRib (both of which I enjoy, especially the former), and some other unexpected offerings as well. Who knew that McDonald’s pizza (the top 3/4 of the sideways arches are sort of like a “z”, you see) had such a following? I only regret never getting to try it myself. There are other items on there, including newer fare such as the KFC Double Down and Taco Bell’s Doritos Locos taco.

Some of these others sound like interesting items to try, but what I wish there was more of a following for is the Arch Deluxe. I did love that burger so, particularly the sauce, but it seems like it will be one of those items which is destined to remain locked away in the storehouse of our memories alongside Ecto Cooler, the Colonel’s Rotisserie Gold, and Crystal Pepsi. I do wonder if there are other like-minded individuals who would like to see its return, though.

The Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 “Surprise” Commercial is Surprisingly Enjoyable

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You’ve probably seen this already, as it seems to be everywhere– or at least on a lot of male-targeted programming, anyway. I’m not especially inclined to play the game, but I do enjoy this ad more than last year’s version. I guess there’s something about Tony Stark bringing a jet to a gunfight that I just find appealing.

Incidentally, how many of these people are celebrities, anyway? I don’t watch enough TV or anything to really know unless they guest-host Monday Night Raw.

My Lucky Day: Fabulous Video Game Finds

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Okay, so perhaps “fabulous” is in the eye of the beholder here. Still, I came across a few finds which made me quite happy down at the local used goods store last week (and I’m only now getting around to talking about them, but what can you do?).

I’ll start with the second one first: Altered Beast for the SEGA Genesis. My wife is something of a fan of the game, and I like it as well– it’s sort of a guilty pleasure, but not one we’re shy about, perhaps because it’s so goofy. Suffice to say, I think we– and her especially– have put in a lot of time on it on Sonic’s Ultimate Genesis Collection, probably more than anything else on the disc.

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