Author: Dave Sack

  • Hijinks Reviews: UFC Undisputed 2010

    UFC Undisputed 2010 is the 2nd edition of the THQ line of UFC games and, as expected, it makes some improvements over last years game. Here’s the big changes that they touted:

    • Encourage camaraderie by forming fight camps and leagues to participate in ranking and champion tracking systems. Join forces, train like real-life UFC fighters and go online to compete against other camps in the virtual UFC world.
    • Navigate a roster of more than 100 prolific UFC fighters, each fully rendered to convey a photorealistic appearance. Prominent UFC personalities, including the commentary team of Joe Rogan and Mike Goldberg.
    • A new Sway System with full upper body and head movement allows for the dodging of attacks, while on the ground and a new Posture System delivers fight-ending strikes from every position.
    • Choose from an array of moves from all available disciplines, including newly added Sambo, Karate and Greco-Roman Wrestling, to become a true mixed martial artist.
    • The “Game Is Watching You” system tracks every action and uses this information to dictate in-game commentary and career progression. Enhance the Career Mode experience through online co-op sparring sessions.

    I can tell you that they really delivered on most of those promises. However, this game has been plagued with a number of problems on the online side, so I didn’t mess with that at all. For my thoughts on that parts I did play though, follow me after the jump. (more…)

  • Hijinks Movie Reviews: Black Dynamite

    Black Dynamite embodies everything that was great about the blaxploitation 1970’s cinema. However, it also relishes all the flaws of 1970’s cinema, and laughs with us all the way till the end. The film was released on October 16, 2009, in the United States, for only two weeks, and was released on home video on February 16, 2010.

    Michael Jai White wrote and stars in this movie as Black Dynamite (a Vietnam veteran, former CIA agent, and professional bad ass) who vows to clean up the streets after his brother Jimmy is killed by a shady organization. The film’s director, Scott Sanders, describes the movie as “It’s just a little too badass. That’s the tone of the movie. Our humor comes from the fact that the movie is just a little too badass.” It’s one cheesy quote (“Your knowledge of scientific biological transmogrifications is only outmatched by your zest for kung-fu treachery.”) and crazy scene after another in this well done spoof. (more…)

  • It’s the most wonderful time of the year!

    It’s the most wonderful time of the year!

    You hear that? Shh, be real quiet. Now you can hear it a bit, and it’s starting to get louder. That’s right, you guessed it, it’s football season boys and girls! We’ve got real life football (I’m sorry, that’d American football to our loyal followers overseas) being played this Sunday as the NFL preseason kicks off with the Hall of Fame game, and the NCAA season starts in 1 month!

    We’ve got 5 Mondays until the college season begins on September 2, and the NFL regular season starts 1 week after that, so we’ll take some time to cover the regular ‘preparing for football season’ rundown, beginning with a college football prediction poll. (more…)

  • The MMA Minute – UFC Live 2 Aftermath

    This was a great night of fights for a non-PPV card! I’m not going to waste any of your time on pleasantries, let’s just get into the recaps:

    Jones looked very good against the experience Matyushenko. Once he got Matyushenko to the ground, he was able to get a crucifix position and rain down a bunch of quick, strong elbows, and Matyushenko was unable to defend. I’m not sure Jones really even received any damage in this fight. I don’t think we’ll be seeing much more of him except for on PPV fights, he’s going to be in title contention in the very near future.

    Frankly, I’m surprised any of the judges gave Muñoz a round. Okami clearly came into this fight with the plan to avoid takedowns and keep the fight standing. He controlled the center of the octagon and did a tremendous job sprawling to neutralize Muñoz’s takedown attempts. One of those close fights that really wasn’t that close. Okami just doesn’t lose very often in the UFC, only to Rich Franklin and Chael Sonnen, who he now trains with.

    Howard has said that he never throws a set-up punch, and that was clearly the case in this fight. Every punch he threw was a swing for the fences. He tagged Ellenberger with a few good throws, but Ellenberger did an outstanding job avoiding the big damage, and taking Howard down. A few well placed elbows got Howard’s left eye to swell shut (probably some sort of broken orbital bone, it was pretty nasty). This was a good win for Ellenberger to bounce back from a very close loss to Carlos Condit in his last fight.

    Gomi did not look good in his first fight in the UFC against Kenny Florian, but he was very impressive tonight against Griffin. He landed a punch flush on Griffin’s jaw and Griffin landed face down on the ground as the ref stepped in to end it. Solid performance by Gomi.

    So in the end, I again had a disappointing night, going 2-2 on the night with my picks. I have a habit of picking against Japanese fighters in the UFC, many of them just don’t fare very well on US soil (they destroy people over there though), and they both managed to win tonight. I’ve got plenty of chances for redemption this month, with 4 more events coming up. Like I said in the intro, this was a good night of fights considering it wasn’t a PPV event. We’ve got UFC 117 this Saturday, and it might be the best card of the year, I’ll bring you that preview on Friday.

  • Greatest Viral Marketing Campaign Ever

    Greatest Viral Marketing Campaign Ever

    I stumbled across this post on Flavorwire.com and just had to pass it on. The marketing guys for Pilot Extra-Fine ball-pens had a fantastic idea to show off their product by creating a viral marketing campaign displaying intricate tattoos on a few LEGO guys (and 1 girl). All of these are great, but this first one was my favorite, click through to see them all in full size.

    (more…)