Needs and Wants

Tom Endo write about the need for game merchandise in The Escapist:

If you've been a gamer long enough chances are you've stumbled upon or been tempted to purchase some sort of gaming related merchandise. Maybe it was the Halo cat helmet or a Solid Snake statue.

We've all been there; I've spent the last six-couple of months stalking Fallout 3 Bobbleheads on eBay and who hasn't wanted one of those life-sized statues they have in the Game stores?¹

My OCD² has taken many forms over my 30+ years on Sol 3. I've collected stamps, CCGs, marbles, comics, Star Trek videos, RPGs, books and various kinds of multi-coloured figurines. Most of these things serve no practical purpose, even the things with uses like the books and RPGs spend most of their time gathering dust on a shelf or hibernating at the bottom of a box.

Still there is a need to have these objects of desire. Take this for example:



It's a preview of an amazingly detailed Batman figurine due out next year and it's wonderful. What would I do with it? No idea, it's not like I actually play with toys anymore. Do I want it? Oh yes!

You could argue that at least the figurine has aesthetic value and can be used for as a display object, but what about this?



I've been planning on buying the Batman: Arkham Asylum game for the Xbox 360 since I saw the first video play throughs but when I found out that the HMV collectors edition comes with a Batarang my want turned to need. Do I plan on waging a war on crime with this Bat-themed weapon? No. Do I have any use for it? No.

Do I want it? No, but I need it.

¹ - Not that anyone has anywhere practical/socially acceptable to display it.
² - Obsessive Collection Disorder. Write it down!

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Buy Batman @ Amazon.co.uk| Amazon.com

Buy Fallout 3 @ Amazon.co.uk| Amazon.com

Fighting Crime Doesn't Pay

Preview | Price: $18 | Size: S-3XL | Threadless | 4 Gs

Super-Tramp!

Down on their luck heroes DO make cool tees. Who would have thought. IMHO Batman seems to have gotten the roughest deal here, at least everyone else has both their shoes. Plus, I am pretty sure if Dianna did go on the Game, she would be more of a high-end, got her own webpage type of hooker.

Nice colours. Nice layout; the lamp-post brakes this out of the usual t-shirt image box. Of course, like all self-enlightened geeks, I stay clear of the dreaded black t-shirt cliche but this asphalt grey colour is a pleasant compromise.

Cross-posted @ http://www.threadless.com/profile/127374/duke1974/blogs

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Buy Superheroes @ Amazon.co.uk| Amazon.com | Forbidden Planet

Batman and Robin # 1

Review
Writer: Grant Morrison
Artist: Frank Quitely
DC Comics
4 Gs

"Batman Reborn" begins here in earnest with a new Batman, a new Robin, a new Batmobile, a new Batcave and a new set of villains. The story literally begins with a bang as the new Dynamic Duo chase down the odious Mr Toad and his henchmen in a flying Batmobile. A sky-high interrogation of Mr Toad leads this New Batman back to his circus roots, while things turn ugly as the Mr Pyg turns up to punish the unsuccessful henchmen.

If you are not up to speed on the current events in the Bat-universe after Batman RIP and Battle for the Cowl, Bruce Wayne is dead [No, I don't think it will last either] and 1st Robin/Nightwing Dick Grayson has taken up the mantle. Partnered with Damian, son of Bruce and Talia al Ghul, and relocated to a city center base the Batman return to Gotham to rescue it from the criminal chaos that has boomed in his absence.

Morrison and Quitely manage to both brighten and futurise the heroes, with a bright and modern penthouse/Batcave lair and a hovering Batmobile, and also recover a macabre horror in it's new villains that the classic villains have lost over the many animated and PG recons. The chatty, up-beat Dick/Batman vs egotistical/confrontational Damian relationship has a lot of potential.

Want to make your own mind up? Download a preview from the DC Comics website HERE and let me know what you thing in the comments below.

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Buy Batman @ Amazon.co.uk| Amazon.com