StuffWeLike Related – Page 349

Sabretooth going the way of Captain America?

Where my comic dorks at?

You know how it goes. Wolverine and Sabretooth fight, beat each other to death, and come back for more. Every time you think it’s the last fight, one of them (usually Sabretooth) regenerates from a single fingernail over the course of a year or two, and the rivalry begins anew. But, it may not be that way the next time they fight.

In a conference call with writer Jeph Loeb, IGN got some pretty interesting clues into what is looking like the impending demise of Sabretooth. Loeb expressed a desire to give Wolvie a new rival, a head honcho type rather than another thug. But, if Wolverine is to have a new arch-nemesis, what’s to happen to Sabretooth?

“If you’ve been reading Wolverine: Origins then you’re aware of the fact that a sword exists… that can actually kill him,” said Loeb. “Whereas his healing power would always work, if he was cut by this sword, it would not work. As we have learned through this story, Wolverine and Sabretooth aren’t brothers at all, but they’re from the same species. What will work on Logan will work on Creed.”

Here’s what Loeb had to say when IGN asked if Sabretooth was on the Green Mile:

“I don’t want to spoil anything,” Loeb replied. “If you connect the dots… If by the end of issue #54, you think what Sabretooth has done is okay, which Logan does not… Victor is really, really out of control. Combine that with the fact that we see in the preview art that Wolverine went to get a sword that could kill himself… I think you could connect a line. But I don’t want to spoil anything. I think the question is if he doesn’t kill him, then why doesn’t he. I’ve written that story, I wrote about why the Batman doesn’t kill the Joker. This will be different.”

Uh oh! Loeb goes on later in the conversation about how much freedom he has with his writing at Marvel, how big changes are taking place across the board, and how comics are no longer content to be the same story month to month, year to year. Coupled with some of the preview shots from the upcoming fight (which I have galleried below), things are looking grim for Victor Creed, especially in that last page. Dang!

[Thanks Feldman!]

Click the thumbnails for the full version.

You gotta FIGHT! For your RIGHT! To Plaaaaaaaaaay GAMES!

I reported a couple of days ago on the BBFC and Irish Film Censor Office’s decisions to effectively ban Manhunt 2 in the United Kingdom and Ireland by refusing to rate the game, citing “casual sadism” and “callous violence”, and the ESRB’s decision to rate the game “Adults Only”. Since then, Sony and Nintendo have both reaffirmed their policies (which I was unaware of at the time of the last article) of refusing to license “AO”-rated games, or to even let them play on their systems. Universally, these boards and companies are treating this game as an imminent threat to society, and that is not an exaggeration on my part.

This should put a burr beneath the scrotum of any adult who feels that we have a certain right to decide what forms of entertainment are suitable for our own consumption. As an American, I applaud the constitutionally-enforced inability of the ESRB to ban this game, but am saddened and disturbed by Nintendo’s and Sony’s decisions to disallow games designed for responsible, mentally-capable adults. According to figures from the Entertainment Software Association (ESA), sixty-nine percent of American heads of households play computer and video games, and the average gamer age is 33. Of all gamers, only 31% are under age 18, with 44% falling between 18-49 years of age, and 25% aged 50 years and over. Quick addition tells us 79% of all gamers are adults, yet these companies, boards, and committees find this adult content intolerable, and in some cases illegal. This is disheartening to me in a way I can’t begin to express to you.

But I digress. Before I lose you on this one, I wanted to share with you GAMERS FOR GAMING, a cause championed by Jim Sterling and David Houghton, two of my new favoritest tea-sipping bad-asses over at Destructoid.com. They’ve attached themselves to this story like a couple of rabid wolves may attach themselves to… another rabid wolf… attached to… freedom of expression? I dunno, metaphors aside, these guys are working on getting our thoughts and feelings across to everyone who is working to stifle our freedom to choose, the freedom of media, and the freedom of expression in art. Fight with us. Follow along. This affects us as gamers, as consumers, and as free people. It’s not a little issue. It’s not about one game, but about everything that ratings boards and law makers can take from you in the future once we start down this slippery slope. There are so many reasons to get in on this, I’ll not try to innumerate them. Get involved.

A very special thank you to the people with the voice that have taken up this torch. It’s good to see gamers getting involved in something worthwhile.

Manhunt 2 rated AO stateside; Banned in Britain, Ireland

Once again, stuffy old people are afraid to count on free adults to distinguish for themselves the bold line between fictitious entertainment and really-real life. Low-resolution slaughterfest and high-profile hype-machine Manhunt 2 (slated for release on PS2, Wii, and PSP) is receiving the royal cold-shoulder from ratings boards across the globe, being banned so far in Ireland and the United Kingdom, and awarded the scarlet letters “AO” in the US. I’m sure the mania isn’t settled yet. Read on for the disheartening details of worldwide stupidity and my carefully formed, ojective rebuttal.

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