Bitesize: #3

Hey everyone,


I hope your Christmas has been good, and that your New Year is full of joy. I had a good Christmas personally, most particularly for my daughter Vivi, who is two, she got lots of presents and lots of love from all three sides of her family. I saw my mum and siblings for the first time in 8 months, and as short as it was, it was very good. It's just a shame I've caught a stomach bug from my sister Tara, and haven't gone back to work as expected. But at least it gives me some time to plan ahead on this site, and in my personal life too. I'll be back at work on Tuesday because this bug just won't die unfortunately.


Enough about my personal life, I rarely talk about it on this site and try to keep it that way. If you've been keeping up to date on this site, I've announced my major project, which is Noughtie, the best in music from 2000-2009. If you want more details on it, check the post below. I'm making slow progress on it, but I should start it in the early part of the new year, that's for sure. I'll get a few more posts done in that time hopefully.


Now about footie. What a shambles last night's match was for Liverpool. The Hodge is getting himself some serious stick at the moment. I'm starting to lose faith as well, I'm quite the optimist usually. If we're going to sack him, I think we should do it NOW, so the new manager gets the transfer kitty in two days time. Otherwise, stick with him until the end of the season, give him the kitty, and see what he does with it. If there's progress second half of the season, keep him for next season, otherwise boot him at the end of the season. My take? Keep him, I like the guy and feel sorry for him. I think he's better than people are believing him to be. I want Hodgson to be a success, I really do. But it's up to the owners really.


Some intriguing news wrestling wise has come around recently. On a personal level for Christmas I got Chris Jericho's Breaking the Code DVD, which is tremendous. I love that guy, my favourite wrestler of all time. We've got The Miz/John Morrison on Raw next week, which, if given time, should be a cracker. They have good chemistry and could pull a 4 star match off if given the chance. It's just a shame that it inevitably means that The Miz retains and John Morrison won't be given the chance at the Royal Rumble. John Canton reckons it will be Jerry "The King" Lawler/The Miz at the Rumble, and if he's right, that's awful. A semi retired, 60+ wrestler given the big paycheck over a guy who is trying his very hardest to reach the top? Poor business. I know the opinion on Morrison is mixed, but I like the guy, yes he is poor on the mic, but his in ring offense is unique and works well. He'll make The Miz look good next week that's for sure.
More news wrestling wise was Cena's injury, it turns out that it's only bruising so it's not too bad. He might not wrestle next week, or be on a light scheduled match (a tag maybe) but should be fine long term. Like him or hate him Cena draws the WWE money. The most out of any of the current wrestlers at the moment. WWE have had a torrid year as it is, with so many key wrestlers leaving, or being injured, or retiring. If Cena was to be injured long term, it's going to get worse. And it's not good for the bloke either, I like the guy as a person, even if his on screen character can piss me off sometimes.
Last bit of wrestling news, is of Awesome Kong rumoured heavily to have signed a contract with WWE. If so, that's the best piece of news in the Divas division in a long time. Kong could be a brilliant signing, she's so big she'd make all the pretty blondy divas terrified. It'd be great television, and you never know, could actually make women's wrestling interesting again. I really don't understand WWE's logic in terms of what they look for in a female wrestler. The apparently logic is that sex draws money, it did in the nineties. But if you've got this PG barrier, and no women are flaunting their "goods", then people aren't interested. Which then leaves the focal point of the show, wrestling. Because they're all models, they barely are capable of wrestling. So where is the logic? They need to get the balance right, they need all of it - divas who can wrestle solidly (Kong, ODB, Hamada) but aren't particularly much to look at, divas who are eye candy (Velvet Sky, Angelina Love, Maria) and a mixture of both (Mickie James, Melina, Natalya). So we have everything covered. The best moulds of the past were Lita and Trish Stratus, they were good looking and could wrestle well. Why can't we have a good divas division again? It's not too hard a logical thought is it? We have an opportunity with the signing of Kong to resurrect the division again, that's for sure.


That's it from me today, once again, I hope you all have a fab New Year, and I hope my stomach settles soon. Take care.

Noughtie: The Best in Music 2000-2009 Plans (+ more)

Hey everyone,


As you can see, I haven't been posting lately, but it is mainly due to the festive period, but that doesn't mean I'm not working hard! I've got my list complete for my major new project but I haven't really discussed more about it. I'll do that now.


"Noughtie" is the name of my new project. I've compiled a list of all the major songs from the last decade, from the year 2000 to 2009 and am narrowing it down to reveal what I consider the 100 most important songs are of the decade. That's the outro to the series. Yes, it's a series. I'll be doing loads of work to do with those songs and the artists that performed them, and my list should go something like this:

• Overall Favourite Artists (Listing)
• Best of 2000 (Mixtape)
• Overall Least Favourite Artists (Listing)
• Best of 2001 (Mixtape)
• Where Are They Now? (Listing)
• Best of 2002 (Mixtape)
• Best New Artists (Listing)
• Best of 2003 (Mixtape)
• My Guilty Pleasures (Listing)
• Best of 2004 (Mixtape)
• My Favourite Riffs (Listing)
• Best of 2005 (Mixtape)
• Underrated Artists (Listing)
• Best of 2006 (Mixtape)
• My Favourite Albums (Listing)
• Best of 2007 (Mixtape)
• Best Videos (Listing)
• Best of 2008 (Mixtape)
• Most Important Artists (Listing)
• Best of 2009 (Mixtape)
• 100 Favourite Songs of the Decade (Listing)
• 100 Most Important Songs of the Decade (Large Listing)

Yes, large listing. This will be a hundred day job. Each day I'll reveal the song and put up a video of that song. I hope you'll enjoy the list. If you disagree with it, that's fine, it is an unbiased list (the biased one is to be posted before it) and if people convince me that a particular song deserves entry into the list then I'm not afraid to change it. I'll start posting each and every one of these posts in the series starting from the new year.

But wait! There's more! Before the series gets under way, I'll be doing a review on the second series of True Blood, and a GameFAQ listing. I might even do another article if I have the time.

Any questions? Comments? Let me know if you don't understand anything in this post.

Coming soon...

Coming Soon...

No posts until after Christmas. Merry Christmas Everyone and a Happy New Year!

The Mercy Side: My Favourite Resident Evil Moments

Warning: This article contains spoilers on the games from the original Resident Evil game. If you don't want to spoil anything, I'd recommend you avoid this article.


Hey there,
I was going to do an article on the entire series but I had so much to say about the first one that it's spawned into an article on the sole game.
I've been a huge fan of Resident Evil since I saw the original game, around 1998,  two years after its release. I was shit scared of the game, when I watched a good friend of mine, who was the same age, that would have made us nine. Ever since then, I've played every game in the main series, and played some spin-offs too. The games have had their pros and cons, and their ups and downs in popularity. But I can't help but love Capcom's survival horror series. I'll go through my favourite moments from the one that started them all, Resident Evil 1, and hope you can reminisce with me if you're as big a fan as I am.

1. The title sequence.
You're the camera and you're creeping up on a survivor, he turns around, screams at you, and a gush of blood hits the air. The Resi logo hits the screen in big red letters. You then choose to click "New Game" and a man in a deep sinister voice says "Resident Evil". The man saying "Resident Evil" when you click "New Game" has been used in pretty much every game since, it's that iconic.
This sequence is so cheesy but it's brilliant. It sets up the game brilliantly, with the cheese and the bad acting. I love Resi 1, but this is just the beginning, there's many more things to say about this game that I like.


2. The intro video.
The entire intro video is infamous. It's awful, brutally awful in its acting, it's hilarious. If you haven't seen the epic parody by Legendary Frog you can view it here. "No, don't go!" Man, I love the intro video, it's fantastic.


3. Barry finds the "blood".
Barry: "What! What is this?" (Jill and Barry inspect closer) Jill: "...what is it?" Barry "Blood."
I love this little scene, I love Barry, who by the time he actually says blood, has been looking at the floor stained in some mysterious red substance for about 10 seconds. It's awfully awesome.


4. Barry, the master of weaponry, has to use three magnum bullets to shoot a zombies head off.
Says it all really, it takes you on pretty much every Resi game, one magnum bullet to a zombies head to pop it off. Barry, the veteran gunman, uses three. How?!


5. The master unlocking.
Considered the worst line in video game history, Barry gives Jill a lockpick. Jill is apparently the master of unlocking. If she was, surely you'd expect her to have one in the first place? And she is the master of unlocking, she has since unlocked my heart. Aww.


6. A picture of a chubby woman.
A subtle yet very memorable moment for me playing this game as a kid was when you go through the blue double doors on the first floor, and a picture hangs directly on the opposite wall that describes the portrait as such. I, to this day, never understood why there was such a need to describe the picture as chubby? The woman wasn't even that big, I could see that despite the few pixels needed to make the damn thing! It's just insulting really.


7. The dogs smashing through the windows in the first floor corridor.
Finally, a non-piss-taking memory. I shat myself when I was a nine year old kid when I saw this scene. The first dog smashing through the glass was a heart stopper, I tried to take him out, failed miserably, then ran off again. I then saw the second one come through, and shat myself yet again. Great times. Oh, I died by the way, the first time anyway.


8. Jill Sandwich.
Aw, come on, it's singly the best scene in Resi history surely! It's so good, they kept it in the remake, just made it slightly less cheesy, and had a shop named after the scene in the first Dead Rising game (Jill's Sandwiches).


9. I have this!
Barry shows off his fantastic magnum, the same one that he used three bullets to take down one zombie with. He prefers his magnum to the Acid Rounds he gives Jill. To be fair, I'd choose the magnum over Acid Rounds too.


10. Perhaps that was the most important part.
Barry is possibly the best one liner character in the history of video gaming. He's just got the best and cheesiest quotes from this game. When Jill inspects a book with pages missing, she lets Sir Burton know about the situation. Then, he responds with the above. It's just a fantastic moment where you're thinking, "Did they seriously employ these people as voice actors? Or is it the lines in the first place that are just stupid?"


11. Meeting Richard.
Richard's acting is god awful. The actor says his lines with little problems, despite Richard having a humongous snake bite around half his chest, and then finishes with "Ouch!". It's comedy gold, it really is.


12. Meeting the Snake.
This is a piss pants moment, the music is great too. This snake was the bane of my life at one moment, when I wanted to avoid getting any snake bite to cut time. He's a really scary beast and if he kills you, he trys to eat you whole, and nests in his long body with your lower half. Great stuff.


13. Chris "inspects" Plant 42.
When you're Chris in Resi 1, depending on what you do, there's a chance that for some unknown reason, when you walk into the room where you go against Plant 42 a cutscene occurs where Chris sees the humongous plantified beast. Unlike what everyone else would do in the scenario where you see this huge fucking plant, Chris just looks at it, walks around it for a bit, inspecting it, before it uses one of its tentacles to grab him. Rendering him useless before he has to actually depend on Rebecca to make a solution to release its hold. I mean WTF?! "Oooh... huge plant... that's amazing... let me get my mobile ph... aaaarrrghhhh!!!"


14. Wesker shooting wasp nests with a handgun.
I mean come on? Who put that in the script?! My favourite part is at the end of the scene when you have the opportunity to just walk over them. I always try to do it as dramatically as possible. No wonder Wesker had to resort to superhuman powers if he uses a handgun to shoot fucking wasp nests!


15.  The now infamous Hunter FMV scene.
Yes it looks rubbish now, but I'm telling you, playing this back in the mid to late nineties, you shat yourself. You didn't know what was running after you, at a great speed, capable of opening doors, having green reptilian claws. To this day, I'm scared of Hunters in the original Resi game. They haven't been replicated in difficulty and fucked up scariness, not even the remake did them justice. The only hope? Is when you get...


16. The Colt Python! The weapon brought down from the gods!
Playing the game at the time I didn't really use the weapon as it only held 6 rounds and looked small (I have very little knowledge on guns and how powerful they compare). But when I gave it a go, that was it, I was invincible! I could kill Hunters with one shot if luck was on my side! That is, unless...


17. The Hunter claws off my head.
Yarp. If there's one thing you don't do in Resi 1, or many Resi games for that matter, is get yourself in a fight with a Hunter if your on "Caution" or "Danger" health. They'll just claw your head off. But, it doesn't stop you thinking "Well, one more shot with this colt python/shotgun and he'll go down", you mistime and he claws your head off, in half a second. Just hope you saved recently if you do take the stupid risks that many people took.


18. Meeting Tyrant/Wesker reveals his true motives.
Yes I am aware I skipped a big chunk of the game but in honesty the majority of the good stuff is in the first half of the game. As a kid, I was pretty surprised about Wesker's double crossing, but that's only because I was a kid. It was pretty damn obvious from early on that Wesker was behind everything. But his dialogue, and revealing Tyrant, are still great moments in the game. Tyrant was pretty bad ass looking, so cool that his model was used over and over again in the first 4 games (1 to Code Veronica). Going against Tyrant the second time is also a great moment, he really does skin you to death if you're not careful. I remember my heart pumping going against him all those years ago.


So there you go, I hope you reminisced with me over the great moments in the game. Is there anything I've missed out, or not thought of? Is there little subtle things in the game you want to add from your experience? Do you have any stories about this epic game? Let me know in the comments below. Thanks for reading.


Date: 20/12/10

My Top 10 Games Featured on the GameFAQs.com Game of the Decade List

I hope you've been enjoying the Game of the Decade list as much as I have. It got me thinking of all the good games that have come out in the ten years that have passed. I think the 128 games that have been chosen are really good, kudos to GameFAQs for that. I thought I'd do a list of my favourite ten games from that list. Just to note, this is only from the competition that is currently under way, there are other games I love that aren't on the list at all (World of Goo should have been chosen dammit!). Anyway, onto the list...

#10: Shadow of the Colossus (PS2) 

It's just been knocked out of the competition just less than 5 hours ago. I've just wept my last tear. This game is probably the most unique on the entire list. You just have to experience it to understand. A game with no standard enemies, just bosses? And it not only works but also became one of the greatest games ever made? Impossible. Just the scale of these enemies makes the game worth playing; it's just such a mind-blowing experience.

#9: Silent Hill 2 (PS2/XBox/PC) 

This game has possibly my favourite ending of all time in any game. It's a beautiful ending, well one of the endings you can get anyway, as you can multiple endings! It's probably my favourite Silent Hill game too, with the third not being far behind, this game was just a masterpiece from start to finish, storyline wise. The controls were a bit clunky once in a while, but you can ignore that with all that was good about this game. It's truly a phenomenal experience.

There's very few things in video games more fucking scary than Pyramid Head from Silent Hill 2.



#8: Pokemon Gold/Silver/Crystal (GBC) (Read my review here)

It's my favourite game in the Pokemon series; it's the game they got the most positives out of. The addition of colour, the night/day time, the breeding, going back to the original game's world... but the main thing they got right was how many Pokemon they had. The original 150 was great, the next 100 added onto it were also good, but then it just went overboard with every other game that has since been added. I've also done a review for the game, it's a bit old now but you can see it on this site if you're interested.

#7: The Legend of Dragoon (PS) 

I was surprised to see this game on the list as it got mixed reviews by critics. But the fans that liked this game loved it so that's power to the people for you yo! Yes, this game had flaws, and many consider it to be Sony's flopped Final Fantasy game, but it does enough right for it to be more than enjoyable. It's got a decent storyline, some of the graphics look great (whilst other parts look awful) and Lloyd was a good villain. But the best thing I liked about this game was the combo attacks, it was hard to get at first, but once you got it, it was a lot of fun.

#6: Final Fantasy X (PS2) (Read my review here)

I've probably spent more hours on this game than any other on this list. FF10 had its great moments, I can't criticise it for its commercial value, and it’s the last game in the series that was universally popular. I had great times playing it, but it just lacked something. I don't know what that something was, but it just felt inferior to some of the previous games. Anyway positivity is needed for this list! Final Fantasy 10 was very good in nearly every department, a great storyline, beautiful graphics that still hold up well today, a good battle system, and one of the most kick ass characters in FF history in Auron.

#5: Left 4 Dead (X360/PC/Mac) 

I'd just like to say, I hate FPS games. I can't stand them. They're always the same, there's just no telling the difference between each game that's out there. Apart from Left 4 Dead. L4D caught me by surprise. The main reason is its multiplayer game, it's just so much fun to play online. I love being the infected; it's just so entertaining. I'm actually quite obsessed with playing this game, I just can't put it down despite it being a bit dated now, and a sequel has also been made. That's the sign of a great game, that you'd play it over more recent games that have come out.

Man, there's very little more satisfying than being a Boomer on L4D.

 

#4: Plants vs. Zombies (PC/X360) 

Speaking of addictive games, the most addictive of all is PvZ. Not a great deal of people have played this but those who have, get addicted. This game is so easy to play but so hard to master, and to top it all off it's funny as hell. Seriously, if you've not played this game, download a free trial, and then spend your hard earned money on getting it when you find out how awesome it is.

#3: Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (PS2/PC/Xbox/Mac) 

I don't know why this game has been overlooked so much in the competition. GTA3 came out, it was ground breaking, but had flaws. Vice City came out, improved those flaws but felt a bit too gimmicky, with it being in the eighties. GTA4 just went overboard in many ways, no matter how slick it looked. But San Andreas, San Andreas expanded everything that made the previous games great, and didn't go too far like GTA4 did. It also has the biggest and most interesting map to boost. GTA San Andreas got the best of all worlds and what I think is the closest to perfect the GTA games will get.

#2: Resident Evil 4 (GC/PS2/PC/Wii) 

And the award for most improved series award goes to - Resident Evil! I'm a huge Resi fan actually, but after Resi 2, the two follow-ups in 3: Nemesis and Code: Veronica decreased in quality for some reason. Capcom knew they had to do something to revamp the series. And this is what they did, and man, what a game Resi 4 is. It's just a brilliant game; I've not played an action game and had as much fun as I have playing this. I bought it, without thinking it was going to blow me away like it did. It's sometimes nice to not anticipate than it is to over anticipate (which is actually what I did with Resi 5, but that's a different story).

One of the best moments of Final Fantasy IX, Vivi and Quina... get married?!

#1: Final Fantasy IX (PS) (Read my review here)

And now we come to my #1. The people who know me well aren't surprised but I suppose as a GameFAQs list maybe you are. Other FF games were immensely more popular than this, 7, 8, 10, 12 are all more popular. But this game to me is the closest you will get to a perfect RPG, I mean, it has some minor flaws but I've never enjoyed a game as much as this. Remember, this is my list, and we're all different. But this game just oozes character, it's got everything what I want in a game, from it being fun to play, for the story to be both happy and sad, have characters I can relate to, it's long enough for me to get sucked into without ever getting bored, it's got an amazing soundtrack. It has everything. It frustrates me how much people overlook this game, but in a certain way it makes it more special, as I feel like it's my game.

And there you go, my favourite 10 games featured from the 128 chosen by GameFAQs. This is my list obviously, and I'm not claiming these are the best 10 games of the decade, nor are they my favourite 10 (although not many others would penetrate it mind!), but I just thought it'd be interesting to narrow down the 128 to my particular taste, and see the results. I didn't have a masterplan, I just chose the games I liked and chipped it down to 10. I hope it was interesting nevertheless!

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Game Review: Peggle

Peggle fits in nicely with casual gamers but hardcore gamers, don’t dismiss it so easily.

 
Peggle? Why review Peggle? Why not review Peggle? It’s a great game. Don’t take the mickey because of the fact it’s not a 50-hour RPG/Shooter masterpiece. This game may be available on the Internet, but it’s also spawned on many other different types of console.

I’ll take a step back, just in case you don’t know much about Peggle. Peggle was initially released back in 2007, but as I said, it’s been released on many consoles; the one I’m reviewing is the Deluxe version on the Xbox 360 Arcade. PopCap, the developers have Valve to thank for their storming popularity when they released it on Steam. Since then there has also been a sequel called Peggle Nights.

Peggle was inspired by a game very popular in Japan called pachinko, which is very similar to pinball but without the flippers. In a game of pachinko there are pins, and the balls and pins combination in pachinko based the layout for this game called Peggle. In Peggle, the idea is to shoot your ball in a certain direction from the top, and hit the pins (or pegs in this case, hence Peggle). It’s not quite that simple, because there are different coloured pegs – blue, orange, purple and green. The majority of the pegs are blue, and a good few are orange. The idea of “winning” a level of Peggle is by shooting your balls; you start off with ten, at all the orange pegs in the level. Sounds easy? Well the orange pegs are scattered in between all the blues, and hitting a blue peg will make it disappear. Some orange pegs are really hard to get to, which ramps up the difficulty in later levels.

There are two other colours I mentioned, purple and green. There is only one purple peg in the level at the time, and if you hit it, you get a large points bonus. Quite simple. The green pegs are what make this game spark the most. We have ten “Peggle Masters”, and if you play through the main game you will in turn use all ten masters. These ten masters do different things with the green pegs. The first is Bjorn (awful name I know), who if you hit a green peg gives you the ability to see where your shot will deflect, help you to hone your shots to get harder to find orange pegs easier. Later on there’s Tula, if you hit her green peg she will light up orange pegs in a radius around your green peg, which can be very useful. All ten Peggle Masters have their own abilities, which can be used through the green pegs, all can be useful to some capacity.
The graphics are your standard PopCap level stuff, but that's fine, because they're very colourful games, that appeal to kids easily. It's something that PopCap do well, make their games nice and colourful and accessible to kids, yet adults can not only play, but get addicted to them too. The best thing about this game, is hitting that last orange peg. If you miss ever so slightly, the screen zooms in on your ball and it goes in slow motion, and you hear the crowd sigh in disappointment. But, if you hit the ball, it zooms in again, and plays "Ode to Joy", the brilliant classical composition by Beethoven.  It's one of the best "win" songs in the history of video gaming, by one of the best composers of all time. It's a fantastic little addition to the game that makes it better for it.

This puzzle game is very simple, and very easy to play. Kids can play this game with adults, and Multiplayer is fun too. In Multiplayer mode you simply take turns to shoot balls and try to have the highest score at the end. There are also Challenges you can take part in, but you have to finish the main game first. These challenges vary, from completing one of the levels, but with more orange pegs in it, to achieving a certain amount of points in a level, to completing a level with fewer balls. This continuation from the main game is just as addictive as the game itself and prolongs the game further. You can also play online if you so wish, and you can get ranked up and down depending on if you beat your opponent or lose. There is also a Peggle Party function where you go against up to three more people on separate boards, trying to accumulate the most points.

 

Peggle quite simply is a great game, very simple and very accessible to anyone from small kids to adults. It’s a game you can pickup easily but will hard to put down because it’s so addictive. In a gaming era where great new puzzle games are hard to find, Peggle fits in nicely with the casual gamer audience but should not be dismissed so easily by hardcore gamers. If you have a good 30 minutes spare, play this game. It’s only 800 points on the Xbox 360; so if you can afford it don’t hesitate to download it.

Rating: ****

 

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Bitesize: #2

Hey everyone, just a quick few things that I'll sum up in a quick blog.

I've just hit 4000 page views on this site, in under 4 months, I'm flabbergasted yet chuffed to bits with that statistic. I've been talking about different forms of media, which makes it more remarkable, I don't have one topic to juggle, I have about four. So to keep people interested in my writing about four different forms of media is going to be difficult, but I'm going to do my best to talk about these, and keep myself busy, and hopefully interest you further! I also broke my daily pageview record when I revealed the Top 10 in my Top 50 Greatest Catchphrases, Past and Present listing, when I hit 217 pageviews two days ago. That's just ridiculous for me, but once again, thanks for showing the interest I want you to show in my work!

In wrestling news Smackdown sounded similar to previous weeks, which is average to slightly above average. The Kane/Edge feud started off intriguing, with the "monster" being tamed by Edge by taking the only thing Kane loves in his life away from him, that being Paul Bearer. It started off quite fresh in terms of WWE storylines of late, but every week has been the same, Kane runs after Edge and Paul Bearer and when Kane thinks he's got Paul back it's a dummy. It's been this way for weeks and weeks now though and it's boring. But it seems like it's come to an end now that Kane has accidentally "killed" Paul Bearer for mistaking him for a dummy again, but it wasn't this time. Hopefully that's the end of it, although I'm disappointed Paul Bearer didn't get used properly, he's a great manager, one of the best of all time, and deserved to be used better than he way. Nay'mind.

The other big news really in wrestling was the great match between Tara and Mickie James on TNA. Not only is it rare for the women to main event a show, but these women put their (very nice) bodies on the line in a cage match. Neither made it out of the cage injury free but put on a great match. Tara has ligament damage in her elbow, she did it roughly half way through the match and continued. What a woman. Anyone who says wrestling is fake is stupid. It's just frustrating that a match as good as this won't happen now for a good 3 years or so, the last time I can remember a match being considered as good as this in the women's division was probably Trish/Mickie or Trish/Lita. They were ages ago.

In football, Liverpool produced an inconsistent display yesterday which has pretty much summed our season so far. We got off to a bad start, went a goal down, then made up for it with some decent football, got a goal back, then lost concentration and conceded two. But Liverpool never make it easy for themselves do they? It's a shame, we were actually on a decent run as well. We need to recuperate and give it another bash. It's frustrating that we can't get a longer period of momentum at the moment, we always have to slip on a banana skin, it's happened so many times this season its frustrating. Let's hope we can give a decent display midweek in the Europa League, and maybe get a few kids to have a good run out as well. Come on Pacheco, score a goal!

In video games, well Laguna has been announced on the new Dissidia game, which is awesome, but the PSP is broked. Bummer. I'm really disappointed that Dissidia is remaining on the PSP because it's a great game, I was hoping they would port it to the PS2, or at least the PS3/Xbox 360, but there's no news on that so far.

Site news, I'm also doing a review on Peggle, that should be up soon. I'm also doing a review on the soundtrack for the second series of True Blood, that should be up this week too. I'm also doing another listing, a short one this time, which will also be on GameFAQs, which is the "Top 10 Underappreciated Games in Major Franchises". Should be interesting. I'm also working on a massive project long term, but I don't want to reveal much about that yet, but it should be very interesting that's for sure.

That's it from me today, I hope your weekends have been good, and that you're all ready for the week ahead. Take care.

 

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The Top 50 Greatest Wrestling Catchphrases Past and Present: #10 - #1

We’ve arrived at The Top 10 now. Once again I’ll reiterate, I believe these 10 catchphrases are the most important, the greatest, in the biz. They aren’t my personal favourite 10. For instance, one of my favourite ever catchphrases is “DAMN!” by Ron Simmons. But that’s already been. It would be wrong of me to put that in the Top 10, it’s simply not important or revolutionary enough.

Anyway, here we go, the Top 10, and also, why…

#10

Catchphrase: “To a nicer guy, it couldn't have happened!”

Wrestler: Buddy Rodgers

This is the catchphrase that pretty much popularised and revolutionised the need for wrestlers to use words to back up their great wrestling prowess. It’s been debatable about Buddy Rodgers, did he mean it? Was it kayfabe? Or was he just an egotistical man? Or was he winding people up, the way so many other guys do it today. At the time, the use of a catchphrase was pretty non-existent. That’s why Buddy Rodger’s deserves a place in the Top 10. If it wasn’t for him, where would we be today?

#9

Catchphrase: “And that's the bottom line, cuz Stone Cold said so!”

Wrestler: Stone Cold Steve Austin

 

Stone Cold has already featured in the Top 50 once before, and he will once again. His second entry is the catchphrase he usually finishes off his promos with. And man, it stuck. From the first time he said it, to his sporadic appearances now, it gets a fantastic response. Almost everything that came out of Stone Cold’s mouth was golden; he said what he wanted to say and didn’t give a shit what you thought. But then again, in The Attitude Era this was a good trait to have, he was so over at the time!

 

#8

Catchphrase: “The best there is, the best there was, the best there ever will be.”

Wrestler: Bret Hart

Not one of my particular favourites, but you can’t underestimate how popular this was. Bret Hart is a legend. This was his key phrase. Whenever people talk about him, this is one of the things people think of. It’s as simple as that. It’s a phrase so easy to think of, yet so particular to one man only – Bret Hart. That’s why he’s so high in the list.

 

#7

Catchphrase: “You're fired!”

Key figure: Vince McMahon

It’s the highest up two worded catchphrase on the list. These two words are pretty much the epitome of Mr McMahon, the evil boss of WWE, and his character. It’s not just the words, but how he says it. Man, he says it with so much vinegar, it’s so iconic, his face, his scowl, everything. It’s a fantastic catchphrase and yes, he does say it better than both Donald Trump AND Sir Alan Sugar!

 

#6

Catchphrase: “Rest in peace!”

Wrestler: The Undertaker 

Whenever I think of this phrase personally, I always laugh because in one of the video packages leading upto Wrestlemania last April, it sounded like ‘Taker said “Rest in… BEEEES!” which was funny. But on an iconic level, it’s quite simply, like Bret Hart, the phrase associated with the wrestler. But unlike Bret Hart, The Undertaker had a gimmick, one that he has used for a very long time. The character, the phrase, they just combine so easily. I don’t even know how popular “RIP” was before The Undertaker, I’d probably have to ask people who were adults in the eighties. What? I’m only 21!

 

#5

Catchphrase: “If you're not down with that, we got two words for you, suck it!”

Wrestlers: D-Generation X

This phrase, along with the crotch chop, are what went part and parcel with the Attitude Era. This is on here ahead of a few just because it’s a better line for crowd interaction. It’s so popular, Shawn Michaels doesn’t even have to say the last two words if he doesn’t have to. He can just let the crowd do it. It’s popular enough to bypass the double standards that is the WWE PG era, despite “sucking it” is most certainly not PG.

 

#4

Catchphrase: “If you smell! What the Rock is cooking!”

Wrestler: The Rock

Similar to my Top 50 Final Fantasy Characters listing, there’s a Top 4 cut off point. I’d say the Top 4 are that much better than the rest. We start off with The Rock’s ending to his promos. There are so many of the Rock’s catchphrases that could have been in this list, quantity wise. But how revolutionary they all are, is up for debate. For me, the true catchphrase The Rock used consitently was this one. He chopped it, changed it, said it more than once sometimes, and also used delays. He had the audience in his palm whenever he said the final line in his inevitably brilliant promo. Even more recently, when he did taped promos to promote something, he’d know when to stop, when to say “… is cookin’, it didn’t matter that it was taped, the audience probably didn’t even notice it wasn’t live. He’s a true legend on the mic, and this is truly his best line.

 

#3

Catchphrase: “Whatcha gonna do, when Hulkamania runs wild on you!”

Wrestler: Hulk Hogan

Which brings me to Hulk Hogan’s second and final entry into the list. This line was just phenomenal. It’s truly, like many in the Top 10, associated with the wrestler. And what a wrestler he was. Not in his in ring ability, but in his ability to work a crowd. He knew how to excite an audience, which his mannerisms, his voice, his pointing. “Brother”. But despite what he did, he wouldn’t be as big as he is today without the above catchphrase. So tell me. Whatcha gonna do?! Whatcha gonna do, when Johnny Mercyside reveals the top 2?!

 

#2

Catchphrase: “What?”

Wrestler: Stone Cold Steve Austin

The top two phrases do something that no other phrases do. There’s a big two, in a big four in this list. What? What? What? Stone Cold’s “What?” phrase, is just stupid. He knows it, we all do. But it’s fantastic. He just interrupted people mid sentence, got in their face and said, “What?”. As I said, this and #1 do something that no other phrase does. These two phrases are used universally, in any situation, in any wrestling company, with any wrestler. How many times, since the early noughties, have you heard “What?” in the background, the crowd saying it, when someone delivers a promo? Almost every heel out there, will get this. The crowd just love saying it. They love saying that one word, they love to try and piss off the heel, acting. It’s great. It’s unique. It’s simple. 

Oh the other quote that falls into this category? Well quite simply, it’s:

#1

Catchphrase: “Woo!”

Wrestler: Ric Flair

It may not be too much of a surprise. It may be. But it’s not really a dispute. What catchphrase, what word, is associated with wrestling more than anything else? Woo! More so than “What?”, this is used all the time. Primarily when a wrestler uses the chop, I used to love seeing Chris Benoit go gung ho with chops while the crowd tries to get a “Woo!” in between each one. Seeing the wrestlers chop, seeing the red skin on the wrestlers chest, hearing the “Woo!” from the crowd, that’s wrestling. One of my favourite ever promos, was when Kurt Angle got drafted to Raw a few years back, and he had a “Woo-off” with Ric Flair. It was hilarious. Of course, Kurt Angle has tried to reincarnate the “Woo!”, and does a great job with it. Ric Flair is responsible for millions (…and millions, thanks Rocky!) of fans to say that three lettered word, in almost every match on every card in every wrestling organisation.

So Ric Flair, this trophy is for you! Woo!

I hope you’ve enjoyed this list. I hope you agree with it too, I tried to be unbiased, as I said. If you disagree, let me know, convince me that I’m wrong. I’m more than willing to change the list if many people thing a phrase is unfairly omitted, or if the order is wrong. I don’t think many in the Top 10 can be disputed though, but try me!

Before I finish, here’s another 10, a consolation list, in order of wrestler’s name, not in order how good they are:

“You didn't just say that. Tell me, you did not just say that?” Booker T

“I'm the best in the world at what I do.” Chris Jericho

“That's how I roll.” Christian

“Listen here, you pencil neck geeks!” Fred Blassie

“SmackDown!'s number one announcer!” Funaki

“Will you stop?” Gorilla Monsoon

“He's being beaten like a government mule!” Jim Ross

“If I could be serious for a moment.” Lance Storm

“Ohh yyes!” Paul Bearer

“I came to fight and chew bubble gum and I'm all out of bubble gum!” Roddy Piper

Once again thank you for reading this listing, I enjoyed writing it. Also again, as Mick Foley says, “Have a nice day!”

See other parts in the listing!

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

 

For the latest updates on my work, follow me on Facebook and Twitter here!

The Top 50 Greatest Wrestling Catchphrases Past and Present: #25 - #11

Hey everyone,

I hope you're enjoying the list so far. Nothing really more to say so let's just go on!

#25

Catchphrase: "Mr Kennedy! Kennedy!"

Wrestler: Mr Kennedy

#24

Catchphrase: "Are you ready? No I said, are, you, reeady?!"

Wrestler: D-Generation X

 

#23

Catchphrase: "You'll never, eever, be the same, again!"

Wrestler: Chris Jericho

 

#22

Catchphrase: "Win if you can, lose if you must, but I always cheat!"

Wrestler: Jesse Ventura

 

#21

Catchphrase: "It's true, it's damn true."

Wrestler: Kurt Angle

 

 

#20

Catchphrase: "Give me a hell yeah!"

Wrestler: Stone Cold Steven Austin

 

#19

Catchphrase: "Who's next?!"

Wrestler: Goldberg

 

#18

Catchphrase: "I am The Game and I am that damn good!"

Wrestler: Triple H

 

#17

Catchphrase: "Everybody has a price!"

Wrestler: Ted DiBiase

 

#16

Catchphrase: "To be the man, you gotta beat the man!"

Wrestler: Ric Flair

 

#15

Catchphrase: "The champ is here!"

Wrestler: John Cena

 

#14

Catchphrase: "Ohh, what a rush!!"

Wrestler: The Road Warriors

 

#13

Catchphrase: "I lie! I cheat! I steal!"

Wrestler: Eddie Guerrero

 

#12

Catchphrase: "Ooh yeah! Dig it!"

Wrestler: Randy Savage

 

#11

Catchphrase: "You can't see me!"

Wrestler: John Cena

So once again, do you agree? Disagree? What will be in the Top 10? Let me know what you think below. Top 10 time tomorrow!

See other parts in the listing!

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

 

For the latest updates on my work, follow me on Facebook and Twitter here!