Mind of Maniac – E3 Memories (Part 1) May 11, 2023

The Electronic Entertainment Expo has been cancelled for this year and it is looking likely to not return. While many have been happy about this news, our lead writer Maniac has very fond memories of E3, starting with the days when he first heard about it back in the year 2000, and is sorry to see it end.

In honor of the fall of E3, Maniac decides to share his experience with the expo, as a way to try to express why he feels the way he does about the news. In the first part of this multi-part story, Maniac talks about what his life was like before becoming a member of the gaming press, when he was just a gamer looking inwards to an industry he wanted to be a part of.

How Would Universal Studios Portray Donkey Kong in a Theme Park? March 20, 2023

After the incredible success of Universal Studios Japan’s Super Nintendo World, plans have been put in motion to bring Nintendo’s Donkey Kong and his respective characters into theme parks across the world. There has already been a discussion about what kind of rides and shows we can expect coming to the Universal Resorts, but one question remains unanswered…how do you depict a giant ape (that is roughly four times the size of a grown human being) in a theme park? Here are our thoughts on the matter.

How do you think a Donkey Kong character could be constructed for theme park appearances, and would you want to do a character meet and greet with DK? Post a comment below with your thoughts.

Memories of Maniac – How Premium Cable Worked Before Cable Boxes February 6, 2023

My wife and I have been enjoying watching classic wrestling events over the past few weeks. Back in the day, at least one would be broadcasted as a paid premium live event. But how exactly did premium cable work in the days before digital cable boxes were adopted by the mainstream? We had always assumed people just always knew, then we realized that this was over twenty years ago.

Welcome back to Memories of Maniac, where we discuss our memories from back in the day. Today, we’re going to talk about what went into watching a premium pay-per-view was like back in the day!

Mind of Maniac – Is This The End of Marvel’s Interconnected Gamerverse? January 23, 2023

The movie world has never seen anything like the enduring Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). With dozens of phenomenal films and television shows released since 2008, the MCU has become a gold standard for how to produce an interconnected feature. Following the release of Marvel’s Spider-Man on the PlayStation 4, Marvel hinted that their games MAY have been continuing that trend with the upcoming release of Marvel’s Avengers.

Marvel’s Avengers went on to be a well-documented disappointment, and since it’s release it appears that the games have since splintered into their own non-connected continuities. But was that always the plan?

As someone who has played these games I can say I found plenty of winks and nods throughout the games of events that took place in other ones. The evidence showed that Marvel was indeed planning to have these games exist in a shared continuity. However, following the disappointment of Avengers, that seems to have changed. So what made us think they were interconnected and why do we think that continuity has broken? Please enjoy the video below to find out!

Marvel’s Avengers is out now for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S.

Marvel’s Iron Man VR is out now for PSVR, Meta Quest 2 and Meta Quest Pro.

Marvel’s Spider-Man is out now for PS4, PS5 and PC.

Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy is out now for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S.

Mind of Maniac – What Movies Got Right About the Future December 23, 2022

We’re coming to the end of the year, and I know a lot of science-fiction fans have been hoping that some of the things shown in popular films like Back to the Future Part II would be ready to purchase at any random corner store. We didn’t get flying cars but there were a lot of things we DID get, or got close enough to count.

What did we get? What movies were the most accurate? Watch Maniac as he sits down for this end of the year discussion about the future…or is it the present?

Memories of Maniac – Retail Store Memories (Part 2) October 3, 2022

Not too long ago, Maniac told the story of his experiences with classic retail and talked about three stores he had close experiences with, Circuit City, Lechemere and Nobody Beats the Wiz. Now, he’s back to finish the job.

Today, Maniac will finish his stories of detailing with electronics retailers, talking about two more retailers, CompUSA and Best Buy. Is retail as dead as everyone says it is? Can Maniac save it? Watch and find out.

Memories of Maniac – Electronic Retail Stores September 22, 2022

Retail is dying, but is that a good or a bad thing? In this new Memories of Maniac, our host tells his best memories about three retail establishments that are no longer with us.

Memories of Maniac – Time Travel Memories January 4, 2021

We’re getting a little personal here today as Maniac tells a story about one of his favorite concepts in fiction, Time Travel. Whether you’re a fan of classic games like Chrono Trigger or newer ones like Quantum Break.

But how does Time Travel work, and did these games get it right? Well, Maniac has done plenty of research on the subject in the past twenty-five years and he’s going to talk about it.

Quantum Break is out now for Xbox One and PC. Chrono Trigger is out now for SNES, PS1, Wii, PC and Smart Devices.

Memories of Maniac – The Time I Stumbled Into a Hollywood Movie’s Cast Screening November 24, 2020

Welcome back to Memories of Maniac, where our host tells some of his favorite life stories.

In 2007, I became interested in a movie called Fanboys. Set in the film 1998, it followed several die-hard Star Wars fans, who wished to provide a dying friend of theirs the chance to see Star Wars Episode I. Fanboys would not get theatrically released until 2009, and its release was so limited very few theaters in the US actually ran it. What was I to do? I packed up a friend and spent three hours traveling to NYC to visit the closest theater showing the film. As luck would have it, I wasn’t the only person interested in seeing the film that would be in attendance in the theater that day, a big portion of the film’s cast was also there. Here’s how it happened!