Memories of Maniac – Nintendo Zone July 22, 2023

Back when Nintendo was actively promoting the Nintendo 3DS platform, they offered a free WiFi infrastructure across the US to promote the platform’s internet capabilities, which provided exclusive content and features that players could not get anywhere else. It was called the Nintendo Zone, and in its heyday could be accessed by popular venues including McDonald’s, Barnes and Noble, Best Buy, Home Depot, and AT&T stores.

How well did it work? What exclusives were offered? Watch below and find out!

Mind of Maniac – Tips for Creating a VR Film June 27, 2023

With Meta Quest headsets easily accessible to most consumers, and Apple’s Vision Pro on the way, within a matter of months there will be heavy demand for a specific type of media made for it, 360 3D VR content.

As a person who dabbles in filmmaking, as well as consumed plenty of VR content, I can assure you that making content for Virtual Reality is a very different experience than production for static 2D screens. Headroom is meaningless, lights must be covertly hidden, all four walls of a set must be constructed, and that’s all needed before the camera can even be turned on.

So, if you’ve got your hands on a 360 or 360 3D camera, and you are planing to do something with it. Here are my tips for creating content for VR. Enjoy.

Mind of Maniac – IMAX Films June 17, 2023

This weekend, The Flash will be released in theaters and IMAX screens across the country. But what is IMAX and why does going to an IMAX movie cost more? IMAX is a filmmaking standard for a special 70mm film projector. The cameras used in this standard work a LOT different then the more common 35mm film or digital cameras, and have very different rules for how they need to be used.

If you’re like I was, you would have noticed over the past two decades, many major theatrical blockbusters have been adapted to play on the same screens previously used for science documentaries. But, why do they look so different in the year 2023 than they did in the 1990s? Today, we’re going to discuss all of that and by the end of it you’re going to ask yourself if you had ever gone to a movie and just seen half of it!

Memories of Maniac – The Time I Crashed My Bully School’s Prom June 10, 2023

As a gamer, I can tell you, LAN Parties aside, there’s literally nothing I hate more than social situations. A few years ago, I shared a story where my parents forced me to attend my Middle School’s Dance, and how the pointless endeavor was a complete waste of time for everyone involved. For years afterwards, I never had to repeat that…until I was a High School Senior and Prom was coming.

I never dated in High School and had no interest in attending Prom. My parents had other ideas. A friend of the family (who was the same age I was) was in need of a date. The problem was, we were not friends, and had nothing in common. The other problem was the school she went to was also attended by the exact same people who contributed to making many years of my life absolutely horrible. However, whether I wanted to or not, I would be going to this event.

Asking “So what happened?” would not be the right question. The better question was, “How bad was it?” Well, we’re going to tell you. Due to the use of some occasional naughty words, we’ve decided to put an 18+ restriction on this video. However, the intention behind publishing this video is to help those who may be enduring similar circumstances. Please post a comment below with your thoughts.

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?