Monday, August 28, 2023

Joe's Segues - 8/28/23

We are approaching September and school started a couple of weeks ago and as usual, it has the ongoing cycle when you had to get up and go to school tired every Monday once the weekend is over. But thankfully, this monologue will be posted after school to get you guys excited.

First off, it's gonna be a big announcement. I just digitally pre-ordered Mortal Kombat 1. The game looks good and so far, 21 characters have been confirmed, with the return of the 3D era characters. And it has air combos featured in Armageddon and they are back. I guess that's why they don't want variants because they modify movesets. I didn't particiapte in the Beta since I was able to pre-order it on that time after the Beta ends. It's the Standard Edition I pre-ordered and it only gives me access to Shang Tsung. The Premium Edition comes with other benefits. I'm looking forward to this and I'll be ready for some brutal butt kicking.

After watching Mortal Kombat 11 Top 6 at EVO, I was a bit sad that it was the final year at EVO because the new era is upon us. I really thought it would ran past my bedtime, but I was able to watch the whole thing to see how the finale goes. The upcoming iteration is upon us. Only the ones that are for mature audiences.

Keef has a reaction video about how he reacts to the Mortal Kombat 1 announcement trailer. I heard he wanted Noob Saibot to be in the game. I do too. But unfortunately, it won't be possible. Mortal Kombat 1 marks the new era of the franchise. Bi-Han is back as the first Sub-Zero while Scorpion isn't targeting for blood. It's probably because Kuai Liang is taking the Scorpion role instead of his role as the second Sub-Zero. And there has been some interesting developments. Shao is demoted to General as history has been restarted. He is henceforth to be called General Shao. He's no longer Emperor.

This is big news and all, but Mortal Kombat 1 is not the only game I am excited for as I pre-ordered it digitally because there is a new game being ported to PS5 and that is Honkai: Star Rail. It is a free-to-play turn-based RPG that is from the same company that brought you Genshin Impact and Honkai Impact 3rd. I heard it looks good. The battles are insane and it draws inspiration from the Atelier franchise on the 7th and 8th generation eras of gaming. So is the story. I pre-registered for the PS5 Technical Test to not only get invited to it. But to also get cool rewards.

From a gameplay standpoint, I watched some of the gameplay videos. It's anime and science fiction combined. There is an FAQ about the Technical Test and it asks that if we can stream it or not. The answer shows that we are more than welcome to stream it. I plan to do some live streaming on it to show viewers the gameplay and with a stream title that says "The Universe Before Time: Journey Through the Stars," "Pirates of the Galactic," or whatever.

These stream titles are making jokes of movie titles. "The Universe Before Time: Journey Through the Stars" is a joke of The Land Before Time: Journey Through the Mists and it's refers to characters' journey through the stars in a train. "Pirates of the Galactic" is a joke of Pirates of the Caribbean applying to characters setting sail across each planet in space.

You know how I can be able to revisit my favorite PlayStation oldies after years since the PS4 came out because of PS Plus Premium? I been wanting to after years and it's finally happening. I am planning on doing a throwback stream where I can stream classic games that I can revisit.

But what I want to mention now, though, is copyright screens. They have been my most favorite thing in video games since the 6th generation consoles came out. But I prefer the ones that are silent and have the black background.


This is my fanmade copyright screen I made through Canva like other projects. This draws inspiration from the copyright screens on the 6th and 7th generation era WWE games, with SEGA being known for their names, likenesses, characters, slogans, jingles, images and all of their games' logos. It is referring to Sonic and SEGA All-Stars Racing, which has SEGA game logos, in game jingles during their All-Star Moves, opening and ending in game jingles, slogans and images, considering every THQ game has copyright screens.

Because it is fanmade, 2009 is passed. THQ filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy to no longer exist back in 2013, which was a decade ago since the situation. No game like this would be made by YUKE'S and be part of the JAKKS Pacific brand. Even SEGA or SUMO Digital aren't in this establishment. Most classic games use FMOD Sound System and it's still alive for modern games to also have it. But this is still WIP and it's only the first one, so I am planning to make more of them and cherish them forever. As I said before, it is fanmade and it's not intended to infringe on their copyright.

It hurts real bad that after a week later since their Humble Bundle ended, THQ turned themselves in for Chapter 11 bankruptcy with the intention of selling their franchises to Clearlake Capital to do an auction ultimately denied by Judge Mary Walrath, but approved by the creditors instead after years and series of financial woes and struggles despite their best efforts to keep their company alive. They were doing literally well since the start, until back in 2011 when they unveiled their new logo, they started losing money when Homefront was released and established a poor reception.

The worst things I experienced about THQ is that they suffered a critical hit of a $239 million loss and the situation has took a turn for the worst as they couldn't repay a $50 million loan from Wells Fargo and were headed towards bankruptcy and down to their last breath as they dropped all the way down to a dreadful amount of $1.16, which was not good and forced to delay Company of Heroes 2 and Metro: Last Light.

It was no surprise that the company went bankrupt way before the PS4 and Xbox One came out in 2013. But an Austrian game company formerly known as Nordic Games came in to acquire the rest of THQ's franchises and purchase the THQ trademark a year later. Two years later, Nordic Games is renamed to THQ Nordic to utilize the THQ trademark. Because this is a European game company, their money is euros and THQ Nordic is not THQ.

The only thing I like best about THQ is not only they were initlally a toy company called Toy Headquarters, which is what THQ stands for. It's also the copyright screens all of their games had and were known for their WWE games. The ones under the THQ umbrella does well, but the ones under the 2K umbrella are just absolute garbage, lacking their charm. But there is a wrestling game developed by YUKE'S and published under the THQ Nordic umbrella recently released.

But THQ wasn't the first video game company to file a Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Midway Games was around longer than THQ. They started out as Midway Manufacturer Company back in the 1950s and over the years it grew from being an arcade company to a home company. Up until back in 2010, Midway filed a Chapter 11 bankruptcy and they were the first to do so before THQ does. That's how they get defunct. It's goes to show that bankruptcy is basically death because once a company's stock reaches $0.00 while they failed to repay debts, boom, they are bankrupt and they can't be revived. I guess that's what they say; "you only live once".

And that's all for now. I have a lot to monologue, but gonna stop here for now after monologuing the demise of an American toy company-turned video game company that saddens the whole community. Hope you all have a wonderful day and don't forget; THQ will still be in our hearts.

UPDATE - 9/4

Just a small announcement. After reading the FAQ for the Honkai: Star Rail PS5 Technical Test, to gain access to it, I must fill out the survey and submit it to them by the first day of September. I have submitted it after the deadline, so I won't be able to get access to the Technical Test.

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