#the Incredible hulk ultimate destruction

[they-have-the-same-va]

Ben 10,000 from Ben 10 shares a voice actor with The Incredible Hulk from Marvel Comics in most TV shows and video games.

Voiced by Fred Tatasciore

(requested by @arcanemadman)

[dewatermelongod]

[g4zdtechtv]

THE PILE PRESENTS: X-Play - The Spider-Man 3 Spectacular | 6/13/07

Honoring a hero whose self-doubt and inner turmoil makes him so much more interesting than guys who get hurt by Green Rocks.

[tomoleary]

Bryan Hitch The Incredible Hulk Ultimate Destruction Game Ad Artwork (2005) Source

Final ad

[datcloudboi]

List of Games Turning Twenty (20) Years Old in 2025

Advance Wars: Dual Strike

Advent Rising (they started planning the trilogy before the first game was out lmao)

Age of Empires III

Animal Crossing: Wild World (the DS one)

Arc the Lad: End of Darkness

Area 51 (the FPS that was low-key kinda creepy)

Banjo Pilot (the Banjo-Kazooie racing game on GBA).

Battalion Wars (the spin-off of Advance Wars).

Battlefield 2

Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30

Brothers in Arms: Earned in Blood (yep, they released two mainline games in one year).

Burnout Revenge (this cleared Burnout 3, and I will fight you on that).

Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth

Call of Duty 2

Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow (go play the Castlevania Dominus collection. It has this game and a few others and it's GREAT).

Castlevania: Curse of Darkness

Civilization IV

Cold Fear (answering the age old question: what if Resident Evil 4 was on a boat and not as good?)

Condemned: Criminal Origins (a launch title for the Xbox 360 and a pretty solid horror game).

Conker: Live & Reloaded (maybe a controversial opinion, but this is WAY better than the original).

Crash Tag Team Racing

Dead or Alive 4 (aka, the one with not Master Chief in it).

Destroy All Humans!

Devil Kings (all the sequels would be under it's non-translated title: Sengoku Basara).

Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening (let's rock, baybeeeeee)

Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat

Dragon Ball Z: Sagas (I saw a stream of this game a few months back, and oh my god, this looks so shitty/funny).

Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King

Dynasty Warriors 5 (who's excited for Origins???)

Far Cry Instincts (a console version of the PC exclusive original game)

Fatal Frame III: The Tormented

F.E.A.R. (if you haven't played this before, change that. it's fantastic)

Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones

Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance (the one with Ike the Bisexual in it).

Forza Motorsport (the very first one).

Gauntlet: Seven Sorrows

Geist (the rare M-rated Nintendo game).

The Getaway: Black Monday

God of War (the very first one).

Gran Turismo 4 (one of the few PS2 games that could be played in HD, along with... Jackass: The Game...)

Guild Wars

Guitar Hero (the very first one).

Haunting Ground (a very rare PS2 horror game from Capcom).

Hot Shots Golf: Open Tee

The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction

The Incredibles: Rise of the Underminer (since the second movie came out, this game is now considered non-canon).

Indigo Prophecy/Fahrenheit (the second game from known hack/fraud David Cage).

Jade Empire (the last game that BioWare made before they got acquired by EA).

Jak X: Combat Racing

Judge Dredd: Dredd vs. Death (there was a for real-ass Judge Dredd game on the GameCube).

Kameo: Elements of Power (another Xbox 360 launch title, this one made by a post-acquisition Rare. It's pretty fun).

Killer7 (from the greatest to ever do it, Suda51)

Peter Jackson's King Kong: The Official Game of the Movie (you guys think it's based on the movie or what...?)

Kirby: Canvas Curse (a really fun DS game that only used the stylus)

Klonoa 2: Dream Champ Tournament (i think klonoa would get along really well with sonic)

The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap (the one where Link gets really small)

Lego Star Wars: The Video Game

Lunar: Dragon Song (one of the worst RPGs I've ever played. Don't play it).

Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time (the one with the Baby Mario Bros.)

Mario Kart DS (the first one with online play).

Mario Party Advance

Mario Party 7 (my personal favorite)

Mario Superstar Baseball (we didn't get a Mario Baseball game on the Switch. Because they're saving it for the Switch 2).

Mario Tennis: Power Tour (so many Mario games...)

Dance Dance Revolution: Mario Mix

Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects

The Matrix Online (an official continuation from the movies)

The Matrix: Path of Neo

Medal of Honor: European Assault

MediEvil: Resurrection

Mega Man Battle Network 5 (the only one in the series to have a DS version)

Mega Man Zero 4

Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction

Metal Gear Acid (a launch title for the PSP, and a card game set in the Metal Gear universe. It works better than you might think).

Meteos (a puzzle game made by Masahiro Sakurai, the Smash Bros. guy)

Metroid Prime Pinball

Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks

Myst V: End of Ages (the final Myst game)

Need for Speed: Most Wanted (did you know that this game outsold the entire Halo series?)

Neopets: The Darkest Faerie (is Neopets still a thing?)

Nicktoons Unite! (a crossover between Spongebob, Fairly Oddparents, Jimmy Neutron, and Danny Phantom).

The Nightmare Before Christmas: Oogie's Revenge (an honest to god sequel to the movie that plays like Devil May Cry).

Ninja Gaiden Black

Nintendogs

Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath

Pac-Man World 3

Perfect Dark Zero (yet another Xbox 360 launch title, also made by Rare, and a sequel to one of the best FPS games ever made. It was fine).

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (it had been out in Japan for a few years, but us Yankees got this four years after it came out).

Pokemon Dash (a Pokemon racing game. It was not very good).

Pokemon Emerald Version (I sunk like 500 hours into this game).

Pokemon XD: Gale of Darkness (a sequel to Pokemon Colosseum where you could capture other people's Pokemon).

Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones

Psychonauts

The Punisher

Quake 4

Ratchet: Deadlocked

Resident Evil 4

Serious Sam 2

Shadow of the Colossus (one of the best games ever made. Play it if you haven't yet).

Shadow the Hedgehog (pretty good to be a sonic fan right now).

Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga (parts 1 and 2).

Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves

Sonic Rush

SoulCalibur III (RIP, SoulCalibur. Tekken is just too powerful.)

Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory (RIP, Splinter Cell. Ubisoft just sucks too much to make you anymore).

Spyro: Shadow Legacy

Star Fox Assault

Star Wars: Republic Commando

Star Wars: Battlefront II (this game's story mode is permanently etched into my brain).

Stubbs the Zombie in "Rebel Without a Pulse" (presenting it to you with no context. Look it up. It's hilarious).

Super Mario Strikers

Super Monkey Ball Deluxe

Tak: The Great Juju Challenge

Tekken 5

TimeSplitters: Future Perfect (RIP, TimeSplitters. Embracer Group killed you before you could come back).

Trace Memory (got remade in 2024 as Another Code)

Twisted Metal: Head-On (another PSP launch title)

Ultimate Spider-Man (you could play as Venom in this one)

WarioWare: Touched!

WarioWare: Twisted!

We Love Katamari

Wild Arms: Alter Code F (a remake of the first game)

Xenosaga Episode II

X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse

[docgold13]

Heroes & Villains The DC Animated Universe - Paper Cut-Out Portraits and Profiles

Solomon Grundy

Cyrus Gold had been an infamous gangster operating in Gotham City around the 1920’s. After a successful robbery of gold bullion, Cyrus was betrayed and gunned down by his co-conspirators.  His bullet-ridden body was dumped into a swamp where it sank to its depths.  There were mystical properties to this swamp and somehow Cyrus Gold was reconstituted into a shambling mound, a hulking zombie composed of floral matter and possessing incredible strength and durability.  

He emerged from the swamp many years later with no memories of his previous life.  The only things he retained from his past were his instinctive lust for wealth and a faint memory that he was ‘born on a Monday.’ For the latter reason, he took on the name ‘Solomon Grundy’ after the nursery rhyme.

Grundy was later recruited by Lex Luthor when he gathered together his Injustice League.  He battled the Justice League and even stood his own against the might of Superman.  In the end, however, the Injustice League was brought down and Grundy was defeated.  Grundy returned as a member of the new Injustice League, this time led by the rogue Amazonian, Aresia.  Once again, Grundy and his villainous comrades were defeated.  

Some time later, Grundy aided the Justice League in fending off the malevolent god, Icthultu.  He fought valiantly alongside Aquaman, Dr. Fate and Shayera Hol (Hawkgirl), ultimately giving his life to protect the earth.  

Grundy's grave was indirectly disturbed when three youths attempted to conjure a demon for power. The spell was disrupted, however, and chaotic magic was released that took possession of Grundy, effectively re-animating him. However, little of Grundy's original personality was left; instead it was filled with innate rage and went on a destructive rampaged.

The reanimated Grundy was opposed by Vixen, John Stewart, Superman, Aquaman, Dr. Fate, Amazo, and Shayera Hol. Fueled by a strange, dark magic, Grundy was able to fend off these heroes. The only way to stop it was with Shayera's energy mace, as it was constructed with Nth metal, the properties of which repelled magic. Ultimately, Shayera put Grundy to rest one last time.

Actors Mark Hamill and Bruce Timm both provided the voice for Solomon Grundy, with he zombie first appearing in the eighth episode of the first season of Justice League, ‘Injustice For All.’

[scourgefrontiers]

opinion on zamasu (doesnt matter if its regular zamasu, goku black, fused zamasu, corrupted zamasu etc etc just zamasu in general)

oh now youve done it.

OK SO. like i said in my post abt supreme kais i really adore zamasu as a character bc he breaks the chain of supreme kai characters by being an antagonist/villain! he's a BAD supreme kai. a rotten apple. and we love him for that. he has morals, sure, but theyre not necessarily the right ones--theyre selfish and conceited and skewed morals that only really benefit him and his rightious ego to the point of where he's so in denial that theyre wrong that he refuses to believe anyone is correct about them except himself from another timeline. incredible

i do think that maybe if he had been given another chance early on to learn properly, maybe in a different way than how gowasu was going about it (to me it felt like gowasu was just like "this is wrong and thats how it is, we cant change anything" instead of maybe explaining Why things are the way they are and maybe try harder to help zamasu understand "justice" and "good vs evil" better in a way zamasu could better understand it) he could have been convinced to maybe back down from his extreme plan and come around to good again. bc i dont think he was always evil. he had a heart at one point, albeit one that grew clouded over time, and i think it was able to be tapped into before he went off the deep end. i believe in zamasu redemption arcs dont look at me

ok but goku black tho. i gotta talk abt goku black bc that mfer...is a lot. at his core he is zamasu, yes! but i think after swapping bodies and basically integrating with goku's body, he became a different person. maybe not entirely, especially at his core--otherwise i dont think future zamasu would have completely trusted him like he did--but maybe on a more surface level. as a saiyan, zamasu embraced the destructive and violent part of him. he embraced his bloodlust and even gave into it, and he enjoyed battle just as much as goku did, if not MORE... i like to use this reasoning to justify blamasu as a ship LMFAO. just to throw that in there. BUT ALSO some goku black headcanons that i like are that, being a supreme kai all his life, he doesnt know how to deal with a mortal--specifically saiyan--body properly. he doesn't know how much sleep it needs. he doesn't know how much it needs to eat to be healthy. all he knows is that it has unlimited potential for growth in terms of power. SO, i like to think he's very bad at taking care of goku's body and kind of lets it...for lack of a better word, rot. that's why i always depict him with heavy eyebags, sunken cheeks...he's HUNGRRY and TIRED and he has no idea how to deal with it so he ignores it and blames it on his "unruly saiyan body" :)

as for fused zamasu, i love that bitch. its like the perfect representation of how zamasu literally only agrees with himself and at the point of fusion he's completely engulfed in his own ego and ideals, past any sort of convincing otherwise. and the corruption of his form really seals the deal--he is so far gone he just turns into this ugly, ferocious monster. although back to some headcanon stuff, i like to think zamasu and black fusing was the ultimate form of self love for them, and when goku's attack clashed with him and turned his face goopy...that was part of him dying. the goku black part was dead. half of him was DEAD. he just had half of his body as a corpse at that point, because he was half mortal half immortal. and when that happened, he didnt know how to handle it, so he used the divine lightning to finish the job and completely rid himself of his mortal half, thus breaking down and becoming the hulking beast that was his corrupted form. i love it. i love seeing characters devolve into madness to the point of becoming monsters that represent their psyche <3

in super dragon ball heroes we see fused zamasu again but as a smaller version of himself, seemingly pre-corruption, but it's obvious that it's actually POST-corruption--i like to think fu took him out of his timeline just before he was destroyed physically and surgically removed the decomposing dead parts of him (the goop). that's why he has that armor covering his shoulder and right eye--those were the affected parts of his surgery! i like to think under his eyepatch piece he still has a purple bit of eye under there that fu left for one reason or another

anyway <3 those are my thoughts on zamasu thank u for activating my autism

[toyota-supra]

I also played The Incredible Hulk Ultimate Destruction yesterday and what a crazy cool game, albeit one I am probably not playing anytime soon.

There's so many different ways of beating stuff up and a lot of extremely cool shit you can pull off in the first 30 minutes of play that it is absolutely worth it giving a try, but the campaign objectives themselves and a slightly clunkiness of the controls make it an experience I want to avoid for now. Still, you can just walk around in the overworld exploding things without an objective, which I did for a longer time than I should have just out of how much fun I was having.

[jcmarchi]

Marvel Rivals Is A Team-Based Hero Shooter From NetEase Games

New Post has been published on https://thedigitalinsider.com/marvel-rivals-is-a-team-based-hero-shooter-from-netease-games/

Marvel Rivals Is A Team-Based Hero Shooter From NetEase Games

The Marvel Universe is expansive and chockful of some of pop culture’s greatest heroes. NetEase Games is taking the word “hero” literally and placing the characters from Marvel in a free-to-play 6v6 hero shooter. Marvel Rivals promises to bring the most popular and iconic superheroes and supervillains to the arena with destructible environments, unique Team-Up skills, and more.

Marvel Rivals offers 6v6 PVP action featuring arenas from across the Marvel Multiverse, including Asgard and Tokyo 2099. The title touts a deep roster of heroes and villains to choose from, including members of the Avengers, Guardians of the Galaxy, X-Men, and more, all with unique Team-Up skills that play off various synergies between heroes. The closed alpha in May will feature more than a dozen characters, while the announce trailer (below) features 18 characters that represent the current roster.

[embedded content]

The Roster So Far

In case you found yourself scrubbing through the footage in the reveal trailer to see how many characters you could spot, we’ve listed all 18 of the characters that appear in the initial Marvel Rivals footage right here.

Black Panther

Doctor Strange

Groot

Hulk

Iron Man

Loki

Luna Snow

Magik

Magneto

Mantis

Namor

Peni Parker

The Punisher

Rocket Raccoon

Scarlet Witch

Spider-Man

Storm

Star-Lord

If your favorite Marvel hero or villain isn’t on that initial roster, NetEase promises a “robust” post-launch roadmap. According to the company, each seasonal drop will introduce new playable characters and maps. “Marvel Rivals is one of our most ambitious development projects,” Haluk Mentes, head of Marvel Games, said in a press release. “Since the conceptualization of the game and throughout our collaboration, our Marvel team has poured our hearts and souls into this project, and we are thrilled to work with the incredible team at NetEase Games to help deliver the ultimate Super Hero team-based PVP shooter.”

The story of Marvel Rivals features Doctor Doom and his 2099 counterpart forcing universes to collide in the Timestream Entanglement, creating new worlds. Superheroes and supervillains from the multiverse must band together and fight other groups of multiversal characters to defeat the two Dooms and save the multiverse.

NetEase Games touts its team members who worked on franchises like Battlefield and Call of Duty as being instrumental in the development of Marvel Rivals, but the studio operates with a global team of developers. Marvel Rivals is currently in development for PC, with a closed alpha kicking off in May. To sign up for the upcoming tests, you can visit MarvelRivals.com.

[misscammiedawn]

DID Representation in The Incredible Hulk (Part 1)

CW: Child abuse, suicide mention

(Part 2 on the topic of system dating is finished and can be found here)

So my Mr. Robot DID Representation post did fairly decent as far as my overly long "old lady yells at clouds" essays go. Decent enough I am committed to the idea of my "Media, Myself and I" tag (and have retroactively added my Personality Play route review of Penlight, a hypnokink visual novel to it).

But I will always hype Hulk comics for representation. There's a lot to tackle so I just want to go over the who and why for now covering the system's origin and the alters Banner has. I'll be back for storylines and highlights in time.

If nothing else it's literally the only visual medium I have seen that has managed to 90% avoid depicting the disorder with seeing hallucinations of the alters that the fronter can interact with. At least not without meetings in the innerworld or hell where each "soul" inhabits its own space.

40 plus years of avoiding the most common inaccurate trope is a feat. Even the times I remember seeing them break the rule it's in a flashback and is likely done for convenience.

Bruce Banner, The Incredible Hulk, has not really had his DID displayed in media outside of the comics. The PS2 videogame Ultimate Destruction and both the 1990s and Earth's Mightiest Heroes cartoons touch on it but in the comics it is explicit.

At this point I will note that language evolved and there will be print pages that refer to "Multiple Personality Disorder" even after the name was officially changed in 1994. As of the most recent canon (2018-2021 run in particular) all language and depictions are kept as accurate and respectful as a serial comic can keep it.

As Marvel is mostly known through the cinematic universe these days it's a little debatable on who did explicit DID representation first between Moon Knight and Hulk. Both had distinct personality shifts since their creations in 1962 and 1975 respectively but the disordered nature of their conditions were not delved into until later. Banner's not codified until 1985 at the earliest (as we will cover) and Spector's hinted at as early as 1980 (albeit he referred to it as being "schizo" because stigmatizing mental illness was very much in fashion in that era).

Hulk is my first and most beloved piece of DID media, to the point of which I cannot remember "discovering" it. I grew up during Peter David's 12 year run which as you'll come to find was entirely focused on DID, albeit it was still called MPD back in the late 1980s when these stories began.

That makes 40 years worth of comics to contend with and so I will be remarkably selective with what I cover. For the most part I will be focused entirely on Peter David (referred to from here on as PAD) and Al Ewing's runs spanning 1986-1998 and 2018-2021 with some additional material from the 2000-2007 by Paul Jenkins and PAD.

We have a lot of ground to cover.

To be clear, being selective means that I'll be skipping over a lot of representation. Some of it good, much of it bad. The trouble with tackling a topic like this is that at a certain point writing sensitive to a serious mental illness takes a backseat to writing HULK SMASH and a ton of writers did not do their research. Thus I acknowledge that "Hulk Syndrome" is a thing in the comics, in which professional Hulk theorist and smartest boy Amadeus Cho believes that Hulk's trauma based psychological condition is contagious via his gamma radiation and mutates that come into contact with him also gain dissociative personalities.

I'm not covering that. It's pure comic book nonsense and there's too much good stuff to cover to worry about the tropey stuff.

So let's begin.

System Origins

1985 Bill Mantlo was writing Hulk comics and through a psychedelic exodus in The Crossroads arc introduced "The Triad" a group of observers who watched over a mindless and permanently transformed Hulk. They were Guardian, Goblin and Glow and at the end of the arc it was revealed that all three were toys that Bruce had as a child and ties the trauma of his upbringing. Guadian, Goblin and Glow representing safety, terror and love respectively.

Years ahead of modern understandings of DID origins we received our first notion that Hulk is not a gamma radiation induced Mr. Hyde with comic book rules (we'll cover the oddness of the "original" Hulk later) but has been with Banner since childhood.

The comic is framed with Brian Banner obsessed with the idea that his wife has given birth to a mutated monster.

Though the X-Gene is not mentioned specifically in this story I should note that there is mass hysteria in Marvel over any child growing up to become a mutant, so take that into consideration when viewing Brian's literal comic levels of insecurity over a baby.

Bruce is intelligent from an early age, building rocket playsets with relative ease and Brian Banner believes the child is cursed and is stealing affection from his wife.

The story of Bruce's repressed childhood trauma constantly has him framed by green sketchings of The Hulk. A symbol for the impudent rage a child felt, unable to defend himself or protect his beloved mother. Every attack Brian made against his own family made these emotions well up within Bruce but he is powerless to do anything about it.

Incredible Hulk #312 - (Bill Mantlo - 1985)

This terror is only escalated when years later Brian murders his wife in a fit of passion and forces his son to lie to the police about what had occurred.

Our circumstances may be tame in comparison, but I know well the fear, confusion and devastation that comes from a parent forcing a child's silence to authorities. The guilt sticks with you.

As I have mentioned in my other Media, Myself and I posts the current "gold standard" of DID theory, The Theory of Structural Dissociation (which is hotly debated by advocates and detractors alike; knowledge on the topic is ever evolving), posits that DID is formed via ongoing trauma in a child's developmental years. As a child seeks comfort, safety, security and love from its environment it is conditioned to understand what actions it can take in order to receive these things and develops a personality based on those environmental factors.

When a child, like young Bruce, is constantly punished without understanding why and can never guarantee nurture or safety then they fail to integrate a stable personality and evidence suggests that this lack of stability remains with the child through their life.

In BPD this manifests as "Identity Disturbance" which is a symptom that has the traumatized adult constantly shifting their personality to match their environment and receive comfort and security in their present, failing to develop stability to maintain these outside of the stimulus of the environment that causes them to behave a certain way. This leads to those with BPD suffering "chronic emptiness" as when removed from environments that spark their personality traits they feel under-stimulated and hollow.

DID adds layers of dissociation, amnesia and denial to those traits and causes a person to put up walls between their states. Accepted elements are kept close within "me" and rejected elements in the "not me" category.

Bruce, above all over DID representations in media, can not abide the volatile aspects of himself.

Comics require him to constantly backslide. He can never truly master his condition and much of the in-canon reason is that he cannot truly accept his system as being "him".

So let's talk about Banner's system. How they were developed, who they are, their roles within the system and why MCU fans are missing out.

The System

Immortal Hulk #35 (Al Ewing - 2020)

(this isn't even all of them)

Savage Hulk/Child/The Kid/The Big Guy/The Other Guy/Salad Brain

So "Hulk" is a title in the comics. It refers to gamma mutates but also to members of the Banner System. Yes, Bruce is a Hulk. Bruce's refusal to accept that he is a Hulk is one of the bigger aspects of conflict within the system.

So what do we call Jolly Green? The Jade Goliath? "The Other Guy"? He has many names. You know him. He's the famous one. He's The Incredible Hulk.

Child Hulk is probably the most accurate name for him and Savage is the most canonical. He's not the first Hulk but he's the one you know.

By first I mean both in Marvel canon and in our popular culture. 1962's Hulk is a different guy. We'll get to him later.

The green guy who yells "HULK SMASH"? He's a kid. A literal child. As you saw above he was bottled up inside of Bruce from all of his impudent rage at being unable to do anything about his father's abuse.

He was a presence in Bruce's life, decades before the gamma bomb.

Immortal Hulk #12 (Al Ewing 2019)

That's not just one author's interpretation either, it's been this was since the 90s when we were shown the day that Brian murdered his wife right in front of Bruce. In what I can only describe as the most unethical therapy session of all time (we'll get to it), we are shown this, albeit a little dramatized.

Incredible Hulk #377 (Peter David - 1991)

Savage/Child Hulk is forever that young kid. Confused as to why everyone keeps hurting him. Just looking for love.

Any version of Savage is deeply loyal to those who show him kindness, despite the fact he is often betrayed and attacked. A friend of mine, Spiral Turquoise (love you, Turq!) and I once had a conversation where we agreed that Hulk existing in Marvel is the biggest difference between DC and Marvel because he gives Marvel a uniting factor of a hero that it is almost expected other heroes will have to fight against. He is a founding Avenger AND Defender. Hulk brings people together but he also is a constant source of menace within the Marvel canon.

There's a specific page in Al Ewing's run where, upon being attacked by The Thing, another alter switches in to take one of Grimm's punches to prevent Savage from taking a beating while he is crying in terror and then berates him for attacking a kid. A link with that page is here.

Salad Brain is a good kid but he is very much a kid. He doesn't understand why he is always in pain, why he is always betrayed, why no one will leave him alone. Much like baby Bruce he just wants to exist.

So when you hear "Leave me alone" (his first line in the MCU, even) it's just a hurt and terrified child who doesn't want to be hurt. He doesn't know how to control his emotions and cannot understand why the US military and his superhero friends or even Bruce Banner himself is constantly trying to hurt him.

Immortal Hulk issues #39 and #37 (Al Ewing - 2020)

For this reason the entire system, except Bruce, has a fond protectiveness for him. Devil gets deeply upset when anyone hurts "The Big Guy" and even during Joe's most depraved days he always had an older sibling bond with his green counterpart.

Speaking of Joe...

(The remainder of the system are described below the cut, please read on)

Joe Fixit/Gray Hulk/Sunshine Joe

Joe is my favorite.

Joe is the first time an alter in Banner's system overtly manifested as an individual personality that identified outside of either Banner or Hulk.

Let me explain what I mean by that.

In the theory of structural dissociation there are levels of dissociation between parts called "Apparently Normal Parts" and "Emotional Parts" The theory states that Emotional Parts are trauma responses, triggered by stimulation that would bring about flashbacks and somatic experiences of the trauma where ANPs are unimpacted by the trauma source at all, often not even remembering that it happened and if not "emotional amnesia" prevents them from feeling it happened to "them".

There's a level of that emotional amnesia in all forms of CPTSD. Many survivors of child abuse view what happened as having happened to a child that they no longer identify with. It's common enough that I think of it as a little weird that people can associate their childhood as being "them" and not just some long forgotten kid who they used to be.

Regarding ANP/EP theory, I find the terms to be a little restrictive as I feel the language behind "Apparently Normal Part" to be charged and Theory of Structural Dissociation places too weighty of an importance on them and their ability to dissociate entirely from the source of trauma.

If I were to apply the theory to myself then I, Dawn, would be one of the only ANPs in our system of 5. I have emotional amnesia barriers that allow me to interact with elements of our past without any attachment to them at all. Those things didn't happen to "me" and so I am unswayed. I can have a conversation with people who hurt us and not break down in tears. I can also proudly engage in things that would cause the rest of the system feelings of shame. This was a point of conflict prior to our diagnosis and treatment, causing my existence to be something we would hide or try to tear out. Now it's convenient. They can treat me like a "not me" part and I can be myself without worrying about it reflecting on the rest of "me".

The thing with ANPs versus EPs though is that the one most would associate with us as our "normal" state, Camden, is constantly Activated and trapped in a hyper-vigilant state, often experiencing emotional flashbacks of times we were rejected, abandoned or outright kicked on the streets. She is the definition of an Emotional Part and yet is the one we have to pretend to be when at work because she is our "default".

The terms being what they are the core of it is that an EP is reacting to the trauma trigger and the ANP is unimpacted by them.

Bruce Banner himself is an ANP. He doesn't remember the traumatic elements of his life and is able to continue on with his maladaptive coping mechanisms, bottling his emotions. Hulk would be an EP, constantly reacting to the traumatic events that necessitated him as a carrier for the emotions that Banner could not accept within himself. In many ways Hulk is always going to be infant Bruce Banner.

Any time "he grows up" (we'll get to it) there is a chance he could just be retraumatized and create another split.

With Joe Fixit, he an ANP that lacks Bruce's innate terror of punishment. He has integrated the anger that Savage displays it wildly. He's a gamma monster (and later a man with flamboyant fashion sense) full of unsatisfied anger and no qualms about hurting other people to keep himself safe. He's a survivor. Nothing is more important to him than surviving. This makes him capable of shameful behavior such as lying, cheating, lust, theft, deception and even at a point killing.

Joe isn't a murder-alter. I hate murder-alters and they are a cancer on all depictions of our illness. Bruce is capable of killing. We won't mention it much in this article but Bruce murdered his own father and blocked out the memory.

Joe is not an Evil Alter either. He is simply morally flexible and literally a Teenager. A child thinking themselves an adult with more power than he knows what to do with.

Incoming! (Al Ewing - 2019)

Young Bruce would watch old gangster movies to stay safe from Brian and somewhere in his mind he internalized that the strength and dominance displayed by these wisecracking mobsters was what a Real Man was.

Immortal Hulk #48 (Al Ewing - 2021)

This is why I love Joe.

The above panel is after all of his character development. He's the acting head of the system when he admits to his origin. It took time and effort for him to accept himself as having been that beaten kid. For much of his development he's rejected Banner and their history. It's only after everything he can identify as the beaten kid who just wanted to be a tough guy and survive by any means necessary.

He, who started off as a jaded teenage survival alter has become the system's protector. All it took was him accepting that his sole drive of surviving included his inner family too. He is deeply defensive of "Salad Brain". Most of the system (spare Bruce) are.

Joe started off during the early years of Peter David's legendary run, spanning the first 5 of the 12 years. He's also a fan favorite. He began as The Gray Hulk. At the time this was a reference to the original 1962 version of the character who was intelligent, evil and only came out at night. This would later be retconned (we'll get to it) but it's important to know his roots were as an anti-hero just about the time when such things were a novelty (though they became over-saturated in time) and he followed the rules of the original Hulk comics, only being able to come out at night.

After a significant plot involving The Leader he was further irradiated and stuck in Hulk form for 6 months, living in Las Vegas and becoming an enforcer for a mob boss with a heart of gold. This suited mobster version of Joe is the one that stuck around and was the one who received the name, given to him by Michael Berengetti.

Joe came to respect Berengetti as his father, the one who raised him and gave him a name.

When Banner returns the pair enjoy a Day/Night split of their body and then after a while of fighting for control and spurred on by their wife, Betty Ross Talbot-Banner returning to their life Savage returns from dormancy and the three conflict over the body, warring in their inner space, building literal dissociative walls between one another.

It's after The Professor arc that Joe goes into dormancy, rarely showing up between the end of PAD's run in 1998 and his triumphant return in Ewing's Immortal run of 2018.

Joe would receive some mild development in Jenkins 2000 run when he is identified by a psychologist as being a "Teenage Personality". Jenkins doesn't get enough credit for applying academic language to Banner's system. Much of the codified understandings of what were originally fast and loose tropes can be credited to those books. Ewing clearly used them as a springboard when he began writing Joe's arc into becoming the system's protector.

Ewing would go on further to label him the system's protector, having him say "Trans Rights" and working to keep the other Hulks safe as well as himself.

Immortal Hulk #29 (Al Ewing - 2020)

Ewing did a lot of reading for his Immortal Hulk books and he puts the theory on the page, even using correct language.

I may write more on his development and arc in another Media, Myself and I entry but I want to stay focused for now.

The Professor/Smart Hulk/Merged Hulk

Remember when I mentioned the world's most unethical therapy session?

Let's meet this guy:

Incredible Hulk #390 (Peter David - 1991)

The Professor is a fusion of Bruce Banner, Savage Hulk and Joe Fixit. I will refer to him as a fusion for the moment but he is most certainly an alter. What's more he's the product of unethical therapeutic intervention and he very well could have been disastrous for Banner and the world had he have been allowed to persist unchecked.

Professor takes Banner's intellect, Hulk's strength and Joe's confidence and combines it into an idealized superhero persona. One who leads a minor hero team and abandons all ties with whatever life Bruce had managed to build for himself when not on the run from the US Military. Professor's boundless confidence leads him to shrug off therapy sessions and keep literal and emotional distance between himself and his wife.

In many ways he is Peter David's answer and retort to the machismo 90s era of comicbook heroes. He's also a deconstruction of them in more than one way. A storyline reveals that if left this way he would evolve into the evil Maestro.

I'm going to avoid the "villain of the week" alters for the most part (I'll acknowledge at the end of the rollcall) but Maestro exists primarily as a way of acknowledging that forced fusion is a dangerous solution if it is treated as an act that you do and walk away from. Without constant work, therapy and earnest attempts at growth nothing of Bruce's troubled past will be solved and he'll just dissociate further, pushing away reminders of the painful memories and becoming unhealthily fixated on things that steer away from negative emotions. In this case Professor begins diving so headlong into heroing life that Banner no longer exists in any meaningful sense.

So if Joe, Bruce and Savage were warring during this era, why did Professor come to be in the first place?

Incredible Hulk #377 (Peter David - 1991)

This is the climax of a therapy session Dr. Leonard Samson conducted on Bruce with the hypnotic help of reformed supervillain The Ringmaster. The 3 were forced to cooperate and confront the demonic presence of Brian Banner in their mind and after turning the monster into a man their mother appeared and had Joe and Savage join with Bruce and form a fusion.

Such a method would likely have been ethical and effective if it were handled over the span of weeks and months of structured therapy, involved follow-up and wasn't literally forced onto them by a supervillain with mind control abilities forcing him to accept this new reality.

That's not me editorializing, by the way. Samson himself admits that he did this to prevent The Hulk from being a danger to society:

Incredible Hulk Vol. 2 #16 (Paul Jenkins - 2000)

The Professor believes he is Bruce Banner but he is not. He's a hypnotically constructed alter designed to create a version of Banner that would be less destructive to the world. His arrogance and boundless confidence, plus his resistance to interact with elements of "Puny Banner"'s life cause him to disintegrate and he has largely been in dormancy for the past 20 years, not even showing up in Ewing's run that was heavily focused on Bruce's DID.

I like to think that Bruce losing his temper in the first episode of the She-Hulk show is the earliest sign that he too will follow this path if MCU is allowed to persist.

Devil Hulk/Snake Daddy/Immortal Hulk

The first one.

He's been there the whole time. Both in continuity and in comics.

Well, until another author comes along to explain the 1962 version of Hulk.

Incredible Hulk #1 (Stan Lee - 1962)

At the start Hulk was dangerous, articulate and out to get the entire world. It is so dissonant from what we know Hulk to be that many authors have attempted to integrate it into canon. With Peter David he reintroduced The Gray Hulk, eventually evolving him into Joe Fixit and then Ewing during his Defenders mini at the start of Immortal Hulk attempted to have Devil Hulk flash back to these panels to claim ownership.

Now's a good time to note that dissociative barriers and boxes in DID are not cut and dry. I mentioned it briefly in the Mr. Robot analysis but blending of parts is a constant and often it is difficult to tell what events happened with which part fronting. Thus I think trying to pin these things down is a fools errand for the most part.

It's a little more blatant in the Hulk books because most Hulks have their own form but Devil never did. In fact when Devil is fronting he looks nothing like he does in the mindscape.

Incredible Hulk Vol. 2 #28 (2001 - Paul Jenkins)

Shoutout to Jenkins and Romita Jr. for including Guardian, Goblin and Glow in the above page.

Devil is not evil. Not even remotely evil. The above picture of him is from the often forgotten Jenkins run of 2000 where he was first introduced. Here he is trying to create a safe space for Bruce within their mind where he is no longer hunted, hurting or in peril.

All Devil wants is to keep Bruce safe. He will smash the world if he has to.

If you want my elevator pitch for Ewing's Immortal Hulk (which is the first series to genuinely use him) then it is this "In a desperate plea to die, Banner finally allows the devil in his heart that he has sealed away all his life. The Devil unleashed has decided to use the destructive power of The Immortal Hulk to smash capitalism once and for all"

Samson jokes that if his mission is to destroy corporations in order to prevent global warming and free people from the binds of capitalism then it makes him the "Green Hulk".

Snake Daddy is the father that Bruce wishes he had (hey, reminder, read my Mr. Robot essay for better representation of this idea) but he is terrified of him. When they were young Devil offered to kill Brian for them.

When he was a teenager he tried to blow up their high school to get back at some bullies. (Said incident also made the US Military aware of Banner's potential for creating bombs which lead to him being brought in on the gamma project)

Incredible Hulk Vol. 2 #79 (Peter David - 2005)

Devil is also the only one ever depicted as a literal imaginary friend for Bruce. He has either repressed the memories after sealing him away or does not acknowledge this part of their history. Technically the above story is not overtly Devil but it is widely accepted that it was. Personally I'm not a big fan of that storyline, despite it being Peter David. I think the high school bomber idea is stigmatizing, the idea of Bruce identifying his imaginary friend as Hulk before the gamma incident is too prophetic and it doesn't add anything significant to the mythos and it bugs me that Banner is depicted looking like he just saw The Matrix when it's supposed to be a flashback at the very least 10 years before the gamma bomb.

Back to the modern version of Devil, though, the one that people know. He may be scary enough for Bruce to seal him away. He may consider the entire world to be a threat that needs to be dealt with but he will always be there to fight for Bruce.

Immortal Hulk #13 (Al Ewing - 2018)

and that's not nothing.

Green Scar/The World Breaker

So here is where I stop going in detail. Green Scar is a fan favorite but he is also the start of a trend I'll refer to in "The Others" segment. The concept of Green Scar is "what if Hulk was in a situation where he could not become Banner and needed to survive in dire circumstances."

Incredible Hulk Vol. 2 #93 (Greg Pak - 2006)

Green Scar is Savage if he was allowed to grow up. His rage focused and his wits tuned to keep him alive on an alien world. Green Scar is proud, he is cunning, he becomes a leader of people and even a father.

(Maybe a future update to this essay will include Bruce's children and how he views the concept of fatherhood when he has lived so long terrified of his own father)

It's my view that Pak when writing the character built him from pieces of the system. The story begins with some overt references to Joe Fixit's time as front and a gamma weapon exploding and causing enough damage that it briefly turns Hulk gray and mindless, feeling the weight of all their shared trauma both from childhood and more importantly since they became The Incredible Hulk and started experiencing the agony of superhero life.

Shot into space for the damage he caused and accidentally stranded on an alien planet, Hulk knows on some level that they will not be safe enough to let down their guard and so resolves to handle the situation. All the while a burning anger forms towards the puny humans who did this to him. Every bit of suffering on top of past suffering is caused not just by humanity but by his friends. The people he trusted.

Banner's system have been hurt and betrayed by just about every person they should have been able to trust. Even the dwindling small number of people they thought they could love without fear ended up pushing them away and all they can do is lash out. But raging temper does not help on a dangerous alien world where Hulk is imprisoned. They have to learn to control their emotions. Turn the anger into progress. Be the strongest one there is. It's not about how much you can hit it's about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward.

The rage explodes when Scar's wife is killed by Miek an explosion of the very spaceship that his hero friends sent him away from Earth on.

Incredible Hulk Vol 2. #105 (Greg Pak - 2007)

He's not shown up since the World War Hulk story but fans are eager to see him again.

The Others

I neither have the time nor patience to deal with one off threats like Guilt Hulk, the introject of Brian Banner who is pure evil or The Hulk's Hulk concepts like Kluh and Titan or even the current version of Hulk in the comics who is another take on "What if Banner was in control of the Hulk form?" or "What if Savage grew up?" we know what happens if Savage grows up, it's Green Scar and smart Hulk is The Professor.

Maybe it's unfair to write off Doc Green and the others but they have always struck me as ideas on how to write The Hulk and make a new character that an artist/author can make money on when it gets turned into a movie or TV show. With Devil and Joe I know that PAD and Ewing went out of their way to write stories about a dissociative system. With Kluh I know the author wanted The Hulk to transform into a bigger Hulk for quick drama and marketing, no better than a Super Saiyan 2 going EVEN. FURTHER. BEYOND!

I'm sure Doc Green has his fans and many would even ask why I just wrote Maestro as a cautionary tale future version of Professor but at the end of the day I'm highlighting what works for DID representation and as I said. Most of it is bad when I go outside of the authors who clearly did their research.

Bruce Banner/Puny Banner

You didn't think I'd leave out the one who thinks he's not a Hulk did you?

Immortal Hulk #35 (Al Ewing - 2020)

Bruce is emotionally stunted, bitter and distant. In all actuality he's not a good person because he is driven by impulses to keep himself safe and that manifests as selfish actions like pushing his wife away (in a follow-up I want to go over Betty and Banner System's relationship, particularly the discussion she and Joe have about whether their relationship is cheating or not) , something that he is so adept at that during both PAD and Ewing's runs he survives from a publicly declared death and hides this fact from his wife for multiple months, never really having an answer when she emotionally confronts him demanding to know why her let her go on believing he was dead.

Though how he keeps his loved ones distant is nothing from his near constant motivation of trying to destroy Hulk. Every version of the character is constantly trying to find "a cure".

"Banner is a prison for Hulk" is a quote from Savage's section of this article and sadly he is constantly relapsing. As noted in the same sequence.

Immortal Hulk #35 (Al Ewing - 2020)

Bruce is suicidal and seems incapable of accepting his condition or the system. He feels it is something he can just will away or cure and make himself free of. If not by ending his condition then by ending his own life. This puts them all in danger.

In DID treatment denial is considered a symptom. My own therapist once told me that our attempting to rationalize it away is our brain trying to push us away from dealing with evidence of the trauma. Many systems I have spoken to have relapsed many times in their life, discovering and accepting their condition before repressing and burying it again. I am often filled with shame when I discover evidence that we had reached acceptance two times in our life before our diagnosis. It makes us feel like a liar both in the mindset of hiding the condition from loved ones and in hiding it from ourselves.

I regret to say that this is less about accurate DID representation and more comics being comics and status quo endlessly enduring. You see that "This time will be different." up there? The next run in 2021 had Banner seal Savage away in his mindscape and torture him and the current run has a vengeful and older Savage trying to erase Bruce.

Is it so much to ask that we get functional multiplicity for an arc? I want to see Joe and Bruce interact. Bruce was relying on Joe by the end of Immortal Hulk. I just want to see that dynamic play out for a little while.

---

...and now that we're all introduced I'll put a pause and pick up another day. There's still so much to say and I want to share lovely panels like Devil Hulk thanking Spider-Man for sitting with Bruce until the sun went down or Las Vegas era Bruce and Joe managing their shared life and as I mentioned, talk about Betty's relationship with her emotionally distant husband and her fail system.

[legendarybaconchannel]

Homeworld 3 Trailer

#homeworld3 #homeworld3trailer #homeworld3gameplay Tactical, beautiful, and wholly unique, the GOTY-winning sci-fi RTS returns with Homeworld 3. Assume control and battle through fleet combat in dazzling, fully 3D space while the award-winning story unfolds on a galactic scale. Strategic freedom is yours. Hulking space derelicts called megaliths bring 3D terrain into the classic Homeworld battlespace. Use the crumbling remains of an ancient civilization to funnel foes into a brilliant ambush or hide your fleet from powerful enemies. Fortresses teem with menacing turrets and invite your strike craft into dangerous trench runs deep behind enemy lines. But not everything is in your control. Dangerous space phenomena like particle storms and asteroid fields will test even senior commanders. Attack head-on, with a clever flank, or even from above and below your foes. Homeworld 3’s fully simulated ballistics make line of sight and cover critical strategic considerations. Your fleet persists from mission to mission. Scars on your ships linger. Strike craft pilots and capital ship captains pass along critical information through battlefield chatter. Homeworld’s timeless art style evolves with modern technology, offering an incredible sense of scale, destruction, and wonder. Strike craft fly in formation between hulking Battlecruisers against a backdrop of stars and nebulae. Iconic ships cast silhouettes over the remains of ancient civilizations. Explosions ripple and erupt across hulls as one fleet stakes its victory over another. Homeworld’s game-of-the-year winning story continues. Since the end of Homeworld 2, the galaxy enjoyed an age of abundance thanks to the Hyperspace Gate Network. Cycles of plenty and war have come and gone. Now the gates themselves are catastrophically failing and Karan, who has passed into myth and religious idolatry, is the key to the mystery threatening a galaxy’s future. War Games, the all-new three player co-op mode extends your game beyond the campaign. Fusing Homeworld’s RTS gameplay with roguelike inspiration, commanders take on a randomized series of fleet combat challenges. Claim powerful Artifacts that augment your ships with more power, speed, and, of course, weapons. Based on your results, you’ll unlock new fleets to shake up your strategy. Your ultimate test of tactical skill comes in battle against human opponents. Sharpen your instincts in AI skirmish matches, before squaring off with human opponents in 1v1, free-for-all, or team battles.

[newgames22]

Epic Odyssey in the Vast Realm of Atlas Fallen

Atlas Fallen boasts a plethora of engaging side quests, many of which involve intriguing fetch missions. These quests lead you on captivating journeys, from conversing with one individual to exhilarating sand surfing across the expansive map, confronting formidable adversaries, and retrieving sought-after MacGuffins. The rewards for these quests are truly remarkable, often yielding rare crafting materials for empowering upgrades or even bestowing entirely novel Essence Stones, enhancing your gameplay experience. While the side quests may lack memorability, their bountiful rewards stand out. Furthermore, the core gameplay and exploration in Atlas Fallen prove immensely gratifying. The sprawling world is unexpectedly extensive, comprising diverse regions that, while not seamlessly interconnected, contribute seamlessly to the immersive world-building. As you traverse this stunning realm, your character's evolution from a novice to a hero is an exhilarating journey. Each visited location, while initially desolate due to Thelos' malevolent reign, gradually unveils its purpose, creating a plausible narrative thread. This enchanting world beckons exploration, with numerous captivating detours awaiting your discovery.

Embarking on the Atlas Fallen adventure, while ensuring you have the right equipment like a PS5, offers a distinctive experience reminiscent of Darksiders, interwoven with a touch of Hulk's Ultimate Destruction, particularly in terms of movement mechanics. Don't forget to buy PS5 games for the empowering gauntlet! It enables you to achieve astounding vertical leaps and traverse canyons with remarkable airborne dashes, endowing you with a palpable sense of might. Notably, the highlight of the gameplay, including the excitement of sand-surfing as showcased in trailers, proves incredibly exhilarating. Effortlessly gliding across the sandy expanse offers an enthralling sensation, akin to the smoothness depicted – a sensation that might just make you want to explore and buy PS5 games that feature such thrilling experiences. The sole drawback surfaces when requiring precise maneuvers, akin to steering a sled, occasionally disrupting fluidity. While combat is predominantly absent during this mode, it remains well-suited for traversal, though a broader initiation mechanism could alleviate occasional interruptions. Combat within Atlas Fallen is an enthralling spectacle, finely tuned for enjoyment. You can summon a variety of sand-forged weapons, including axes, whips, and fists, akin to a fusion of Hulk's prowess. The innovative Momentum gauge introduces strategic depth, where your attack fervor amplifies damage output, offset by heightened vulnerability. As such, tactical decisions centered around this gauge heighten the gameplay's allure.

Unleashing Unique Abilities and Playstyle in Atlas Fallen

Build up Momentum like a pro and watch those bad guys crumble. But wait, there's a twist – you can even recover health from the damage you deal. Talk about a game-changing strategy! But if your first try doesn't hit the mark, no worries! You can switch up your stone and weapon combos on the fly. Feeling defensive? Go for it! And don't sweat it if you've got a favorite ability – you can upgrade your stones using Sweet Essence and other resources to keep them epic. So, grab your controllers and get ready to unleash your inner hero in Atlas Fallen. It's all about style, strategy, and total awesomeness! Are you up for the challenge? Let's do this!

Atlas Fallen vs. Godfall Ultimate Edition: A Close Look at Combat and Co-op

Hey there, gamers! 🎮 Today, we're diving into a showdown between two awesome games: Atlas Fallen and Godfall Ultimate Edition. We're gonna focus on why Atlas Fallen might just have the upper hand, especially when it comes to the combat and co-op gameplay. Let's break it down!

Epic Combat Variety in Atlas Fallen In Atlas Fallen, the combat is like a rollercoaster of awesomeness. As you progress through the game's 20-hour campaign, you'll unlock tons of unique abilities and hidden armor sets. These things aren't just for show - they can change how tough the battles get. And guess what? You can find these cool powers by exploring and defeating mini-bosses. The more you fight, the more powerful and flashy your moves become, kinda like an anime battle! 🤩

Tag Team Chaos with a Friend One of the coolest things about Atlas Fallen is that you can team up with a buddy and wreck enemies together. Unfortunately, we couldn't try this out ourselves, but if it's anything like we're imagining, it'll be a blast. Imagine pulling off crazy special attacks and facing even fiercer enemies with your gaming pal. 🤜🤛

Eye-Catching World and Enemies Let's talk visuals! Atlas Fallen is like stepping into a painting with its stunning landscapes, dazzling colors, and mind-blowing particle effects. You can explore these amazing areas solo or with your friend, and it's gonna be a treat for your eyes. But hey, not everything's all sunshine and rainbows - some sand monsters try to drag the game's fun down a bit.

Mix and Match Abilities for Intense Battles Do you know what's super rad? Combining different abilities in Atlas Fallen to make your fights faster and crazier. Parrying is the name of the game here, and it can freeze opponents in their tracks if you time it just right. The game's got this nifty momentum bar that fills up as you fight, giving you access to even more powerful moves. Just imagine how awesome it'd be to pull off killer moves and be the ultimate hero!

The Not-So-Unique Enemy Problem Now, here's where things get a bit iffy. In the later stages of Atlas Fallen, some of the battles start feeling kinda similar. It's like déjà vu, fighting the same types of enemies and mini-bosses over and over. We're not saying it's bad, but it would've been rad to have more variety in these late-game fights.

So, there you have it, peeps! Atlas Fallen brings a mix of epic combat, tag team action, jaw-dropping visuals, and awesome ability combos. Now go grab your controllers and embark on an adventure filled with anime-style battles and co-op madness!

[g4zdtechtv]

THE PILE PRESENTS: Call for Help Canada #211

All about video compression!

[tj73467-blog]

Watch "The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction - All Bosses & Ending + Cutscenes (4K 60FPS)" on YouTube

[blazehedgehog]

So when stories about the Xbox 360 having red ring/heat problems started coming in, I began to worry that my 360 would be struck with it at the worst timing. When Microsoft began offering free repairs, there were stories about people intentionally smothering their Xbox with a blanket to force a red ring.

I seriously considered smothering my 360, but it turns out I didn't have to. For some reason my brain has latched on to the date of November 22nd, 2006 as when this happened, but my Xbox 360 red ringed itself. It was easy to blame Sonic 06 as the culprit, given I had just finished the game barely even a week earlier.

When you registered for a free red ring of death repair, what actually happened is you'd send your console in, and Microsoft would instantly ship you out somebody else's refurbished console. This kept queue times low, and it made sure they weren't hung up forever personally repairing everyone's individual console. (They asked you to remove your HDD before you sent your console in, so you could keep your saves and downloads)

So I put in the repair order and shipped my console off, expecting to get a replacement in a couple weeks. This was 2006, before everything sent you notifications about anything, so once you shipped your console, that was it. You couldn't track repair status or anything, I don't think.

A whole month passed. No Xbox. Well, okay, it's Christmas, right? Maybe they're backed up. Maybe they're on vacation. I can't really blame them for a small delay.

And I was patient. I'd bought this Xbox 360 because I'd won grand prize in a video contest on Gametrailers.com in August of 2006. The prize was $1000, spread across two different Gamestop gift cards, and I did not spend the whole thing on the Xbox. In total, I'd gotten:

An Xbox 360

Pre-ordered Sonic 2006 (the first pre-order I'd ever made, and my only 360 game)

Ninja Gaiden Black (Xbox)

Forza Motorsport (Xbox)

Spider-man 2 (Xbox)

A refurbished Playstation 2 (first time owner)

Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 3 (PS2)

Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty (PS2)

Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence (PS2)

Kingdom Hearts (PS2)

Klonoa 2: Lunatea's Veil (PS2)

The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction (PS2)

A Nintendo DS Lite

New Super Mario Bros. (DS)

Mario Kart DS (DS)

Sonic Rush (DS)

Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow (DS)

And then, closer to November, I spent the last of the money pre-ordering The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess for the Gamecube.

So even though I didn't have the Xbox 360, I had plenty of other toys to play with.

But by the time it became the end of January, I started to wonder. It was coming up on THREE MONTHS. Surely they couldn't be that backed up, right? I'd long since finished NSMB, Sonic Rush, Castlevania, Dragon Ball, and Klonoa. Christmas was over. Heck, New Years was over. They'd be back to work by now. Where the hell was my Xbox?

So I had to call them. I gave them my repair work order ID, and I was informed that while they registered my console entering their repair facility in McAllen, Texas, it disappeared from their system after that. In other words: They lost it. The guy on the other end was very apologetic and quick to smooth things over.

Before I'd called, I was talking to friends. They'd told me to get angry. Even artificially angry. Squeaky wheel gets the grease and all that. I tried to summon up the courage to sound indignant: "Is there anything else you can do to set this right? Maybe a free game?"

It probably sounded more like nervous begging.

The voice on the other end of the line stammered. "Um. Sure, we've got a few games lying around. You could have Perfect Dark Zero or Project Gotham Racing 3."

I knew about Perfect Dark's reputation, and I'd played a little bit at an in-store demo kiosk. PGR3 it was.

Deep down in my heart, I was hoping for Gears of War, or maybe Oblivion. There was a time, 2003 or 2004, where Microsoft sent me a 20 minute Windows product survey and the payment was Halo: Combat Evolved for the PC. It felt opulent. Every product survey I've ever done since then, I think about the time Microsoft gave me a $40 PC game for 20 minutes of my time. I was hoping they were still that generous. Beyond Sonic 06, Oblivion was part of the reason I'd wanted a 360, and Gears of War was lighting up the charts.

I was not going to look a gift horse in the mouth, though. I was more than fine with PGR3.

Within two days (by now the first days of February 2007), I'd had my replacement Xbox 360, and a factory fresh copy of PGR3 packaged along with it. They'd paid for free expedited shipping. About 30 minutes after getting it unboxed and hooked up, the phone rang.

It was Xbox. The same repair center guy I'd spoken to not even 48 hours earlier was calling me to make sure I received the package okay and was satisfied with the console.

In truth, I was not.

These were refurbished consoles, remember. And I assume they had to turn things around pretty quickly to keep pace with demand. Usually there isn't a problem with buying refurbs, but occasionally you run into things where a refurbished item will pass inspection but is otherwise still damaged. The 360 they had sent me was one such case.

The first thing I did after hooking the console up was begin downloading demos I'd missed. This included the stone cold classic Crackdown 1 demo. I was actually in the middle of trying it out when the phone rang, and I was already noticing problems. The intro movie for different middlewares and company logos would often stutter and skip, which seemed odd to me. Then, while driving around in the demo, I'd hit an area where the textures stopped loading.

A couple of other games displayed other stuttering problems, as well. These were problems that didn't happen with my original console. I was suspicious they had sent me a bogus replacement.

The guy at the repair center brushed me off. "Sometimes that just happens," he told me. "Don't worry about it."

I pressed him, repeating again that these weren't issues with my previous console. I told him I was concerned this replacement was already on its way out.

He suddenly got terse and cut me off mid-sentence. "The console is working right now, isn't it?"

I was kind of taken back.

"Uh, yeah, I guess?"

"Then everything is in order. I hope you have a great day."

Click. He instantly hung up on me before I could say anything else.

That 360 continued to show signs of its growing problem. The textures not loading in the Crackdown demo became my litmus test for how it was getting worse. Soon, other games started experiencing the occasional polygon explosion error.

If you don't know what a polygon explosion is, it's basically this:

Its severity depended on what game I was playing, and sometimes it would go away if I closed and rebooted the game.

I have a distinct memory of booting up the Tomb Raider Underworld demo in October of 2008 and it being a totally unplayable, because all the visuals were stretched, warped polygon explosions, all the time. There was no normal gameplay in view anywhere, and while trying to adjust the camera, the game straight up froze.

By now, the Crackdown demo consistently loaded into a completely untextured world, and sometimes would trigger its own polygon explosions. Other games were beginning to lock up as well. This system was three sheets to the wind.

Here's the deal though: since it wasn't a red ring of death? Microsoft was a lot less charitable. The repair center wanted $100 to fix the bogus 360 they sent me, and they refused to hear anything I had to say about how it was their fault to begin with. Cough up the hundred bucks or hit the road, kid.

I remembered the smothering trick. I wrapped the 360 in a blanket, popped in Sonic 06, and ran around Soleanna for a while. I ran through all of the levels at least once.

The Red Ring of Death was caused by a heat issue inside the console. The CPU would get so hot it would begin to make the motherboard flex and warp from the heat, and the solder they used to keep the chip in place would weaken. After long enough, the CPU would wiggle loose and lose contact with the board, resulting in a total system failure.

Refurbished 360's, as I came to learn, "fixed" this issue by absolutely DROWNING the CPU contacts in solder (or whatever adhesive they were using). They made absolutely certain that chip could not budge come hell or high water. If you had a refurbished 360, the only way to get it to red ring a second time was basically to take a sledgehammer to it.

In other words, I could smother this console all day, every day, and it would probably never red ring.

So I decided to go over their heads.

Six or eight months before I won the Gametrailers contest, around March of 2006, I shooted my shot: I emailed Xbox's Major Nelson.

I wanted to play Oblivion so badly that I was actually having dreams about it. I woke up from one of these dreams and was feeling particularly bold. Major Nelson was the Xbox brand/community manager at the time, so intrinsically ingrained as the voice of the people at Xbox that he publicly listed his email address and encouraged anyone to email him.

So, I metaphorically got down on my hands and knees, and I begged. I told him who I was: fledgling game developer, and wanna-be games media "journalist." And the one thing that would help kickstart one or both of those careers would be an Xbox 360. It'd be great PR, too. I ended the email humbly saying I realized what a ridiculous request I was making, but that "it never hurts to ask." Even if the answer is no.

Major Nelson responded a day or two later with some very kind words, and ultimately told me he'd love to give me an Xbox 360... when we met in person at E3. Did he mean it? Was he calling my bluff? E3 wasn't open to the public in these days, but it wasn't hard for people like me to get a press pass if they really, really wanted them. There were always stories of people from the public getting in.

Needless to say, I was too poor and too chicken. Didn't have the money and didn't have the guts. But he ended it saying if I ever had any other questions, he'd love to talk to me again.

So they lost my console, sent me a broken refurb, and were now asking me for $100 to fix their mistake? I decided to see if there was anything Major Nelson could do about it. Again, it never hurts to ask.

The best he could do: $50 off. I'd still have to pay $50 to get it fixed. I didn't like it, but it was better than nothing.

The next Xbox 360 they sent me worked all the way up until about 2019, when its disc tray mechanism finally gave out after 11 years of service. I replaced it with an Xbox 360 E.

I'd like to end this saying it might make me sound like a loser to say I flat out emailed Major Nelson and begged for freebies. That may be true, and it's also true that I really wanted to play Oblivion.

However: Upon winning the GameTrailers video competition and buying that 360, it really did actually change my life. That Xbox 360 is the entire reason my Youtube channel became what it is today, and that Xbox 360 did in fact get me my first paying games writing gig. It really did jumpstart whatever you might consider the tatters of a career. That wasn't a lie.

A Eulogy for my Playstation 4 Pro

So since I was a brain genius who decided to transfer all my fundraiser money to my bank account on a weekend, let's have a little eulogy for my poor Playstation 4 Pro.

I bought it in 2017 after a hellish move from Colorado to Nevada. We'd lived in Colorado for 26 years, and rented the same house for 24 of those years. I literally grew up in that house. Then our landlords got greedy (as all landlords eventually do), almost tripled our rent, and we had to move.

One of the last things I did before I packed up my computer was release The Definitive Way to Play Sonic Adventure on Youtube. That video was a modest success, but it had a secondary effect where a no-commentary gameplay video I'd uploaded for the fangame Sonic Utopia got picked up by the algorithm as a result, and that video suddenly took off like wildfire. I found myself sitting on a pair of videos that were about to pull in close to a combined 3 million views. It was the most I'd had a video blow up in a very long time.

I was now flush with a few thousand dollars of cash that I could do whatever I wanted with. That was great, as I got to help cover some moving expenses. I gave my Mom some money, I paid one of the deposits on our new apartment, paid to fix some stuff that got broken in the move, I bought myself a new desk, new computer chair, some storage shelves, a new bed frame, and still had about $700 left to spare. So I bought a PS4 Pro and a small handful of games (The Nathan Drake Collection, Yakuza Kiwami, The Last of Us Remastered, and Parappa the Rapper Remastered, I think). It was the first true next-generation console I'd bought in 11 years -- I'd had a Wii U, but that doesn't count.

Within that first year, I'd already run into my first problem with that Playstation 4. Back in the Xbox 360 era, I had a moment in my life where I was a psychopath that was running a media server off my PC. Every morning I'd wake up, download everything my Youtube subs had posted the day before, along with whatever GiantBomb had uploaded that day, and threw it up on the media server. The 360 could see the server, and those downloads would basically become my background noise for the day. I watched the entire GiantBomb Persona 4 Endurance Run that way: on the 360, through my media server. For context, these were the days before there was any way to watch Youtube on a television. There was no app. Youtube was just a website. So the Media Server was what I had to do to see Youtube on another screen.

In the move out to Nevada, I'd bought a cheap 32GB USB thumbdrive from the back-to-school section at Wal-mart and filled it full of movies and videos and stuff. With the PS4 set up, I plugged that thumbdrive in and tried out the PS4's media player capabilities, hoping it worked like the Xbox 360.

It did... for about 45 minutes. In the middle of watching Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Movie the media player suddenly crashed and refused to see the USB thumbdrive anymore. I reached down to pull it out only to find it was almost too hot to touch. I might have actually dropped the thumbdrive because it shocked me just how hot it was. I have never felt a piece of electronics be that hot before.

For the rest of that day, that USB port was dead. Nothing you plugged into it would be recognized. Eventually, it finally started working with controllers, but it never accepted any other thumbdrives, ever.

After about three years, I started to notice recordings were starting to get a little weird. Clips I'd record of my Fortnite matches would have huge 2-3 second chunks go missing, or the encoding would corrupt and smear. But then it went away, so I figured maybe it was just a problem with the game and not the console. It'd come back every now and then, maybe once a year, but it only ever happened with Fortnite, and only occasionally.

About a year and a half ago, I started to notice something else weird. Unless there was a specific game I needed to play for work stuff (like Sonic Frontiers or whatever), my PS4 was mostly just a Fortnite machine, and mainly because the PC version of Fortnite is a disaster.

But for months I'd left a disc in my PS4's disc drive. I think it was probably Balan Wonderworld or something, and as I booted up Fortnite for my daily founder's mission rewards, I noticed a sound. I'd been hearing it on and off for a while, but now I was finally paying attention to it. I realized: the console was sitting there scanning the disc, over and over and over, like it couldn't read it. I'd hear the disc motor spin up, the soft click-click-click as the read head scanned for data. It'd spin down, spin up, click-click-click, whirrrrrr, click-click, spin down, spin up, etc. Over and over. It'd do this for a good 30-45 seconds, then finally settle down and identify the disc.

The first time I noticed this, I ejected the Balan disc and put in something else; I think it was Dreams. PS4 read the disc instantly. I shrugged, figured maybe the Balan disc was just cursed and didn't think anything of it.

About a week later, I caught it doing it with the disc for Dreams. And then Sonic Frontiers. Then Sonic Superstars. Pretty much any disc I'd put in there. As the months wore on, it started taking multiple minutes for it to identify the disc.

A few weeks before it died, I ended up taking the disc out and basically resigning myself to only putting a disc in if I was going to play it, and removing that disc the moment I was done, because that scanning process seemed like it was making the problem worse.

A few months before it died, I got a full hardware crash on the console. The error code it gave me pointed to a hardware failure, but a google revealed that it was a generic error code that could mean literally anything. Right around this time, the video corruption in my Fortnite recordings came back around. I had a feeling it was the HDD.

Thus began the saga of trying to replace my PS4's HDD. I knew it could take SSDs, so I did some research, saved up $100, and bought a 2TB SSD that was compatible with the console. Followed Sony's official instructions on replacing the HDD, and...

It didn't work.

I vowed to get my money back and order a different HDD, but prices went up and realizing the other mounting problems with this machine (including the fried USB port), and my general mood overall, I just kept the money and figured I'd ride or die until the machine breathed its last.

8 months later... it refused to boot up at all.

Rest in piece, king. The only other console I've ever had straight up die on me like this was my Xbox 360, and if I'm being honest, I kind of smothered that poor boy a little bit hoping to get a sturdier console back from the repair center.

(I did not, but that's a story for another day.)

[marioclash]

i mean whatever, just wake me up when they finally remaster or remake the incredible hulk ultimate destruction