Posted by Rob on December 14, 2011 – 3:53 pm
Filed under Video Games
Tagged as action, adventure, batman, batman: arkham city, big bad bob, bigbadbob, co-op, dead island, dungeon hunter: alliance, ea, elder scrolls v, fall of man, fighting, game of the year, gears of war 3, hockey, house of the dead overkill extended cut, infamous 2, insomniac, lord of the rings, mortal kombat, multiplayer, nhl '12, oblivion, online, pre-order, rail shooter, Resistance 2, resistance 3, rocksteady, RPG, skyrim, smackdown vs raw, Spike TV, Sports, sucker punch, thq, trailer, vga's, war in the north, wwe allstars
Move over Spike’s VGA…you were and still are a whopping disappointment to the gaming community. Why you think I’d rather watch some jerk jump onto a Velcro wall or some deuche in a mouse helmet spin tunes rather than allowing the winning developers to give a one-minute speech that didn’t end in a tea-bagging incident is beyond me. But enough of that…this is my personal Game of the Year awards. These are the games I played and enjoyed the most this year, and some may be expected or a surprise. Just sit back, relax and enjoy.
Action/ Adventure Game of the Year: Batman: Arkham City
Batman: Arkham Asylum was successful in making a game in which you actually felt like Batman. It concentrated more on stealth, gadgets and puzzles than any other Batman game before. With Arkham City, Rocksteady Studios built on top of what it had already achieved and made it a bit better by adding a sandbox-style environment that the player could explore at will to uncover side missions and search for crimes in progress. The supporting cast of heroes and villains (and the voice actors that bring each to life) is phenomenal and despite all the baddies Batman faces the game never seems over-crowded. The combat is simple to learn yet complex to master and the urge to track down every last Riddler trophy is tempting (especially when the lives of hostages are on the line.) Batman: Arkham City makes for a fun romp through Gotham as the caped crusader and is easily the best Action/Adventure game of 2011.
Read More »
Posted by Rob on July 16, 2011 – 4:48 pm
Filed under Sports
Tagged as big bad bob, bigbadbob, carolina, fan, hockey, hurricanes, new york, nhl, north carolina, nyr, rangers, south carolina, Sports
As most of you may know, the only sport I follow is the NHL, and I am a Rangers fan. Well, to be more exact I’m a fan of the Rangers and any team who is playing against Pittsburgh. Now that I am down in South Carolina, and soon to be in North Carolina, I face a dilemma as far as hockey goes. Hockey is not the most popular sport in the U.S. to begin with, and that goes double for the South. So come the start of the 2011-2012 season, there’s no way in heck I’m going to be getting any Rangers games. So how do I feed my need to catch a hockey game? I’ll have to watch the Carolina Hurricanes.
I have no problem with the Hurricanes, and in fact I’ve always had a soft spot for them. I also just recently purchased a hat for them. Right now I don’t want to be rocking my NYR gear because I don’t want to be viewed as a tourist…there’s enough of them in Myrtle Beach to begin with. Once I’m settled down in North Carolina I’ll break out the Rangers swag again, but I still won’t be able to catch any Rangers games. Read More »
Posted by Rob on June 16, 2011 – 2:16 am
Filed under Sports
Tagged as 2010 stanley cup, big bad bob, boston, bruins, canucks, cnn, fans, hockey, riots, stanley cup, vancouver
Everyone knows how seriously and passionately Canadians take their hockey, so it came as to surprise to me to hear that Canucks’ fans took to rioting last night following the game. Read about it here on CNN.
Posted by Rob on June 15, 2011 – 10:20 pm
Filed under Sports
Tagged as bacon, bigbadbob, boston, bruins, canucks, champions, champs, chara, finals, game 7, hockey, luongo, nhl, stanley cup, thomas, vancouver
If you want to know what team I’m rooting for in the Stanley Cup Finals, there are three steps to take:
- If the Rangers are in the finals, I’ll root for them
- If the Penguins are in the finals, I’ll root against them
- I’ll root for whatever Eastern Conference team is in
That being said, this year I was rooting for Boston to pull a victory from Vancouver, and they eventually did in what ended up being a blowout Game 7. If you looked at the past games of the series, it was easy to say that the Canucks should have had this one, and even I assumed that Luongo would lead them to victory. But it was not to be as Tim Thomas blanked Vancouver and proved to be unstoppable tonight, allowing the Bruins to win Game 7 with a score of 4-0. Thomas was also awarded the Conn Smythe trophy, making him the series MVP.
My biggest complaint of the night of course had to deal with unruly Canadian fans. As has happened before, once the Cup was presented to Chara the trash started flying from the stands. Real classy…
And with this being said, it’s off to bed. I have to be up in about three hours for work.
Posted by Rob on May 8, 2011 – 6:03 am
Filed under My Personal Life
Tagged as 7th seas, alf, big bad bob, bigbadbob, board game, carolinas, ccg, collectibles, crosby, customizable card game, garage sale, hat, hockey, knife, lightsaber, lord of the rings, lundqvist, mask, micro machines, middle-earth, moving, north carolina, posters, robert jordan, Simpsons, south carolina, Star Wars, stephen king, swords, toys, video games, weapons, x-files
With only a few weeks left living in New York before we move down to the Carolinas (we will be staying with Shell’s mom in South Carolina until we can line up a place of our own in North Carolina) we have been preparing for another garage sale at Shell’s dad’s house. We had a garage sale last summer, but it was more of a way for us to make some extra cash and get rid of stuff. Since it wasn’t as big a deal, I didn’t really put out too much of my “nerdy” stuff that’s been holed up in my old bedroom at my parent’s house. This time around, since we’re actually moving, I had more of a need to get rid of this stuff. It was a very hard thing to do, and for a brief moment I knew what those people on those “hoarder” shows were feeling.
The main problem was that I worked a lot as a kid,and had decent paying jobs as a kid. With all that extra cash, instead of saving it (which I really, REALLY wish I had) I spent it on all sorts of random crap that I didn’t need. My closet was full of clothes I bought and never wore…some of the shirts and jeans still had tags on them from the 90′s! But at least clothing was practical in some sense…the other stuff in the “closet of doom” was just ridiculous. I had a ton of nerdy board games, whether it was Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, Simpsons, or warfare-related. They were games that I only played like once with friends or my mother (yup, she is quite the nerd and while I couldn’t get her to play video games, she was always willing for a game of Star Wars CCG or the Lord of the Rings boardgame) and were just sitting in that closet collecting dust. I had three plastic lightsabers with the light and sound, and while the Darth Maul one sounded like the lightsaber crystal was drained, the other two worked perfectly well. I also had some random hats, helmets, and masks in there, and as I’m sure will be much to Steve’s dismay, I am getting rid of the infamous “ALF” mask. I also threw in some old VHS tapes and books (mostly Stephen King and Robert Jordan) to get sold off. Read More »
Posted by Rob on April 9, 2011 – 9:26 pm
Filed under Sports
Tagged as big bad bob, bigbadbob, blue shirts, carolina hurricanes, devils, hockey, lightning, new york rangers, nhl, playoffs, rangers, stanley cup
The Rangers 5-2 victory over the Devils today wasn’t enough to earn them the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs…they needed the Hurricanes to lose as well. Luckily, Carolina fell to Tampa Bay 6-2, which dropped them just behind the Rangers, thus allowing the Blue Shirts to advance to the playoffs.
It won’t be an easy first round however, as the eighth seed Rangers will be facing the first seed Washington Capitals starting next week. I still don’t know if the team is ready for a Stanley Cup, but I’m just happy they made it to the playoffs. I’ll keep my fingers crossed.
Posted by Rob on April 9, 2011 – 10:36 am
Filed under Sports
Tagged as bigbadbob, carolina hurricanes, devils, hockey, lightning, msg, new york rangers, nhl, ot, playoffs, rangers, Sports
They say that “history repeats itself”, and for the Rangers this has probably never been truer. Last season, the Rangers playoff entrance rode on their final game…if they could get just one point (either win the game or lose in OT) then they would be able to snag a position in eighth place in the Eastern Conference, which would allow them to squeeze in as the bottom seed. Unfortunately, they lost in OT to the Flyers, so for the first time since I started watching them, the Rangers failed to advance to the playoffs.
It seems this year they are in the same position. Today they face the Devils for their last game of the season. They need a point to win, since they are currently “tied” for 8th with the Hurricanes, but Carolina does have the tie-breaker. To make things more complicated though, not only do the Rangers have to win, but the Hurricanes have to lose against the Lightning tonight as well. So the Rangers will make it to the 2010-2011 playoffs IF:
- Rangers win or lose in OT AND the Hurricanes lose
- Rangers win AND Hurricanes lose in OT Read More »
Posted by Rob on January 29, 2011 – 10:27 pm
Filed under Sports
Tagged as all-star game, all-star weekend, big bad bob, bigbadbob, chara, corey perry, guardians, hockey, lidstrom, lundqvist, nhl, ovechkin, shoot-out, skills competition, Staal, stan lee, versus
Tonight was the real start of the NHL’s All-Star Weekend as the teams of Staal and Lidstrom competed in the Skills Competition. I said my money was on Team Staal, and they did not disappoint as they won 32-22. It was over two and a half hours of hockey fun as the All Stars took part in the following fetes of skill:
- Fastest Skater- won by Michael Grabner (Islanders)
- Breakaway Challenge (fancy shots)- won by Alexander Ovechkin (Capitals)
- Accuracy Shooting- won by Daniel Sedin (Canucks)
- Relay Race- won by Team Lidstrom
- Hardest Shot- won by Zdeno Chara (Bruins)
- Elimination Shoot-Out- won by Corey Perry (Ducks) Read More »
Posted by Rob on January 28, 2011 – 9:56 pm
Filed under Sports
Tagged as all-star game, all-star weekend, big bad bob, bigbadbob, chara, cindy crosby, crosby, dallas, hockey, lundqvist, martin brodeur, nash, new york rangers, nhl, ovechkin, raleigh, rangers, sharp, sidney crosby, Staal
I don’t know why, but I’ve always liked Eric Staal, and I’ve never had a problem with the Hurricanes. So when I heard that Staal was one of the captains of this years new-fangled draft-style All-Star game, I had a feeling I’d be rooting for his team. Within just a few of his picks, I knew I would be cheering on the Red team come Sunday.
Staal drafted a pretty nifty team. My top favorites were:
- Henrik Lundqvist (obviously)
- Marc Staal (see the pic of him and brother Eric above)
- Alexander Ovechkin
- Zdeno Chara
- Paul Stastny
- Rick Nash
- Patrick Sharp Read More »
Posted by Rob on January 27, 2011 – 4:16 pm
Filed under Sports
Tagged as all-star game, all-star weekend, batman, big bad bob, bigbadbob, capt. america, guardians, hockey, iron man, nhl, stan lee, super hero, the blackhawk, the king, the predator, the ranger
Unbeknownst to me, over the past month the NHL and Stan Lee have been revealing their Guardians, the super heroes based on each NHL franchise. Obviously I was interested to see what the Rangers hero would look like. I naturally assumed it would resemble Capt. America between the team colors (red, white, and blue) and the team logo, which is a shield. Well, I was partially correct. Behold the Rangers Guardian hero…The Ranger:
He has the coloring, and the shield. However, the Ranger appears to drive a motorcycle around. Based on the description, he kind of sounds like Batman, using technology to do stuff. You can read up more about his background on the NHL’s website. According to the NHL’s article, the Ranger: Read More »
Posted by Rob on January 23, 2011 – 12:56 pm
Filed under Sports
Tagged as all-star game, big bad bob, bigbadbob, carolina hurricanes, cindy crosby, crosby, guardian media entertainment, guardians, hockey, lundqvist, new york rangers, nhl, rangers, red wings, Sports, Staal, stan lee, vs.
I’m getting psyched for next weekend’s NHL All-Star weekend, not only for the big game and the competitions, but also for the reveal of Stan Lee’s “Guardians.” So just this morning I went over to the NHL’s site to see who made it into the All-Star game, and I met with a pretty shocking reveal. In the past, the NHL All-Star game was the Eastern Conference vs. the Western Conference. But I realized today that that is not the case anymore. This is how it will now work:
All the NHL players vote for two team captains. These captains then draft the remaining players to be on their team and play alongside them at the All-Star game. So this year, rather than having players from the Western Conference take on the Eastern Conference, it will be “Team Staal” (Eric Staal of the Hurricanes) against “Team Lidstrom” (Nicklas Lidstrom of the Red Wings.) Now the pool of players that the All-Star captains can choose from comes from:
- Top six players voted for by the fans
- The NHL Operations Staff then chooses the remaining thirty-six players, as well as twelve rookies
- Every team must be represented at least once Read More »
Posted by Rob on January 9, 2011 – 4:38 pm
Filed under My Personal Life, Randomness
Tagged as 113, 13, 3B, big bad bob, bigbadbob, bigbadbob113, blog, college, darth_rob, ecw, George Lucas, high school, hockey, internet, pc, soccer, Star Wars, star wars rebellion, swrebellion.com, tae kwon do, web site, wwf
Have you ever wondered why I refer to myself as “BigBadBob”? Let me take you on a stroll down memory lane as I pry open my past for all to see, so that you may learn the origins of my name.
First off, I have always gone by “Rob”, and to this day I still do, aside. The name “Bob” first started out in high school, probably around 9th grade (which would be around ’97.) There was this guy on our bus…a huge biker/head banger who had asperations of becoming a ECW wrestler (he didn’t think WWF was hardcore enough for his tastes.) For whatever reason, he always called me “Bob.” The guy was ridiculous and such a joke, so my best friend Pete and I would always made fun of him (though not to his face, since he was two grade levels above us.) As time went on, Pete began to call me Bob. It started out as his way of making fun of me (which was a pretty light example of our humor, since I used to call him Queter), but over time he stuck with it, and it became what he called me. To this day, he and his family still refer to me as Bob. Read More »
Posted by Rob on November 9, 2010 – 10:17 pm
Filed under Geocaching, Movies, Sports, TV Shows, Video Games
Tagged as 360, ahl, albany devils, big bad bob, bigbadbob, bigfoot, bioshock 2, castle crashers, co-op, east greenbush, fallout: new vegas, final fight: double impact, geocache, Geocaching, Ghostbusters, guys night, guys weekend, hockey, instant, lara croft and the guardian of light, left 4 dead 2, Movies, netflix, peggle, PlayStation 3, PS3, sasquatch, scott pilgrim vs. the world, street fighter puzzle fighter, super mario bros, svr2011, teenage mutant ninja turtles, wwe smackdown vs. raw 2011, xbox
Shell was in Vegas this past weekend visiting with her family and throwing her sister a surprise baby shower. That left me alone for the extended weekend, which proved to be the perfect opportunity for me to throw a “Guys Weekend In” and have my friend Steve come up from Middytown. The weekend was full of gaming, cheesy movies, geocaching, hockey, and lots more. I fine time was had by all.
The main event of the weekend was WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2011. I had created a co-op storyline for Steve and myself which followed our rise to the top, and eventually to the tag team titles. The storyline had everything: action, suspense, treachery, comedy, and more. It also included a variety of tag team matches of varying degrees, all culminating in a massive Hell in a Cell match at the PPV for the tag team titles. We also played plenty of exhibition tag team and other matches, including Royal Rumble, Table, Money in the Bank, Elimination Chamber, and many others. WWE SvR 2011 was clearly the winner this weekend.
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Posted by Rob on October 18, 2010 – 6:03 pm
Filed under My Personal Life
Tagged as 360, ahl, albany, albany devils, big bad bob, bigbadbob, brooklyn, carnitas, chowder fest, emack & bolios, fallout: new vegas, fever, hartford wolfpack, hockey, new super mario bros. wii, new york rangers, panera, Salsa Latina, stan lee's superhuman, tecate, times union center, tmnt, troy
This weekend had tons of potential, since my sister was coming up to visit from Brooklyn. I picked her up from the train station on Friday, and after meeting our parents for lunch at the Eveready Diner we headed back up to Albany. After doing some grocery shopping, we came back to the apartment and played through TMNT: The Arcade Game on the 360. Afterwards, we started cooking dinner, and had it ready for when Shell got home from work. Once dinner was cleaned up, we headed over to the Times Union Center to see the Albany Devils take on the Hartford Wolfpack. Of course we rooted for the Wolfpack, since they are the New York Rangers AHL team. The game was a good one, and after a 2-2 first period, the Albany Devils finally won 3-2 in the shoot out. After the game we went downtown to Emack & Bolios for an ice cream break, and then headed back to the apartment.
Saturday started out pretty great. After a lazy morning (which included some Super Mario Bros. Wii) we all piled in the car and headed up to Troy for the annual Chowder Fest. This was much different from the Chowder Fest we went to in Boston, as there were tons of different varieties at the Troy one, not just New England. The winning chowder was an Autumn Pear one, and other interesting ones were a rueben one and a Thanksgiving dinner one. While admission was free, you had to pay $1 per chowder sample, so between the three of us we were able to sample most of the chowders for a decent price. Read More »
Posted by Rob on October 8, 2010 – 9:57 am
Filed under Books, Sports
Tagged as all-star game, big bad bob, bigbadbob, buffalo sabres, captain america, carolina, carolina hurricanes, comics, Gathering Storm, guardian media entertainment, guardians, hockey, montreal canadeins, new york islanders, new york rangers, nhl, stan lee, x-men
I think most people know I’m an avid New York Rangers fan, and that I have a love for the old school Marvel comics. Well, I saw an article on the NHL’s website yesterday which stated that Stan “The Man” Lee and the NHL have joined forces to create Guardian Media Entertainment. The basic gist of what has been hinted at so far is that Lee is creating thirty new super heroes representing each team in the NHL. Each hero will have abilities/powers reminiscent of not only the team but also the city they hail from. There will be a special unveiling of the project at some point during the NHL All-Star game on January 30, 2011, which is taking place on the Hurricanes home ice.
The point of this endeavor is to try and get younger boys and men into hockey. Lee hopes these new characters will earn the NHL a new fan base while also offering something new to current fans. As for the heroes themselves, who knows what they will look like or what they will do. If it’s a literal translation, then I can picture the Buffalo Sabres hero being some kind of mutant buffalo man who wields a mystical sword, and the Carolina Hurricanes hero to have some kind of weather control, a la Storm of the X-Men. And where does that leave the New York Rangers? Why, with their spiffy uniforms, I can only imagine their hero to be reminiscent of Captain America! However, if I follow that logic, then there are some strange heroes indeed. Would the Anaheim Ducks hero be a super duck mutant, a la Howard the Duck? Will the Islanders hero have some kind of crazy fisherman skills? And what about the Montreal Canadiens…a super lumberjack who sprays maple syrup at his foes?
I don’t know exactly how this will all pan out, but I for one am really interested to see where this project goes. I will admit that I will most probably be interested in checking out the comics produced, and my wall would definitely be in need of a super hero Rangers dude. I will definietly be following this whole process closely, and will report any significant news I come across.
Posted by Rob on September 20, 2010 – 7:52 am
It’s now September, which not only means that the first hockey game starts at the beginning of October (though preseason starts this week), but also that the Yahoo! Fantasy Hockey league is ready to go as well! I drafted my initial team about two weeks in a live draft. Personally, that’s the only way to go if you ask me…you can’t expect to get good players if you simply rate players on a list and then see who you happen to get. I think I’ve got a pretty good initial team to start with, though there will be adds, drops, and maybe even some trades as the season goes on. Here’s my starting team: Read More »
Posted by Rob on September 12, 2010 – 10:22 pm
Filed under Sports, Video Games
Tagged as 3 on 3 nhl arcade, avery, be a pro, big bad bob, bigbadbob, drury, ea, ea pucks, gaborik, game review, gm, hockey, mode, nhl, nhl '11, PlayStation 3, PS3, rangers, Sports, uhl, ultimate hockey league, xp
As big a hockey fan as I am, I have been slacking in the hockey game department. I have been using NHL ’08 for years now, and have never upgraded to one of the newer versions. The main reason is that I was not initially a big fan of the control changes that took place. Since ’08, it has become a lot more complex, and was not something I was used to, so I shied away from it. However, after spending a few days with NHL ’11, I think it’s safe to say that I am officially won over to the new controls. I am pleased to say that I am sending ’11 back to Gamefly tomorrow, but it is going to be my number two game to get this Christmas, right behind Borderlands GOTY. So what is so cool about the newest edition to the EA’s epic hockey series that finally won me over? Pretty much everything!!!
For those of you who are unaware, these control scheme changes I speak of are quite daunting to someone who has been playing basic hockey games since NHL ’96. The biggest change is that shooting and other moves with the stick are primarily done with the right analog. This allows you to actually have a great deal of control of your shot, compared to past games where simply hitting square or circle performed an automatic shot on goal. Now these controls have been around for the past three or four games, but this is the first time that I gave the patience to retrain my mind to use them, and stop referring to the old-school controls. Once that is accomplished, it’s amazing how fun it is to deke the goalie to moving to the right, and then firing off a shot over his left shoulder, which is now open and exposed.
Read More »
Posted by Rob on September 1, 2010 – 5:23 pm
Filed under Sports
Tagged as ahl, albany, big bad bob, bigbadbob, carolina, devils, farm, hockey, minor league, nhl, rangers, river rats, Sports, times union center
I had mentioned a few months ago that the local AHL team, the Albany River Rats, had been sold and moved to Carolina. I was extremely upset about this, since I loved being able to go to the Times Union Center, an easy twelve-minute drive from my apartment, to watch a cheap hockey game. Sure, they weren’t the Rangers minor league team, but I rooted for them anyway, because to me they were an Albany team.
Well the good news is that the people who own the Times Union Center have purchased a new AHL team…the Albany Devils! The Devils farm team is no stranger to Albany, as they were based here prior to the Hurricanes’ team coming in a few years back. So I will be able to continue seeing cheap hockey games this season. While I dislike the Devils, being a Rangers fan, I will be cheering on the Albany Devils as my home Albany game.
Posted by Rob on September 1, 2010 – 5:14 pm
This year’s Yahoo! Fantasy Hockey leagues are up and ready to go! I already registered my public team, and my live online draft will be tomorrow afternoon at 12:00pm. Here’s to another great season of fantasy hockey, which is how I keep up-to-date on all the players in the NHL, especially the players in the Western Conference which I no little about since I rarely watch them play the Rangers. I have been playing every year for the past four years now, and it really got me more into the sport than I ever was. It’s funny…I laugh at people who talk about their fantasy football and baseball leagues, yet here I am with a hockey one…I’m such a hypocrite!
