In an effort to counter my usual time-tested negativity, I’m taking the advice of those chirpy morning people. You know, those bright and cheery assholes who walk into your office early every Monday morning spouting some garbage about lemons and lemonade and being positive as though that’s really what I want to talk about at eight in the morning while staring down the abyss of another work week. Right, those bastards.

*uncomfortable silence* Anyway, I’m trying to be more positive about my outlook on gaming. As such, all of you will soon have another option to suffer my nonsensical screes in a new segment that I’ll be debuting next week. It will be a look at one newly released title that is pure, uncut, new intellectual property. That is, I’ll be discussing a game (or games) released in the previous week that boasts the merit of not being a sequel or spin-off of any existing title. No "Mario Does Curling" or Street Fighter titles with names so long that even the acronym can’t fit in a standard newspaper column. Anyhow, this appeals to me and hopefully it will to some of you. I’ll link it from this page and file it under Extras. After the look of the site changes later this year, all of this should get much easier to browse. If you see any games that you want me to discuss that would fit this article, feel free to let me know.

I picked up Super Smash Bros. Brawl, apparently in tandem with the rest of creation. It’s been nice so far, if not terribly earth-shattering. Kirby seems to have been pumped up a little closer to his former N64 self, which is nice for pink puffball aficionadoes like me. Some years have passed since the crew held our epic Smash Bros. Melee tournaments at the videogame shop, and I had forgotten how damned popular that Link is. That statement covers my experiences from the online "With Anyone" mode, so you know. On the plus side, every time I fight two or three Link fighters over the Wi-Fi, I know I will emerge victorious. I have no doubt that a large contigent of people exist in the world who are quite proficient with effeminent elves, perhaps because they attended a school in which pwning was an offered major. However, I have not yet encountered said people in my Nintendo Wi-Fi dealings.

I am sorry that I seem to talk about Nintendo systems so much. To be truthful, I own all the major platforms and have taken quite a fancy to my PS3 as a Blu-Ray/DVD player. Unfortunately, Army of Two and its ilk don’t entice me and the shiny monolith has little else to offer from the traditional retail sector. Everyday Shooter is more awesome than any dual stick shooter should be, and I loves me some Folding, but I am still awaiting the true arrival of Sony’s latest. At least it works, which is more than I can attest for my Xbox 360. I joined the double-digit failure rate club last weekend thanks to some serious playtime split between Mass Effect and Culdcept Saga. Those two games represented the first real time that my 360 was really used heavily, so I suppose the failure was about due. Also, the 360 Xenon motherboard heats up faster than Bill O’Reilly at a rainbow rally. Again, being positive, most 360 games are duplicated on the PC so I do still have options to purchase and play the games that I want. I only wish that I didn’t have to think in those terms.

- Irving

Ah, Easter. A time to collect colored eggs, eat more chocolate than should be legally allowed, and celebrate the world’s best documented respawn. I hope everyone enjoyed their Easter weekend. Looking back over the thirty-something comics we’ve done, I came to realize some crucial thing: we still haven’t introduced all of our characters, not properly at least. I’m planning on using the next couple of comics to familiarize you guys with some of the other members of the MNC to better set the ground for what we’ve got brewing over the next year. First up will be Philbert, our resident box turtle. He will get next two weeks all to himself. Well, almost. As usual, Dover can’t help but hog the spotlight. What is his problem anyway?

Hopefully by now, you guys feel comfortable with Dover, Irving, Dexter, and Casey. Beau has gotten some decent show, as has Mortimer. Unfortunately, Philbert, DZ, and Scooter have received very little attention. Hell, Nine hasn’t been seen since the second comic! Fezz has gotten more screen time than Nine, which represents a completely unacceptable position.

It’s something of a personal goal to have all of the characters fully introduced and familiar to readers by the time Heroes Con rolls around, at which we will be exhibiting. That’s June, but I’m not trying to rush characters or jam them down your throats. The idea is to introduce the crew in its entirity, and then we can finally start to kick our stories in gear. We have a large character roster and they all have varied personalities. Getting all of the Ministers to agree on how each one acts and behaves has been a chore, but I think you will all be happy with the results. Of course, they will all endure changes and grow as the site continues.

- Dover