JACK Management Buys Two Ohio Casinos from Dan Gilbert
JACK Management Buys Two Ohio Casinos from Dan Gilbert
Jack Casino sold to Hard Rock International for $745 million
Jack Cincinnati Casino bought by Hard Rock International
Hard Rock Expects to Fully Rebrand Cincinnati Casino by ...
The Future Home of Hard Rock Casino sets reopening date
Cincinnati's JACK Casino to Be Sold to Hard Rock International
Dan Gilbert sells Cleveland casino interests; JACK ...
JACK Entertainment announces $843 million sale/leaseback ...
Hard Rock International buying Jack Cincinnati Casino and ...
JACK Entertainment Cleveland casinos sold for $843 million ...
jack casino sold to hard rock
jack casino sold to hard rock - win
Say It With Music - A Hundred Unique Playlists
Over the years I have thoroughly enjoyed throwing together playlists for different occasions (making coffee, working out, weddings, seasons, etc.) and thought I'd share! Please let me know your thoughts, favourite mixes, as well as recommendations for future playlists. All feedback is welcome! Hope you enjoy them: That Weekend Feeling Skip to the good bit; weekend grooves to wave away any weekday blues. Awesome Mix: Ultimate Edition (Mixtape) A great hero, named Kevin Bacon, once taught an entire city full of people with sticks up their butts that, dancing, well, is the greatest thing there is. The legend of Footloose comes alive with Awesome Mix: Ultimate Edition - Songs from and inspired by the Guardians of the Galaxy series. Morning Motivation: Steal Some Sunshine Soak up the sun with energetic jams and breezy classics! I'd Drink To That: Party Playlist Mix it up with a party playlist to keep the night buzzing. I'd Sing To That: Carpool Karaoke Pack up and take those pipes on a roadtrip! The catchy. The memorable. Just Jams 🎧 Nothing but jams to fill a pair of headphones or stadium. Brendan's Listen Local Funky & Thumpy! Some of my favourite energetic jams, classics, and BBQ party starters from our local Australian & New Zealand artists. Friday Fire It's Friday! Friends. Family. Fun. Groovin' The Brew Nothing but rockin' party grooves on tap. Diverse Pop Sounds It's pop, but not as you know it. Break Thru Ear Candy. Sunday Sesh Beers & bangers on a weekend! Run To Paradise Set up goals, and knock them down with an energetic running playlist. Summer Daze The heat is on with a playlist of crisp summer tunes. Autumn Mix: Volume 1 A breezy & brilliant playlist for the ever-changing Autumn seasons. Chilled Pop Soft, chilled winter pop songs. Warm Tunes Warm songs of Spring, like a comforting embrace. A Mid-Summer Night's Drink 🍻 Lord, what fun these mortals be! Wind Down 🌚 When the night winds down, so does some great music. 90's Baby! 📼 It is the sound of the roller disco, BMX bike track and arcade! The Hip Hip Hop Only the hippest of the hip. My modern and classic hip hop favourites. Indie Bops: It's ALT Good Get your alternative bounce on. Not Your Final Form: A Workout Playlist All the other licks with the pumped up kicks to keep you going during a workout. My favourites and a few other choice tunes for pushing harder, faster, stronger. Easy On The Ears Easy, Easy, Easybeats. Life Is Good ☀️ Today is gonna be a good day. Dial M For Music Deep, cathartic music. JOY Smile. Vibe Hard Get into the zone, and vibe-out to infectious tunes! Rock & Roll Never Dies Who says rock & roll is dead? Commercial radio? It's always been around; you've just got to roll with it and look harder. Get your kicks! Brainfood Introspective acoustic, calming strings, uplifting anthems, and a touch of nature. Food for the brain, and perfect background noise for studies. Game Night 🎲 For every occasion... casino, tabletop, videogames; a soundtrack to a brilliant game night! Sizzlers: BBQ Playlist 🍔 Fire up the burner and the anthems with a barbeque playlist hotter than the bright ball in the sky. Kickstart My Heart: Classic Rock Radio Rocking all over the world. Rush Hour Grinding Gears. Riff Raff: Party Rock Some rowdy rock to turn up the night. RE : FRESH 🍹 SUPERDOPE. Piña colada's and Caribbean Rum. The Driver There's a voice in my head that drives my heel. Country Road Might as well cruise. Might as well banjo. Born to be Wild Life's an adventure; you can't be tamed. Night Moves: Dancing In The Moonlight Unwind with the moonbeams. Night drives & night lives. Funk Right Off Get Funk'd. Rambling Roses 💐 Beauty and Love are as body and soul. Beauty is the mine, Love is the diamond. Sweat. Reset. Whatever it takes. 'Cause you love the adrenaline in your veins. Power Pop: Marathon Power pop to push and electrify a workout. Cool Beans: Coffee Playlist Recharge with some warm tunes. Kitchen Crooners 🎀 Now we're cooking! Now We're Cooking! Tasty tunes for the Kitchen. Pool Party Dive in to great poolside swing. Inspiration 💡 Takes Flight Reach for the Sky! Going Places Always push forward. First 💍 Songs for special days. DisNeat - Taking The Mickey Nothing but Disney favourites. Road Trip: Spinning Wheels Hear the call for adventure and hit the road. Guilty Pleasures 🍨 You like the Grease soundtrack? Word. Catchy AF POP Pop that bops. Essentials and the catchiest of the catchy. Acoustica Stripped Back. Playlist + Chill Cool off with some chilled beats and sweet acoustic. Making Waves Unwind with breathy, breezy songs perfect for a walk on the beach. The Playlist Of The Decade (New Years Eve) We welcomed 2020 with the ultimate party playlist jam-packed with familiar throwbacks and modern favourites from the 2010's! Good times! Rhythm Heaven Step up and dance. Sax on the Beach 🎷 Gratuitous? Nah! An instrument to elevate a song from good to great! BedroX 🔥 Sparks. Pump It Up: The Playlist of Champions 🏆 Winner winner, chicken dinner. Retro Rewind Twist & shout to killer Jukebox Classics. Classic Se7ens Nothing but 70's favourites. Great Eight's Nothing but 80's Favourites. Noughty & Nice Nothing but great 00's Throwbacks. The Best Playlist Never Heard It's unheard of! Best Songs You Might Have Missed Potentially slipped under the radar. Songs for Soundtracks 🎬 Royale with cheese. The Grand European Playlist About to take off! EPIC 🗡 Fortune & Glory! SUPERHOT VR : ROCK The champ is coming. SUPERHOT VR : HIP-HOP Kings never die. SUPERHOT VR : ACTION John Wick Schtick. Cowboy Bebop : Spike Spiegel Spike Spiegel is an ex-Syndicate goon and a bounty hunter aboard the Bebop. He is proficient in martial arts, zipcraft flying, and gunfights, but he also has comical and aloof sides of his personality. If there's three things he can't stand, it's kids, pets, and women with attitudes. Cowboy Bebop : Faye Valentine Faye Valentine is a coma survivor of over 50 years and she is trying to regain her memory. She got into a lot of debt upon entering this futuristic world, and she had to resort to a life of crime and hustling to survive... that is, until she decided to live on the Bebop and become a bounty hunter. Cowboy Bebop : Jet Black Jet Black is an ex-ISSP Special Forces Officer and the Captain of the Bebop. He is a bounty hunter and is called the "Black Dog" because once he sinks his teeth in he never lets go. Jet enjoys American Jazz music, taking care of Bonsai trees, and has a knack for investigative work. Cowboy Bebop : Radical Edward Edward is a net diver from Earth. Edward is a child prodigy for hacking and has an aptitude for anything mechanical, even though Edward has some eccentricities in other parts of her personality. For instance, Edward speaks in third person and sometimes behaves like a wild animal. At The Movies 🎟 Lights, camera, playlist. James Bond Classics 🍸 A martini, shaken, not stirred. The Word Is Bond 🍸 The world is not enough; but this playlist comes pretty close. Live Love LIVE Blistering live performances. Future Nostalgia Neo-swing, retro swagger; it's future nostalgia. B-Side Yourself Hidden Gems, Deep Cuts & Rarities. Punk'd You're Gonna Go Far, Kid. Building Houses: Hit By Hit Baby let's play house. Far ALT A playlist rocking that weird shit. Stay Home: The Safety Dance Stay safe out there. Day Tripper A playlist for a long drive - a day trip. In Tents Music For Camping. Roots Bluesy classics to strut to. All That Jazz Get jazzy on it. Focus Features Take a breather. Australiana Paradise. Drive Time Coast to coast. Songs for a spin. Stone Cold Classicals It's classically classic. Hall of Fame 💎 Songs for the career climbers and L.A. dreamers. Glitz & glam; all that jazz. This is Halloween Everybody Scream! It's Beginning to Sound A Lot Like Christmas! Christmas Classics. Just For Laughs 🎭 What a Joker! Two Nights In Tao🎙 Karaoke? There's a first time for everything. GAME Take control. Game On : Borderlands Psycho-delic CHOO CHOO THE PAIN TRAIN'S COMIN' Red Dead Redemption II Songs For Bloody Duels, Whiskey-Fueled Gambles, and Rolling Desert Plains. Energy Shot Keep animated with an energetic dose of catchy music! Party Fillers A background mix for any event. The Essential AC/DC AC/DC are an Australian rock band formed in Sydney in 1973 by Scottish-born brothers Malcolm and Angus Young. Although their music has been variously described as hard rock, blues rock, and heavy metal, the band themselves call it simply "rock and roll" The Essential One Republic OneRepublic is an American pop rock band formed in Colorado Springs, Colorado, in 2002. It consists of lead vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Ryan Tedder, guitarist Zach Filkins, guitarist Drew Brown, bassist and cellist Brent Kutzle, drummer Eddie Fisher and keyboardist Brian Willett. The Essential Shinedown Shinedown is an American rock band from Jacksonville, Florida, formed by singer Brent Smith in 2001. Shinedown has sold more than ten million records worldwide, and has had the most number one singles on the Billboard Mainstream Rock charts out of any band, with 16. The Essential Dua Lipa Dua Lipa is an English singer and songwriter. After working as a model, she signed with Warner Music Group in 2015 and released her self-titled debut album in 2017. The success of the singles helped her self-titled album become one of the most-streamed albums on Spotify. The Essential Preatures The Preatures are an Australian band from Sydney. The band was formed in 2010 and features Isabella 'Izzi' Manfredi on vocals/keyboards, Jack Moffitt (guitar), Thomas Champion (bass) and Luke Davison (drums). The band won the Vanda & Young Songwriting Competition with their song Is This How You Feel. The Essential Maroon 5 Maroon 5 is an American pop rock band from Los Angeles, California. It currently consists of lead vocalist Adam Levine, keyboardist and rhythm guitarist Jesse Carmichael, lead guitarist James Valentine, drummer Matt Flynn, keyboardist PJ Morton and multi-instrumentalist Sam Farrar. The Essential INXS INXS were an Australian rock band, formed in 1977 in Sydney. INXS was fronted by Hutchence, whose magnetic stage presence made him the focal point of the band. Initially known for their new wave/pop style, the band later developed a harder pub rock style that included funk and dance elements. The Essential Beatles The Beatles were an English rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The group, whose best-known line-up comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr, are regarded as the most influential band of all time. The Beatles are the best-selling music act of all time. The Essential Volbeat Volbeat are a Danish rock band formed in Copenhagen in 2001. They play a fusion of rock and roll, heavy metal and rockabilly. Their current line-up consists of vocalist and guitarist Michael Poulsen, guitarist Rob Caggiano, drummer Jon Larsen and bassist Kaspar Boye Larsen. The Essential Chromeo Chromeo is a Canadian electro-funk duo from Montreal, formed in 2002 by musicians David "Dave 1" Macklovitch and Patrick "P-Thugg" Gemayel. Their sound draws from blue-eyed soul, dance music, rock, synth-pop, disco and funk. As of 2018, the band has released five studio albums. The Essential Queen Queen are a British rock band formed in London in 1970. Their classic line-up was Freddie Mercury (lead vocals, piano), Brian May (guitar, vocals), Roger Taylor (drums, vocals) and John Deacon (bass). With estimated record sales ranging from 170 million to 300 million, they are one of the biggest. The Essential Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, and dancer. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. The Essential Brian Setzer Brian Robert Setzer (born April 10, 1959) is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He found widespread success in the early 1980s with the 1950s-style rockabilly group Stray Cats, and revitalized his career in the early 1990s with his swing revival band, the Brian Setzer Orchestra. The Essential Florida Georgia Line Florida Georgia Line are an American country music duo consisting of vocalists Tyler Hubbard and Brian Kelley. Their 2012 debut single "Cruise" broke two major sales records: it was downloaded over seven million times, making it the first country song ever to receive the Diamond certification. The Essential KISS Kiss is an American rock band formed in New York City in January 1973 by Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, Peter Criss, and Ace Frehley. Well known for its members' face paint and stage outfits, the group rose to prominence in the mid-to-late 1970s with its elaborate live performances. The Essential Sheppard Sheppard is an Australian indie pop band from Brisbane, formed in 2009. At the 2014 ARIA's ceremony, they were nominated for Album of the Year, Best Group, Best Independent Release, Best Pop Release, Song of the Year, Producer of the Year, and Best Video. The Essential Matchbox 20 Matchbox Twenty is an American rock band, formed in Orlando, Florida, in 1995. The group currently consists of Rob Thomas (lead vocals, guitar, keyboards), Brian Yale (bass guitar), Paul Doucette (drums, rhythm guitar, backing vocals), and Kyle Cook (lead guitar, vocals). The Essential Coldplay Coldplay are a British rock band that were formed in London in 1996 consisting of vocalist and pianist Chris Martin, guitarist Jonny Buckland, bassist Guy Berryman, and drummer Will Champion. Coldplay have sold more than 100 million records worldwide, making them one of the world's best-selling. The Essential Daughtry Daughtry is an American rock band formed and fronted by namesake Chris Daughtry, who was a finalist on the fifth season of American Idol. Their self-titled debut album was released in November 2006 and reached number one on the Billboard 200. To date, Daughtry has sold over 9 million albums. The Essential Black Eyed Peas The Black Eyed Peas are an American musical group, consisting of rapperswill.i.am*, apl.de.ap, Taboo, J. Rey Soul and singer Fergie. Originally an alternative hip hop group, they subsequently refashioned themselves as a more marketable pop-rap act and have become best-selling artists.*
A Big list of Adventure Ideas - Heroes'/Antagonist's Goals, High Concept Premises, and a list of ways to generate dozens of unique adventure ideas based on the same goal.
Hi! I have compiled a list of ideas you can use to brainstorm your adventures.
Heroes'/Antagonist's Goals
Stories are fundamentally about problem solving. The problems usually come from the mix of two sources:
The Heroes strive to achieve a goal, and struggle to overcome challenges and obstacles on their path (often created by the Villain).
Villain wants something, and players are trying to disrupt their evil plan.
Whatever goal the Heroes have - the Villain will have the opposite one (and vice versa). You can start from the either side. Give the goal to the Players ("Obtain a valuable item"), and the Villain will want the opposite ("Obtain the item first"). Give the goal to the Villain ("Perform an Evil Ritual") and the players will want the opposite ("Stop the Evil Ritual"). The only difference is the motivation, Heroes want things for noble reasons, Villains want them for evil ones. If you'll be using the goal for the villain - just put an evil spin on it. List of goals you can use for either Heroes or Villains:
Obtain McGuffin/Information.
Players and antagonist compete for the same item (be the first to the pirate treasure.) Players are trying to prevent antagonist from getting an item (Prevent a villain from getting a powerful dark artifact.) Get the pirate treasure, the lost crystal of Atlantis, your stolen belongings. Obtain a treasure map, secret codes, powerful spell, find Villain's only weakness.
Win a competition / prevent the other side from winning.
Win the race around the world. Win a mock-war between adventuring parties. Win a Quidditch game.
Seize power.
Evil Vizier wants to replace the king and players need to prevent that. Evil King is in charge and players need to overthrow him. The King has died and both sides want to be the next King.
Kill a Person.
Heroes: Kill the villain, a vampire/werewolf/basilisk, all the baddies in the area. Stop a serial killer. Villain: Kill the heroes, kill people to drink their blood or to satisfy violent urges.
Kill a Creature.
Heroes: Kill a monster. Villain: Kill an innocent creature.
Destroy an Item.
Destroy a doomsday device, the ring of power, a piece of blackmail.
Destroy a Target.
An enemy base, a castle, a ship, close a portal.
Protect a Person.
Save the person being targeted for an assassination. Save the family being harassed by criminals.
Protect a Creature.
Save the endangered creature from the hunter.
Guard an Item.
Someone is planning to steal the priceless diamonds during the party, stop them.
Kidnap a Person.
Heroes: Capture an enemy general to gain strategic information. Antagonist: Abduct a person for ransom or sacrificial ritual.
Rescue a Person.
Heroes: Rescue hostages, save the kidnapped princess. Recover a soldier behind enemy lines during a war. Break someone out of jail, or liberate a prisoner en route to prison.
Steal an Item/Information/Creature.
Rob a train/zeppelin/caravan with the treasure. Intercept a valuable message passed to the enemy.
Invade a Location.
Overtake a city, a castle, ship. Plan for an attack on the evil citadel. Compete for control of the territory. You have conquered a kingdom, defeat the remaining groups running guerrilla warfare against you.
Defend a Location.
Prepare the city to repel the enemies/monsters. Your town/building/ship has been captured and overtaken by enemies, survive under siege, and liberate it.
Escort a Person/Creature.
Deliver a prisoner to jail. Escort a bratty princess to the boarding school. Escort a caravan with the treasure.
Deliver an Item/Information.
Transport valuable treasure. Deliver a valuable intel to the central command before the enemy strikes. Deliver the ring of power to Mount Doom.
Track down, chase and capture a Person.
Capture the criminal/runaway. Bounty-hunters. Find a missing person. Find out what happened to the lost expedition. Find the only wizard who knows how to lift a curse.
Track down, chase and capture a Creature.
Capture a zombie to prove they exist. Capture a unique creature for research.
Escape.
Escape the pursuit of the law. Help a wrongly convicted to escape. Escape an ambush. Hide a person from danger. A massive assassins guild is trying to kill you, stay alive until dawn. Break out of prison.
Resolve conflict.
Broker peace between warring nations, families, factions of nobles, King and Queen, fighting giants.
Cause conflict.
Start a war, pit people/factions against each other.
Investigate a Mystery.
Solve a murder or a theft. Uncover a mysterious plot and understand who is behind it. Supernatural mystery. Understand what is causing the strange/weird events. Understand what happened in the abandoned/deserted city. Find out someone's dark secret, expose a corrupt official, find evidence to convict someone.
Uncover a conspiracy.
Find a spy/mole, prevent a convert mission from taking place.
Commit a stealthy Heist and don't get caught.
A covert crime, a ninja mission, a terrorist act. Enter and leave a heavily-guarded building without getting noticed.
Frame someone for a crime.
A business competitor, a nation.
Infiltrate and Spy.
Go undercover in the criminal gang. Blend in with the nobles to poison the King.
Enforce.
Enforce the law, collect debts, force a person to do something they don't want.
Clear the name.
Prove your or someone else's innocence. Convince the angry mob that the woman they're planning to execute is not a witch.
Perform a task.
Complete a ritual/experiment, build a weapon, open portal, resurrect/summon/awaken something.
Sabotage a task.
Prevent a ritual from taking place, prevent weapon from being built, prevent a terrorist act.
Diplomacy, Influence, and Negotiations.
Compete for the lady's heart, compete to convince the King to take a different course of action. Bribe/manipulate/intimidate a corrupt official into doing what you want. Try to close a business deal or prevent it from being closed. Play cupid. Make two quarreling people fall in love with each other. Find a lonely person/creature a girlfriend.
Persuade groups of people.
Brainwash and manipulate groups of people into doing your bidding, liberate brainwashed people. Free the town from the mind control spell. Convince enemy soldiers to defect to your side. Free a person from the influence of a sinister cult.
Run and improve a society/group/organization.
Run a kingdom, village, sports team, team of agents, organization, business. Raise morale, lower the crime, stop witch hunts, deal with corruption.
Explore a dangerous location. Survive/avoid environmental dangers, overcome environmental obstacles.
Think of the place itself as the “villain”, it is a monster without HP that "wants" to hurt players or drain their resources, and has certain powers to accomplish that. Traps, cave-ins, lava eruptions, rock-slides, avalanche, collapsing buildings, impenetrable mist, wild animals, dangerous/poisonous flora, falling into a pit, getting lost, etc. Climb a mountain, get through a swamp, quick sand,thin ice, wild magic area. Open an ancient gate. Retrieve an item from the bottom of the lake.
Survive wilderness or a hazardous environment and find a way back home.
Get stranded in the desert, an island, an alien land, becalmed or in a storm. Help other people survive a natural disaster (storm, earthquake, flood, meteor), a war zone.
Scavenger hunt. Collect several items from scattered locations.
Potion ingredients for a witch, parts of an engine that were scattered during crash landing.
Win a war.
Lead an army against enemy general, against rival mob boss or a cowboy gang.
Defeat a horde or a swarm, clear out an infestation.
Rats in the basement, wolves in the forest, Zombies, Aliens. Could be impossible to kill them one by one, and must be done with a ritual, destroying the mothership, smashing the necromancer's amulet, lifting an ancient curse, placating the restless spirits, activating the ancient defense mechanisms.
Incite rebellion/mutiny.
Put down rebellion/mutiny.
Prepare an ambush, set up traps to make the location impossible to pass.
Train a novice, keep a noble person safe while they go on adventure.
Act as an experimental subject for a crazy scientist/wizard.
Creating multiple unique adventures from the same goal
Here's the list of ways to create dozens of unique adventure ideas based on the same goal:
Switch players/antagonist sides.
Players try to get away with a crime instead of investigating it.
Reverse the goal.
Smuggle/Plant an item instead of stealing it. Close the portal instead of opening it. Banish the creature instead of summoning it.
Use a different target - person, creature, item, information, location/base.
Destroy an item instead of killing a person. Abduct a person instead of stealing the treasure. Protect a secret instead of the location. Chase a lost pet instead of the criminal.
Change "do it for yourself" to "help other people".
Don't get murdered - prevent a murder. Steal an item - create a distraction while someone else steals it. Get away with the crime - help someone else to get away with the crime.
Add restrictions/complications.
Make it stealthy (commit a heist instead of robbery). Avoid violence (capture a person alive instead of killing them). Achieve the goal by social means (ruin the person's reputation instead of killing them). Do it before the rivals do it first. See the list of complications for more ideas.
Combine multiple goals.
Deliver an item while on the run from the law. Sabotage a ritual to rescue a person. Infiltrate a group to steal an item. Solve a mystery to be able to find a lost person.
Add different subgoals, put different challenges/obstacles in the way.
Get through the dangerous location instead of an elaborate security system. Obtain information about the villain's weakness instead of the only weapon that can kill them. Convince a witness to talk instead of following the trail of footsteps. The object is difficult to deliver because it's being hunted by bandits, or because the terrain is dangerous and inhospitable, or because it's large and fragile, or because it's a criminal trying to escape, or because it's cattle you need to keep alive, or because it's a bratty princess who doesn't want to go to school. See the List of Challenges and List of Villain's Moves for more ideas.
Use different concrete details - High Concept Premise, Settings, NPCs, McGuffins, etc.
Steal the Elixir of Youth from the unicorn instead of stealing the Aztec gold from the Spanish Galleon. Steal an item from a dream instead of casino. Escort a dragon instead of a prisoner. Escape from Jurassic Park instead of the prison. Fight a self righteous paladin instead of the bandit gang leader.
Use different motivations.
Kill a person out of revenge instead of for money. Resurrect your loved one instead of summoning a demon. Compete for the heart of the lady instead of the treasure.
High Concept Premises
"High Concept" ideas are creative premises, interesting "What if?" scenarios. They will put your players into fantastical and unusual situations. You can use them as a starting point for your adventure - pick a High Concept idea, and see which interesting problems/goals it can generate, or just combine it with one of the goals from the list above.
Being shrunk to a tiny size, maybe put into a person's/creature's body. (Honey I shrunk the Kids, Ant Man, Anatomy Park).
Switching bodies (Freaky Friday).
Time Travel. Time loop (Groundhog Day).
Adventure taking place in a dream, illusion, virtual reality, computer game, a TV show (Inception, Ready Player One, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, The Matrix, Jumanji).
Deal with the Devil.
Animals/creatures gain sentience/intelligence.
Open portal to another world, a parallel dimension, an alternate timeline (Mist, Stargate, Another Earth).
A baby monster. An alien/dragon egg. A boy and his robot.
Body Snatchers, Brain Slugs - parasites that control your mind.
Shapeshifter - person/monster that can assume any form.
Evil Twins of the Heroes.
Hive mind. Creatures telepathically united into one consciousness. Assimilating other creatures.
Traditionally evil guys are good and vice versa (Shrek, Descendants, Megamind, Suicide Squad).
Possession / Mind Control (RoboCop, Captain America: Civil War.)
A mysterious magic force has created a zone where the laws of physics and magic have been warped (Annihilation, Stalker)
Befriend a creature (ET, How to Train your Dragon, Ratatouille, Astro Kid, Pokemon).
Post-apocalypse, aftermath of a disaster (Fallout, The Day After Tomorrow, Resident Evil).
Artificial Intelligence, sentient construct (Terminator, Wall-E, Avengers:The Age of Ultron).
An accident causes captive dinosaurs/monsters/demons/zombies escape (Jurassic Park).
Love Potion. Succubus.
Don't go below the speed limit - if you stop moving a person dies or a bomb explodes (Speed, Crank, The X-Files "Drive" episode).
A plague/disease/epidemic with unusual effects (fear of open spaces, rage, horniness, loss of one of the senses, wild magic / people to lose magic). It can be transmitted by magic, when infected casters target other casters with a spell.
Dangerous/violent plants.
An inanimate object comes to life.
Raising undead to return a loved one back to life.
You become God to race of tiny creatures.
Change age - turn into kids or old people.
Covert stealthy alien invasion.
A person turned into an animal.
A threat you forget about once you stop looking at it.
Infohazards.
Common animals are being turned savage (and giant) by a rogue magical effect (maybe an evil druid), and the party has to contain the destruction that they cause while trying to find a solution.
Magic is fading / going wild and unpredictable.
Superman goes genocidal. Defeat a being of incredible power, without it finding out that you're after it.
An ancient civilization is long gone, only a single robot/golem/computeweapon is still functioning.
Heroes are isolated in a confined environment with a monster.(Alien)
A location is occupied by enemies/monsters/terrorists, heroes are the only ones who escaped from being taken hostage. (Die Hard in a village, on a ship, on a zeppelin, on a train, in a magic school, in a King's castle).
A powerful monster begins killing people in the area (Tremors: Jaws in a desert).
Set in a world where the evil overlord has won.
The evil adventuring party.
Deadly game show / competition.
A location (small town, building, ship) is suddenly trapped underneath an impenetrable dome.
Someone from our world is stuck in fantasy.
A dangerous child (has faulty psychic powers, prophesied to be a devil, youngling of a dangerous monster)
Two huge powers (monsters, giants, powerful mages, armies) fight each other, causing a lot of collateral damage.
A large number of cursed or dangerous magical items have been sold or distributed to an unsuspecting populace (Friday the 13th series, Warehouse 13)
First Contact with a sentient race (Arrival, Alien Nation, Contact, District 9, Star Trek, V series)
Magic is fading / going wild and unpredictable.
Space ship crashing in middle ages.
Magic items (or maybe just some magic items) become secretly sentient and drive around their owners while they are asleep.
An ancient evil is very slowly rising out of the ground and waking up. People need to hurry to figure out how to make it go away or else assemble a team strong enough to kill it when it awakes.
The entire population of a town seemingly disappeared but in fact dug underground secret caves and is reverting to animal tendencies.
The party comes across a mysterious artifact, it melds with/into the first party member to touch it, granting them incredible powers but also changes their consciousness.
A long lost civilization is rising back up from the sea.
The local ruler may have been replaced by a doppelganger, but nobody wants to risk their neck to find out for sure.
Act as an experimental subject for a crazy scientist/wizard.
Creatures from video games, stories, paintings, come to life.
Spell/artifact/curse that prevents the whole town from being able to lie.
Space ship / UFO crashing in middle ages.
Duplication powers, making clones.
Ancient/Lost Civilization. Atlantis.
Gigantic Monster (Godzilla, Cloverfield, King Kong, Kaiju).
Superheroes/Supervillains.
Ghosts, haunted house/village. Restless spirits that need to be placated.
Zombies.
Vampires.
Ninjas.
Secret society/cult.
Underground civilization.
Underwater adventure. Merefolk.
Adventure set in a world where the forces of good won a little too well. Where the people in charge are all Lawful Good and have no tolerance for anything else. Tyranny of the traditionally good creatures like celestials, paladins, etc. The slightest misstep can cause a person to be 'disappeared'.
Take the personality from a TV/Movie character that you like, but make them evil. Adapt them to fantasy (Evil Steampunk Iron Man). Combine the traits from several characters (Legolas with the personality of Spider Man, John Snow with the personality of Jack Sparrow), or reverse their gender or a key personality trait (female Dr. Octavius, cheerful Batman).
For their appearance - find an illustration on ArtStation, Pinterest, or /ImaginaryCharacters. If the appearance is very different from the movie character you have based their personality on - even better.
I have created the "Adventure Prompts Tool" that will pick the random Goals, High Concepts, Complications, Settings, and Challenges for you. If you want updates on my future posts - follow me here. Please contribute to this project! Share more ideas for the Heroes'/Antagonist's goals and High Concept premises in the comments!
Going through old issues of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter and posting highlights in my own words. For anyone interested, I highly recommend signing up for the actual site at f4wonline and checking out the full archives. PREVIOUSLY:
NOTE: I mentioned it in the first post of 2002 but a lot of y'all are aware that a few months ago, SaintRidley picked up the Observer Rewind reins after I stopped and started doing his own recaps from the 1980s. Well, he's been doing great work with it and he just finished posting the year of 1987. I went ahead and added it the Previously" section up there. ↑↑↑ Just wanted to make sure to bring it to everyone's attention.
It's been awhile since we've had major PPVs going head-to-head with each other, but it happened this week when WWA aired it's 2nd ever PPV live from Las Vegas, going head-to-head with PRIDE. Dave recaps the history of head-to-head PPV battles, specifically the WWF vs. Crockett war in the late-80s. How Vince McMahon created Survivor Series specifically to run it in direct competition with Crockett's first ever PPV, Starrcade 87. The resulting loss of needed revenue was a huge reason why Crockett eventually had to sell the company to Ted Turner and, in retrospect, set into motion everything that led to WCW's eventual death last year. He goes on to recap how Royal Rumble was created and aired on free TV to go head-to-head with Crockett's next PPV attempt, Bunkhouse Stampede. Then Crockett responded by creating the first Clash of the Champions and airing it against Wrestlemania IV. Not sure PRIDE vs. WWA is up there in the same league as that PPV battle. Which, to be fair, Dave admits it's not the same thing.
Anyway, the PRIDE show was among the greatest events of all time, one of the very few times in the history of the Observer that a show got a unanimous 100% thumbs up vote on the reader poll. It aired in Japan live and in the U.S. on a bit of a delay, with the matches edited in a different order. In Japan, the card was headlined by Vanderlei Silva vs. former UWFI wrestler Kiyoshi Tamura, which was an excellent fight that Silva won. In the U.S., the show was built around Ken Shamrock vs. Don Frye in the main event (in Japan, it aired 3rd from last) and the 2 men had an absolute war that should shut up critics who say both are too old. Shamrock lost a split-decision in a fight that Dave thinks should have legitimately been a draw. (This fight is considered to this day one of the all-time wars in MMA history. An utter slobberknocker. Neither fighter was the same again afterward and Frye has said that the damage Shamrock did to his legs in this fight led to him later getting addicted to painkillers). After the fight, Shamrock went over to ringside and hugged his girlfriend Alicia Webb, who you may remember as Ryan Shamrock. The girl that played his sister in WWF.
And then there was WWA. A low-budget, amateur-ish event, marred by bad production and no-shows. Not that the crowd would even know, because most of the lineup was never even announced ahead of time anyway. The scheduled main event of Jeff Jarrett vs. Randy Savage didn't happen because Savage held promoter Andrew McManus up for more money at the last minute. Savage originally had agreed to work the show in exchange for a 30% ownership stake in the company, which was agreed upon. But three days before the show, Savage upped the ante, saying he wanted the 30%, plus an extra $50,000 in cash. At that point, they started haggling back and forth to try to strike some kind of deal. Ownership got pulled off the table and then Savage asked for a flat $250,000 fee to work the show. WWA turned that down and came back with a flat $150,000 offer instead. Savage turned that down and at that point, everything broke down. For what it's worth, a lot of the lower card wrestlers on the show worked for $300. Last second attempts to bring in Sting to save the show didn't work either. Road Dogg was also supposed to appear on the show but couldn't because of legal issues. Word is he got arrested 2 days before the show in Florida on a probation violation. As a result, the PPV was headlined by Jeff Jarrett defending the WWA championship against Brian Christopher.
The whole show was simply an embarrassment. The production was completely minor league and the crowd was totally dead for all these long matches with guys nobody cares about. The in-ring work was fine, but the booking often made no sense, with overbooked three-ways and 6-way undercard matches that ended up being more clusterfuck than match. It was also one of those Russo-type things where the commentary team made endless inside-references that only the hardcore internet fans would get. But then again, this show only drew hardcore internet fans anyway, so why not? They also constantly made reference to WWF, which came across as desperate and sad. In particular, Larry Zbyszko was given the chance to cut a meandering promo, challenging Vince McMahon to a fight over some unspecified grievance from 20 years ago and criticized them for having Chris Jericho as their world champion. Dave thinks Zbyszko was actually angling for a job from WWF by trying to start his own angle and says this promo was basically his job application. And he thinks it was pretty pathetic. Backstage, the disorganization was apparent and most even within the company saw what a mess it was and have already given up on the promotion as a lost cause. Dave said this PPV made it clear that nobody will be challenging WWF anytime soon.
Other notes from the WWA Revolution PPV: yes, in case you're wondering, that Japanese man sitting behind the commentary table all night who very briefly (literally blink and miss it) got involved in the Scott SteineDisco Inferno tussle was indeed NJPW star Hiroyoshi Tenzan and yes, they flew him all the way from Japan (and had him bring his ring gear just in case), only to have him do almost nothing and never be acknowledged on camera. Eric Bischoff was backstage, as a guest of Ernest Miller. Bischoff laughed off any questions about going to WWF but said the ol' "never say never" shtick. The crowd was about 2,800, most of them freebies and they were desperately giving away tickets in the casino before the show. During the first match, the building looked practically empty so they quietly began moving everyone closer to ringside to pack the area around the ring to make it look presentable for TV. Opening 6-way match featuring all the hottest indie stars was a sloppy mess, with too people flying everywhere trying to get their shit in and the cameras missing most of it. Bret Hart came out and cut a long, rambling promo before announcing Brian Christopher was replacing Randy Savage in the main event, to zero crowd response. By the 5th match, people in the crowd could be seen leaving, never to return. Jerry Lynn showed up, interrupting an Eddie Guerrero interview, at which point Dave mentions, oh yeah by the way, the WWF released Jerry Lynn 2 days before the PPV. Considering WWF has been talking about reviving the cruiserweight division after Wrestlemania, Dave doesn't know why they'd get rid of a guy who could be one of the best in the division. Anyway, yeah, this show sucked. Here ya go, enjoy.
WWF's latest investor conference call took place and wasn't particularly newsworthy, but there's some stuff to note. The new agreement with DirecTV is until August of 2003 and is under the exact same terms they were operating under last year, which means WWF gained nothing while losing an estimated $4.4 million in revenue over the last few PPVs. Following the brand split, WWF plans to run 16 PPVs per year, and increasing the price by an extra $5. Linda McMahon said Wrestlemania 18 has sold 58,000 tickets as of the time of the call, for a record gate of $3.96 million, breaking the record set by last year's WM. Dave goes through all the numbers and for the most part, in comparison to previous quarters, almost everything is down. Which is no surprise to anyone who has been paying attention because WWF is clearly on the downswing. Linda also said they're currently interviewing new writers and are hoping to double their writing staff, which Dave thinks is a terrible idea (and time has damn sure proven him correct). Finally, Linda was also asked how the purchase of the WCW library has benefited the company, which Dave thinks is an interesting question since revenues have declined since then and the Invasion angle flopped so hard that it killed any brand value the name "WCW" may have had. Linda talked about the value of the tape library but Dave points out that it's been a year and WWF has done practically nothing with that library (of course, in the end, they found ways to monetize that WCW library and it more than paid for itself).
In his first match as an official member of the AJPW roster, Keiji Muto lost the Triple Crown championship to Toshiaki Kawada in a match nearly a year in the making, before a sold out crowd at Budokan Hall. He hasn't seen it yet, but the match was reported to Dave as a near-classic (he ends up giving it 4.5 stars). The other 2 NJPW stars who jumped ship, Kendo Kashin and Satoshi Kojima, also worked their first official AJPW matches. Kaz Hayashi, formerly a member of Jung Dragons in WCW and who worked in WWF's developmental until asking for his release a few weeks ago, also debuted on the show and will be part of Muto's faction.
Obituary time for Swede Hanson, who worked primarily in the Carolinas and had a brief run in the WWF as a cult favorite babyface in the early 80s. Sadly, he passed away in a mental hospital because he had advanced Alzheimer's disease which made it impossible for his family to handle him and they had him put away. Jeez, that's rough. He also had a litany of other health problems. Dave gives an in-depth history of his career in the 60s and 70s as a heel in the Carolinas before talking about the WWF run. Vince Sr. brought him in as a monster heel to challenge Bob Backlund, and Dave thinks someone else must have backed out at the last moment or something. By this time (in 1979), Hanson was well past his prime and hadn't been a major star anywhere in years but he was a big dude and so they brought him in to face Backlund and they actually sold out Madison Square Garden with Backlund vs. Hanson in the main event (though Dave says Bruno Sammartino working the undercard sure didn't hurt). The match sucked and almost immediately after, he became a jobber in the WWF, but Vince Jr, on commentary, just loved to call him "Rawboned Swede Hanson" and the "Rawboned" nickname caught on. Vince said it with such gusto that Hanson briefly became a cult favorite jobber from it and the crowd turned him babyface at damn near 50 years old. It led to a brief career resurgence and him having a small role in the Backlund/Billy Graham feud for the title before he finally faded into oblivion.
Mark Henry won the "world's strongest man" competition at the Arnold Classic bodybuilding and fitness event. Henry has been out of WWF for the past 2 months training for this competition and the training paid off, with Henry capturing first place and making a legitimate viable claim to his "strongest man in the world" moniker. During the event, Henry became the first man in 50 years to cleanly press the 366 pound Apollon wheel weight above his head. In another event, he carried an 800 pound block of bolted together railroad ties up a 40-foot ramp faster than the other competitors. For his victory, Henry won a $75,000 Humvee and some other cash prizes. Over the same weekend, he also won another $1,000 in a contest where he was able to lift an inch dumbbell (which weighs 172 pounds) to his shoulder with one arm. There's a bunch of other weightlifting stuff here, but you might be surprised to find out....I dunno shit about any of this. I got winded lifting pizza to my mouth earlier. Mark Henry strong.
Another obit for former wrestler, promoter, and father of 80s valet Baby Doll, Nick Roberts who died of pancreatic cancer. Once again, a bunch of details and stories about someone I've never heard of in wrestling history that Dave somehow knows everything about. I know I've said it before, but these obituary pieces are some of the greatest reasons for subscribing to the Observer.
Masahiro Chono says he wants to take NJPW in a more serious, realistic direction. No sports entertainment gaga nonsense, they want it to be like a real sports product. So much so that, in his own match with Manabu Nakanishi at the last big NJPW show, Chono wouldn't even bounce off the ropes, saying that it's not credible and no one would do that in a real fight. Ah yes, Inoki's gonna love this.
FMW wrestler Kodo Fuyuki has said he plans to try to keep the promotion running after it was announced it was folding last week. FMW still has 8 shows scheduled for this month and Fuyuki said he plans to try to run them himself and keep the company going (no such luck buddy).
Japan Today, an American newspaper that covers Japanese news daily, had a story on Antonio Inoki battling diabetes. It says he was first diagnosed in 1982, which Dave says is right around the time Inoki's in-ring work dropped off considerably when he lost his stamina. The story said for the last 20 years, Inoki has eaten a ridiculously healthy diet and is in better health now at 59 than he was then at 39.
Dave said he got tons of positive feedback on the debut of RF Video's Ring of Honor promotion in Philadelphia. The show was sold out in advance, was well organized, and had several really good matches. They limited a lot of the mistakes that most indie companies fall victim to, such as too many matches, too many run-ins, too much mic work, too many guys trying to do too much stuff, etc. Steve Corino and CZW announcer Eric Gargiulo did commentary. Eddie Guerrero faced Super Crazy in an excellent match and the main event was a three-way featuring Low-Ki, Christopher Daniels, and American Dragon that Dave has heard rave reviews for. And thus, ROH was born.
Vic Grimes took the most insane bump of all time at an XPW event before 1,500 fans in Los Angeles. Grimes was facing New Jack in a scaffold match said to be at least twice as high up as the fall Mick Foley took off the Hell in a Cell. The ring below had tables stacked 4-high to break his fall, but Grimes ended up missing most of the tables when New Jack overshot him. Perhaps on purpose. Grimes missed all but the corner tables at the edge of the ring before coming down on the corner turnbuckles. After the bump, they tried to rush fans out of the arena since it was almost 1am and gave many the impression Grimes life was in danger. But he was surprisingly okay and was walking around backstage after, although he was definitely banged up. Grimes was really nervous about the bump earlier in the day, as you might expect and Dave says he's pretty damn lucky he didn't miss the ring because he almost certainly would have died if he took that bump straight to the floor. Elsewhere on the show, there was a match where porn star Lizzy Borden (wife of XPW promoter Rob Black) faced another porn star, Veronica Caine, in a match that was supposed to end only when someone was stripped totally naked. But right before it happened, the lights went out and the women were rushed out of the ring and when fans realized they'd been ripped off, they were so pissed the arena feared a riot. (Anyway, here's the bump and yeah....Grimes very easily could have died from this. No mention from Dave on the fact that New Jack also tazed him before this)
Shane Douglas is expected to take over as XPW booker when his WCW contract with Time Warner expires next month.
Former WCW journeyman wrestler Chip Minton's primary career was bobsledding. He only wrestled in WCW occasionally while doing that, primarily as a jobber on the C-shows. Minton was part of the US bobsledding team in both the 1994 and 1998 Winter Olympics and was planning to compete this year, but failed to make the team. Soon after that, he failed a steroid test and has been suspended from the sport for 2 years.
Remember a couple weeks ago, it was mentioned that Roddy Piper was in a car accident but he was playing down how serious it was? Turns out....very serious. Piper suffered 4 broken ribs, one of which punctured his liver and nearly killed him. He also suffered severe back injuries and shattered his ankle. Piper was taken to the hospital and was near death but obviously, he managed to pull through and has still been making all his appearances for XWF in recent days. (Yeah I think in Piper's autobiography, he dedicates the book to the guy who saved his life by rushing him to the hospital and even says he was clinically dead for a few moments. Then again, Piper was like a lot of those old time guys and was prone to exaggeration, so who knows).
Eric Bischoff is teaming up with Mark Burnett, the producer of the hit show Survivor, to produce a MMA reality show called Skien. From Dave's understanding, it will basically be a reality show with K-1 kickboxers leading up to a PPV event. (Here's an article about it from Variety at the time, but this ends up going nowhere).
Notes from Raw: only one thing really notable, they filmed a segment at referee Tim White's bar The Friendly Tap. The bar really is owned by White and WWF pretty much always films angles there when they're in town (Providence, RI). This time, the skit featured the APA going into the bar to drink and the bar was filled by a bunch of gay men and drag queens (played by a bunch of wrestlers from indie promotion Chaotic Wrestling) while the APA guys acted all grossed out by it all. Then Billy and Chuck attacked them. Dave thinks this played on all the typical homophobic stereotypes and he seems pretty irritated by it. Anyway, among the wrestlers from Chaotic were Todd Sinclair (better known now as ROH's senior official), Rich Palladino (ring announcer for Beyond now) and John Walters (indie wrestler and former ROH Pure champion).
Next week's Smackdown hasn't aired yet but it was taped and Dave has details. Notably, this is the episode where Austin chases down the NWO and tries to shoot them with a net gun. Dave says this was a mess, with the gun going off but no net being fired from it and they'll have to fix the whole thing in post-production. It went horribly when they filmed it and it aired for the live crowd and it killed the crowd and basically forced them to improvise on the spot (on one of the Something To Wrestle podcasts, Bruce Prichard tells this story and how frustrated they were with this net gun being a piece of shit). This episode also featured Stephanie yelling at Chris Jericho for getting her the wrong hand lotion and Booker T and Edge feuding over a Japanese shampoo commercial. (Rock/Hogan was great, but man, the build for everything else at Wrestlemania 18 suuuuuucked.)
Prototype won the OVW title from Leviathan at the latest OVW tapings. After the match, they did an angle to set up David Flair as the #1 contender for the title. Prototype's only singles loss in OVW came last week, when Flair beat him, so there ya go (this video covers ALL of that. The FlaiCena match, the Leviathan match, the post-match angle, etc).
Wall Street Journal did an article talking about the decline in Smackdown's ratings, saying they were down 28% from last year and down 42% from the year before that. The article blamed it on Smackdown changing networks. Here's the thing though....it hasn't. Raw changed networks in 2000. Smackdown has been on UPN since its debut. Also, UPN has grown overall in ratings while Smackdown has declined. So....no. It's just because the show sucks now.
Charlie Haas, fresh off returning to the ring and winning the HWA title after the death of his brother, tore his ACL this week. He just had surgery and will be out 4-6 months. Rough few months for that dude.
A Washington newspaper did a story on James Dudley, who you may know as....WWF Hall of Famer James Dudley and little else. On-screen, he's never really done much. But Dave says Dudley started working for Vince Sr. back in the 1940s, when Sr. was a boxing promoter, and was essentially his Vince Sr.'s driver and assistant. Dudley did a lot of odd jobs for the company during those early years, working ticket booths and stuff like that, but to most people, he was just kinda known as Vince Sr.'s limo driver. So when he was indicted into the WWF Hall of Fame a few years ago, it was a pretty controversial decision among a lot of people, given that someone like Bruno Sammartino isn't in, by the company's limo driver is. Anyway, before his death, Vince Sr. made Vince Jr. promise to take care of Dudley and keep him on the payroll. So for the last 18 years or so, even though he doesn't work for the company, Vince McMahon has continued to pay him a salary. He also bought him a new car as a gift some years back.
Billy and Chuck's recent tag team title win makes Billy Gunn the most decorated tag team wrestler in WWF history, as he's now held the tag titles 9 times (3 as part of the Smoking Gunns, 5 as part of New Age Outlaws, and now once with he and Chuck). The previous record was Mick Foley, with 8. (to the best of my research, if we're only talking WWF/WWE tag title reigns, that record is now held by Edge).
USA Network CEO Barry Diller took part in a lecture at Syracuse University and talked about losing the WWF to TNN. When asked why it happened, he responded, "Because I'm a dope." He said he didn't fight hard enough to keep the WWF and admitted the loss hurt, but also said it may have been the best thing for them in the long-run because pro wrestling doesn't really fit the direction they're planning to take the network. He said wrestling fans came for wrestling and left immediately after it was over and there was never any cross-over fans who stuck around to watch the next show or anything like that. He said they could never figure out what to connect wrestling to within the rest of their properties.
WWF held a try out camp in Cincinnati and reportedly, nobody was particularly impressive, including AJ Styles. The knock on Styles was that he's average looking and too small. Wrestler Sonny Siaki was said to be the most impressive, but he also rubbed people the wrong way with his attitude so probably not gonna make the cut this time. Matt Morgan, who was on the Tough Enough casting special last season got a tryout and since he has no formal training, he was pretty awful but he's big so Dave seems to think he'll get a chance anyway. The other one they were impressed by was a woman named Erin Bray, who was one of the final 25 picked for the original Tough Enough. But then some other contestants spotted her out on a date with one of the show's judges and they threw a fit, which resulted in Bray not making the final 13. Another wrestler, Travis Tomko, is a guy who has worked some indies and is a former bodyguard for Limp Bizkit ("Tomko, gimme a beat." "No.")
Rock was a presenter at the NAACP Awards and Dave thinks he looked pretty great for a guy who was almost murdered in an ambulance by the NWO a few days earlier. Cheeky Dave is just the best.
Speaking of, Dave throws in a random paragraph to backhandedly shit on Kevin Nash. For years, people in the business joked that Lex Luger made the most money with the least ability or drawing power of anyone ever in wrestling. Dave says it's gotta be Nash. For example, Nash is not wrestling and is only going to be in Hall's corner for the match at Wrestlemania (his knees really are giving him problems), but he has been promised that he's going to get the same type of payoff as if he was the guy in the match working with Austin in the semi-main event. Not to mention all the huge contracts he signed in WCW, or how he got a huge-by-WWF-standards deal here, plus got Vince to cave to almost all his other demands regarding schedule and bringing back Scott Hall, among other things. (I mean, while Dave is being kind of a dick here, I don't think he's really wrong either. When it comes to top draws in the history of the business, Nash isn't anywhere near even the top 10 or 20. And he's never exactly been a great wrestler. But since the 90s, Nash always managed to make sure he gets PAID like he's in that upper echelon. Nash is one of those very few wrestlers who isn't entranced by the fame or the fake accolades. He treats wrestling for what it is: a business. It's the way they pay their mortgages and buy groceries, just like you and me at our jobs. I love it. I laugh my ass off every time I hear "Brock Lesnar signed a huge new contract to only work 6 matches a year." Good for him. I hope he gets even more money for less dates next year. You should always know your worth and never let your employer take you for anything less. Nash has always been one of the guys to do that and he's probably going to die comfortably in a nice house while these other guys from his era are still clinging to fame at 60 years old doing $300 indie shows on crippled knees. Anyway, that's my soapbox). Dave seems to feel the same way and admits, love him or hate him, you gotta give Nash credit for being one of the smartest guys in the biz.
Fear Factor featuring the Hardyz, Lita, Test, Molly Holly, and Jacquelyn aired this week. First they had to climb up a rope ladder hanging from a helicopter over the river and they all made it up except Jeff Hardy who slipped near the top and fell (knowing Jeff, he probably purposely let go so he could take the big fall for fun). Lita also got eliminated for being the slowest one up the ladder. Next they had to chug a gross drink that included bile, rooster testicals, spleen, and some animal brains all blended together. Molly Holly almost vomited after one sip and was out. Jackie and Matt succeeded. Test refused to even try. So then it came down to Matt vs. Jackie and they had to walk across the tops of high poles and move flags around. Matt Hardy ended up winning the whole thing and won $50,000 for charity.
Sunday Night Heat is being converted into one of the B-shows like Metal and Jakked. Awhile back, they started airing Heat from the WWF New York restaurant but the production costs of that were high. So in a cost-cutting move, they're just gonna tape dark matches and throw them on Heat the same way they do those other shows, featuring all the nobodies that can't ever get TV time on the main shows.
As mentioned last week, Scott Hall has been taking a drug called Antabuse, which makes him violently sick when he drinks or even smells alcohol. It caused him to get sick after Raw last week when Austin poured beer all over him in a bit after the cameras were off. Hall has said he is clean and has been clean for awhile, except for the incident a couple weeks ago where he fell off the wagon. Others are skeptical and question if Hall only takes his medication on TV days and needless to say, there's some doubt here.
Everywhere he goes, Brian Christopher has been telling people he's coming back to WWF after Wrestlemania, but contrary to what he's saying, Dave says there are zero plans for that (indeed, it does not happen).
FRIDAY:More on WWA's PPV disaster, the landscape for any new promotion attempting to start up, WWF huge show in Japan, WWF loses appeal over "WWF" initials, Bret Hart given offer for Wrestlemania 18, and tons more...
Going through old issues of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter and posting highlights in my own words, continuing in the footsteps of daprice82. For anyone interested, I highly recommend signing up for the actual site at f4wonline and checking out the full archives. • PREVIOUS • 1987 FUTURE YEARS ARCHIVE: The Complete Observer Rewind Archive by daprice82
The Bunkhouse Stampede Finals and Royal Rumble are in the books, and as a head-to-head it’s best described as a stalemate. Neither show is what Dave would consider among the best cards he’s ever seen, and from the perspective of a tv viewer they were about what you’d expect. No strong overall lineup for either, and what was delivered wasn’t spectacular either. WWF had the edge in glitz, but not as much as usual because of the live factor meaning they couldn’t rely on post-production editing tricks. Here’s a sentence that describes a typical Raw today: “The three-hour show had too many replays and looked like it may have dragged in spots if you were there live.” Dave’s gotten some word from people who were there for the Bunkhouse finals live, and all rated it terribly as a live experience. From the tv viewer perspective, though, it was better than Starrcade despite some major issues (Dave says they owe the audience an explanation for why the Rock & Roll Express and Steve Williams were absent, as well as for the lack of Mike Rotunda vs. Sting which was pushed on WTBS half an hour before the show).
Dave’s tired of writing a lot of the same complaints about NWA, but they do seem to be responding to fans. They’re going to start showing the finishes to matches that go off the air on the following week’s show and have made changes to the announce desk. Jim Ross did a great job on ppv and toned back on calling every match an all-time classic like he did at Starrcade. But there were eight no-shows among the wrestlers and on Thursday night they had a terrible show in Los Angeles. Most of the no-shows were guys they pulled from the card to save money on flights. The Bunkhouse Finals were advertised with a 7 pm start time, but many of the tickets had 8 pm printed on them, and the show itself actually started at 6:35. Pm and ended at 9 pm, so those arriving at 8 missed most of the show. Not all the no-shows can be blamed on the promotion (Mighty Wilbur got injured, Rock & Roll Express appear to have up and quit), but some kind of explanation needs to be made for the fans. Between all that, getting chants of “Refund” after the Stampede and Dusty getting booed (which fans watching on tv heard) when he won the finals, NWA has significantly hurt its position in two of the biggest markets in the country in LA and New York. They’re making changes, slowly, but some changes need to be made or they’re going to sink. NWA fans come for action, but you can’t get the kind of action the fans want with the schedule they’re running (contrast to WWF which can get by with less action because their guys are seen as stars and the fans want to see the stars). Doing cross-country double shots on weekends is killing NWA, and they need to make new stars. Turning Flair face, since he’s more popular than almost anyone else, isn’t even something to do right now because Luger’s turn is in full throttle and they don’t have a heel to take up the slack. They could turn Dusty heel and have him feud with the Road Warriors, but they won’t.
In the past few weeks, NWA has managed to lose several guys they really shouldn’t have. Terry Taylor is gone apparently because the office had it in for him because of when he left the promotion in 1985. Big Bubba Rogers had become a good worker and had a great gimmick going, but WWF poached him. Rock and Roll Express apparently quit because they were unhappy about their push (though Dave thinks despite their ability and work, they’ve been on borrowed time for nine months now). Dave gives Steve Williams 50/50 odds of coming back and just kind of gestures to UWF as explanation. Sean Royal quit, and Chris Champion, Eddie Gilbert, and Brad Armstrong are all but disappeared. And more are looking to get out. Dave hates writing all this stuff about what Crockett’s doing wrong on the front page, especially when he’s been talking about it for months, and especially because he’s a fan of the NWA. He wouldn’t classify himself as a fan of WWF, but they’ve earned his respect with what they’ve done to take the business to another level and in the next two months he expects them to blow the whole wrestling business wide open. But WWF’s success isn’t the reason for NWA’s problems. WWF doing counterprogramming has made Crockett earn less money than he would have unopposed, and Dusty probably books himself the way he does because he knows WWF won’t steal him (spoilers: WWF gets Dusty in just over a year) and it’s hard to leave the limelight, but WWF isn’t the reason for most of Crockett’s issues.
According to the newspapers this morning, Wrestlemania IV will take place in Atlantic City’s Convention Center. Capacity is 16,000. There were rumblings of Vince being close to a deal in Vegas for either UNLV Gym or Caesar’s Palace, so Atlantic City’s a surprise. Wrestlemania is going to be more focused on ppv than closed-circuit this year, apparently. But most of the audience can’t get ppv, so they’ll still need closed-circuit in major cities.
Two weeks after Wrestlemania will be the Crockett Cup. Place is to be announced, and Dave thinks it’s high time Crockett re-establishes working relationships with at least one or two other North American promotions in order to help make the Cup a big event. They just don’t have the talent roster this year to get away with doing otherwise.
A correction on Starrcade: Dave reported a 6.6 percent buy-rate, but the reality was a 3.3 percent buy-rate. Dave heard they got 20,000 buys and just assumed it was of the 300,000 homes available on cable, but forgot to factor in the 300,000 homes it was also available in via satellite. Dave’s received reports that there were 6 million potential homes for the Bunkhouse finals, but that seems high to him. Even matching the buyrate of Starrcade at that number would mean over $3 million in gross revenue, and Dave doesn’t think they were remotely close to that.
- Anyway, Dave goes through the Bunkhouse finals. An estimated 7,000 were in the arena, and the dark match was Sting and Jimmy Garvin beating the Sheepherders by DQ. Nikita Koloff retained the NWA TV title against Bobby Eaton in a 20 minute draw. -2 stars. Larry Zbyszko beat Barry Windham for the Western States Title, with the match starting slow and getting very good in the last ten minutes. 3.5 stars. Road Warrior Hawk beat Ric Flair by DQ in the NWA World Title match. 3.75 stars. Dusty Rhodes won the Bunkhouse Stampede finals. Lots of blood, a lot of guys going the distance you wouldn’t expect to have the stamina to do so (the match was 26 minutes long), and it was exactly what was promised and was good stuff. 3 stars.
- As for the Royal Rumble, the crowd appeared to be nearly sold out with almost 18,000 in attendance. Ricky Steamboat beat Rick Rude by DQ. Heavy with rest holds and stalling before the final two minutes had them trading near falls constantly and getting good heat from it. 2 stars. The Jumping Bomb Angels won the WWF Women’s Tag Titles from the Glamour Girls in a 2/3 falls match. They started behind with Judy Martin getting the first fall, then the Angels won two straight falls with each Angel pinning Judy Martin (sunset flip and double missile dropkicks, respectively). It was a good match, but not great - the Angels missed a lot of moves and seemed to be out of shape. 3 stars. Jum Duggan won the Royal Rumble, last eliminating One Man Gang. The match was much better than Dave anticipated, and the match went on roughly at the same time as the Bunkhouse finals match. Better camera work in it, and Dave notes that WWF seems to have fudged the two minute intervals after a bit. 3.5 stars. The Islanders beat the Young Stallions (Paul Roma and Jim Powers; Dave’s nickname for them is The Barbie Dolls) in two straight falls. He makes a weird joke about a submission actually working on a pushed guy (Haku submitted Roma with a Boston crab) making him go out for “Oriental food” afterwards because it was so surprising. I’m too confused to even know what to make of the line. 2.5 stars.
Outside the matches, Royal Rumble had some other stuff. Andre and Hogan had a contract signing for the Main Event, where Andre slammed Hogan’s head into the table and pushed the table onto him. Dave’s amazed people buy Hogan as a face, because there’s just something naturally dislikable about people who act the way Hogan does and he thinks Vince could probably get Lee Harvey Oswald over as a face. Dino Bravo attempted to set a world bench press record. Of course, the weights were as legit as the half a million dollars Dusty supposedly won, but Bravo’s supposedly able to bench over 600 lbs legit. Jesse Ventura helped him with “715 lbs” and then claimed he didn’t help at all (the Road Warriors are scheduled to bench on the 30th and were originally planned to use legit weights, but they’ll have to use bogus weights to keep from looking weak next to WWF’s monsters now). Anyway, now they’ll bill Bravo as unofficial bench record holder, and that should get him heat because of the obvious cheating.
Next up then for WWF is The Main Event on February 5. Dave’s told not to worry about Andre, because his back is in much better shape than last year. He and Hogan are practicing daily and have worked out the gist of the match. Dave says you can be sure to expect Ted DiBiase to interfere somehow on the 5th.
Stampede is continuing to do good business and nearly selling out all their big shows. Chris Benoit and Great Gama get 4 stars (from Trent Walters, who I guess submitted the reports for the matches in Edmonton) for their Commonwealth Title match from January 9 in Edmonton.
[Stampede] Jason the Terrible has been made an “honorary member” of Bad Company, Bruce Hart and Brian Pillman’s tag team. So now in addition to the hockey mask he’s also got sunglasses over the hockey mask and a bandana and a black leather jacket. The whole getup is hilarious.
Do you remember Central States? Mike George won the WWA World Title tournament on January 23. They had 800 fans. Match ended on blood stoppage.
Speaking of blood, Keiji Mutoh is headed to Puerto Rico.
Tatsumi Fujinami and Kengo Kimura won the IWGP World Tag Titles from Yoshiaki Fujiwara and Kazuo Yamazaki on January 18. Riki Choshu and Super Strong Machine were originally slated to face the tag champs, but Choshu injured his knee and had to miss the match. Dave expects Choshu and Machine to face Fujinami and Kimura on February 7. He then goes on about how bad Choshu’s luck has been lately. Dave thinks he was supposed to win the tournament, except the Maeda shoot happened, and he was definitely supposed to win the tag titles (the match was scheduled for his hometown and New Japan actually does nice things for wrestlers in front of their home audiences). And with all the work they’ve put into getting Choshu on tv, it’s surprising they’ve phased him down the card so much from where he was.
Lots of stuff about Vader’s look in New Japan. On December 27 he wore long tights and had Road Warrior Hawk’s hair, and it didn’t get him over at all. On January 4 he had a mask and full bodysuit to hide his size. January 11 saw him ditch the bodysuit and keep the mask. The evolution of a mastodon, I guess.
Antonio Inoki began negotiations with Fuji TV after TV Asahi scheduled NJPW tv to move to midnight Mondays, and TV Asahi caved. They’ll now be on a 5 pm Saturday time slot. It’s not as good as their old Monday evening slot, but it’s not a death slot like midnight Monday.
Akira Maeda turned down NJPW’s plan to have him go to the U.S. Also, he and NJPW are fighting over his contract. They offered him a new contract for 1988 with a 15% pay cut and he’s not willing to sign it.
There are rumors that Inoki will wrestle Koji Kitao (the sumo wrestler mentioned a few weeks back) at the Tokyo Dome in April. Kitao is 24 years old and 6’5.5”, weighing 345 lbs. The story of his exit from Sumo is he apparently lost his temper and started kicking one of his sponsors (who is 92 years old) and the knocked his stable master’s wife through a sliding door. Dave’s been told if this match does happen, it could draw very big. Kitao is denying he’s going into wrestling (nope). Kitao was made a yokozuna in 1986, just before he turned 23, because the sumo hierarchy felt they needed a new young star to create interest in the younger generation of fans. But Kitao liked the party lifestyle and didn’t care for tradition, and sumo does not tolerate that. But you can’t demote a yokozuna, and that made him controversial (it would turn out that most of this was made up because Kitao’s stablemaster didn’t like him and felt he was underperforming and wanted him out - more on Kitao’s sumo years here if you want to read it). Turns out sumo is kind of worked too, though not as much as pro wrestling.
All Japan is promoting a “Martial Arts Olympic” show on April 2 at Sumo Hall, to feature all kinds of stuff. Tiger Mask II and Giant Baba will team against some foreigners, Japan Women’s Pro Wrestling (the group running against AJW) will have two matches on the show (Miss A vs. Harley Saito and Rumi Kazama vs. Xochitl Hamada). There will be boxing, kick boxing, the original Tiger Mask Satoru Sayama’s “shooting” sport he invented, shoot boxing (boxing + wrestling with gloves), and more. The whole show is being billed as a memorial service to Ikki Kajiwara, who created the Tiger Mask cartoon and comic.
When baseball season starts, All Japan’s tv will be moved to 10:30-11:30 pm Sunday nights. Usually they get moved to Saturday afternoon during baseball season, and this shift will lose Baba lots of money and viewers.
While Crockett and McMahon ran big shows on January 24, Giant Baba met with their rivals in Las Vegas. Baba’s plan in the U.S. is to send his guys, as well as Bruiser Brody, Abdullah the Butcher, Jimmy Snuka, Stan Hansen, and Terry Gordy to smaller promotions to help them fight against the big two.
Dave finally saw Hennig vs. Tiger Mask II. Not terrible, but no heat and little action, he thinks. Meanwhile, John Tenta’s improving well, and Baba seems high on Akira Taue, though he’s so new it’s hard to guess what kind of future he has.
[AJW] Yukai Omori’s retirement show will be on February 15. This was announced after her January 15 world title match with Chigusa Nagayo, where she said if she couldn’t win the title she was ending her career. They went 32 minutes to a double count out in the ring after both collapsed.
[Memphis] Lawler vs. Hennig for the AWA Title on January 18 had Lawler’s ring on the line as well. Hennig promised to give his dad the ring if he won, and Larry Hennig was there. The Axe helped Curt win, and Curt gave him the ring, but Lalwer stole it back.
Memphis local prelim wrestler Jerry Bryant has been diagnosed with Lou Gehrig’s disease.
Global Wrestling in Florida somehow turned what was an awful live show on January 22 into a good tv show. They taped on Friday night and by Sunday had it polished up into a good looking product. The miracles of post-production. Issues with the live show included starting 30 minutes late, long delays between matches, the ring mic not working, and bad wrestlers. What they lack in wrestling talent, though, they make up for in knowing how to make a tv show that’s on the level of World Class and better than Crockett or AWA.
Continental (Alabama) did a bench press contest between Lord Humongous (not Sid, but Gary Nation) and Doug Furnas. They fudged the weights here, as Humongous did 645 lbs and then Furnas did it twice (his best in competition has been 600) before Humongous pushed the bar down on Furnas and “injured his ribs.”
Apparently the Observer was mentioned positively in the Detroit News by Justice B. Hill in the January 17 issue.
Since Dave started writing this issue, he’s been flooded with fans writing about the Bunkhouse finals. The reaction he’s gotten has largely been negative, with those there live being extra negative about it. Crockett really needs to reserve three hours for the next time they do ppv - going too short pisses the fans off, and ppv viewers expected the show to last past 9 pm. Another difference between WWF and NWA is that WWF always gets their hottest acts on the mic at some point during ppvs and big live specials (twice in the case of Hogan and DiBiase at Royal Rumble), while at Starrcade they didn’t have Flair, Dusty, or Cornette talk once. Instead Jim Garvin gave the worst promo of his career, Michael Hayes was quiet for the first time ever, and they shoved Steve Williams and Nikita Koloff on the mic for some reason. At the Bunkhouse Finals they had no interviews, and getting mic time for Flair or Dusty or Luger while they set up the cage would have been a big help. More of Dave wondering when Crockett will realize they’ve killed the credibility of their world champion and thus killed the drawing power of the belt.
Michael Hayes has apparently quit Crockett and everyone expects him to go back to World Class. And if Steve Williams doesn’t come back, they’ll probably just forget about the UWF Title entirely rather than doing a unification match.
A couple letters this week requesting that Dave keep up the coverage of wrestling in Japan. Another couple letters praising how good Stampede has been lately. Canada and Japan, bringing us the best in wrestling.
Another letter writer asks Dave to realize how offensive it is to refer to a wrestling match as “a total abortion” and to consider that he’s probably offended many female readers of the newsletter. Dave apologizes and says he’ll stop using the term, before doing a “well, actually” bit. It’s a kind of weird response. Judge it for yourselves.
I apologize for that one and will quit using the term. Actually the term abortion for a bad match is a business term just like jobber, mark, babyface and the rest. But there are a few business terms (mainly for ethnic wrestlers and ethnic fans) which are in bad taste that I don’t use, so I’ll add that one to the list.
Tickets for Wrestlemania IV go on sale January 30. The best 2000 seats in the Convention Center are being reserved as freebies for casino high rollers. And as a heads up, this is the location it does take place at. They called it Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino during the show, but it’s the same building. More on that as we get to Wrestlemania.
If Dave can find the space next week, he’s going to talk about whether or not “30 minute matches which ‘tell a story’” work for today’s fans. He really enjoyed the Windham/Blanchard match on tv but there was no crowd reaction, so he’s beginning to wonder if this is even a style that resonates anymore.
Everyone’s asking Dave for predictions about Hogan vs. Andre. So here’s his prediction (and he is way off on many parts of this):
DiBiase will interfere and Andre will pin Hogan on 2/5, however Jack Tunney will prove he can’t be bought and hold the title up so Ted doesn’t get the title, and order a rematch in a cage at WM4 so Ted can’t interfere (and also so Andre can lose without doing a job). Hulk will win on a fluke, and they’ll run Hulk vs. Andre over the summer in your local cities after Hulk gets back from playing Hulk Hogan in the movies.
”There was a clip in Detroit about Hogan, saying that ‘he’s nice[r] than Kirk Gibson, but not by much.’” Gibson’s reputation is of being a total asshole to fans, especially kids.
Crockett is billing FlaiAnderson vs. LugeWindham on Feb. 6 as the first time Flair goes against Lex anywhere. It’s forgivable to forget Lex’s Florida days, but they’ve got FlaiBlanchard vs. LugeRhodes booked for February 2.
Apparently Road Warrior Hawk’s neo-nazi line is just a quote from The Breakfast Club. Okay. So I guess the first letter writer was mishearing him and he’s saying “Neo-maxi-zoom dweebie”? TVtropes gives us this, from the October 3, 1987 episode of NWA World Championship Wrestling: HAWK: "WELL, Tony Schiavone, There Are Two Kinds Of People, as far as me and Animal are concerned. Clamheads and Neo-Maxi Zoom Dweebies." (the Road Warriors consider themselves the latter). And corroborating with the WWE Network, yeah, the line comes through pretty clear. Network 4 minutes in, and yeah, he’s not calling himself a neo-nazi. Definitely an error by that letter writer, and what a weird line for Hawk of all people to utter.
THURSDAY:WWF’s Big Four are born; The Main Event; Rock & Roll Express, Michael Hayes, and Steve Williams update; Tenryu wins all the awards in Japan; and more
[EU-PT] [H] OVER 800 PS1/PS2 Games - Drakengard, Vagrant Story, Xenogears, Point Blank and more.. [W] PayPal, Bank Transfer
https://www.flickr.com/photos/189498870@N03/albums/72157715276319253 Unfortunately I have to sell my game collection due to some urgent issues. Hard for me to say goodbye, but I have to. I'll leave a Flickr album here with pictures of all the games. I'm asking for 5150€ for the entire collection, no game will be sold separately. This is a honest collection from a game enthusiast. Shipping cost can be discussed. PS1
Xenogears
Vandal Hearts
Breath of Fire III
Final Fantasy Anthology
Vagrant Story
Guilty Gear
Critical Depth
Point Blank 3
T'ai Fu: Wrath of the Tiger
Resident Evil
Iron Soldier 3
Point Blank 2
Point Blank
2 Games: Medal of Honor + Medal of Honor: Underground
Destruction Derby 2
Destruction Derby 2
Thrasher: Skate and Destroy
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2
Destruction Derby
Medal of Honor
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater
Alien Trilogy
Circuit Breakers
Destruction Derby Raw
Grand Theft Auto
Re-Volt
Gran Turismo 2
Rage Racer
Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare
Deathtrap Dungeon
Die Hard Trilogy
Porsche Challenge
Time Crisis: Project Titan
Wild 9
Resident Evil 2
Time Crisis
Worms Armageddon
007 Racing
007: The World Is Not Enough
Driver 2
Mat Hoffman's Pro BMX
Micro Machines V3
Ridge Racer Revolution
Shadow Master
Tomb Raider II
Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation
007: Tomorrow Never Dies
Big Air
Bust-A-Move 4
Driver
Gran Turismo
The Italian Job
Shadow Master
Thunderhawk 2: Firestorm
WWF Smackdown!
CyberTiger
Formula One 99
Monopoly
The Dukes of Hazzard: Racing for Home
FIFA 2001 Major League Soccer
FIFA 99
Formula One 2000
Mission: Impossible
Colin McRae Rally
Cool Boarders
Cool Boarders 2
No Fear Downhill Mountain Bike Racing
V-Rally
V-Rally 2
Dancing Stage: Party Edition
Formula 1 '97
Formula 1 '98
PS2
Gregory Horror Show: Soul Collector
Metal Slug Anthology
Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4
Resident Evil Survivor 2 - CODE: Veronica
Disgaea 2: Cursed Memories
Drakengard 2
Okami
Xenosaga Episode II: Jenseits von Gut und Bose
Capcom vs. SNK 2: Mark of the Millennium 2001
Dark Chronicle
Shin Megami Tensei: Lucifer's Call
Disgaea: Hour of Darkness
King of Fighters Neowave
Manhunt 2
SNK Arcade Classics Vol. 1
Star Ocean: Till the End of Time
Suikoden IV
Wild Arms 3
Atelier Iris 3: Grand Phantasm
Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3
Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy
Resident Evil: Dead Aim
Xenosaga Episode I: Der Wille zur Macht
Legacy of Kain: Defiance
Mega Man X8
Resident Evil Outbreak File #2
SNK vs. Capcom: SVC Chaos
Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner
Atelier Iris 2: The Azoth Of Destiny
Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance II
Drakengard
Yakuza
Hyper Street Fighter II: The Anniversary Edition
Metal Slug 4
Shadow of Memories
Street Fighter EX3
Arc the Lad: Twilight of the Spirits
Batman Begins
Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King
Dynasty Warriors 3
Grandia II
Grandia II
Guilty Gear Isuka
Jade Cocoon 2
Legion: The Legend of Excalibur
Ninja Assault
Rayman 10th Anniversary
Resident Evil 4
Resident Evil 4
Resident Evil Outbreak
Second Sight
TimeSplitters: Future Perfect
Atelier Iris: Eternal Mana
Bujingai: The Forsaken City
Buzz! Junior: Robo Jam
Chaos Legion
Crash Nitro Kart
Dancing Stage Max
Destroy All Humans!
Devil May Cry 2
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
Guitar Hero II
Kingdom Hearts II
Maximo vs. Army of Zin
Metal Slug 5
Onimusha 3: Demon Siege
SEGA Genesis Collection
Tenchu: Wrath of Heaven
The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction
The Suffering
The Warriors
Zombie Zone
Thunderstrike 3: Operation Phoenix
Auto Modellista
Beyond Good & Evil
Blood Omen 2: Legacy of Kain
Capcom Fighting Evolution / Capcom Fighting Jam
Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex
Crash Twinsanity
Dynasty Warriors 5: Empires
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
Kingdom Hearts
Mafia
Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2
Maximo: Ghosts to Glory
Metal Slug 3
Red Dead Revolver
Resident Evil: CODE: Veronica X
SingStar: Boybands vs Girlbands
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3
Urban Chaos: Riot Response
Worms 3D
Yu-Gi-Oh! The Duelists of the Roses
Ace Combat 4: Shattered Skies
BloodRayne
Bully
Cold Winter
Crash of the Titans
Def Jam: Vendetta
Destroy All Humans! 2
Dora the Explorer: Dora Saves the Snow Princess
Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 3
Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2
Escape From Monkey Island
Extermination
God of War II
Jet Li: Rise to Honor
Knight Rider 2
Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 2
LEGO Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures
LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy
LEGO Star Wars: The Video Game
Lemmings
Midway Arcade Treasures
Midway Arcade Treasures 2
R-Type Final
Rayman Arena
Sega Superstars
Star Wars: Battlefront
Star Wars: Bounty Hunter
Tank Elite
The Thing
Time Crisis 3
Twisted Metal: Black
Ty the Tasmanian Tiger 2: Bush Rescue
Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria
Warhammer 40,000: Fire Warrior
Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings
Area 51
BLACK
Buzz! The Big Quiz
Deus Ex: The Conspiracy
Dragon Ball Z Budokai
Freedom Fighters
Global Defence Force Tactics
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories
Guncom 2
Legend of Spyro: The Eternal Night
Looney Tunes: Acme Arsenal
Mercenaries : Playground of Destruction
Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition
Mortal Kombat Armageddon
Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks
NBA Jam
Need for Speed Underground 2
Pinball Fun
Pirates: The Legend of Black Kat
Rally Championship
Rocky
Samurai Warriors
Scooby-Doo! Mystery Mayhem
Serious Sam: Next Encounter
SingStar '90s
SingStar Popworld
Sonic Mega Collection Plus
Star Wars: Battlefront II
Starsky & Hutch
Summoner
Super Bust-A-Move
Tekken Tag Tournament
The Simpsons Road Rage
Time Crisis II
TimeSplitters 2
Virtua Fighter 4
XGIII: Extreme G Racing
XIII
Yu-Gi-Oh! Capsule Monster Coliseum
Avatar The Last Airbender
Bomberman Hardball
Bratz Rock Angelz
Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Chaos Bleeds
Call of Duty 3
Call of Duty: World at War: Final Fronts
Colin McRae Rally 2005
Crazy Taxi
Disney Golf
Dragon Ball Z Budokai Tenkaichi
Dynasty Warriors 5
FlatOut
Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories
Half-Life
Harry Potter: Quidditch World Cup
International Cue Club 2
Jaws Unleashed
Kengo: Master of Bushido
Kessen II
Legend of Spyro: A New Beginning
Legends of Wrestling II
Manhunt
Marc Ecko's Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure
Mat Hoffman's Pro BMX 2
Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty
Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater
Micro Machines V4
Monster House
Mortal Kombat: Deception
Pitfall: The Lost Expedition
Pride Fighting Championships
RC Revenge Pro
Reign of Fire
Ridge Racer V
Secret Weapons Over Normandy
SingStar '80s
SingStar Rock Ballads
SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Combined Assault
SoulCalibur II
Spartan: Total Warrior
Spider-Man: Friend or Foe
Tekken 4
Test Drive Unlimited
The Bard's Tale
The Bouncer
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
The Mummy Returns
The Simpsons Game
TimeSplitters
TOCA Race Driver 2
Tokyo Xtreme Racer Zero
Tomb Raider: Underworld
Tony Hawk's Proving Ground
Total Overdose: A Gunslinger's Tale in Mexico
Ultimate Spider-Man
Vampire Night
Worms 4: Mayhem
WWE SmackDown! Here Comes the Pain
X-Men: Next Dimension
Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare
Batman Vengeance
Blade II
Brave: The Search for Spirit Dancer
Cel Damage Overdrive
Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening
Dragon Ball Z Budokai 2
Driver: Parallel Lines
Final Fantasy X-2
Gauntlet: Dark Legacy
Grand Theft Auto III
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Harvest Fishing
Inspector Gadget: & the Gadgetinis
Kao the Kangaroo Round 2
Leisure Suit Larry: Magna Cum Laude
Mad Maestro
Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne
Medal of Honor: Vanguard
Micro Machines
Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition Remix
Naruto: Ultimate Ninja
Need for Speed: Underground
Power Rangers: Super Legends
Primal
Pro Rally 2002
R: Racing
Ratchet & Clank 3: Up Your Arsenal
Rocky Legends
Scaler
Secret Service
Shadow the Hedgehog
SingStar Legends
SingStar Party
SingStar R&B
Sonic Heroes
SSX Tricky
Super Monkey Ball Adventure
The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius: Jet Fusion
The Getaway: Black Monday
The Simpsons Skateboarding
Theme Park World
Tomb Raider: Anniversary
Tony Hawk's Underground
Tony Hawk's Underground 2
They Came From The Skies
Time Crisis: Crisis Zone
1945 I / II The Arcade Games
Aggressive Inline
AirBlade
Alpine Racer 3
Burnout
Buzz! The Hollywood Quiz
Buzz! The Sports Quiz
Call of Duty 2: Big Red One
Call of Duty: Finest Hour
Cars
Commandos 2: Men of Courage
Constantine
Crash Tag Team Racing
Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX 2
Devil May Cry
Die Hard: Vendetta
Dynasty Warriors 2
Dynasty Warriors 3: Xtreme Legends
Dynasty Warriors 4
FIFA 11
Final Fantasy X
Final Fantasy XII
Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock
Gun
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Headhunter
Headhunter: Redemption
Herdy Gerdy
Hitman: Contracts
IndyCar Series
Intellivision Lives!
Jeremy McGrath Supercross World
Kessen
Kuri Kuri Mix
Max Payne
Need for Speed Most Wanted
Off Road
Onimusha: Warlords
Project: Snowblind
Psi-Ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy
Rayman 3: Hoodlum Havoc
Red Faction
SingStar Anthems
Soldier of Fortune: Gold Edition
Sonic Gems Collection
Sonic Unleashed
Space Invaders Anniversary
Space Invaders: Invasion Day
Tom and Jerry in War of the Whiskers
Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam
Ultimate Ninja 4: Naruto Shippuden
Virtua Cop: Elite Edition
Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit
Worms Blast
WRC FIA World Rally Championship 04
WWE SmackDown! Shut Your Mouth
X-Men 2: Wolverine's Revenge
X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse
The Italian Job
WWII: Tank Battles
Air Raid 3
Bad Boys 2
BCV: Battle Construction Vehicles
Burnout 2: Point of Impact
Burnout 3: Takedown
Bust-A-Bloc
City Crisis
Colin McRae Rally 04
Crazy Frog: Arcade Racer
Dead or Alive 2
Disney Move
Dog's Life
Dora the Explorer: Journey to the Purple Planet
DRIV3R
Energy Airforce
Everybody's Tennis
Ford Street Racing
Forgotten Realms: Demon Stone
From Russia With Love
Ghost Master: The Gravenville Chronicles
Gran Turismo 4
Guitar Hero: World Tour
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Heracles: Battle With The Gods
Hitman 2: Silent Assassin
Inspector Gadget: Mad Robot Invasion
Jak 3
Juiced
Madagascar
Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa
Marvel Ultimate Alliance
Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones
Pro Race Driver
Quake III: Revolution
Rayman 2: Revolution
Reservoir Dogs
Rune: Viking Warlord
SingStar
Sonic Riders
Spider-Man 2
SpongeBob SquarePants: Revenge of the Flying Dutchman
Summer Heat Beach Volleyball
Surf's Up
Tak and the Power of Juju
The Ant Bully
The Haunted Mansion
The Incredibles: Rise of the Underminer
The Lord of the Rings: The Third Age
The Shadow of Zorro
Tokyo Road Race
Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Jungle Storm
Tomb Raider: Legend
Tony Hawk's American Wasteland
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4
Turok: Evolution
Ty the Tasmanian Tiger
UEFA Champions League 2004 - 2005
WWE SmackDown! vs. RAW 2009
X-Men Origins: Wolverine
X-Men: The Official Game
18-Wheeler: American Pro Trucker
50 Cent: Bulletproof
Aeon Flux
ATV Offroad Fury 3
Ben 10: Protector of Earth
BMX XXX
Broken Sword: The Sleeping Dragon
Colin McRae Rally 3
Commandos Strike Force
Dancing Stage Fusion
Driving Emotion Type-S
Dynasty Warriors 4: Empires
Fairly OddParents: Shadow Showdown
Fighting Fury
Freak Out
Full Spectrum Warrior
G-Force
Haven: Call of the King
Hulk
Iron Aces 2 Birds of Prey
Jak II
James Bond 007: Everything or Nothing
James Bond 007: NightFire
James Bond: Quantum of Solace
Made Man
Medal of Honor: European Assault
Medal of Honor: Rising Sun
Metal Arms: Glitch in the System
Midnight Club II
MX vs ATV Untamed
NBA Live 07
NBA Street
Need for Speed: Carbon
Need for Speed: Undercover
Penny Racers
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Legend of Jack Sparrow
Portal Runner
Prince of Persia: Warrior Within
Project Eden
Ratchet: Gladiator
Rayman: Raving Rabbids
Red Faction II
Rogue Ops
Rugby
Shamu's Deep Sea Adventures
Shrek 2
Shrek Smash 'n Crash
SingStar Morangos com Açúcar
SingStar Rocks!
Sled Storm
Smash Cars
SpyHunter
Star Wars Starfighter
State of Emergency
Suzuki TT Superbikes
Syphon Filter: The Omega Strain
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Terminator: Dawn of Fate
The Incredibles
The Sims 2: Castaway
The Sum of All Fears
TOCA Race Driver 3
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Pandora Tomorrow
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Double Agent
Top Angler: Real Bass Fishing
Top Gun: Combat Zones
Transformers: The Game
True Crime: New York City
Twisted Metal: Black Online
U Move Supersport
Unreal Tournament
V-Rally 3
WRC Rally Evolved
WWE SmackDown vs. RAW 2008: Featuring ECW
WWI: Aces of the Sky
Underworld
WinBack: Covert Operations
187 Ride or Die
ATV Offroad Fury 2
Brothers in Arms: Earned in Blood
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Clever Kids: Dino Land
Conflict: Desert Storm
Conflict: Vietnam
Defender
Detonator
Doomsday Racers
Dr. Seuss' The Cat in the Hat
Dragon Rage
Endgame
Enter the Matrix
Euro Rally Champion
EyeToy: AntiGrav
FIFA Street
FIFA Street 2
FightBox
Ford Racing 2
Formula One 2001
Full Spectrum Warrior: Ten Hammers
Fur Fighters: Viggo's Revenge
Go Diego Go!: Safari Rescue
GoDai: Elemental Force
GoldenEye: Rogue Agent
Gran Turismo 3: A-spec
Gran Turismo Concept: 2002 Tokyo-Geneva
GTC Africa
Heatseeker
Heroes of Might and Magic: Quest for the DragonBone Staff
Hot Wheels World Race
Ice Age 2: The Meltdown
James Bond 007 in... Agent Under Fire
James Cameron's Dark Angel
Juiced 2: Hot Import Nights
Jumanji
Killzone
Largo Winch: Empire Under Threat
LMA Manager 2005
Lotus Challenge
Madden NFL 2003
Mercury Meltdown Remix
Monopoly Party
MotoGP 2
MotoGP 3
MotoGP 4
NBA Live 06
Need for Speed: ProStreet
Open Season
Operation Air Assault
Over The Hedge
Piglet's BIG Game
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
Pro Evolution Soccer 2
Pro Evolution Soccer Management
Project Minerva Professional
Ready 2 Rumble Boxing: Round 2
RISK: Global Domination
Road Rage 3
Road Trip Adventure
Robot Warlords
Robot Wars: Arenas of Destruction
Scooby-Doo! Night of 100 Frights
Sega Sports Tennis
Sensible Soccer
Shark Tale
Silent Scope
Smuggler's Run 2: Hostile Territory
Spider-Man
Spider-Man 3
SSX
SSX 3
Star Trek Voyager: Elite Force
Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines
The Da Vinci Code
The Great Escape
The Hobbit
The Polar Express
The Sims 2
The Sniper 2
The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie
Thrillville: Off the Rails
TNA iMPACT!
Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six 3
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Chaos Theory
Tony Hawk's Project 8
True Crime: Streets of L.A.
Twin Caliber
UEFA Champions League 2006-2007
UEFA Euro 2004: Portugal
Victorious Boxers
World Championship Poker
World Rally Championship 3
World Rally Championship II Extreme
WRC: World Rally Championship
X-treme Express: World Gran Prix
Alpine Skiing 2005
America'S 10 Most Wanted
Army Men Major: Malfunction
Athens 2004
Bakugan: Battle Brawlers
Battlefield 2: Modern Combat
Bionicle Heroes
Boxing Champions
Bratz: The Movie
Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30
Burnout Revenge
Burnout: Dominator
Conflict: Desert Storm II: Back to Baghdad
Conflict: Global Storm
Crashed
Dark Summit
Donald Duck: Who is PK
Dropship: United Peace Force
EyeToy: Groove
EyeToy: Play 2
FIFA 08
Fireblade
Flipnic: Ultimate Pinball
Formula One 2003
Gottlieb Pinball Classics
GT-R 400
Happy Feet
Heroes of the Pacific
Jet ski Riders
Just Cause
Knockout Kings 2002
Lakemasters Ex
Legends of Wrestling
LMA Manager 2002
Looney Tunes: Back in Action
Madden NFL 06
MaXXed Out Racing
Medal of Honor: Frontline
Men In Black II: Alien Escape
Miami Vice
Mojo!
Moto GP 4
Motor Mayhem
Motorsiege: Warriors of Primetime
MX Superfly
Mx World Tour
Myth Makers Super Karts GP
NBA Ballers
NBA Live 08
Peter Jackson's King Kong
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
Play It Pinball
Police Chase Down
Prisoner of War
Pro Evolution Soccer
Pro Evolution Soccer 2009
Raceway: Drag and Stock Car Racing
Rollercoaster World
Rugby 2005
SingStar Abba
Sitting Ducks
Smuggler's Run
Snowboard Racer 2
SOCOM: U.S. Navy Seals II
Splashdown
Stock Car Speedway
Stuntman: Ignition
The Sims
Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon
Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness
Torino 2006
Tourist Trophy: The Real Riding Simulator
Truck Racing 2
Twenty 2 Party
Wild Wild Racing
WWE SmackDown! vs. RAW
X-Squad
Zathura: A Space Adventure
The Operative: No One Lives Forever
HSX: Hypersonic.Xtreme / G-Surfers
Nicktoons Unite!
24: The Game
Backyard Wrestling 2: There Goes the Neighborhood
Big Mutha Truckers
Casino Challenge
Centre Court: HardHitter
Crescent Suzuki Racing: Superbikes and Super Sidecars
Disney Think Fast: Le Maxi Quiz
Disney's Chicken Little
DTM Race Driver 2
Energy Airforce: Aim Strike
EyeToy: Kinetic Combat
EyeToy: Play 3
Fame Academy
Fantastic 4
Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer
FIFA 06
FIFA 09
FIFA 2002
Fight Night 2004
Fight Night: Round 3
Flushed Away
Formula One 05
GT Racers
Hello Kitty Roller Rescue
International Cue Club
International League Soccer
International Pool Champions
Junior Board Games
Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events
LMA Manager 2003
LMA Manager 2006
Meet the Robinsons
Mission: Impossible Operation Surma
MTV Music Generator 2
Muppets Party Cruise
Perfect Ace: Pro Tournament Tennis
Pimp My Ride
Pool Paradise
Pro Evolution Soccer 6
Robots
Rock Band
Rugby 06
Runabout 3: Neo Age
SBK-07: Superbike World Championship
SBK-08: Superbike World Championship
Skateboard Madness "Xtreme Edition"
Smarties Meltdown
Smash Court Tennis Pro Tournament
SOCOM: U.S. Navy Seals
Sprint Car Challenge
Street Hoops
Stuntman
Surfing H3O
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe
The Getaway
The Golden Compass
The Great British Football Quiz
The Sims Bustin' Out
The Ultimate World Cup Quiz
The Urbz: Sims in the City
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2003
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2004
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell
Ultimate Pro Pinball
Walt Disney's The Jungle Book Rhythm N' Groove
Warriors of Might and Magic
World Super Police
WWE SmackDown vs. RAW 2006
WWE SmackDown! vs. RAW 2007
Xtreme Quads
Brian Lara International Cricket 2007
Cricket 07
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Dance Fest
Dance UK
England International Football
ESPN NFL Football 2K4
ESPN NHL 2K4
FIFA 07
FIFA 2003
FIFA 2005
Football Generation
Hawk Kawasaki Racing
Karaoke Stage
Kiddies Party Pack
Little Britain: The Video Game
London Racer 2
NHL 2003
Pacific Warriors II: Dogfight
Pro Evolution Soccer 2008
Shrek the Third
Swing Away Golf
The X-Factor: Sing
Ultimate Mind Games
Virtua Pro Football
Wallace & Gromit in Project Zoo
World Championship Snooker 2005
XS Jr. League Soccer
Top Trumps: Doctor Who
Aqua Teen Hunger Force Zombie Ninja Pro-Am
Band Hero
Brian Lara International Cricket
Championship Manager 5
EyeToy: Kinetic
FIFA 2004
Formula One 2002
Go Go Golf
Pilot Down: Behind Enemy Lines
Poker Masters
Pro Evolution Soccer 5
ProStroke Golf: World Tour 2007
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08
Boogie
Cricket 2002
Cricket 2004
EyeToy: Play
Formula Challenge
High School Musical 3: Dance
High School Musical: Sing It!
International Golf Pro
PDC World Championship Darts
Pro Evolution Soccer 3
Pro Evolution Soccer 4
Rugby 2004
This is Football 2003
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2005
Top Trumps: Horror and Predators
WWII: Battle Over The Pacific
American Idol
Baila Dancing Stage Megamix
Buzz! Junior: Dino Den
Buzz! Junior: Monster Rumble
Chess Challenger
Cue Academy
Disney's Donald Duck: Goin' Quackers
ESPN International Superstar Soccer
F1 Championship Season 2000
Finding Nemo
Home Alone
Le Mans 24 Hours
Liverpool FC Club Football 2005
Monster Trux Extreme
Monsters, Inc.
Next Generation Tennis
RS3: Racing Simulation Three
Rugby League
Rugrats Royal Ransom
Scrabble
Sven-Goran Eriksson's World Manager
Tarzan Untamed
The Godfather
The Ultimate Music Quiz
The Ultimate Trivia Quiz
EDIT: Games are mostly PAL, some are NTFS EDIT 2: added list of games!
Colorado breweries we've visited in the rest of the state: 2020 update
One more roundup before we leave, alas. Regions are still super approximate. I updated some previous rankings as well. Tallies: 137 in the Denver metro; 66 in the rest of the Front Range; 33 in the rest of the state. We've visited a total of 236 breweries, cideries, and meaderies in Colorado.
The Rest of the Front Range
300 Suns (Longmont): This brewery served me both a smoked cherry sour (YES) and a red ale with a distinct barf aroma, so I'm really split here. Overall, I'm not excited.
Avery (Boulder): Say what you will about their distributed lineup, but their taproom has some of the cooler small-batch brews out there. We got to attend their invitational twice; it's one of the best beer fests around.
Berthoud Brewing (Berthoud): The better of two options in this tiny town. That's not saying much.
Black Bottle (Fort Collins): Big tap list with lots of variety, usually good, sometimes uneven. I once found a lichtenhainer on tap here. I may have squealed.
Black Forest (Black Forest): Surprisingly good brewery in a tiny forest town just outside the Springs. Better-than-expected beers, sizeable lineup, nice people.
Brues Alehouse (Pueblo): I guess they're the best thing I've found in Pueblo, but that's a backhanded compliment if ever I gave one.
Buckhorn (Loveland, RIP): A brewery the size of a small living room with 4-5 beers on tap. The brewer came and chatted with us for a while and seemed like a super nice guy. They made some really cool stuff, including a no-boil, no-hop lacto stout that blew my mind. They shut down not long after we went.
Cerberus (Colorado Springs): A highlight in the Springs with very good food, too.
City Star (Berthoud): Nice tap list on their website seems to be months old. Neither of us cared for their actual lineup much.
Cogstone (Colorado Springs): Friends told us to go to try their chips 'n' salsa beer, which, yes, does taste like chips 'n' salsa. We didn't love anything here.
DC Oakes (Fort Collins): Standard-issue brewpub with its own beer. Nothing to write home about.
Dostal Alley Casino & Brewpub (Central City): Central City is a gorgeous Old West mountain town where the soulless casinos now seem to outnumber any sort of non-sleazy business. Naturally, when we found a casino with a built-in brewpub boasting GABF medals for their dry stout, we went. Unsurprisingly, the place was sleazy and crappy, with a few phoning-it-in beers and slot machines built into the bar.
Dratz (Loveland): They were brand new when we visited, and very nice. The beer was... not good. Hope they work out their initial difficulties.
Echo Brewing (Frederick): Just three weeks after visiting, I remember nothing at all about this brewery, but my Untappd ratings of their handful of run-of-the-mill styles were low. Evidently I wasn't impressed.
Elevation (Poncha Springs): Does this still qualify as the Front Range? I flippin' adore Elevation, makers of the single best pilsner I've ever had. One of the very best middle-of-nowhere, small-town breweries I've been to.
Elizabeth Brewing (Elizabeth): Small-town brewery in conservative Douglas County. Pretty meh throughout.
Goat Patch (Colorado Springs): We finally visited when we were stuck in the Springs after a blizzard closed all roads back to Denver. Pretty good, not amazing brewery in what looks like a former high school converted to gentrified hipster mall space.
Gold Camp (Colorado Springs, apparently no website): We felt a bit guilty because we got to meet their fabulously nice brewer, but just didn't care for their beers. They seemed closer to homebrew quality at the moment.
Great Storm (Colorado Springs, RIP): Really nice with some unusual styles and creative ideas. Friendly people. Closed soon after our visit; now Atrevida Brewing.
Grimm Brothers (Loveland): Cool taproom, some really nice beers.
Grossen Bart (Longmont): I was kind of disappointed. A lot of beers seemed really off style or just unremarkable.
Gunbarrel (Boulder): Good IPAs and a nice rosemary beer.
High Hops (Windsor): Gorgeous patio with view of hop field and gardening center, with a small distillery attached. The beer isdecent, not remarkable.
Industrial Revolution (Erie): I wanted to like them, based on their shtick. I think we left all of our beers unfinished. Nope.
Intersect (Fort Collins): Unabashed hipster taproom with piles of old records. Nice folks. Beer generally good, nothing great.
Iron Bird (Colorado Springs): Nice, but largely unremarkable.
Jessup Farm Barrel House (Fort Collins): My surprise favorite find on our second CO vacation and one of the very best wild/sour breweries around.
Kettle & Spoke (Boulder): We kind of just wound up here because they're down the street from Redstone. We found a tiny taproom inside a bike shop with some of the best IPAs in recent memory, and a fantastically nice brewer who offered us an impromptu tour of the production space.
Left Hand (Longmont): They're exceptionally solid, and I wish they'd strut their stuff a little more. Their Juju series of ginger brews has a special place in my heart.
Local Relic (Colorado Springs): An experimental brewery in a gorgeous old church that prides itself on never making the same beer twice. They blew our minds the first time we went, and we were in their expensive-ass beer club for a while. Their "no repeats" philosophy unfortunately means that they frequently have several super similar batches on tap at once, a lot of their beers could really use a trial run, and they often bottle things before they're ready. After a few too many bottle bombs and undrinkable yeast shakes, we pretty much stopped going.
Locust Cider (Boulder): The standard cidery model where everything's inoffensive and the business model is "bring that friend who doesn't do gluten." I just don't care about this form of cider at this point, but they do it just as well as everyone else.
Loveland Aleworks (Loveland): We like Verboten more, but these guys are another fabulous Loveland spot.
McClellan's (Fort Collins): I don't care much for British styles, but we enjoyed the beer, food, and a great conversation with a member of the brewing family here.
Nano 108 (Colorado Springs): Tiny taproom that we really liked in 2015. We went back in 2018 and found some stellar options (their rauchbier omggggggg) and several brews with off-flavor issues. Come for the German styles here; I'm not crazy about their IPAs.
New Belgium (Fort Collins): Did the tour, visited the taproom. They seem like a good company that just embraces inoffensiveness a bit too hard. Then they sold out, and now I haven't bought anything from them in years.
The Old Mine (Erie): Good cidery in a gorgeous old brick building in a tiny town.
Open Door (Longmont): Had good lagers and saisons here. Super nice people in a chill spot.
Periodic (Leadville): At 11k+ feet, this must be the highest craft brewery we've visited. OK beer, spotty service.
Phantom Canyon (Colorado Springs): Great beer and service the first time we came, mediocre at best the second time, and only OK ever since. Food is pretty good.
Redstone (Boulder): Likely the biggest of the tiny handful of meaderies currently in CO. Their stuff trends sweeter than I like, but they have some cool varieties (sunflower mead = yes) and wonderful taproom staff.
Rocky Mountain (Colorado Springs): Long-running brewery on the outskirts of the Springs. Some sugary sours and hard lemonades that weren't up my alley, along with a very good barleywine. We chatted with the brewmaster for a while, who was a super nice guy.
Royal Gorge (Cañon City): The only brewery in town and one of few places to grab a bite. They only had one or two of their own beers, which were homebrew quality. Keep driving.
Shamrock (Pueblo): Like everything about Pueblo, this place was a total disappointment.
Soulcraft (Salida): Another pretty good small-town brewery a few miles from Elevation.
St. Vrain (Longmont): Really excellent cidery with multiple ginger ciders and great guest taps.
Timnath Beerwerks (Timnath): Extremely solid, nice people. They're also more or less down the street from the Swetsville Zoo, one of my favorite roadside attractions in the state.
Tommyknocker (Idaho Springs): Gimmicky and never better than all right. Two blocks from Westbound & Down, which is the indisputably better option.
Trinity (Colorado Springs): I've no idea how it took me several years to get to the only brett-focused brewery I've ever found. Huge, consistently good tap and bottle list, great food with good veg options, nice staff. My best brewery find in the Springs to date. They sold in 2020, and we haven't been back since.
Twisted Pine (Boulder): Solid with some interesting ideas, including a good basil beer.
Uhl (Boulder): They took over Wild Woods' space in 2020 and opened during the shutdown. They had a few promising weird options, including an unexpectedly lovely peanut butter beer.
Verboten (Loveland): Our absolute favorite in town. Creative, irreverent, and spot-on.
WeldWerks (Greeley): I fussed for so long about wanting to come here that it was inevitably kind of a letdown when we finally went. Their beers are good, make no mistake, but definitely not "drive an hour and a half to get it" good.
Westbound & Down (Idaho Springs): Another hypey place. The beer, food, and service were all good on our first visit but sorta uneven on subsequent trips.
Wild Cider (Longmont): Standard-issue, above-average cider. Lovely outdoor seating with a gorgeous mountain view.
Wild Woods (Boulder, RIP): We stumbled in during their anniversary party and loved them. Their smoked yam beer rocked my world. They sadly closed in 2019.
Wiley Roots (Greeley): ... and now I'm going to contradict the above statement re: WeldWerks directly. Wiley Roots, just around the corner from the above, is worth that drive. Their wild ales are lovely, and while their adjunct stouts can be hit and miss, they're immensely solid overall. Massive pluses include an unusually nice taproom crew, a fluffy brew cat with her own Instagram account (@midnightbrewcat), and the lovely Syntax Distillery next door.
Zwei (Fort Collins): Kicks the crap out of Denver's Prost as far as I'm concerned. Good beer, great people.
The Rest of Colorado (South, West, Central)
Current category tally: 33
Angry James (Silverthorne): Pretty much anywhere I go on the way home from the stellar Outer Range isn't really going to get my heart rate up, but we enjoyed our stop here.
BierWerks (Woodland Park): Most of their taps were other people's beers, and the couple of in-house brews we managed to try ranged from so-so to not good. Oh, and they have a Nazi map on the wall for some damn reason!? Ute Pass across the street is an all-around better option.
Breckenridge (Breckenridge): Macro brewery in the "guess you have to go once" category. The beer was exceedingly mediocre, food was so-so.
BREW Pub & Kitchen (Durango): My favorite in Durango tbh. Oh, and their food is good, too.
Broken Compass (Breckenridge): Solid.
Carver (Durango): Nice people, good brunch. Their beer won't blow your mind, but it's usually solid.
Casey Brewing and Blending (Glenwood Springs): We bought tour tickets and made a weekend trip out just to go to Casey. My affection for sours is on a steep downward slope, but Casey is stellar, and the tour was delightful and totally worth doing.
Colorado Vineyards/Rocky Mountain Winery (Palisade): Including them here because they make a lot of mead, which I like, but don't love.
Eddyline (Buena Vista): Middlin', IPA-focused place in the horrifically named Byoona Vista.
Glenwood Canyon (Glenwood Springs): One of those breweries that only seem to stay in business because they have a central spot in a tourist town. Nothing interesting here.
Guanella Pass (Georgetown): Most of the beers we tried were yeasty af. No love from me.
High Alpine (Gunnison): We stopped here after a trip to Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, out of our minds with natural beauty. The beer was, unsurprisingly, nothing to write home about, but the food was outstanding and the staff was delightful.
Highside (Frisco): It's hard to look good when you share a ZIP code with Outer Range. Run-of-the-mill small-town brewery with food, nothing to write home about.
Mad Jack's Mountain Brewing (Bailey): We pulled off 285 here one afternoon to get out of the rain. Small tap list and tiny tap room, but pretty good beer and a killer food truck out back.
Main Street (Cortez): Another small-town brewery with not much going.
Meadery of the Rockies (Palisade): The better Palisade meadery. Again, they like their mead sweeter and gloopier than I do, but it's lovely in small quantities.
Mr. Grumpy Pants/Ourayle House (Ouray): I like the guy and his shtick a bit more than the beer, but it's definitely the better brewery in town.
Ouray Brewery (Ouray): The douchey tourist trap option in beautiful Ouray.
Outer Range (Frisco): The hype is real. ORB makes hands down the best NEIPAs I've ever had, and a stunning range of them. "Downside:" NEIPAs are basically all they do. They have a couple of Belgians, but if you're not into hazy IPAs, this place really isn't for you.
Palisade Brewing (Palisade): Solid, unexciting.
Paradox (Divide): One of the best sour-focused breweries around. They may have the most stunning mountain view of any brewery I've been in this state, and that's saying a lot.
Riff Raff (Pagosa Springs): One of those breweries where they put your pint down in front of you, you take one sip, and you're ready to head out.
San Luis Valley (Alamosa): We stopped here on our way back from my birthday trip in 2019, which coincided with a blizzard that shut down the entire Denver metro. Their beer and food were forgettable, but the fact that I was worried sick about getting home to our pets (we didn't until 24 hours later) the whole time we were there didn't help matters.
South Park (Fairplay): We stopped here to escape a crazy cloudburst. Beer was OK, food was OK, neither was anything I really need again.
Steamworks (Durango): Ranges from really good to barely decent. Decent food.
Telluride Brewing (you guessed it - Telluride): Quite good brewery with nice people in one of the more picturesque mountain towns out there.
Three Barrel (Del Norte): Ah, Colorado. Where else do towns of 1,700 in the middle of nowhere have breweries with sahtis and sours on the menu?
Two Rascals (Montrose): Unremarkable.
Ute Pass (Woodland Park, RIP): This brewery had four different wits on tap, including two black wits.
Vino Salida (Salida): Yes, tiny Salida and Poncha Springs have two good breweries, a distillery, and a meadery. Dayum.
Wolfe (Pagosa Springs): Pleasant small-town brewery.
On Friday, Jack Entertainment announced that it has entered into contracts to sell Jack Casino in Downtown Cincinnati and Turfway Park in Florence to Hard Rock International and VICI Properties ... DETROIT — Dan Gilbert's JACK Entertainment has announced that the real estate assets and land of its two Cleveland properties, JACK Cleveland Casino, and JACK Thistledown Racino, will be sold to ... Exit Full Screen. Hard Rock International completed its purchase of Jack Cincinnati Casino on Friday, according to a release from Jack Entertainment. The casino was bought for about $745 million. CLEVELAND, Ohio - Cavs owner Dan Gilbert, who in 2009 led a successful voter effort to legalize casino gambling in Ohio, quietly has sold his ownership interest in JACK Entertainment, the operator ... The Jack Casino was sold to Hard Rock in September. The owners have been working to overhaul the casino, including putting in a Hard Rock Cafe. Masks will be required for staff and guests, except... Jack Casino sold to Hard Rock International for $745 million. CINCINNATI — It’s official: Jack Cincinnati Casino won’t be Jack for much longer. Its parent company, Jack Entertainment, closed ... Pending regulatory approval, JACK and Turfway will be sold for $780 million and fall under the Hard Rock International brand. “We viewed the gaming industry as a catalyst for economic ... The Greektown Casino in Detroit was sold by JACK in late 2018 for $1 billion to VICI and Penn National Gaming, stoking speculation Gilbert was looking to divest his gaming assets to make a run at... In April, JACK Entertainment and VICI Properties announced a $780 million agreement for JACK to sell its Cincinnati casino along with Turfway Park in Kentucky to Hard Rock International and VICI ... Hard Rock agreed to buy the Cincinnati casino from JACK Entertainment in April 2019. At the time, JACK was looking to scale down its gaming operations. It previously sold the Greektown Casino ...
Watch These BIG Wins on Triple Red Hot Slot ... - YouTube
Provided to YouTube by Universal Music GroupCan't You Hear Me Knocking (2009 Mix) · The Rolling StonesSticky Fingers℗ 1971 Promotone B.V., under exclusive li... Please Subscribe if you've enjoyed any of my Slot-Play / Live Play videos so you can be informed whenever I upload a new slot Jackpot Win or loss. You can ea... Provided to YouTube by Universal Music GroupHeart Of Stone (Mono) · The Rolling StonesThe Rolling Stones In Mono℗ 2016 ABKCO Music & Records, Inc.Released on... Watch my last video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_e3inuOXA4&t=102sDownload 8 ball Pool Here: http://bit.ly/2NITbCVWatch more great videos from toda... #GOODCONTENTGANG SUBSCRIBE BRUH. Tired of clicking on a deceivingly clickbaited video only for it to be someone doing the same boring crap you saw last week? Yeah me too. Thats why i never waste ... Is it possible to get a hand pay on the very next spin right after you just got one? It sure is!!! Day started off a bit slow but ended with an epic run! Vocals: Daria ZaritskayaGuitars: Sergey SershenRecorded, mixed and mastered at Sershen Music Studio (https://www.facebook.com/S.sershen, http://instagram.com... GUITAR PLAYERS! If you want the best guitar lessons in the universe, here you go: http://guitarsupersystem.comCheck out all the gear in this video: http://bi... Music video by AC/DC performing The Jack. (Live At River Plate 2009) (C) 2011 Leidseplein Presse B.V.