Here at Spwug, we have a small, but extremely talented pool of writers and artists. All of them are volunteering their free time and energy to help us become a great blog and magazine.

As we’ve grown over the last year, we’re finally to the point where we’ll be needing more staff to help us continue on our way. We’ll need talent, we’ll need drive, and we’ll need leadership.

And so, ladies and gentlemen, it is my pleasure to announce that Donnie “The Don” Sturges has accepted the position of Head Writer for Spwug.

Please join me in congratulating Donnie on this new role. We here at Spwug are all looking forward to seeing what other great things he’ll help us accomplish.

Greetings, Thermians!

We are living in a time where video games have become a legitimate source of entertainment alongside television and film.  People of all ages, genders, races and Apollo creeds enjoy video and computer gaming, bringing us a long way from the days where mullet-haired garage-dwellers would escape from their dark, nerd caves for a spell so that they could spend hours upon hours in another dark cave full of flashing lights and pixilated escapades.

I’m just poking fun.  There’s really no such thing as a mullet.

The impact that video games have had on our culture is multi-faceted.  One element of that impact is something that most of your casual gamers might not immediately think of.  Just as the graphics, storylines and amount of content in video games have evolved from the four stage, girder-scaling adventures of a carpenter trying to save his lady friend, so has the music of video games evolved from the “bleep bloop”, “pyew pyew” sounds of the same era.

To that end, video game soundtracks have become almost a phenomenon (do do, de do do!) by themselves.  And two guys have taken that surging popularity and baked it into a cake of glorious melodies just for you.

Their finished confection of sweet, sugary goodness is called Video Games Live.

Created by Jack Wall and Tommy Tallarico, Video Games Live unveiled itself upon the world in 2005, and has done nothing but gain momentum to quickly become a world-renown concert series.  Both creators are pulling from over twenty years of composing video game music to bring fans and curious listeners alike an extremely lively and unique experience.  From Sonic the Hedgehog to Halo to Medal of Honor to Kingdom Hearts, these guys utilize each venue’s local symphony to put on one hell of a show.

One of the coolest aspects of a VGL (not to be confused with VPL – if you don’t know what that is, ask a teacher or a life guard for help) concert is that every show has a different line-up of compositions, with each one accompanied by footage of the video game it comes from projected on a giant video screen behind the orchestra.  The consistent change-up of their set lists at each venue ensures that each concert is a unique experience.  This ensures that Video Games Live offers plenty of replay value.

The concert I saw in Richmond included this line-up of musical selections (with short commentary by me):

Classic Arcade

This piece kicked off the night perfectly.  It was practically a history of the early classics.  Starting off with PONG (yes, you read that right), this first medley covered everything from Space Invaders to Dragon’s Lair to Tetris.  An incredible trip down memory lane.

Metal Gear Solid

This one got the crowds going nuts.  All of the major themes from the Metal Gear series swelling with energy and fervor.  Meanwhile, a sneaky little box on stage tries to get past an enemy guard.  Yes, and exclamation mark does appear over his head in alarm.

God of War

I have to admit – I’ve never played this game, though I know of it.  After hearing the incredible themes being played like a cross between Clash of the Titans and Gladiator, accompanied by the awesome footage from the games, I think I really want to play this series.

Space Invaders

The first of two segments that include audience participation.  Someone from the audience was selected to come up on stage and wear a t-shirt with the ship from the game on the back.  Then, armed with only a button to fire, the poor soul had to move back and forth to move the ship on screen and try to clear the first wave of enemies in two minutes while the orchestra played the Jaws-like theme.  He didn’t make it, but he still got some cool swag.  The rest of the audience got to experience what makes this concert especially fun.

Sonic

Who doesn’t love Sonic the Hedgehog?  They included songs from each game in the series, with the appropriate footage behind.  I’ve always been partial to a turtle-stomping plumber, myself, but there’s no denying that this segment was a fun ride.

Civilization IV

I have to admit, I’m not all that familiar with this game.  The music was great, but I found myself getting bored halfway into it.  There’s only so much game footage of buildings being built that one man can take.

Final Fantasy Piano Solo

Remember that guy on YouTube who played the Super Mario Medley super fast while blindfolded?  Yep, Martin Leung performs as part of the concert tour.  And yes, he’s just as fast in person, no tricks.  So suck it, non-believers!  Man, he kicked ass.

Metroid

One of my favorite video game series.  This segment was a nice combination of all the haunting sci-fi themes used from the NES game all the way to the Wii game.

Zelda

What else is there to say here?  It’s frikkin’ ZELDA.  You want some classic orchestral melodies, this is where you start.  Which way to go?

Intermission

Yay!  We get to pee!  Stretch our legs!  Buy overpriced refreshments and merchandise!  And all the while the screen keeps track of the fifteen minute break with what looks like a loading bar.  Outstanding.

Kingdom Hearts

This was a very warm and heartfelt piece, as the orchestra incorporated an instrumental version of “Simple and Clean” throughout the composition.  Sadly, SquareSoft won’t allow usage of any game footage for this.  So, the clever composers use footage of Disney works.  And with permission too.  Never thought I’d see the day Disney would pull a move cooler than a Japanese company.

Sonic

Sonic returns with more music!  Hey!  Where’s the mustachioed one?

Warcraft

A magnificent combination of battle music, it almost made me reconsider playing online RPGs.  Yeah, then my senses remembered what soul-sucking is and kicked back in.

Mario

There he is!  The original Jumpman finally gets his due during the concert with a finely-selected medley of his best themes.  Sadly, not enough footage of SMB 3.

Mario Piano Solo

Okay, I feel better.  Two for Sonic and two for Mario.  This time though, Martin Leung comes back out to show all you still-skeptics how it’s done in the hood… of stage right.

Chrono Cross/Chrono Trigger

Ah.  I love this game.  Playing it on my DS currently.  Wonderful themes, though it sounded like they played more Cross themes than Trigger.

Interactive Guitar Hero

This was the coolest segment of the whole show.  There was a Guitar Hero tournament before the concert.  The winner got to come up on stage and play Aerosmith’s “Sweet Emotion” on the screen on Hard difficulty while the orchestra played the song with guitar back-up by Tallarico himself.  The challenge – score 200,000 points.  The kid decided to go one step further and play it on Expert.  He scored over 250,000 points, the best anyone has ever done at any of the VGL shows to date.  He is my Guitar Hero.

Halo Suite and Halo 3

An impressive collection of music from the Halo series, immediately followed by music from the third installment.  I kept hoping for footage from Red vs. Blue.

One Winged Angel

A great rendition of the popular piece from Final Fantasy VII.  The choir was awe-inspiring.  Sadly, I’m still burned out from how overplayed this piece was back in the late ‘90s.

Castlevania Rock

Oh man.  Most of you know how big a Castlevania fan I am.  For me, this final segment was the oh-so-sweet cherry on an already delectable hot fudge sundae.  I think I was touched with the glossolalia at one point.  It was glorious.  But don’t take it from me.  Judge for yourself:

At the end of the concert, the fans started to filter out for the meet-and-greet.  As I made my way to the exit, one thought came to mind, and it was a strong one:

I need to go home and play all my favorite games that were featured tonight.  It was a strong and intense feeling, one that could not have been stirred up within me so easily.  And yet, these two master composers managed to do just that – they created an experience so incredible that it inspires fans to go back and revisit the games they love.  These guys are truly wizards.

I plan on going back for another dose of that magic.

The Don made it to the kill screen.  That is, he got killed on the first screen.

It’s pretty easy to write a “magical girl” anime.  Take one young girl, add an animal sidekick, some latent magical abilities, a world in crisis, and voila! – you’ve got the basic ingredients for stories like Cardcaptor Sakura, Sailormoon, or Alice 19^th.  Enjoyable as these stories are, they become extremely predictable.  Gee, Sailormoon is really the “Princess of the Moon”!?  Didn’t see that one coming!  But as forgivable as these predictable storylines are, sometimes it’s nice to find a “magical girl” anime that actually keeps you guessing until the end.  I’ve found such an anime in the surprisingly intriguing Princess Tutu.

Now, I know what you’re thinking (because I thought the same thing when I first heard the anime’s name) – “Princess Tutu,” probably the story of a ballerina and her happy, sugary friends who dance ballet in a land of sparkles and rainbows while repelling cute semi-evil creatures with attacks that include words like “dazzling” and “pink.”  But despite the name, Princess Tutu is anything but sugary-happy.  Its story has a good mix of comedy and tragedy, all stemming from its ballet roots.

Tutu’s story borrows heavily from a variety of ballet stories.  Each episode contains themes from a specific ballet, usually reflected in the episode’s title.  The character of Princess Tutu (a.k.a. “Duck”), herself, is a mixture of characters from Swan Lake and The Little Mermaid.  Besides the literary references, the characters also use ballet mime – motions that are like a type of ballet sign language – to help express ideas.  Of course, this is all reason enough to watch if you actually enjoy ballet (like me), but even this can’t compare to the real draw of the series – the characters.

It’s so easy for a series to practically hit you over the head and say, “Hey!  See that creepy guy?  You’re supposed to distrust him.  And that cute girl?  Root for her, okay?”  What’s not easy is for characters to morph over the course of a series so that you experience a whole range of emotions with them – fear, loathing, sympathy, admiration, and more.  In Princess Tutu, the character you trust one moment might be the character you hate in the next.  But no matter how many transformations a character may undergo, they’re all surprisingly believable.  These changes also shape the fairytale previews that open each episode.  What begin as allusions to classic ballet stories slowly turn into the real story being revealed with each passing episode; kind of the way the true story is revealed in the movie, Hero.

Just as the characters and story transition smoothly, so do the story’s settings.  In one scene, Princess Tutu is surrounded by the usual comedic school chums and the hijinks that go with them, and in the next, she is in a more reserved and serious world, mindful of the task she has sworn to see fulfilled.  Nothing ever feels rushed or drastically altered.  The pacing of the series as a whole is done well.  Even the ending is carefully set up, helping viewers to understand and make peace with the story’s conclusion.

For me, Princess Tutu is one of those rare series that has characters that come to feel like old friends towards the end.  They make you care enough to want to know what happens to them next while also not wanting to, to prevent the story from ending so soon.  When even the voice actors themselves are moved to tears at the end of the series, you know you’re watching something that had a lot of thought and heart put into it.

You can find the entire series of Princess Tutu for around $35 to $40.  I highly recommend it.  This way, when you start to experience the inevitable “Tutu withdrawal” that comes with the final episode of the series, you can ease the pain by starting back on disc one… Which… I think I might just do.

  Only a little more than a month ago I wrote about being pulled into Magic the Gathering for the first time at friend’s house. Here I am writing about the first tournament I’ve entered. Hopefully in another month, I’ll be writing about the first money I’ve won… Haha.

Anyway, yes, over the weekend I participated in a nation-wide (world?) pre-release of the new Magic set, Alara Reborn. Continuing from the previously existing Shards of Alara, this set brings a new ability, “Cascade,” and as usual, a whole bunch of game-changing cards that make all the awesome players drop their mouths in gaping awe and the casual players go “cool.” I am still amongst the latter, so I’ll give you my impressions here, but take them with a grain of salt. I’m no pro.

Cascade is interesting. You play a card that has this ability, and it allows you to thumb through the top of your deck until you find a card with a converted mana cost of less than the card with the ability and play it instantly, free of charge. In other words, if you play Hot Elf Chick and pay her 4 cost, the first card you find in your deck that costs 3 or less is played for free.

It’s kinda interesting in that it’s a kind of random deal. Pro players can organize their decks so that every card will serve some purpose at every turn, but as I discovered in my game, the cards that I was able to play via Cascade didn’t nessecarily work to my advantage all the time. When they did it was awesome, when they didn’t… it was “oh.”

One of new cards in this set is “Terminate,” apparently a remake of card from a previous set. I’m personally finding that cards like this, that allow you to instantly off another player’s creature are becoming more and more valuable as these creatures seem to be finding more and more ways to get buffer, quicker. I myself have several cards that can come into play and devour little foddery creatures and become powerhouses that could essentially wipe the other player in 2 turns. Cards like Terminate and the Oblivion Ring are becoming practically a nessecity.

I guess it’s a little sad to see the drawn out clashes of creatures go by the wayside in favor of simply dealing with creatures with a slight of hand.

As far as the tournment went, I was not unimpressed by how well I did. I fought 5 other players, beating three of them, including one of the guys who got me into this in the first place. Sadly, one of my losses was to my sister’s ex-boyfriend, who’s appearance at the tournament was a shockingly awkward and perhaps comical moment, but we’ll just leave that alone.

The real reason to participate in a pre-release tournment is to take home the foil bonus card whose awesome abilities are sure to please even the most casual of fans. This tournament’s card was the Dragon Broodmother, a fearsome beast who pops out dragons every turn like they were gumballs.

I traded mine away to some kid (he really wanted it) for three other rare dragons. Some might say it was a bad deal, but if that’s not proof that I’m not taking the game too seriously, I don’t know what is. (Besides, most people said I got the better end of the deal.)

P.S., I picked up Anne Bishop’s Black Jewels Trilogy. When I finish reading it sometime in 2015 I’ll review it.

Crybringer here!  Miss me?  No?!  Didn’t think so.  That’s why I brought gifts! 

On a HUEG Gradius kick after firing up the old SNES.  Not much to say other than working hard on comics, doing more art posts here from now on (there’s great writers here that cover enough obscure topics for my tastes, lol) and looking forward to next week’s post.  

Also, I want a Ruger/Rugul toy.  Wouldn’t it be neat to have a little remote control zako of your own to annoy the neighborhood pets with and shoot your mailman’s cart with airsoft bullets?  Just a thought.

 [PLEASE CONTINUE.]

Greetings, Sleestaks!

For today’s installment, I’m going to piggy-back on our resident Nerdy Barbie’s article from a few weeks ago where she communicated her adoration for colorful, interlocking, plastic bricks from Denmark.

She isn’t alone.  My wife and I are fervent connoisseurs of the do-it-yourself block builders.  We’ve both been collecting sets and/or bricks since we were at the age where you don’t get funny looks for going into a toy store and purchasing a set of non-bio-degradable construction kits.  We mostly collect the Star Wars sets (I get the vehicle/mini-fig sets while she puts together the deluxe sets), but lately she’s been building what I suspect to be her own city within the hallowed halls of her office (in fact, I believe on this past seventh day she rested).  I keep hearing what can only be described as… commerce. 

Despite our large collection (including some of the novelty items featured in Miss Barbie’s article), we still find ourselves looking for the next big set or keychain with which to interlock with the rest of our rainbow coalition of plastic crack.  But sometimes we find ourselves having to wait awhile before a new addition to the LEGO pantheon catches our eye.

Now, all of you other LEGO collectors out there are prolly thinking the same thing we are.  No, not “Did he just make a religious joke in reference to his wife?  Yes I think he did!  Why, that sick sonuvabasketweaver!  Get him!”  What you’re really asking yourself is, “Hey, where else can I satisfy my LEGO cravings?  I need my fix, man!”

You’re in luck.

According to engadget, LEGO has partnered with a company called Digital Blue to produce modern day gadgets in the LEGO style.  Now, the gadgets themselves are geared more for kids, but then again, so are LEGO sets.  For the die-hard (with a vengeance!!) LEGO fan, though, these are a must have:

First we have the LEGO MP3 player.  Only two Gigs of storage, but how can you resist the urge to decorate the top of that thing with more blocks, or even mini-figs?  For a brief outing where you only need to listen to about a thousand songs, this would make a pretty cool accessory.  Besides, you really should be more social in public settings.

Next up, we have the LEGO boom box.

Really.

A boom box.

Do people even call them boom boxes anymore?  This archaic item from yesteryear only plays CDs.  Or, if you really wanna go hi-tech, you can listen to the AM/FM radio.  Sadly, those are really the only tricks this pony knows (I did mention that these are geared towards kids, right?).  But, if you’re looking to spruce up a LEGO-themed room, you could do worse.  And remember, a boom box is not a toy.  Except for this one.

Here’s a gadget that’s actually kinda cool, and fairly functional.  The LEGO digital camera.  Now, it’s only three megapixels, but that’s actually not too bad if you’re the type to just take a casual photo here or there, like at a convention.  Heck, my Sony is only 3.2 megapixels, and the pics are still at a high enough resolution that they fit fairly snugly on a 1680×1050 monitor.

Okay, it’s a LEGO walkie-talkie.  A LEGO WALKIE-TALKIE.  Should suit your purposes just fine if you plan on getting involved in high school or college hijinks involving stealing another school’s mascot, going on a panty raid (do college folk even do that anymore?), or installing hi-tech surveillance equipment into the rival sorority because they and their frat counterparts need to taste nerd revenge.  Moving on…

Lastly, we have this little beauty.  No specs on it quite yet as it was just recently announced.  But, it will prolly be enough to handle your YouTube fan film needs, as well as that video resume you wanted to cleverly submit to the McDonald’s down the street so that they could see what an inventive and initiative-taking employee you’d make.

I poke fun at the items above, but to be honest – I’m just teasing.  Despite the obvious marketing target that these gadgets are aimed at, I think they’re friggin’ awesome.  Anything LEGOfied is pretty darn cool.  I’m really tempted to buy a couple of these items myself when they come out.

Except for that walkie-talkie.  I mean seriously, man.  It’s a walkie-talkie.  Over and out!

The Don wonders how many more times he can get the word LEGO into this article.  Ooh, there’s another one!

Greetings, my fellow Spwugians.

Remember that six-week-long course you were forced to take to fulfill some ridiculous college requirement?  You probably came out of those “how to study” or “find your true calling” classes with an armload of books you never cracked open and only an ounce more useful information than you started with.  What if I told you there was a six-week course that was actually interesting and gave you something useful for your hard-earned money?  If you’ve got six free Sunday afternoons and some extra cash (yeah, I know, I just snickered too) , the makers of Warhammer 40,000 and the new War of the Ring tabletop games have a proposition for you – to join them in the “Games Workshop Academy.”

For your fifty dollar academy fee (yes, that’s a “5” and a “0”), you’ll be enrolled in a six-week class made up of you and up to five other students.  Each week, you’ll focus on a different gaming-related topic – from figure construction and painting to rules and gameplay of some of the tabletop games the workshop offers.  During that time you may possibly score yourself a free (no slight of hand required) figure or two, and at the end of the course, each student receives a large case to house your future armies or any other game elements.  So sure, sounds fantastic on paper, but is the course really worth the hefty price-tag?

All sugar-coating aside – this academy is not for everyone.  If you’re just curious about model building or painting, you’re better off buying a book or searching for tutorials on the Internet, and spending the fifty dollars on materials.

This class is best-suited for people who are very interested in the Games Workshop games or similar tabletop games, want to know how to get started, and how to build the same awesome armies and terrain displayed on each Games Workshop game table.  The majority of the classes (obviously) are geared towards setting players up with the figures, paints, books, and other tools necessary to play the game.  In other words, in place of that fifty-dollar “Study Skills” book, you’ll be encouraged to buy the fifty-dollar game bible.  If you’re planning on playing the game, you’re pretty set.  If not, as with any other course, you can skip the homework that requires the book, deal with your instructor’s sighs, and move on.

Luckily, in my experience at least, the instructors never force the game on you – they’re more excited to show you how much fun you can have and how you can customize the game to your liking.  They don’t work on commission, so they’re free to treat you like a fellow human being, not part of a quota.  Just as with any other class, the instructor can make or break each session.  I definitely experienced a distinct range with my instructors.  My favorite instructor kept the class light and extremely nerdy, while my least favorite decided to spend most of the time talking (mainly about his awesome painting skills) and only allowed us a few moments of hands-on learning.  My advice is to check out your nearest shop beforehand and get a feel for the people working there.

One last piece of advice – if at all possible, try to take the classes with friends.  Not only will you have a better time (duh), you may be able to score a larger terrain set (i.e. a fort) to share collectively, and you’ll have more freedom over your schedule (i.e. Freedom to collectively postpone classes if need be.  Be advised that if you miss a class, your instructor will insist you make it up at some point during the week!)

My final verdict?  If you’re looking to get into these types of games or want to do something fun and nerdy with your friends, this is a good way to go.  If not, you’re better off sinking the money into materials and scouring the Internet.  I think I’ve learned some useful information from my time spent as an academy student – especially on how to build terrain.  Let me put it this way, if my home someday includes a miniature replica of Rivendell, complete with tiny working lanterns, you know why.

For more information about Games Workshop and their collection of games, visit:

http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/home.jsp

Does anyone here still read? No, video game text, comic books, or your screen at work doesn’t count. Nor do audio books. I’m talking about going to the book store, perusing your genre of choice, and being like, “This sounds good,” and taking it home. For me, that genre would have been fantasy, of course. 

I haven’t done that in what feels like 10 years, and it has probably literally been that long, if not longer. I fell out of place with reading. I think gamers like us tend to get so absorbed with our more media-driven hobbies that sitting down with a book just falls so far down the priority chain that it rarely ever happens. Add this to the fact that we aren’t the most socially driven sub-culture in human history, and you generally could go your entire life without talking to another game about what (if) they read. 

So you head to the bookstore by yourself. You figure, no problem. I’ll just go pick something up. But when you get there, and THIS is what you see, (not the two books, but the rows upon rows of books) the intimidation factor kind of takes over.

The entire face of the fantasy genre has changed. There are entirely new series’ that span multiple trilogies, games like Warcraft and Halo have their own expanded universes, and the Dragonlance books have exploded into an entire shelf worthy of being called “the RPG” shelf, where they can also dump the game strategy guides and D&D campaigns. 

So being a blog writer, I’m probably supposed to have the answer. I should be able to tell ya’ll, this is how you spot a good series, or this author is the bee’s knees, pick up his book today. But the last book I read was Christopher Paolini’s Eragon. And if you want my opinion on that… Well that’s another blog altogether. The two word review: It sucked. 

Hence the other problem. If you’ve been out of reading for so long, your tastes change. I’ve tried to get back into Dragonlance. But now I find that those books lack the maturity to keep me interested. Eragon suffered from the same problem. And people who actually CAN recommend good fantasy series’ are few and far between. It feels like an even more subjective market than regular reading, because once you take a dive into a series, if you can even find the first book, you’re in for the long haul. That seems to be a fantasy author’s end goal these days – suck someone into a world and keep them there for as long as he/she can keep the characters interesting. Makes you miss Tolkien. 

So without any further hemming and hawing about how lame the situation is, I’m gonna open this one up to you, the reader. (However few there are.) What do you read? Why do you read it? And for the love of god, do you know of any fantasy books better than Eragon? 

Greetings, Tribbles!

Apologies everyone.  My attentions have been focused on a friend and an emergency situation he found himself in this week.  Because of that, we’re having another meeting at the docks this week.

I wanna draw your attention to the new Star Trek movie coming out in less than a month (May fifth, for those keeping track).  There has been some light controversy surrounding J.J. Abrams and what his intentions are with a franchise that a lot of folks who know the Klingon language and have an affinity for green women (other than She-Hulk) consider holy.  Among those issues are things like casting, the fact that it’s a reboot (kind of), and the fact that a lot of minor details considered canon are being changed.  Some would say it’s almost worth quoting Shakespeare and yelling “Fire!” over.

I’ve been reading a lot of insider info from a couple of respectable movie websites, and I have read the prequel comic that IDW put out that was written by the same folks who wrote the new Trek script (which is also counted as canon).

I can say that I feel very confident that the new Trek will be quite good.  While not as geektastic as The Wrath of Khan, early reviews have all been positive, stating that it’s a solid little movie.  The continuity changes are actually on purpose and are tied into the plot.  And the actors hired do a great job of invoking the essences of their respective characters.  Not the original actors, but the characters.  So no, Chris Pine does not get all Shatnerian on your Trekkie Trekker Trekkie ass.  But he does capture the spirit of Kirk.

That said, there is one exception – Karl Urban, who plays medical cadet Leonard ‘Bones’ McCoy.  I recently watched a clip that features an dialogue exchange between his character and Pine’s Kirk.

Holy crap.

It’s like the ghost of DeForest Kelley got all Sam Wheat into Urban’s flesh suit.  The man has all of Kelley’s facial expressions, vocal inflections, and body language down pat.  And it’s subtle enough that it doesn’t detract from the performance.  Instead, you watch the clip going, “Holy crap, it’s Bones!”

Don’t believe me?  Check it out for yourself:

Shivers, right?

The past couple of weeks have got me turned around from being skeptical to being excited about this film.  And the best part is that this movie should be able to do what Rick Berman constantly failed to do for the past several years – make a Star Trek movie that is fun for the fans as well as for movie goers who are completely unfamiliar with the adventures of the Enterprise.

And I’m anxious to see it.  Beam me up.

Dammit, Jim.  The Don is a Spwug writer, not a doctor.  But he plays one on TV.

Yes, yes, I know the argument is old, but still, based on recent news, I feel we have some new evidence to work from.

Navy S.E.A.L.s recently had to defeat some pirates to save the life of a hostage.

Navy S.E.A.L.s are pretty much ninjas – stealthy, deadly, and all-around bad ass.

So if Navy S.E.A.L. = Ninja, and Navy S.E.A.L.s > Pirates, then Ninjas > Pirates.

Discuss.