Wednesday 28 November 2012

One for the X-Men fans: X-Men: Days of Future Past



Original X-Men director Bryan Singer has just tweeted “I’d like to officially welcome back James McAvoy, Jennifer Lawrence, Michael Fassbender and Nicholas Hoult to X-Men: Days Of Future Past. Also thrilled to announce Sir Ian Mckellen and Sir Patrick Stewart.”

McAvoy, Fassbender, Mckellen and Stewart ... sounds like we are in for a treat!

Monday 12 November 2012

New Mass Effect Game Announced

So, time for us to do more of that Breaking News stuff! Bioware Montreal has just published a new blog post, an in it reveals that a new game set within the Mass Effect universe is already under development.


So what do we know? Not a lot. It'll be using the Frostbite game engine (which fans of Battlefield should be happy about), though with some of the snazzy updates developed for Dragon Age 3. I have to be honest, I'm a little behind on my Dragon Age 3 knowledge, but I know they've been doing quite a lot of interesting stuff (my personal favourite is the idea of generic armours that look different on different characters, so that they retain some of the personality starting costumes had).

Other than that, it's all up for speculation! Thankfully the Extended Cut endings clarified that the mass relays were only damaged, so at least a post-Shepard world isn't going to be some depressing post-apocalyptic setting. Other than that, who knows?

Personally, after the military-centric events of the previous three games, I'd like to see some other aspects of the universe fleshed out; the underworld of the Terminus systems would be a good choice. What does everyone else think?

Tuesday 6 November 2012

Female Turians!

Well, I'm sure I'm not the only one who wondered how we managed to get through an epic adventure the size of the Mass Effect trilogy without ever finding out what the hell a Turian woman looked like. Hell, all we know is that they possess the capacity for greater flexibility, possibly at the expense of reach.

Well, wonder no more!

I gotta be honest here. I probably would.

CVG has some screenshots from the upcoming Omega DLC, finally revealing female Turians; expect a net-wide increase in Rule 34.

Monday 5 November 2012

Skyrim: Dragonborn

So, generally when I make a post I do a little intro bit, like this. Then i post the video, like this;


Then I give my thoughts. Unfortunately, all I can say following this video is "wibble".

Actually, I lied. The other thought is; we all knew that Bethesda had put access to Morrowind and Cyrodill in the game. So if we're getting Morrowind, maybe...

Tuesday 30 October 2012

Disney buy LucasFilm

Breaking News! The Quantum Geek is now covering Breaking News! As it breaks and everything!

So, looks like Disney has now bought LucasFilm. And they plan on making more films. As expected, Star Wars fans around the world (as personified by the majority of people on my Facebook news feed) are a bit up in arms.

This seems to be the major concern.

'Course, I can understand the concern. I won't go into detail, needless to say you'll be seeing the arguments posted up a lot over the next few days. But in an effort to stem the endless tide of nerd rage, here's a few more positive thoughts...

1.) We've already seen the exact same flood of rage when Disney bought out Marvel. The effect on the comics? Virtually none that I can see. We also got access to Disney funding for Marvel Studios, which resulted in the Avengers movie.

2.) Speaking of said movie, it was written by Joss Whedon. If Whedon had written the Star Wars prequels, I'm fairly certain they'd have been a lot better, amiright? There's another rather famous fanboy film maker with something of a history with Disney (through Miramax, admittedly), by the name of Kevin Smith.

3.) This way I might actually see the $@%£ing live-action TV series before I die.

4.) I know it's a bit trendy to play Spit on Lucas, but for a while now he's pretty much been the only one to consistently balls up what the rest of the world thinks of as Star Wars. Lucas gave us Anakin Skywalker, Watto (a "Toydarian") and [expletive deleted] Jar Jar Binks. Other people working the IP? They gave us Mara Jade, Prince Xizor, and Darth Revan.

So yeah. I'm not without my own reservations here, I'll admit it. But even if the glass is half empty, it doesn't need to be a glass of Rancor piss.

Sony 007 Text-Based Adventure

So, anyone else old enough to remember the old text-based adventure games of old? I actually missed their heyday, as by the time I picked up and Amiga they'd pretty much been replaced by good old Point-and-Click games (and now that I've typed that, I've got a serious hankering to go play one. Maybe Flight of the Amazon Queen...)

As Dr Cooper says, they run on the most powerful graphics card of all; Imagination.
But if you've a powerful hankering for some nostalgia, or perhaps just want to kill some time before the evening showing of Skyfall (I saw it last night, but most of the Quantum Geek team are off tonight), this might be just the thing for you.

Turns out, Sony have commissioned their own text-based adventure, which can be found here, to tie into the release of Skyfall and their new Xperia. Best of luck, agent...

Tuesday 23 October 2012

Iron Man 3 Trailer

So, lets see; looks to be a bit of the old Extremis, the Mandarin, and... Iron Patriot, actually. Somehow I doubt Norman Osbourne'll be showing up, though. More's the pity...

Anybody else really wish Marvel could get the rights to Spiderman and X-Men back? Plus Ghost Rider and all the rest, but mostly Spiderman and X-Men...


Wednesday 17 October 2012

More books!

So, following on from Monday's post, I figured I'd point out a few more coming this way.

Death: Deluxe Edition
    by Neil Gaiman


Okay, confession time: despite being a big fan of Gaiman, and of comics, I've never actually read Sandman. Which I'm fairly certain is going to be one of those things I end up crucifying myself for when I finally do. I have, however, read Death: The High Cost of Living, after I found it in a local library years back and realised Tori Amos did the foreword. I always was a whore for Tori Amos.

The book rocked. Death is, strangely enough, a completely adorable character and right up there with Pratchett's much-loved personification of the end. This one collects that graphic novel, along with The Time of Your Life. And I rather expect that half will rock too.

Pariah
    by Dan Abnett


So, Abnett's Pariah is at long last up for pre-order. I've always been a fan of Games Workshop's gothic sci-fi Warhammer 40,000 setting, having played the games as a kid. Hardly ever get to play them any more (despite having had some serious Necromunda cravings of late), but I do pick up the occasional novel.

Frankly, they can vary a bit in quality. But as a rule, Abnett is definitely one of the better writers under the Black Library label, and his Eisenhorn trilogy is my favorite 40k series by a large margin. Granted I wasn't quite so enamoured of its follow up, The Ravenor trilogy, but it was still good fun. And now, at long last, it seems we'll be getting the third trilogy, Eisenhorn and Ravenor going toe to toe as seen through the eyes of Alizebeth Bequin.

Yep, I'm looking forward to this one...


Monday 15 October 2012

Firefly Book!

Ten years since Firefly. S'hard to believe, isn't it? I'm sure I'm not the only one who'd still bludgeon those damnable Fox execs with their own shoes as if the trauma had only happened yesterday...

Fortunately, there's a new book to help ease the horrid, horrid pain, and you can read a great in-depth look at it over at Wired.com.


So until next time, keep calm, stay shiny, and bludgeon a fox exec with his own shoes.

Sunday 16 September 2012

Flashpoint - the alternative Batman Universe


Apologies to anyone who is thinking 'Yeah, we all know this, so what?' - I didn't and I was excited!
Oh - and there *may* be spoilers.

As someone who doesn't read a massive amount of comics (I know, I know, strike me down!), my knowledge of cross-overs etc is pretty minimal, but I was rather excited when I discovered that there is an cross-over series called Flashpoint, in which the Batman universe is in a completely different direction from the one that we all know and love. In this alternative universe, it is Bruce Wayne who is murdered, not his parents Thomas and Martha. Torn by grief, his parents deal with it in drastically different ways. Thomas dons the now famous black suit to become Batman whilst Martha, who plummets into depression, slashes her face into a grotesque grin and becomes The Joker.

It's twists like this that make fairly wishy-washy comic fans like myself raise an interested eyebrow and even try and hunt down copies. More please, I'm intrigued and sold!

First picture of the new Robocop

First look at new Robocop from comingsoon.net

Not quite sure what to think to be honest. Any thoughts from fellow Quantum Geek-ers?

Tuesday 11 September 2012

I come bearing gifts.

Greetings, I am Sir Thomas, though I wouldn't be surprised if you had all forgotten about me. I have been rather... missing of late. Do not worry though, as I will make it all up to you soon.

Now, not much has been happening lately, and with stagnant times come stagnant attitudes. I was slowly sinking into debt and melancholy, thinking of all the things escaping my grasp from simple lack of money.

And then... an angel came to me. A figure of bright pearly white, and wings of alabaster shine. He looked upon me and he said... Borderlands 2 sweepstake.

Now, as many of you no doubt deduce by now, I greatly love Borderlands as a series. And you should to, because... quite simply, it is fun. And if you don't like fun, well, I don't like your kind at all. You should just leave. Go on. Leave.

They've left? Good. Now, for those of you who DO enjoy fun, I suggest entering this sweepstake. Even if you are short of money, there is a chance, a small chance, that you could enjoy Borderlands 2, and a few extra goodies as well. Merely put your name and your email address into the link above, and you may find yourself a lucky winner. Who knows. I've certainly put my name forward.

Actually. Don't enter. No one enter but me. That would be best, wouldn't it?

Good day, my friends.

FFVII Remake (Sort Of)

Hello all! Sorry about the delay, it happens to have been one of those summers. Normal service should resume shortly; in particular, I suspect you'll get to see me fail my studies as I instead devote an ungodly amount of time to playing the awesome looking Baldur's Gate remake.

Speaking of remaking classic RPGs of my childhood, this made me all manner of happy. Maybe it'll help tide us over until Square finally give in to peer pressure and remake FFVII, so grab a cool beverage and kick your feet up. My hat is tipped to you Jamie Colliver, whoever ye be.


Thursday 16 August 2012

Hatoful Boyfriend: The best game about dating pigeons I'll ever play




So...this exists...



A dating sim (Apparently no porn in it).
About dating pigeons.

So, searching the deepest crevasses of the internet, I found this.
And I found a full english version.
And I (possibly with some assistance from Sir Thomas here and there) will be doing a Lets Play in the future.
So you can all cry about the fact that I'm going after a bird you don't like.

So, I should explain.
You are an ordinary HUMAN highschool girl by the name of Tosaka Hiyoko, who has a...different name in my save game. That was, until you joined St. PigeoNation's Institute.

and birds. Lots of birds.
Oh, and if you're wondering why you, a human girl would go to a school for talented birds, they state "It's a long story." Thanks, that's great.

This is your first day of the new semester, but don't worry, you are here with your childhood friend.

Yup. A rock dove. Oh, and don't get used to that pretty boy image. They are only used for introducing the characters. But that makes it fine right? Just keep those images in your head. It'll make it aaaaaall fine.

So yes, I can't speak for much of the game, as I've yet to play it (that's the fun part), but there are a few potential "suitors". All birds.

The general gameplay is the same as most visual novels. Read text, read some more, choices. More text.
Pretty pictures accompany.

So...I'll have at least one video up soon I hope.

Till then...
COO!

Blasted Automatons

Greetings, it is I, Sir Thomas. Though... after my last post I have rather shunned that name. It has bad connotations with it now. If you don't know what I'm talking about... don't look for it. Don't want the video. Don't like, favourite and subscribe.

Sorry, I got a little off topic there. My mind is... reeling from the connotations of what I have witnessed. Metal men. Moving, screeching, angry metal men. They ripped and tore through everything in front of them, flesh and metal twisting beneath their cold palms as they bulldozed through buildings and people without a care or flicker of emotion. These... brutes, these terrible, unhuman husks of a gentleman, are upon us. But fear not. We have a select group of people to deal with these sorts of situations. We have men ready to give their lives for this cause. We have... the A-team.


Wait. The A-team are dead. Apparently there was a terrible mix-up with a movie crew, several large helicopters and the belief that you can throw money at anything and make it good. These robots run on piles of money. So... unfortunately this plan failed.

Instead, gentlemen, I have obtained six people who recently lost their jobs and will literally kill these monstrosities for food, the occasional refill of the canteen, and hats.

That's right. I'm talking about the TF2 mercenaries.



These... people... if you want to call them that, I'm fine with ragamuffins, but apparently they wish to be declared as 'people'... are willing to take out the approaching robot horde for very little money. In fact, you could almost call this free. In fact it is free. Everything about this fight is free. So... perhaps it shall be more entertaining to watch than we first anticipated.

They will be based in specific attack areas, in the throngs of the terrible horde of robots, and they shall be fighting off these hordes until they stand on top of a mountain of twisted metal. Or they lay snapped in half, screaming for mercy as robots tear their vital organs out and squeeze the biles into their eyes. Either way, it shall be a rather amusing bout of rough housing.

For those interested, the people organising these battles (known formally as Valve) have presented us with a bit of backstory and description of the abilities of these avengers of the human race. It can be found here. It contains descriptions of the mercenaries, their opponents, the upgrades available to them (if they chose to purchase some... and... you know... live) and the specific points in which they will be applauded for. It will be quite a fight, I assure you.

Those of you interested in taking part of a lucky "draw" for prizes, the admission is £0.99. A measly sum, I think you'll agree. It might be a bit addictive though, I advise caution against spending all of your money on the tickets. For those interested, here is a link to their Frequently Asked Questions about the prizes and the draw.

I know I will be participating with my friends in this wonderful sport... Or... fight for the human race, which ever this is. I just hope that my long string of losing bets has finally ended. I would hate to lose even more money on such adventures... Then again, if I lose, then humanity has lost as well. Perhaps a lack of money wouldn't be my worst problem.

Good Day, my friends.

Tuesday 14 August 2012

Gamescom is here & Tearaway is coming...

So there's this thing called Gamescom happening this week in Cologne, it's the worlds largest video games trade fair and today it kicked off with a whole bunch of press conferences by some of the worlds biggest publishers showcasing their upcoming games.

Sony also held a press conference which seems to have been a direct responsie to most of the criticism they received following E3 - namely that they neglected their new handheld, the Playstation Vita - of which I am a happy new owner (why I got the Vita and how I'm getting on with it I'll save for another blog post or two).  Suffice to say, they kicked off their Gamescom conference by announcing new games for the Vita, this was the one that caught my eye though - it's by Media Molecule, the guys that made Little Big Planet and it looks... well... amazing:


If you are quick you can also pick up a Vita for the BARGAIN price of £144 from Tesco - click here to learn how...






Sunday 5 August 2012

As I promised.

Greetings, I am Sir Thomas, and I have... a treat... for you today. A while ago, some of you may remember, I wrote about the Fanfiction 'My Immortal' and how it is the very Nadia of fanfiction writing. Some of you will also remember that I promised, at the very end, that I would do a reading of this terrible abomination. It gained popular opinion, and thus... I have spawned... this...



It toiled over a microphone for at least an hour, and the depths of the internet for countless more, to bring to you this... terrible fusion of internet memes, abhorrent fanfiction, and mumbled curses. I have done it. Not... all of it... the video was thirty minutes plus by the end of chapter ten... But it is a start. So... to all my friends... here it is. The beginning of the end.

Good day, my friends.

You Shall Not Pass - The Impossible Journey.


Sunday 22 July 2012

The Weird Wins

I claim the hundredth web log entry. Me. Sir Thomas. I have to claim what I can in these damnable times.

EDIT: I was lead to believe, by my erstwhile writer and strange game Enthusiast, Howell, that we were on the hundredth post at this current time. That is why you might have seen (I doubt it) a version of this post with a "hooray for a hundred" sticker at the end, and some kind of whimsical explanation that I wasn't actually stealing the hundredth post, I just had something to say, and I was buying time until I had something to say, until I thought about my subject here. We are not, I repeat, not on the hundredth post. We are on the ninety-second, with eight drafts saved. This means my colleague miscounted, and I was lead astray. Do no fret though. I shall endeavour to be the hundredth post anyway.
END EDIT.


So anyway. ParaNorman.


I have seen adverts for this movie popping up every now and then, but not very often lately. At a recent movie viewing (yes, the Dark Knight Rises was the current movie of choice. I am considering a review. Possibly a video one) I found a recent trailer for ParaNorman. It intrigued me, and since I have been given a handy... platform for my daily ponderings I decided to look a little more into it and report back here. And I'm rather glad I did.

First, the movie. As you can see, it's a horror, and an animated horror at that. A family friendly animated horror actually, dealing with spirits and other worlds and ghosts and ghouls. And I can already see a certain bulb flashing on in your head. Sometimes these bulbs have different names, say, The Nightmare before Christmas, The Corpse Bride, James and the Giant Peach (be quiet, some scenes from that movie terrified me as a child). The lights inside your head all lead back to one thing however. Tim Burton.

Now, I'm not certain about you... regular people, but I can't help but feel that Tim Burton has become rather saturated in the current market of Family Friendly Comedy Horror lately. A feeling that isn't helped by his latest instalment Frankenweenie.


I'm not here to badmouth Tim Burton. He has done brilliant work in the past, some true treasures, and I would not want to soil his name. I am merely suggesting that... if one person constantly produces items on the same subject, with little competition, the public can become... disillusioned with them. It doesn't mean their work has decreased in skill, it just means that variety is the spice of life. It's just the issue that, if you invented the formula, it would be a little insulting to call the work formulaic, and since his work is the only one present, it seems even worse. I believe this would be the best point to make some kind "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy" joke, but I honestly can't think of one. Make one up yourself.

ParaNorman deals with a boy, Norman Babcock. He is a loner, and weird, and generally disliked in school. This is not just because he has hair resembling that of a common or household paintbrush, but because of his ability to talk to the dead. Social seclusion has never caused me to develop a super power, but perhaps the curse of being a recluse is that I am not shunned enough. I shall have to attempt to go out into public some more, and see if a little extra shunning causes me to have the abilities of an arachnid or some such development. Then I shall be a super powered recluse. Enough speculation. Norman discovers an insidious plot, involving a three hundred year old curse, his unfortunately unstable Uncle and the dead rising from their graves. Now he has to save the town by using his gift of speaking to the dead. See what I mean about new?

An indication of what exactly awaits is the fact that ParaNorman is by the animators behind Coraline. You remember that movie? Well, fine, another Trailer for those who have forgotten.


If you amnesiacs in the readership have put away your laudanum and got your memories in the right way round, you will remember that Coraline was a very disturbing movie, with some very good Animation and a fresh story. This is something that it shares with ParaNorman by the look of it, while Frankenweenie up there is literally a combination of different horror movies that have been in film since it was... well, in black and white. Again, I have no issues with Burton's work, but Coraline and ParaNorman seem more enchanting to me because they are new, a new company, a new story, a new take on the world of Family Friendly Animated Horror. Perhaps it is a niche, but I feel it is a niche that needed to be filled.

Now... with the movie discussed I want to put forward my take on the people behind it. The LAIKA/ house animation studio. Facebook page for the studios here if you're interested.

From all I have seen (and I have done hours of extensive research) the people of Laika studios do what they love. I know it's a strange comment to make, but it should give you an idea of their work ethic at least. They want to put time, effort, their own lives and emotions out there... Judging from their own personal web logs, they associate with Norman on an emotional level. No, they never had to deal with mystical powers and talking to the dead, but they were outsiders. They didn't belong in their schools, people thought their weird, perhaps they were shunned by the 'popular kids'. 

They obviously brought their experiences with that along for this project, not in the treatment and eventual fate of those considered popular, just in the way Norman is shown handling his situation. Personally, knowing this information, I'm going to be a bit disquieted when I eventually watch the movie now, and consider what personal experiences could have been poured into the moments of bullying, segregation and emotionally crippling situations. Or perhaps I'm just reading too much into this.

These people are weird. They're also dedicated, and they know their audience. "What do I mean by that?" you ask. I mean mailing a buried coffin to Neil Gaiman with a stop motion zombie model inside it. "What the f-" you begin, before I silence your expletive with this link.



Sometimes, when a movie or game is marketed too much, it's because it is recognisably bad and people want to market it as much as possible to sell as many tickets opening night as they can. Something about this marketing ploy seems less greedy to me. I'm not certain what it is exactly. Perhaps it's that this is the first time I've actually heard of it, and I had to look into the movie personally to discover their unusual packages? I don't know. Believe what you will, this only makes me want to watch the movie more.

The official website (along with trailers, character descriptions, animator game, book extract, interviews with the cast and creators... and well... a whole collection of oddities... is here.

Facebook for the ParaNorman movie is located here. Twitter is here. They also are on Instagram under "ParaNorman". I honestly believe there are too many methods of communication in the current world. Sometimes I want to go some place where no one will ever look for me, or visit... an internet recluse if you will... Perhaps I will try Google+.

The official blog... or Tumblr... or whatever they are currently calling a collection of information in one place about specific subjects... is here.
(I like to call such things Encyclopaedias. That is a link to the Encyclopaedia of ParaNorman)

Now... I'm uncertain how this twitter thing occurs... but... oh dear. @ParaNorman and #Weirdwins
Should any of them see this web log, I would very much like to hold a discussion with them where possible. Perhaps there shall be tea. Or if the discussion would be held over a long period of time via some kind of electronic means, perhaps there shall be many cups of tea. If they would like to offer me a writing job, as I find myself sadly lacking in the employment department, I will require something slightly stronger than tea to celebrate with.

Good day, my friends.

Saturday 21 July 2012

Obscure Games you might not have heard of: Persona 3

So, Howell's back again for another obscure game.
Although I confess, this isn't hugely obscure. That is to say people might recognise the name at least.
But dammit Jim, it's not well-known enough!

So. Shin Megami Tensei.
More specifically, it's spinoff, Shin Megami Tensei: Persona.
More specifically again, Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3.

I'm sticking to the third one, just because it's the main one I've played.
Not to say I've completed it, but, well, I know what happens...And the only other one I've touched is Persona 2, and only briefly.

I don't half ramble at the beginning of my blogs do I?

Anyway, I thought I'd write about this one, as, well, I enjoy it. I even wrote an essay on it, which may get paraphrased in here in tiny bits. But yes. It, along with most RPGs, gets brushed under the carpet by Final Fantasy, and as much as I like the Final Fantasy games, I still think that's a shame.

So, on my fifth paragraph, it's about time I start.


Why yes, he did just shoot himself. Oh, I should mention, the game's themes are a little messed up. This is me, did this surprise you?

So, you're the new kid in school, your parents are nowhere to be seen, and you get put in a mixed-gender dorm. Hmm, this seems more like a dating sim setup. But surely this isn't one of those kinds of games?

Oh, sorry odd angelic girl, I'll just close the door.



Oddly enough, that gameplay does form a large chunk of this game. In fact, to cut this blog a few paragraphs short, this game is a *deep breath* Dating Sim/Monster Breeding/Dungeon Crawling/Japanese RPG, or DSMBDCJRPG, maybe. Do try to keep up.

You see, I'll come back to the dating sim idea. For now, monsters. In this game, you control a party of up to 4 characters at once, but each character has what is known as a Persona (Ahh, the title, it makes sense! Now what about Shin Megami Tensei? Oh, that just means True Goddess Reincarnation, let's ignore that).
A Persona is "another side to a person's character, behind the mask they put up for people in real life. Or simply, it's a summon. It's how you do magic or special skills. You, the main character, have a unique gift however. You can use multiple Personas (not sure what that tells us about his psyche...).
Early on, you meet Igor, the owner of the Violet Room. In there, you can merge Personas into (normally) a better, stronger one. And depending on the related Social Link to the Arcana of Persona you are creating, it can gain bonuses.

Woah, slow down Howell, Social Link? Arcana? Okay.
Every Persona has an Arcana, like those seen in Tarot cards, you know, The Priestess, The Heirophant, The Fool, The Devil, all of them.
Every Social Link you make has their own unique Arcana too.
So if the Persona's Arcana has a high level Social Link, it gets bonuses.

So what's a Social Link? Oh, that's the dating sim-like aspect.
You see, you're a school student. A new one at that. So what's something you might need to get? Friends.
The gameplay is actually split into several segments of the day. Morning, which is usually School Time, with lessons, which, unless relevant, are skipped. Afternoon, which is when you can socialise, or get jobs for money and stat boosts, and Night, where, like any normal student, you venture into the Tower of Tartarus, and go around killing monsters called Shadows. What, you don't do that?

I mean, this isn't weird, right?

So, you might be wondering. I mentioned creepy things. All you've seen is a weird tower, named after the pit of the underworld, and a guy shooting himself. Sorry, I should go into that.
You see, that's not a gun. Well, it is, but...
It's an Evoker. It looks like a gun, goes BANG like a gun, but doesn't kill you. It's explained that it gives the feeling of death to the user, which clears their minds completely, allowing their true persona to shine through, their Persona. That's just how you summon the monsters.
Old video, but relevant. And amusing. Don't try this at home.

So, suggested mental suicide, and the underworld. Still, it's Japan, so not so weird.
The Dark Hour. This is an hour between one day and the next. To the usual person, they either sleep through it, or they don't notice it happen. That'd be because this is what happens to normal people in the Dark Hour.

It's like a depressing Abbey Road isn't it?

Yeah, we get trapped in coffins, and likely blackout. Nothing big and creepy.
For those who are awake however, they have to fight the Shadows. That is, if they have a Persona, or know how to use it. The game suggests the others are killed by Shadows. So hey, you're lucky you can fight.
You might think, "I'd rather be in the coffin". Oh, the plot thought of that. You see, the Shadows have a bad effect on people. They make them all depressed and zombified. They call it Apathy Syndrome. The end results being coma, or suicide. Yup, suicide is apparently all because of monsters we never see.

So, you go around killing them, and then, on every full moon, BOSS BATTLE!
The game has an in-game calendar, which forces the progress in the story.
So, you kill the boss, and people return to normal. Then the next one starts showing up.
The initial stages do seem mildly repetitive, but the rest of the story keeps you from thinking that most of the time. You get to know people, you can even fall in love.
And even get scenes like this. I SWEAR IT'S NOT A HENTAI DATING SIM!

So, I've managed to skirt around the main plot, and avoided big spoilers. I'm impressed.

I could go into how the game's constant progression feels like the days ticking you closer to death, and other factors, but I'll be nice, and just leave you with the intro video to the PSP version I play.


And as an added bonus, a picture of one of the many Persona you can create. Maru.

I SWEAR IT'S NOT THAT KIND OF GAME!
Oh yeah, happy 99th post on the blog!

Thursday 19 July 2012

Star Wars: Call Me Maybe

Because everything is better with Star Wars. Yes, even that.


What I expect from The Dark Knight Rises



I Enjoy Partaking in Terrible Movies

Greetings, Sir Thomas here again. Though on the weekends I am Geoffrey Dahmer, owner of a roadside cafe. Please use my more common moniker.

I find that I enjoy the occasional bad movie. And when I mean bad movies, I mean good movies, movies that enjoy self parody, are not afraid to crank up the silliness, the gore or the absurdity. I have found solace, in the recent months, from such amazing titles as "Hobo with a Shotgun" and "Ironsky". Firstly, a tale of a vigilante homeless man killing paedophiles, rapists, murders and thieves on the streets of the worst city imaginable, using only a shotgun and a friendly hooker. I believe it is based somewhere in New Jersey. It's like the latest Batman feature, if he was poor. And used a shotgun. And was homeless. And Catwoman was a prostitute. So not much of a stretch.

While Ironsky is based on the moon, partly, with an attack from moon Nazis looming, one used-to-be-black-fashion-model (no relation to Michael Jackson) has to somehow convince the hot Nazi woman that Hitler wasn't all he cracked up to be. With a threat of iPhone powered lazer death beams from space, he has to act fast before the American president (who is so close to Sarah Palin that I bet they use the same hunting rifle) can hand over all the power of America to the charismatic Nazi forces.

Well, as you can see, I enjoy the occasional partaking in B-grade, low quality good concept movies. Even though sometimes they have good quality, and amazing concepts, the spirit stays the same. So I am very, VERY glad to announce that one of the best B-movies out there, Starship Troopers, is getting a sequel.


Why am I so glad about this? Specially since the Starship Troopers movie already has at least TWO sequels, neither of which really made an impression on the B-movie industry? Well, just... LOOK at it. It's a Halo movie practically. With the original cast (yes, that includes Neil Patrick Harris) returning for this animated slaughter-fest, this new sequel is looking impressively put together. And the dialogue is perfectly serious, with JUST enough cheese added to it to make it seem like a real B-movie. Of course, you can say that it's relying a little too much on big explosions and scenes, and you lose some of the original charm with the lack of staying close to a bunch of live action people being ripped to shreds by the giant insects... But this gives me a little hope for the Starship Troopers label at least.

If you have any B-movies you suggest I watch, or even terrible ones, then please do suggest it in the comments. I will say now, I have watched "The Room". All of you who know what this is, you know my pain. All of you who don't know what this is... perhaps drop a comment to show your interest in this subject.

Good day, my friends.

Wednesday 18 July 2012

The Dark Knight is Confused.

48 hours to go!!


The Dark Knight & 60's Robin

There's not long to wait now until the conclusion of Chris Nolan's Dark Knight Trilogy, and the reviews that are being posted online are almost unanimously positive - but while we all have to wait a little longer, here's a video I came across that asks the question: "What would Burt Ward's Robin make of Nolan's batman universe?"... Enjoy!




Tuesday 17 July 2012

Fan Film: Dirty Laundry

Okay, here's a fan film for you, by the name of Dirty Laundry. No, nothing to do with the 2007 film with Rockmond Dunbar (thank you Wikipedia) or the Don Henley song (thank you Don Henley).

Why is this film so good? Aren't fan films usually terribad? Well, actually they aren't always, sometimes they're pretty damn good. Given that this one stars Thomas Jane in the lead, with Ron ****ing Perlman in a supporting role, I'd suggest you give it a chance.

Oh, just don't watch it with the kids around. This one has (gasp) naughty words and (ohnoes) violence and stuffs. Yes, your kids probably know more swear words than you anyway, but Social Services takes a hard line.

What's that? What is this a fan film of? Well, that'd be telling...


Sunday 15 July 2012

Friday 13 July 2012

Mass Effect 3 Extended Cut: Review


So, a while back I promised that as soon as I finished a replay of Mass Effect 3 I'd give you all a wonderful review of the new Extended Cut DLC. By now I reckon you must all think I'm a really, really slow gamer. I promise I'm not completely useless, but a few real life commitments took over (including my performing in support of Gillian Mother****ing Clarke I might add; glory in my magnificence!) and it's taken forever to get this written up. Sorry about that...

Anyway, enough about me. You don't care about me, you care about Mass Effect. And so you should, as I've never stabbed a Husk with a kitchen knife, much less an omni-blade. Spoilers abound, after the handy cut...

1st Robocop poster from comic con.

Can't wait for this...

Borderlands 2 Trailer

Sir Thomas here again. Get it? Got it? Good.

A new trailer for Borderlands 2 has emerged, and it's amusing, incredibly satisfying, and slightly childhood ruining.


Exactly what genius decided to put these things together? That song, and this video? I mean, it's not exactly the first thing that pops into your head is it? What is the best song to put the whole sale slaughter of masked bandits to? Wimoweh, from Lion King. The remixed version. Right, that's makes perfect sense.

But damn if this doesn't work. Say everything you want about Borderlands, it certainly knows how to advertise. I hope to be playing this straight after it comes out. And I hope to be playing this for a long time after with friends.

Good day, my friends.

Monday 9 July 2012

Extra Credits

Greetings, I am Sir Thomas. Not Saint Thomas. Not Lord Thomas. And certainly not Lord British, that is a completely different person entirely. I will repeat my moniker until you manage to repeat it.

I am here today to tell you about certain people. I am talking to you about them because I had literally nothing else to talk about. These are the people I turn to when I want to think of something new, perhaps something innovative, perhaps something I've known for a long time, but never looked at from a particular angle. I was racking my brains to think of something, anything, to present you with. In my hubris I turned to these people for inspiration, something to think about. I decided, the moment the page had loaded, to instead tell our dear readership about them instead.



These people are James Portnow (in Blue), Daniel Floyd (in Green) and Allison Theus (in Pink), or, as I shall hence on call them, "Extra Credits". They are a mostly gaming show that examines the industry, the structure, the jobs, the market, the laws, the best moments that have ever happened and the darkest shadows that have crept across their medium. These people, these talented, intelligent people, have made me feel as if I am the future of a new art form, an unexplored horizon... and then a few episodes later, can make me consider myself a base beast of ignorance and spite, and question my choices in life. They do not shy away from the hard questions, or the ugly and difficult truths.

Make no mistake, they are not all about gritty realism and the issue of gender politics in games. They spread humour in their videos, through art, word play, and just... to me... the atmosphere. There are very few places on the internet I go to learn and laugh. This is one of them. I suggest you watch it. If not for the fact that you're learning from people directly involved with a developing industry, but for the fact they are always on top of the latest and most vital news. A PIPA and SOPA episode? Certainly. Crowdfunding and Kickstarter? Of course. They even recently had a Politician guest starring to discuss how the public can effect Government, because their fans sent in so many letters displaying their feelings of powerlessness when PIPA and SOPA were introduced. They go above and beyond the cause.

To me, although I blush to admit it, these people are something to aspire to.I know it might sound strange, but someone who does a day's honest work, comes home and develops an internet show with their friends, just to better inform and educate the masses... there is something noble in that. An honesty to them, if you will. Perhaps I am aggrandising them too much, I am rather a fanatic of theirs, but I'll give you an example of what they do.

A while ago, Allison, the artist, had an issue with her arm. I'm not certain what it was directly, I am no doctor, but I believe recalling that it was an issue with the tendons. This would make drawing, her profession, incredibly difficult for her, and she would require an operation to fix the issue. This operation, since she is in America, would have to be paid for out of her own pocket. She did not have the money.
The people at Extra Credits turned to their fans. They made it clear, it was a charitable donation, they asked you only give what you can to help Allison. The result was... incredible.
Fans gave money so quickly that they reached the desired amount in a few hours. Then they kept giving. Extra Credits had inspired so many people that the final amount received staggered all previous expectations. And now, they had an issue.
Allison had her operation, a smashing success, with guest artists coming in in droves to take her place and support Extra Credits while she recovered. But by the end they had a lot of money extra. Ask yourself what you would do in that situation. Refund it? Impossible. Give it away? It rather defeats WHY these people gave the charitable donations to you, doesn't it? How about giving it back in a different way?
These people, these wonderful people, came up with a plan. They would take small time developers, indie companies surviving off of scraps, and they would nourish them. They would support games with these funds. And what is more, the fine people at Extra Credits are aware of all the traps and foils of the Game industry. They knew when people were being abused, or tricked, by crafty Publishers. They lined these problems out in front of the audience, and they killed them all, promising that they would be a fair Producer, and all money made by this venture, would fall straight back into the fund to Produce bigger and better games.

I do not believe I have to tell you anything more. These people are honest. If I was to describe them in one word, it would be Honest. Yet, this is my own opinion. My own beliefs of them. You should watch. You should observe, and either deem me mad, or praise their excellence. I ask for none myself. It is their work. I merely pointed it in your direction.

Good day, my friends.

Sunday 8 July 2012

The Dark Knight Rises - 14 minute Featurette


Not long now...



Directive 1: Serve the public trust....

Robocop was the first 18 rated movie I ever saw, I must have been around 11 or 12 at the time (VHS FTW) and it's one of those films that's stuck with me over the years.  The sequels & spin offs were largely forgettable but Paul Verhoeven's modern day messianic story is, to me at least, one of the greatest science fiction films of all time and certainly (imho) is his best work.

So fast forward 25 years and Robo is getting a reboot, I'm normally cynical about such things but the cast looks good, and if this teaser is anything to go by, the new film is going to have the same kind of vibe as the old one - count me in as being a little bit excited...



Obscure RPGs you've probably never heard of, or will unlikely ever play - Suikoden


So, It's been a little while *ducks from all the "boo"s and bottles being thrown*. Unfortunately, life gets in the way sometimes.


Anyway, on with the show.


So, it has come to my attention that my two main areas of expertise in nerd culture, is mildly obscure anime, and very obscure videogames. Particularly RPGs. As that list is very long, and very geeky, I thought I'd show it some love on the blog. So this might become a regular (for me at least) section.


So...Suikoden.


For the purposes of this blog, I'll talk only about the first 2 games, and not mention 3, 4, 5, or any of the spinoffs.


So, Suikoden. Made by Konami for the Playstation (3, 4 and 5 on PS2, and one spinoff, Tierkreis on DS).
So, shocking that it's Konami yet you haven't heard of it? Strangely, it has always been quite a 'cult' game, never becoming as massively popular as Final Fantasy.


So why am I bothering talking about it?
Not just because I'm a hipster gamer (No, I'm not, I just love JRPGs).
It's just that these games have amazing story, great gameplay, (Oldschool JRPG battle with an 'Auto' attack button? Thank you so much!) and amazing characters.


Oh the characters...I should really mention that. Every Suikoden game has one thing in common. Recruitable characters. Not a shocking prospect. However, the sheer amount. 108 is the usual number, with it occasionally going higher with 'bonus' characters. Now I don't just mean there are 108 characters you just befriend. How about a diagram?


There we go. The 108 recruitable characters in the first game. The ones with blue borders are your shopkeeps, mapmakers, etc. that can't fight in your battles. Those in red? Those can be in your party. Up to six at any time (with the top left being your player character, so he has to be in it).
A nice added bonus is that, due to the games taking place in the same world, you begin to see familiar faces if you play multiple games, and occasionally, if save data from previous games exists, you can get their old, awesome equipment, as well as some other bonuses on occasion. But the best part about these characters? They all have their own stories, varying from a ditzy teleporting magician, a family of blacksmiths all working to become better than each other, a former enemy army commander, to a little old gambling lady.




I mentioned army commander. Because that is essentially what you are making. An army. You see, while this is mainly a normal RPG, there are several army segments, different in each game.




These army battle however are rather important, as they are the only time that your recruited characters can die permanently. And that means bye bye to your completion bonus, and your good ending.


Yes, these games also can have multiple endings, or at least added bits, normally simply by getting all 108 characters, though in the second game at least, certain actions, along with whether or not you recruited everyone, can give you many different endings.




So that shows the interesting gameplay and the characters, what of the story? This time, I really won't give spoilers, as I'll talk of the series as a whole. Simply stated, they are all about war, usually caused by runes, like the 27 True Runes, which give people immortality, as well as untold power. So, war inevitably breaks out over them, and so begins several stories of betrayal, friendship, war, death, and glory. Enjoy. Oh, and here's a nice little opening video from the second game and a reminder, it's a rare game, yes, but there is the internet. I'm sure you have your means.


And as an added note, I'm kinda going as the main character from the second game to October's London MCM Comicon expo. Should be fun to see if anyone recognises me. The tonfa will make it quite fun too.





Saturday 7 July 2012


Ladies and gentlefolk, Alan Moore!

The infamous bearded master of comics and hater of the big screen is at it again, dividing more fans than marmite.
Moore has always been pretty against the visual medium especially in regards to his own work and he certainly hasn't been shy to say so with bitter words about adaptions made from all his work even the legendary watchman by Snyder which I though had a better ending than the comic and I loved the comic (I'll be crucified by Alan Moore die hard fans now) .

 I should add hes not happy about the new before watchman series coming out and maybe hes right there, its clearly a gimmick and even a few of the talented writers and artists working on the project say the same. when Alex Garner was asked if he thought DC comics was running out of new ideas he said;

'More like following a tradition of riffing on previous titles.

                      Don't get me wrong, DC isn't doing this because watchman was an incomplete work
                      that demanded prequels and sequels. its doing this because its commercially viable. and
                                                      who cares so long as its done well?'

so who does care?, well, me. Alan Moore cares, you?

Garner is basically saying yes its just for cash but hey it could be great and here I sit very on the fence. On one hand here DC is going against the will of the creator *biblical voice* and creating this stuff as a gimmick but with the talent working on it maybe they'll create something great, maybe they'll put a fresh spin on a great set of stories and characters and come out of this smelling like roses. whats wrong with that right? but heres the sledgehammer landing on that purring kitten of success, then what? DC do a great watchman, it sells, fans love it, it makes money, then what? More sequels? a prequel movie? and if they're all successful? an animated kids TV show with the cheap graphics and terrible voice acting? this is the road to rostarch being a bobblehead on the front of some 5 year old girls school desk and alas the original story is butchered and bastardised. the original story cut up and sold off in parts like your nans old car.

Anyway Moore is now writing his black and white films described as 'noir' and 'occult', I for one cant wait for this, its a multi- layered story spun across a series of short films, First ones called 'act of faith'. keep your eyes peeled. funny Moore should suddenly write for the big screen after all his beard muffled complaints but maybe its because hes involved in the whole creative process with this one.

Toodle pip.