I was able to cover this event over the weekend during toyfair and i was given an entire walkthrough of all the toy/merchandise line for Thames and Kosmos, Green Toys, Magformers, Peaceable Kingdom, Odyssey Toys and much more and here are the photos i have taken for it.
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I had no clue that this game was being made until i saw it at Toy Fair and i was blown away. The board game started life as a humble Kickstarter project. In time, however, it amassed an army of backers some 31,178-strong. These rabid “Souls” and board game fans then proceeded to raise more than $5.4 million in crowdfunding. Now that’s a Kickstarter success story!
The Company behind the game is Steamforged games and it is a 1-4 player exploration and combat game. It comes with many great looking minatures, dice, boards, cards and much more for you and up to 4 people to begin playing.
I was able to play in a boss battle against Dancer of the Boreal Valley (from Dark Souls 3) and i used both a Knight and Warrior to go against him. The Dancer’s actions are controlled by AI cards and your objective is to defeat him so you can advance to the next board. To do so, you have to have the best equipment and experience points avaliable. Your hits, dodges and blocks are determined by the dice and you will lose when both your stamina and health reach together. I was told that there was only about 5 people that actually defeated the Dancer since they started demoing the game back in the summer but I came close but i lost. When one player dies in the game, everyone else is sent back to the bonfire (or in this case, back to start) so it is recommended that you and your players strategize your moves before you make them.
The Game comes out in April and i cannot wait to try this in full.
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Get Ready for a great summer and fall as Mcfarlane Toys’ AMC The Walking Dead merchandise line of figures will be released around that time. I was able to take pictures of the Line and here we have a “taking it like a champ” edition of Lucielle (Negan’s Bat), a deluxe box set featuring Negan and Glenn, a 7 inch figure of Carl from when he got his eye got shot, a new character figure of Dwight (coming out summer 2017) and a 10 inch statue of Negan which looks awesome!
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RECEIVES 10-EPISODE ORDER
Castle Rock Teaser Trailer Has Been Viewed More Than One Million Times Since
Debuts Debut on Friday, Feb. 17, at
YouTube
SANTA MONICA and BURBANK, Calif. (February 21, 2017) — Hulu is taking viewers into the chilling world of acclaimed, best-selling author Stephen King in the new Hulu Original drama series Castle Rock, from J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot Productions, Warner Bros. Television and executive producers/writers Sam Shaw & Dustin Thomason. Hulu has ordered a 10 episode first season of the on-going series, with production set to begin this year. A teaser trailer for Castle Rock has been viewed more than one million times since it was released on Friday, Feb. 17, and can be viewed athttps://youtu.be/UGHupqE1LCI.
A psychological-horror series set in the Stephen King multiverse, Castle Rockcombines the mythological scale and intimate character storytelling of King’s best-loved works, weaving an epic saga of darkness and light, played out on a few square miles of Maine woodland. The fictional Maine town of Castle Rock has figured prominently in King’s literary career: Cujo, The Dark Half, ITand Needful Things, as well as novellaThe Body and numerous short stories such as Rita Hayworth and The Shawshank Redemption are either set there or contain references to Castle Rock. Castle Rock is an original suspense/thriller — a first-of-its-kind reimagining that explores the themes and worlds uniting the entire King canon, while brushing up against some of his most iconic and beloved stories.
Castle Rock reunites Hulu, King, Bad Robot and Warner Bros. Television, which previously collaborated on event series 11.22.63, based on King’s novel. The series will stream exclusively in the U.S. on Hulu and Warner Bros. Worldwide Television Distribution will distribute globally.
Castle Rock is based on characters and situations created by Stephen King. Sam Shaw & Dustin Thomason developed the project for television and serve as executive producers along with J.J. Abrams, Ben Stephenson and Liz Glotzer. The series is from Bad Robot Productions in association with Warner Bros. Television.
Sam Shaw and Dustin Thomason recently worked together on the critically acclaimed drama seriesManhattan, which ran for two seasons on WGN America. Shaw created the show and served as an executive producer/writer; Thomason also served as an executive producer/writer.
Stephen King is one of the world’s most successful writers, having published more than 50 books in an illustrious career spanning more than 40 years. His works have been adapted for theatrical motion pictures and television more than 50 times. Two feature films based on King’s books are scheduled to be released in 2017, The Dark Tower andIT.
J.J. Abrams co-wrote, produced and directed the blockbuster hit film Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and he is also producing the next chapters of theMission: Impossible and Star Trek film franchises. Ben Stephenson serves as head of television at Abrams’ Bad Robot Productions. In addition to Castle Rock, Bad Robot produces Warner Bros. Television’s acclaimed hit drama seriesWestworld (created for television by Jonathan Nolan & Lisa Joy) for HBO as well as 11.22.63 for Hulu and many other series.
About Hulu
Hulu is a premium streaming television destination that offers hundreds of thousands of hours of the best of current season programming, premium original content, films and full seasons of hit series to subscribers with limited commercials for $7.99 per month and commercial free for $11.99 per month. Hulu is the only subscription streaming service that offers current season content from the largest U.S. broadcast networks, as well as acclaimed Hulu Originals including The Mindy Project, The Path, 11.22.63, Difficult People, the Golden Globe® nominated comedy series Casual, and the upcoming The Handmaid’s Tale, Future Man and The Looming Tower. Since its launch in 2008, Hulu has been at the forefront of entertainment and technology and continues to redefine TV by connecting viewers with the stories they love.
About Warner Bros. Television
Warner Bros. Television (WBTV) is one of the entertainment industry’s most respected providers of original content, producing award-winning drama and comedy series for broadcast network television, cable and on-demand platforms. As of February 2017, WBTV is producing and distributing more than 30 primetime series, with programs on each of the five broadcast networks, in addition to shows on cable’s HBO, TNT and Showtime, as well as Netflix and Hulu. WBTV’s broadcast network series include 2 Broke Girls, The Big Bang Theory, Mom and Training Day for CBS;Blindspot, Powerless and Trial & Errorfor NBC; The Middle and Time After Timefor ABC; Gotham, Lethal Weapon andLucifer for FOX; and The 100, Arrow, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, The Flash, Frequency, iZOMBIE, The Originals, Riverdale, Supergirl, Supernatural andThe Vampire Diaries for The CW, among others. Its cable series include The Leftovers and Westworld for HBO, Major Crimes for TNT and Shameless for Showtime. For Netflix, WBTV producesGilmore Girls: A Year in the Life and the upcoming Disjointed, and distributes the upcoming Green Eggs and Ham, produced by Warner Bros. Animation. WBTV produces the upcoming Castle Rock and previously produced the event series 11.22.63 for Hulu.
We had the privilage of covering this event last week and we taken photos of the merchandise line of The Mummy, The Fate of the Furious, Descipacle Me 3 and Trolls and here are the photos.
Trolls merchandise line
The Fate and the Furious merchandise line
Descipacle Me 3
The Mummy
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Hotel Coolgardie which is directed, shot and edited by Pete Gleeson is a fish out of water tale which shines a light on misogynistic attitudes of Australian men albeit in the Australian outback. Two young Finnish girls try their luck when they take a job working as barmaids at a pub, Hotel Denver City, in a remote mining town, Coolgardie, in the Australian outback. Although they are forewarned by the female recruiting agent in Perth that they are going to a mining town and will be dealing with a lot of male attention from gentlemen, Lina and Stephanie take the job regardless, out of economic necessity.
Every quarter new batches of girls arrive to work the bar at Hotel Denver City. Lina and Stephanie are replacing Becky and Clio who are wrapping up their three month contract. Interviews with the male regulars of Hotel Denver City reveal that they view the girls as the only game in town, and the race is on to see who beds them first. Their employer, Pete, announces their pending arrival, on the sandwich board outside the bar, with the words, “New Girls Tonite”. The film documents Lina and Stephanie’s attempts to see through their contract and hold it together while they fend off the unrelenting male attention. Gleeson creates intimate portraits of these two young women struggling to maintain their dignity in a sexually charged atmosphere. You not only feel their discomfort and alienation but are worried about their mental health. They are subjected to rude and insulting language and behaviour not just from the blokes from the bar but from their boss, Pete, who does nothing to stop it but adds insult to injury by belittling them in public. I was thankful for the presence of John, aka “The Canman”, one of the male characters in the film, who presents a different male perspective. I was touched by John’s story and his friendship with Lina and Stephanie. The dramatic tension in the film doesn’t let up and if you want to find out what happens to Lina and Stephanie, well, you’ve got to see the documentary.
I found Hotel Coolgardie a fascinating documentary. Gleeson has done an excellent job editing his film as it moves fluidly between Lina and Stephanie allowing for two different perspectives, and by interspersing the entire film with day and night shots of Coolgardie and the Australian outback which situates their story in a cultural context. The film not only shines a light on misogynistic attitudes prevalent among Australian men albeit in the Australian outback, but, is a metaphor for the outsider, the migrant, who far away from home, most often alone, must learn an unfamiliar language and navigate and adapt to new cultural contexts and norms to eke out a precarious economic living. The documentary has tremendous educational appeal and can serve as a vehicle to promote human rights and social change. I highly recommend it for you won’t be disappointed.
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You have no idea how excited I am for Super Mario Odyssey, of course I haven’t played it so I can’t actually review it, but it easily looks to be the best 3D Mario ever, to me.
Gorgeous and epic like Galaxy, exploration like 64 and Sunshine. And my favorite 3D Mario games are the open worlded, explorational collect-a-thon types. I miss collect-a-thon platformers. A Hat in Time and Yooka-Laylee have been two of the biggest Console games I’ve been looking forward to thanks to the fact I miss this genre so much. I’ve been waiting with bated breath for A Hat in Time for years thanks to this. (Go check out A Hat in Time, by the way, it’s amazing and it should be on your radar)
This is THE Mario game I have wanted for over a decade. And I couldn’t ask for anything more.
Don’t get me wrong, I love Galaxy, it is so cinematic, beautiful, and fun, with a fun story. But I also really miss the open and explorational Mario type game. And I’ve missed them for a long time. I am so glad we’re going back to them.
Odyssey may even up being my favorite Mario game of all time, and if not that, my favorite 3D Mario at the very least. Yes, even more than 64, even more than Galaxy. Sunshine is literally my favorite mainline series Mario game of all time. And it has bugs and other problems, but I just love the feeling of immersion and exploration and just general relaxing beach fun the game has. And this game looks to be everything I love about that game, and more. I could not be happier right now.
Oh I just want to play it now, this really is going to be the best Mario game ever, isn’t it?
This presentation alone was made amazing for me just for this game.
As for Xenoblade 2 and why I’m so hayped for it, Monolith Soft has always been a little underwhelming in comparison to other JRPG developers aesthetically for how they handle anime aesthetics. They have done a mixture between anime and realism that can be done right in some cases, like how Square Enix did Final Fantasy XIV, but with Monolith Soft, it’s always felt a bit out of sync. Particularly with the faces, the faces have often been a little odd for my aesthetic tastes, at least. This has been the case since Xenosaga at least, before being acquired by Nintendo. And sadly it still exists to a degree for me with Xenoblade Chronicles X.
Because of this, I had kind of wished they were just go for one or the other, closer to anime or closer to realism or if not, figure out what works.
Of course this is just my personal aesthetic tastes. I don’t mean to offend anyone who thinks that the Xeno series has always had great faces and aesthetic sense. But this has always been a little bit of a disappointment for me for the series.
So to see them just embrace classic anime design and color, I’m very happy. It just looks pretty and like a classic JRPG now. I much prefer this to the fusion look with all of this realistic or gritty or whatever you would call the aesthetic of X. Nothing wrong with realistic or whatever it is they have been adding to the other games. But I kind of just miss the “classic” or “traditional” anime look from Xeno. And I haven’t seen it from the Xeno series since Xenogears.
I love the traditional anime look they’re going back to, it reminds me of a classic JRPG which is something I am so happy to see from Monolith soft again. Makes me feel almost like I’m going to play another Xenogears. Of course, this is totally silly and illogical, it’s just the aesthetic, it doesn’t mean it’s going to be another Xenogears. But watching the trailer and getting these illogical Xenogears vibes feels great. It makes me feel like I’m going to be playing a classic JRPG, and I like that.
I love the character designs. I love the look of the world. I love the voice acting so far. Everything about it looks great.
I also really like that airship town. Reminds me of times playing games like Skies of Arcadia. Again, basically comes back to reminding me of JRPGs I’ve played in older years, from the PS2 and Gamecube era and earlier. And done in a real sense. I feel like I’m not necessarily on the same page with everyone when talking about “classic JRPG” eras. Some of us have different things we liked about classic JRPGs, and I for one love modern JRPGs and have no pretense that JRPGs were this superior. But I do love the sense of pure adventure that I had playing a lot of them.
Adventure, plucky spunky adventure, that’s what I mean. When I look at that trailer, it gives me memories of when I first saw games like Grandia or Xenogears. I would love to play a game that feels like those games again from Monolith Soft. Xenoblade and Xenoblade Chronicles X have great things about them, but they didn’t make me feel like I was about to play something like Grandia again.
I really don’t know better how to explain my hype that that. I miss games like Xenogears and Grandia. And the fact when I watch the trailer it instills that kind of feeling in me has me excited in a way that the original Xenoblade and Chronicles X didn’t. It just has classic JRPG written all over it.
Also, Splatoon 2, do I need to say more? Okay, I have more than 700 hours of my life put into Splatoon for the Wii U and had to literally force myself to stop playing it. It is one of the best games of all time. And if Splatoon is in any way an improvement over the original, then I am in for the time of my life and a dangerous addiction. There are thousands of games I love and Splatoon is probably in my top 20 video games of all time, and I don’t even like competitive shooters. Splatoon is Nintendo’s best franchise in at least a decade and I am an addict. It turned me into an avid fan of a genre I thought I would never enjoy. Ohmigosh Splatoon is just so good. Like I’m not even sure if I can put into words how amazing Splatoon is. Phenomenal? Better than drugs?
So good that I wouldn’t have played any other games all 2016 if I didn’t force myself to put it down once Splatfest stopped. Good bye my life when Splatoon 2 drops.
And speaking of which, one of my other most played Wii U games was Mario Kart 8. I got seriously into that game. In fact, the two together are my most played games. I wouldn’t have even dropped playing Mario Kart 8 religiously if it weren’t for Splatoon. Literally the only Mario Kart game I hold in higher regard than Double Dash and super addictive. There is just so much content and polish in 8 that I cannot help but give it the spot as my number one Mario Kart game.
I was legitimately super sad when Splatoon, Mario Kart 8, and Super Mario Maker stopped getting more content. So I am super enthused that finally we are getting more Splatoon content and moreMario Kart 8 content. These are literally my top 3 favorite and mot played Wii U games and some of my most played Nintendo games of all time.
Let’s not forget Breath of the Wild. I was waiting for more gripping storytelling and narrative elements and this trailer had them. This may be also the best Zelda yet ever, though I’m not totally convinced it will be, I would not be surprised it it were. And my favorite Zelda ever is still A Link to the Past, so that’s saying something. This game might actually surpass a Link to the Past for me. Originally, this seemed like a better version of Skyrim for me, if Skyrim were awesome enough to have superior(to my taste, at least), Zelda character designs and aesthetic sensibilities and themes. Cool, but big roaming sandbox games already leave me overwhelmed. And I often get tired of playing sandbox games with big open fields to explore and want to go play like an RPG with more town and NPC focus. I was worried Breath of the Wild might induce that kind of over-exploration with not enough character interaction experience that has left me burned out before.
But this trailer really sold me on how epic this game will be. I got to see the darkness and the narrative and how gripping it will be. No longer does it just feel like aimless wandering until you get bored. The game now has a great feeling of narrative and I’m looking forward to it more than ever. Now I’ve seen the emotion behind Breath of the Wild and now I feel invested in it, certainly more than ever before.
So while I’m not as hype for it as I am the new 3D Mario, Splatoon 2, and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, it looks pretty good and I’m definitely going to have to give the game a buy and at least 40 hours or so of my time. More than anything, I want to see the story now.
So while some of the games I was looking forward to didn’t show up, the games that did made it super hype for me.
The downside is that, indeed, a lot of the games I wanted to see didn’t show up. Lots of games I would have liked to have heard about. But didn’t make an appearance. I’m talking Nintendo games and franchises that didn’t make a show.
So I can only hope that they make the service really appealing like PlayStation Plus has made their service.
Also, I was really hoping for $250. $300 feels a little high, higher than what I wanted to pay. But I’m locked in now, $300 I’ll have to pay, I guess.
Also, Setting up a paywall for online play flies in the face of everything Nintendo claims to be about. So I can only hope that they make the service really appealing like PlayStation Plus has made their service.
Despite the lackluster efforts in the past to engage in online gameplay, I respected Nintendo for keeping their online services free. Nintendo hasalways been about facilitating and encouraging multiplayer interactions with their consoles. From bundling two controllers with the NES, to making 4-player inputs standard with the N64 and even the Switch JoyCons, Nintendo seemed to understand that long-term loyalists could be made simply by allowing friends to play without having to worry about ongoing costs after an initial purchase. I felt that the free online service was simply another facilitation and extension of their core values of bringing people together through gaming.
Splatoon 2 will be completely useless without the service. And what’s worse, is the service will be available for free for the first couple of months after Splatoon 2 comes out and then the trial ends. Are young kids (or their parents) going to pay a monthly bill to continue to play Splatoon after they got to play for free? Smash, Mario Maker, Minecraft, and Mario Kart will also be severely lacking, if not unplayable, if one opts not to pay for the subscription. I think that’s going to be a serious barrier for entry for younger Nintendo fans that want to play online.
Assuming future Pokemon installments will come out for the Switch, will online Pokemon activity require the service? Kind of ruins the camaraderie of the games when many are excluded via real world financial barriers, doesn’t it?
I understand Playstation and Xbox have operated this way for a long time, but that doesn’t make it right. Nintendo has prided themselves with bucking trends in the gaming industry. I’m disappointed they would so blatantly screw fans for a small but steady revenue stream after such a long-standing opposition to such practices. It’s an obvious case of placing shareholders ahead of fans and loyal customers.
And that’s my long review and basic gist of the presentation, I guess. The highs were pretty high to be honest, but a few really disappointing lows, as well. Though the lows were more about what Nintendo is going to do to my wallet more than anything. I sure am glad I got years worth of Pokemon online and months worth of Splatoon for free, at least. Honestly, I wish Nintendo would make a legit MMORPG, now. So that a Nintendo online subsciption would feel like an MMO subsciption, which, olddly enough, I’m more comfortable with paying than just to play video games online which is free on other platforms.
By Robert “Rob Base” Greenwood
Handwritten items and documents, at one time, was the stuff of legend, but now it’s almost a lost art. The ability to write has trickled down to basic print and almost at that level seems overtly caveman-esque. (If you have seen what my penmanship and hand signature currently look like, you would understand why).
The Jot 4.5 e writer
Some believe it’s the advancement of technology, the advent of texting, and using computers that has declined our ability to write well. I also believe it has a strong factor only because the less you do anything the worse you become at it after time.
This is where Boogie boards Scribble n’ Play Featuring Colorburst™ and Jot 4.5 e writer come into play. Their ever reusable screens feels like a tablet but are not too straining on the eyes at all. This makes these boards easy to use, making them engaging for young children. In the long run, this will help them build that core strength in their fingers to enable them to write better.
After we gave our 5 year old the Jot to help her practice writing her letters and numbers, in a short time her penmanship increased 10 fold. Also, its design is easy for young hands to hold, which helps out a lot.
These boards can be simply used as scratch paper and/or playing great old fashion games like hangman.
The Scribble and Play’s Colorburst feature also brings out the creative side with a rainbow of colors at the touch of the screen. This really makes the product something kids and adults alike will want to always use.
Boogie Boards are something every household needs and, with the holiday season upon us, will make an excellent and useful gift under the tree.
From the press release:
Available in a multitude of global retail markets, Boogie Boards have become ubiquitous when it comes to electronic writing with the most natural feel of handwriting.
Seemingly “old school,” the Boogie Board technology was originally conceived in 1993 by two scientists; Professor Bill Doane of the Liquid Crystal Institute at Kent State University and William Manning of Manning and Napier, Rochester New York. After years of development, and more than 50 patents, these two experts were able to bring this unique cholesteric display technology product to life for everyday consumers.
Today, the Professor’s emphasis on the importance of traditional handwriting in the digital age for learning, “relearning”, improved memory, reading comprehension and overall cognitive development purposes is supported by researchers worldwide. In fact several recent studies have cited that handwriting can actually make you smarter.
Boogie Board proudly exclusively manufactures its LCD screens right here in the United States; with products available nationwide at most major retailers at a very affordable price.
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Outlander: Destiny Dice supports 2-4 players and game-play typically takes 20-30 minutes.
Each player rolls the 6 custom dice. The goal is to roll Jamie and Claire characters. Dark characters, like Black Jack Randall and Laoghaire MacKenzie, can ruin great rolls when they appear, while helpful characters like Jenny or Dougal, can save poor rolls. Players can alter destiny through action cards which allow players to re-roll dice or modify their roll.
After each player has rolled, players compare rolls. The best rolls advance their players forward on the destiny track, bringing Jamie and Claire closer together. The first player to get Jamie and Claire together wins the game.
Outlander: Destiny Dice was created by designer Kevin G. Nunn. (Sentinel Tactics, Duck Duck Go).
Outlander: Destiny Dice contains:
6 oversized custom full color dice
40 Action Cards
4 Reference Cards
8 Markers (2 for each player)
A full-color rulebook
The Outlander television series is adapted from Diana Galbadon’s New York Times best-selling Outlander