Welcome back

If you live in the UK you will be thankful that spring has finally arrived enveloping the country in its warm glow and putting an end to the long the long dark winter we have been suffering through.

A prime example being working early morning shifts, most people know of the depressing feeling of waking up in the morning in darkness, then returning home again in darkness. However slight, a little bit of sun can really kick start your motivation.

Spring can be seen as a new beginning to accomplish or try new things, and while it is never good to set aside certain dates or times to accomplish goals, yeah I’m looking at you new years, spring does have that 
refreshing prospect that no other season captures.

Redesigned

I hoping that readers will enjoy the redesigned simple look that I’ve gone for, with the added image on the right which will be updated on a regular basis. Allowing the site to constantly stay fresh without changing the main template.

Twitter feed

I wanted the site to be more involved and personal so I’ve added the additional twitter feed to the right of the page which I’m hoping naturally blends into the template with it being intrusive. Plus it’s a great avenue to connect with readers directly.

Well, that is all I’ve got for the moment if you have any comments about the redesign let me know bellow.

Comics picks for January 2 2013

New year, new feature. Behold my weekly comic top picks.

This weeks comics start the new year off with a bang, both Marvel and DC are pushing out fantastic titles each week and here are some that stood out to me:

Batman Inc #6 

If you have been reading Grant Morrison's run on Batman Inc or Action Comics, then you will know full well each month is hit or miss. I can safely say this weeks is a great issue, which is filled with exactly what you have come to expect and most importantly, what you want from this series. Also lets not forget the almighty Bat Cow returns. Matched with Chris Burnham art he continues to bring Gotham to life like no other. As the series marches I honestly can't wait to see what this team has in-store for the caped crusader.

If you haven't been reading this go back and pick up the series you won't be disappointed.

All New X-Men #5

As someone who has just stepped into the comic world of the X-Men you would think a story arc matching up the new and old X-Men would be a nightmare for new readers. However each week they have managed to pull it off.

The series feel like the kind of X-Men story you want to read each month. Issue #5 deals with Jean Gray, confronting what her life is set to become, which is handled in a beautiful manner. It opens up the question of what would you do if you knew what lay ahead in life, and raises questions of where the series may go next now, that the first arc is over. Keep an eye on this one.


Check back next week for more of my weekly comic top picks.

Guardians of Middle Earth

It’s December the big titles have hit the market and gamers are deciding what to play for the rest of the year. So you would think It is the time for gaming bliss, unfortunately this isn’t the case for me. In all honesty, 2012 has been a disappointing year in gaming with a few highlights over a very mediocre year.

Therefore, I’m looking to different shores to get my gaming fill. In addition, Xbox Live Arcade is a good place to dig into to in times like these. Guardians of Middle Earth might just be that. Released on XBLA today, it brings the MOBA to consoles. The formula might sound odd to some but Monolith might just be the studio to do it right. It really is the first shot and seeing if a MOBA can sink or swim on consoles.

Although the MOBA genre which is dominated by DOTA 2 and League of Legends, It has passed me by. However, I’m a sucker for strategy games. Sit me down in front of a decent RTS and I will be happy for hours.

I’ll be downloading this tomorrow morning and I’m going to post up my impression of the first few hours of the game.

Check back later for my thoughts on the Guardians of Middle Earth.

Jumping in to 2000AD

Here is your chance impress me!

It has been just over a year since I've started reading weekly comics. Though this wasn't my first foray into the medium. I've been collecting graphic novels for quite a few years, the majority of them coming from publishers like DC Comics

I guess you could say my choices have been rather safe or reserved in the grand scheme of things. I've been trying to branch out since DC's New 52 hit last year. Picking up titles that I wouldn't normally try like Wonder Woman, purely to try something new to see if I like it. Turns out I love the character.

I'm also picking up other non superhero comics like Swamp Thing and American Vampire, both of which are written by Scott Synder. Who is pound for pound the one of the best writers in comics currently.

It has been a great philosophy that is working wonders. I recommend anyone reading this to give things a shot that they wouldn't normally try. It general people tend to want to play things safe.

So what does this have to do with 2000AD? well a lot actually. I've always been fascinated my Mega City 1, the Judges and the ABC Warriors. However I've never taken the plunge into the world, there has always been something holding me back.

I'm working at a place with a steady income every month it really is the time to give 2000AD a chance. because the way I see it, if I don't end up trying it now I never will.

With that being said, where am I starting? I'm going in two different directions. Firstly I've picked up the first three volumes the the Judge Dredd Complete Case Files. The second is 2000AD 1800, which is supposedly a great jumping on point for new readers. I wanted a bit of a counter balance between the old and the new, with any form of media with an established character if I'm going to invest time and money into it I like to start from the beginning.

Once the issues arrive in the post I'll post up my first impressions on the issues and the collected volumes. Look out for that and see if I'll be sticking it out with 2000AD for the long haul.

The Year Continues

After a busy couple of month, I’ve got that itch to start writing up content up on to this site once again. Now for anyone that has read anything on this site before then you will think ‘’well all this sounds familiar’’ and you would be right. I post up a return post and then I disappear for another couple of months and yes the same might happen however something is a little different now.

It’s my place of work. I’m not going to say I hate my job because honestly I don’t, I’m thankful to be working in the current economic climate. It just that it feels weird to be working at a company that I don’t morally agree with. I’ll explain I work for a bank. In just that one word, I think most people will understand. It kind of goes against many things I believe in. Hell, ask people today and you would be hard pressed to find someone with something positive to say about the banks.

Add to that it goes against my creative nature but it is actually doing me a favour. While I’m pressed to do very formal work without any imagination. It’s driving me to do creative stuff even more.

So now that I have a steady income coming in each month. It gives me the opportunity to stretch my creative legs a bit. There is a lot I’ve been wanting to do which is this grand master plan but just small stuff that were only held back by financially.

I can finally pick up some recording equipment, a new camera. Tools in a sense to get things moving. Because working in an office for a bank isn’t exactly what I had in mind for my future so I’m making sure my dreams are kept in focuses. I think peoples biggest regrets in life and becoming complacent with what they have and making do. When in reality you can achieve that much more it just takes that little extra push.

Change of Heart

Like the titles says I've had a change of heart in regards to the future of this blog, as of now It will continue for the foreseeable future.

I'll still be writing for The Games Blog but I want to focus this site on a personal note, writing too much in the same style can be a burden. So the Blog will be without any true focus other than stuff that matters to me. I hate things coming across forced and this is the reason why I am making this change to hopefully keep things fresh and interesting.

I'll also be covering some techniques and guides for people who are interested in writing/ the games industry, I think my past experiences both the good and bad can help people out.

Also as a side note I have a few projects that I am currently focusing on so I will be using this Blog to bring up a few ideas and plans for the coming months that hopefully you'll find interesting.

So for now I'm signing out. Here is somewhat of a rough list of days to expect new content to go up, I can't guarantee everything will be up on a said day but I'm trying to to see what works so here is the list

Mondays - Random ?
Tuesday - Wrestling related
Wednesday - Serious Talk/Advice
Thursday -  Comic Run down
Friday - Writing, Games

Weekends could be pretty much anything

Where I've been recently

I haven't been around here recently due in part that I am now writing for a site, thegamesblog. I'm a staff writer at the site writing up news and reviews.

So in regards to this blog I won't be using it all that much, I'm thinking of switching over to Wordpress or something else but for the moment this place is basically dead. I'll update this place every now and then but I've grown to dislike the look of blogger and the way it is kind of limiting.

Wrapping this up you can find my on http://www.the-games-blog.com/

Space Marine Review

Developers Relic are no strangers when it comes to the Warhammer 40,000 license with a number of successful games in the Dawn of War series which have seen a number of expansions and a sequel which has also seen it’s own expansions.
For Space Marine, Relic have changed things up with the third person genre, similar to what they did to RTS games with the launch of Dawn of War, they are offering a similar approach but switching up the rules, the result is for genre filled with cover-based shooters Space Marine is a refreshingly needed departure.