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.

2012

As a new year dawns in so do new opportunities, although the year is still young at four days it is never too early to implement some changes into your life. This mainly resolves around some self-doubt I had which mainly is due to the immensely shitty financial climate here in the UK looking for work is an up hill battle but I let it get to me. I’m leaving that behind me because honestly it is pointless dwelling on it I can only focus on finding a solution to the problem and I aim to do just that.

This year 2012, I’m going to focus a lot on my creative side because honestly I miss it. The two priorities are sketching, general arty stuff, going to do some basic sketch work, and I’ll be trying some new stuff with inks to finally nail my style of work. I feel I’m close I just need to go that extra mile to find it.
I’ll be picking up some new equipment and a new sketchpad today to kick start things in the right direction.

The second being video production, currently using Sony Vegas, I like it so far, took a little while to get my head around it after using premiere for so long. Just started off with some simple intro and outro sequences which I will be posting up here, they look pretty good if I do say so myself.
 
These a just a few changes I’m making but there are many more I’m just taking a stand, I know where I want to be in five to ten years and I want to make sure I get to the point I want to be at.

As for this blog initially it was more of a professional blog but like I said before it was just way too boring at times, from now on it will be have a varied amount of content and plenty more of my art work too. That is all for tonight there are things to be done in the morning.

After a prolonged absence away from this blog, I thought it was about time I went back to it to start it up once again. I’m not going to go into it on why I stopped contributing to the blog but I will say it was for a numbers of reasons both personal and creatively.

From now on I’m going to be approaching this blog differently, before it may not of come across this way but it sure felt like it was becoming far to serious in way that it felt more like a chore especially some of the reviews I posting. That along with the fact it was straying away from the reason why I created this blog, it’s a place for my thoughts ideas and opinions.

That is it for now new content will be going up regularly from now on, this place is going to get a whole lot more interesting.

Red Lanterns #1 with Blood and Rage

Since the announcement that the Red Lanterns would be getting their own title, I wondered along with others why it was only the Red Lanterns that got a title and not any of the other Corps. Upon reading Red Lanterns number one, the title makes a whole lot of sense.

I will start by saying this book is fantastic from start to finish it is enjoyable this is the kind of issue you can sink yourself into. The book as the title suggests follows the Red Lanterns with Atrocious being the main character in this series and we see the character in a new light with the issue covering the majority of the history of the Red Lanterns as well as history for the Green Lanterns.

Atrocious is dealing with a lack of Rage within him and the Red Lanterns are for the most part all over the place there is no focus within the group. So he must find direction find an emotion to drive him and this leads to a retelling of the history of Atrocious and this is an excellent way for the reader to sympathize with the character and his motives as we see what drives him from the daily news.

Batman and Robin #1 - Born to Kill Review

Batman and Robin’s is off to a solid start with the new number one that long time readers of Batman will appreciate but for new readers they might be a little lost.

As I said if you have been, reading Batman for a while you will be right at home here. If this is your first time reading Batman or if you have just come off Detective Comics, then there are a few things in Batman and Robin that could leave new readers with more questions than answers. Such as who is that character, why are they here and references to previous stories such as Batman Inc and Final Crisis.

This is not be a big deal for anyone that has been reading Batman for sometime and I think that is one of the main problems of this book, It doesn’t ease new readers in as well as it could or should do.

Batwing #1 - The Cradle of Civilization Review

Judd Winick’s first issue of Batwing goes above and beyond expectations cementing its place as one of the top titles in the new 52.

Upon first hearing about the new 52 Batwing was one of those titles that never grabbed my attention I had no real interest in picking it up, I had the impression it would be to similar to other Batman titles.

For that reason you may be wondering why I picked up the title and well it’s simple really, it was purely down to an impulse buy when I was picking up my other comics, I thought I might as well give this title a chance and for the reason it is related to other Batman titles.

I can say without any doubt that I am so glad I picked up this title not only did it exceed my expectations I enjoyed it much more over titles like Action Comics, this is not black Batman as it has been labelled as it is a very different book with a hugely different tone that sets it apart from other Batman titles that creates its own niche.

Justice League #1 Review

After the long wait the new DC Universe is upon us with the first instalment of the new Justice League, does the New 52 hit the ground running or is fail to live up to expectations.

Since the relaunch announcement, speculation has erupted onto what direction the DCU is heading, this led to long time readers to worry about the fate of their favourite characters. People were afraid that the books they had been reading for years would be lost in the wind of change but with recent announcements, DC has tried to lay any of those worries to rest.
If that has yet to convince you then Justice League number #1 should do the job, not only does re introduce staples of the DCU it remains true to the characters while giving it a fresh spin that long time readers will appreciate while retaining the most important factor which is making it accessible for new readers to jump in.

Devil May Cry: Don't Judge a Book by it's Cover

Back in 2010 when the Devil May Cry reboot was first unveiled, Capcom had handed over development duties to Ninja Theory that added another western studio to the list of big named Capcom titles receiving the western touch.

Anyone that has followed video games knows of some examples when fan hit back at a company or studio for taking a beloved series in an unfamiliar direction, but the backlash Ninja Theory received for their new take on Devil May Cry was unprecedented and I was afraid they might bow to the whim of the fan base.

Nearly a year later and they are staying true to their original vision and props to them for sticking through with it, whether fans want to admit it or not Devil May Cry needed a new lease of life, the formula was wearing thin come Devil May Cry 4. It felt like Capcom wanted to try something new with the franchise with the introduction of Nero as the main protagonist and even that met its own share of hate directed towards it.

This reboot deserves the benefit of the doubt, Ninja Theory have a proven track record so I'm confident that the series is in safe hands, the criticism they have received is unjustified.

Batman Impostors: Review

Gotham City is ripe with violence, impostor Jokerz and Guardian Bats are vying for each others throats as Gotham is plunged into chaos, is the Dark Knight to blame for all of this? or is there a mastermind behind all of this violence?

DC Comics 52: My Picks

With so many great titles annouced it was hard to narrow it down to the list I have, the new 52 allows myself and others to jump into some new titles for characters that we have been wanting to read for sometime. So here are my picks for the new 52.

Flashpoint August 17th Reviews

Wonder Woman and The Furies #3
Written by Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning
Art by Scott Clark & Dave Beaty

Wonder Woman and the Furies
Issue #3 cover

I wasn’t sure what to expect going into this due to the experience of coming off Emperor Aquaman #3 which felt disappointing, but Wonder Woman and the Furies is anything but a disappointment.
From start to finish, the writing is superb and it is written in such a way that keeps the pacing up which is one of the strongest aspects of the story. It deals with information that feels vital which helps flesh out this story arc there is no filler to be found here, it covers stuff you what to know.

In one issue, it deals with a lot from the creation of new Themyscira to the reasoning for the deception that led to the outbreak of the war, but it predominately takes place during the events of Emperor Aquaman which when read together forms a perfect blend in seeing both sides. It is in these two issue that the character of Wonder Woman is humanized from a cold hearted tyrant to someone who was struggling to save her people.

One gripe I do have with this issue is that it deals with information from Lois Lane and The Resistance, I would usually pass this off as something minor but it is a large plot point, when reading the issue it comes out of no where. It would have been much better if Lois Lane and the Resistance had come out prior to this as it clearly happens before this.

This is a fantastic wrap up to the series, much like Diana and Arthur their perception of the War was blurred by deception and much like both series’ it unravels this deception and we learn about the world of Flashpoint along with both characters as they come to terms with what they have done.
As I have said before to truly enjoy this series it must be read in conjunction with Emperor Aquaman and that is made even more evident in this final issue.

Flashpoint August 10th Reviews

Emperor Aquaman #3
Written by Tony Bedard
Art by Ardian Syf & Vincent Cifuentes

Emperor Aquaman
Issue 3 cover

Up until this point Emperor Aquaman has been one of the best tie ins to the Flashpoint series, though the final issue fails to live up to the expectations and the quality set in previous issues.
A problem with it is that the issue feels rushed. That it has to tie up most lose ends for the final act but it doing so it covers a lot of ground that has previously been covered in both Emperor Aquaman and Wonder Woman and The Furies titles.

One thing that is nice in this issue is that there is a juxtaposition between Aquaman and Wonder Woman, Aquaman comes across as more cold hearted individual with the feeling he is already damned while Wonder Woman is trying to make peace. It shows how desperate things are getting and that the end could be near for both characters.  This is nice setup, but the follow up leads into Flashpoint #4, which seems a bit odd considering that it came out over two weeks ago. It would have made more sense to release this prior to that which would of made for a smoother transition into Flashpoint #4. As battle is raging in the beginning of the issue with no real explanation as to why or what triggered it.  If you have yet to read Flashpoint #4 I would recommend reading this prior that.

Emperor Aquaman is good, but it is just that good. With some wooden dialogue and a pacing that just comes across as feeling rushed the series could have ended on a higher note.

Euclideon Unlimited Detail: Fact or Fiction

Euclideon claims they have developed technology to render an unlimited amount of content, obviously this has brought out many sceptics because well, these are some very large claims to make. Therefore, I’m here to give my perspective and opinion on all of this because honestly I am one of those sceptics, if someone comes out with such bold claims I expect them to back it up and from what I’ve seen the company is all talk. I’m going to break down just how feasible their claims actual are and if this technology could be viable within the industry.

To start things off here are links to the two videos that they recently posted on their Youtube channel. So if you want to refresh your memory check out the videos….ok your back good, now lets get started.

On first glance, the technology looks promising, the claims made while sounding absurd it does come across as something that might be possible, but like many things on closer inspection cracks appear that quickly become canyons. There are multiple reasons for this and once they are taken into account the tech, which may seem to some like fact is more like a mirage.