Oh!Edo Towns by Kairosoft was released on iOS late last year, but was recently released for Android. Kairosoft is known for making great time-wasting, micro managing games. They first knocked it out of the park with “Game Dev Story”, and have had other successes like “Mega Mall Story”, and most recently “Dungeon Village”. If you haven’t tried the three games I just mentioned, you need to. They have a great addictive quality to them that keeps you coming back. Continue reading
Gaming
Board Games, Card Games, Video Games, Reindeer Games…it’s all good by us!
Book Review: Jaina Proudmoore: Tides of War
Jaina Proudmoore: Tides of War
by Christie Golden
The latest of the World of Warcraft novels, and one of my favorite so far. With the release of the Cataclysm expansion, Blizzard had indicated that the story of the game would be focusing more on the Alliance vs. Horde aspect, considering that the Wrath of the Lich King storyline had the Alliance and Horde working together. This book really takes that Horde vs. Alliance dynamic and runs with it. Garrosh Hellscream is the current Warchief of the Horde, and he couldn’t be more different from the previous leader Thrall. Thrall had been working towards peace with the Alliance with his friend and counterpart on the other side, Jaina Proudmoore. They had made great strides towards that peace, but Thrall decided to step down as leader of the Horde and follow his shamanic birthright following The Sundering of Azeroth and the return of Deathwing. Thrall appointed Garrosh Hellscream as the new Warchief, hoping that Garrosh would continue to strive for peace. Garrosh is a much more militant personality however, and he is not satisfied with the current shaky peace between the two factions. He wants nothing less than to kick the Alliance off the continent of Kalimdor and to eventually conquer the Eastern Kingdoms. To this end he uses some very brutal tactics. Lady Jaina Proudmoore, long known as a moderate and a the loudest voice for peace between the Horde and Alliance is on the receiving end, as is her city of Theramore. What we see is a complete shift in Jaina’s views and beliefs. She knows that peace is no longer an option with Garrosh Hellscream as leader of the Horde, and she prepares herself for war.
This complete turnaround is one of the great things about World of Warcraft. Many MMO worlds are static and unchanging. If an area of the world has snow for example, it will always have snow, there are no seasons. Blizzard decided to shake that up with the release of the Cataclysm expansion. They completely changed many of the zones in the original continents, and added lots of new content. Everything old was new again, and it was great to explore places and find new things, places that for many people they have visited for years. The changes Blizzard brings to the world don’t just manifest themselves in the game, novels like this one are an important part as well.
One of the reasons I enjoy the World of Warcraft novels so much is that while playing the game, I can actually visit the places in the book. When a building or area is described, I don’t have to try to build a picture in my head, it is already there because I have seen and been in that building. It helps to make Azeroth feel like a living and breathing place. With the Mists of Pandaria expansion set for release on September 25th, this book did a great job of getting me excited for the all changes we’ll be seeing in the near future.
Steins;Gate Review
Steins;Gate is the second part of the Science Adventure Trilogy by 5pb and Nitro+. While it is part of a trilogy, all three parts have very little relation other than the semicolon. The first part being Chaos;Head, came out in 2008. Robotics;Notes, the bookend of the trilogy will start airing in Japan in October.
The story of Steins;Gate revolves around a self-proclaimed mad scientist named Okabe. Okabe figures out how to send text messages into the past that creates unintended side effects. While some stories have issues with time travel, this series pulls it off nearly flawlessly.
Most of the time, Anime are usually based on Manga, but Steins;Gate was created as a Japanese visual novel. For the uninitiated, a Japanese visual novel sounds like a graphic novel, or a comic, but it isn’t. A visual novel is a work of interactive fiction. A video game. Steins;Gate was released in 2009 for the Xbox 360, and later ported to the PC, iOS, PSP, and PS3 in Japan. There is some discussion about it being released here in America by Nitro+ and JAST, but I wouldn’t hold my breath.
Steins;Gate is one of the best made anime that I’ve seen in years. It has many similarities to Serial Experiments Lain. Both anime were able to combine real history and science into a fascinating fictional story. Part of the story revolves around John Titor, who claimed to be a time traveler from the year 2036. He was sent back in time to retrieve an IBM 5100 computer to help stop CERN from screwing up the world. 5pb changed the name of the company they needed to stop from CERN to SERN in Steins;Gate (probably to avoid lawsuits), but it’s still pronounced the same way.
I was a massive fan of Serial Experiments Lain. I’d go so far to say that Lain changed my life, and views on science and religion. While I wouldn’t go that far in describing Steins;Gate, I would say it grabbed me like no other anime has in years.
You can watch the first 4 episodes dubbed, on Funimation’s website for free. The first half of Steins;Gate is being released by Funimation on September 25 as a Blu-ray/DVD combo. Unfortunately its going to be released at an MSRP of $69.98. Thankfully you can purchase it from Amazon for $48.86, but for just half of the series it still seems a bit steep. Despite my love for the series I might have to stay away for now. Thankfully I caught it via Crunchyroll as it was airing in Japan. Unfortunately it’s no longer available to stream from them.
It’s hard to wait for October to come, but I can’t wait for Robotics;Notes to get released. If 5pb stays true to form, it will be another great anime series.
Transformers: Fall of Cybertron Video Game review
Transformers: Fall of Cybertron is a follow-up/sequel to Transformers: War for Cybertron by High Moon Studios. It uses the original characters from Transformers Gen 1, but changes the story up. Both games take place before the Ark crashes on Earth which makes them prequels to the original 80’s cartoon. Unfortunately they made story decisions to the game which would completely alter cartoon continuity.
If you were a huge fan of the cartoon then some of the changes they decided to make, like Shockwave creating the Dinobots on Cybertron, might bother you a bit. That being said, getting to smash everything in sight as Grimlock is an awesome experience.
High Moon might have realized they were going to upset some fans with certain choices they made, but they made up for it with all the fan service. There were probably at least 10 different quotes I recognized that were the original animated movie.
The graphics and sound are a good improvement on what was already a good start from War for Cybertron. They also made improvements on how open the world feels in some levels. In War for Cybertron I always felt a bit on rails as far as where I could go and when. This game still has a bit of that, but the Starscream level stands out as feeling very open world.
Another great addition is the upgrade system. You can now collect different weapons and upgrade them via Teletraan 1. Once I finally got Megatron’s cannon, I was a destructive force, but once I unlocked all the upgrades I felt unstoppable.
However, it’s not all Roses. This game has some issues with interacting with items. If you are too close to something you need to interact with it won’t give you the option. You often need to stand in an exact spot for it to work.
The story felt a bit disjointed at times. There were a few plot holes that just didn’t get completely resolved, but for the most part you can forgive them because they aren’t that relevant in the end.
The game takes about 6-8 hours to beat which means that if you have no interest in multiplayer you can rent the game and go through it in a weekend. The game was hard to put down so you can go through it pretty quickly.
I hope they create a third game, but I don’t know exactly where they can go from here without completely destroying the G1 continuity more than they already have. If you are reading this site, you should at least give this a game a try, but you probably already know that.
You too can make an awesome Dragon Priest masks from "Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim"
Written by: Christopher Lee
My pal Nicci (aka in certain circles, Björn-Lagmancer) just signed up onto tumblr (where this site is hosted fyi). Here’s her blog. She just sent this to me, it’s pretty rad. For such a nut, the girl’s got some great (read: pretty sick) artistic costume/prop making skills.
She recently embarked on a venture to create her own Dragon Priest masks (which are pretty damned rad if not to dissimilar from the Death Eater masks in “Harry Potter” though a lot cooler) from Skyrim. She made a video, check it out! (FYI, she makes it look easy. Knowing her, I’m sure it’s just to poke fun at those who try to do the same, haha)
and finished after she had painted them:
To round out the post, here’s a pic of her in her Skyrim/Dovahkiin costume that she wore at a recent con (minding you, again, that she made herself).
I’m thinking I might have to commission her to make some pieces for me.
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